GOING FISHING with Kotare

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33959, 27 September 1975, Page 12

GOING FISHING with Kotare

A fishing tackle manufacturer who knows what he's about will make his annual catalogue as exciting as an Aladdin's Cave. It will burst at the binding with angling treasures of all kinds.

None of the world’s consumers are quite as susceptible to the range of goodies they can buy as anglers. A good market research man, accompanied by a motivation research team, would be astounded at the responses of an angler in a tackle shop. If he could tune in electronically to the victim's brain pulses as the man wandered around, enchanted by all the glittering array, he would conclude that, though other manufacturing enterprises might topple, the fishing tackle empire will always survive. But, unless he were a fisherman himself, the marketing man might take some time to realise that the angler in the tackle shop must usually be left to wander around and enjoy the feast. He normally eats more, in the end, if left uninter-

rupted. He must be able to examine all the goodies, compare rods, try them out, handle reels, match-

ing one against another, look over a complete range of flies and lures and nylon and landing nets and all the other fascinating things that make up his delectable world of angling. Some sports-shop proprietors might not agree, but then they probably don’t have all their goods on show, and therefore cannot appreciate the significance of impulse-buying to the angler. Give fishermen the opportunity for impulsebuying and they part with dollars as if money were going out of fashion. That’s why the tackle manufacturer turns his catalogue into an Aladdin’s Cave — if he knows what he’s about. And that’s why a Swedish fishing-tackle manufacturer, based at a place called Svangsta, has made such an enormous success of his tackle business.

What New Zealand fisherman doesn’t know the name Abu? Very likely 99 per cent of the world’s sport-fishermen

know the name at least, and most of them would know, too, that the company markets 'a complete range of tackle for the angler.

The one per cent of anglers who don’t know the name of this manufacturer would include, I suspect, the users of swelled spliced salmon fly rods, made of impregnated split cane, as sold by Farlow’s of the United Kingdom. Why? Well, it just struck me that men who are still using 15ft salmon rods, manufactured with spliced joints instead of ferrules, must be fishing somewhat in the past.

Both Farlow’s and Abu’s catalogues came to me from a United Kingdon friend at the same time. Comparisons would be odious, but I feel that I must just enlarge on the spliced-salmon-rod subject as dealt with by Farlow’s before opening up the delights of "Tight Lines,” Abu’s gift to anglers. Possibly no greater confirmation of my ignorance about salmon-fishing

in the United Kingdom could be given than to deplore the continued use of the 15ft, 270 z, spliced split-cane rod to catch salmon.

But if Lee Wulff can hook and kill salmon decently quickly with a 7ft rod weighing 2oz to 3oz, why should other angles continue to burden themselves with apparent monstrosities like Farlow’s swelled spliced rods (splicing tape available in 20ft and 66ft packets).

In the modem tradition built swiftly by some tackle manufacturers, notably in the United States, Abu’s catalogue brings together a fascinating array of angling delights.

The secret of this catalogue’s success is in its disguise. It is full of first-class colour pictures of fishermen in action. It carries practical fishing articles by some of the best fishermen and writers of our time.

’ It packs tide tables, full-colour reproductions of fish, fishing contest details, metric-measure-ment advice, and other

helpful information between all-colour pictures of Abu tackle of every kind — within no fewer than 130 pages.

That’s some catalogue. It provides hours of reading interspersed with quick-reference information about rods, reels, lines, spinners, tackle boxes, and all the other Abu accessories.

Every item of tackle shown is illustrated in full colour, and every photograph of such tackle has been taken by a professional.

Obviously, Abu spent a great deal of money on this production — aimed at the United Kingdom. No doubt, other versions are printed for distribution in other parts of the world.

Altogether, the cost of the several editions involved would make many manufacturers throw up their hands in horror. But Abu clearly knows something about marketing and presentation — which many manufacturers would do well to cultivate. Sports stores, generally speaking, can learn a great deal from this particular catalogue too.

Nothing stimulates an angler’s optical and buying responses more positively than a complete range of colourful goods on show.