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Hoorah my CAT subscription just ended!

Neil Blood

Senior Member
I was unfortunate enough to renew my subscription to Coarse Angling Today, just as they changed the format to one which followed the failed Coarse Fisherman model i.e articles full of product placement and worse still full page advertisements with the CAT verdict on the contained products.

There was also a switch to features by deemed fashionable young anglers, with an obvious aim at a specific target market. Overall the quality of articles has slipped dramatically and it was on reading one pointless article by a particular young angler catching 2lb and 3lb Chub, where nobody bothered to deal with the red eye reduction on the photos, that I felt a need to complain.

The reply I received stated mine was the only such complaint regarding the new format, and that the old model was no longer viable.

I'd be very surprised is this mag lasts another year or two, it really has gone down than pan!
 
to much of what BILL RUSHMER had for his breakfast....lol
by the way, when i had enough of IMPYCF mag, i just cancelled the direct debt.
 
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I was unfortunate enough to renew my subscription to Coarse Angling Today, just as they changed the format to one which followed the failed Coarse Fisherman model i.e articles full of product placement and worse still full page advertisements with the CAT verdict on the contained products.

There was also a switch to features by deemed fashionable young anglers, with an obvious aim at a specific target market. Overall the quality of articles has slipped dramatically and it was on reading one pointless article by a particular young angler catching 2lb and 3lb Chub, where nobody bothered to deal with the red eye reduction on the photos, that I felt a need to complain.

The reply I received stated mine was the only such complaint regarding the new format, and that the old model was no longer viable.

I'd be very surprised is this mag lasts another year or two, it really has gone down than pan!

I reckon CAT are caught between a rock and a hard place . Clearly they have to place adverts . Whether we like it or not I would imagine that advertising revenue makes up a large part of their income . In terms of new people writing articles , you can only have so many articles written by the established names , even they run out of things to write about so fresh blood is required . When you look at it CAT is only a fairly small scale enterprise trying to please a number of different markets . The product placement is a bit annoying at times , but I reckon we should forgive them for that and buy the magazine . If CAT went what would be left for the all round angler to read ?
 
I enjoyed reading the recent 'barbel' special, and a good article on the Wharfe. Rest of it was page filler and it didnt take long to read. Its not as compelling as 'The Girl with the Dragon tattoo'! 50 Shades of Grey next....................apparently its really good.
 
I gave up with fishing mags about 5 years ago, I still take the AT on an annual subscription though, it comes in real handy for lining the guinea pig hutch.
 
Mick Wood's article on the Wharfe was the best i've read in any angling publication for a while, nuanced, honest and believable (with some superb pictures!).

There is certainly some filler - stop with the articles on catching commercial puddle pigs already - but there are usually a couple of decent articles, and i always look forward to reading Stef Horak's contributions.
 
WOW Dave, you actually subscribed to that, hang your head in shame man. ;)
back in the day, it was pretty good, but now, it's to much bob nudd on catching carp on the pole.:D
one mag that still sells is Tim paisley's carp world, i used to buy that every month, how many articles can you have on carp!
 
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What I fail to understand is why CAT decided to follow the format of a failed magazine in coarse fisherman. The tackle reviews are of little use to the type of anglers who seem to be buying CAT, ie the more experienced specialist anglers, where as coarse fisherman always read like a step up from IYCF. Once again there is nothing for the experienced specialist angler to buy, very annoying.
 
The original CAT format was vastly superior to the modern one. They may have only recieved one complaint but how many anglers have stopped buying it? I didn't renew my subscription and haven't bought one since. There is some truth of course that the same writers will obviously run out of original articles at some point and some new writers may need to be sourced. But did it really have to follow the format it has done? Blatant product placement and reviews of where to fish are just so common elsewhere. It is no longer a magazine for the specialist or specimen angler
 
I only found the magazine last year and subscribed as its superior to any other on the market , you wanna moan about article repetition then the mail and times are the places to look
 
Its by far the best mag available for me. Yes you have bill and his Mrs, and his son called spro. But then you have Mick Wood, Stef Horak, Lee swords, Steve pope, Tony Miles etc. the majority of their work is unbiased, informative and easy reading. yes you do get the plugging but I just breeze past that as the info is far greater. You could do a lot worse but culd you do better??
 
There are many magazines floundering over a spectrum of subject matter. One of the main reasons for this is the way that they have traditionally treated authors and photographers who submit material for publication and their working practices.

For example, if you or I submitted an article on autumn barbel it would have to be received by the editor in time for the autumn edition which is printed some time around June. That means we would have to submit the article 9 month's after it was compiled if photographs were used to illustrate it. Same with winter grayling; it would have to be submitted by September. Once the article is published there is a three month wait for payment. In real terms this means that authors compling articles are waiting over twelve month's for payment with no guarantee in the months between submission and the edition being printed that the article will actually be used. Often editors change their minds at the last minute and articles requested or even commissioned do not find their way into print and therefore no fee would be received even though expenses might have been incurred.

The fees paid for a two page article with photos might range from £150 to £300 dependent on the magazine. Not a lot considering that to earn that every month you would have to put in a lot of work in locating the venues, setting up the session and all the editing of photos and text. Many people can write sufficiently well to compile an article and many people can take photos sufficiently well to illustrate an article. There aren't that many people who can do both, and come up with and compile a new article every month. So, in many cases the fees are split between two people. Financially it is not worth the effort.

Product placement is a sad reality of today's reading whether it be golf, cycling or fishing. If authors are not prepared to include products from manufacturers who support the publication, they are unlikely to have their articles accepted in many cases.

While ever this system of paying subscribing authors is unchanged the quality of magazines will continue to decline in my opinion. Magazine editors need to recruit and reward talent, not pander to advertisers.
 
In terms of product placement, I do recall one article in Coarse Fisherman where a 6 page feature appeared covering a good catch of barbel from a particular stretch of river. The article was full of products from one particular tackle and bait manufacturer and included statements from the author such as ‘these new rods are better than my beloved Harrisons’ :rolleyes:

Problem was the stretch of river on which the article was based, was held by an angling club with a strict publicity ban. The author was hauled before the club committee to explain his actions, and in his defence stated that he was incapable of writing such an article and that he merely provided the photos from his session. :eek: The tackle companies marketing department took his photos and wrote the whole article in his name!

Unbiased and independent angling writing is becoming a thing of the past in the printed press, and the best source of such articles in now most likely found on internet blogs, but even here product placement can still be found.
 
In response to Neil's post; I once agreed to do the photography for a trout fishing article that featured some flies that were being imported by a mate of mine. The article was to be written by a well-known and regular author in such circles (no name, no pack drill ;) ). My job was merely to record some images as the writer's regular photographer was unavailable. When I saw the finished article it bore no resemblance whatsoever to how I recalled the day's events. It was more like a chapter from Mr. Crabtree Goes Fishing.

I just wish all my days were like that. :D
 
Sounds like folk wanting to make money from displaying big fish or big boobs get pretty much the same services rendered, in a manner of speaking....though judging by the keenness of a certain well known 'glamour model'....they seem to enjoy the experience much more :p

Cheers, Dave
 
When I was a lad, fishing for roach and perch and dace, and sometimes even a bream from rivers, I had to learn from trial and error (mostly error) and grumpy old fisherman sat on their wobbly wicker baskets. No real media to assist me. And I am only 47. The fishing books unwrapped at Christmas or Birthdays were totally absorbing and these plus Angling Times where all I really had to guide me. But now I have Google and YouTube and my iPad. Anything I need to buy or understand is there. Experienced anglers have their sites and their blogs and their tweets. I can go onto YouTube and watch someone tie a rig and also someone riding a bike naked into the Thames. The demise and changing face of publications is no surprise and ultimately they will die out. I still like to real an actual magazine- turning the corner on a page of genuine relevance and interest (but I could have just bookmarked it of course). Sad but a natural evolution.
 
I have bought CAT since the first one came out and have subscibed to it for a long time so feel I am well placed to say that this month's issue is the worst one since the magazines inception although the downward spiral has been going on for a while now

The articles are absolutely awful there is nothing interesting to read, that is the problem.

How Bill Rushmer's articles and his pictures of a cooked breakfast have any place in a specialist magazine are beyond me!!!


Product placement happens everywhere so I don't mind that, I can make my own mind up reagarding what to use.

I won't be renewing my subscription once this one run's out!!

Regards

Wazzy
 
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