Whats up guys?! Man its been a long time since I’ve been on Tackle Tour. First off, @heddonfrog prayers to you and your family through these trying times! Life is so fragile and we are reminded too often in times like these. I lost both my parents as a young teenager. Cancer sucks and I cant imagine any of my family members not remembering who I am? Try to keep your head up and my family will keep your family in our prayers. Thank you for your concern last night. Ive been out working and couldn’t address this thread until now. So here it goes…..
@Hobeybaker & @freelancer27 - Im sorry you guys felt like the Antares 70 first look video was a “Shimano Ad,” and that Matt and I are less credible because of it. Shimano didn’t pay us for this video. They simply let us use the reel (and rod) for a couple of days. They wanted our thoughts on the new products and hoped we would catch some fish on them. Im sure they hoped we would shoot some kind of video but it wasn’t mandatory. It was our idea to do the first look video. We then shipped the rod and reel back to them. To the best of my knowledge Shimano didn’t share our video on any of their social media platforms. Hows that for a paid advertisement video lol! We have built a working relationship with Shimano and a lot of companies throughout the years. Because of this, they trust us to see some of their products first. Those of you that have followed Tacticalbassin from the beginning know that I use to use primarily Daiwa, Lews, and Abu reels. I've slowly switched to more and more newer Shimano reels because I feel they have recently come out with some of the best products on the market. Its still hard to beat the old Daiwa Sols and Fuegos! Im not sure Ill purchase the new Antares 70. I didn’t find a spot in my lineup for last Antares. If I do, hopefully we can do a more in-depth style video on it like some of you had hoped for. In the mean time, there are a couple of channels on YouTube that specialize in reel reviews.
To address some other comments…..
1. @freelancer27 We try very hard not to bash any products. In fact, we just don’t do it. If we don’t talk about it, either we haven’t tried it, or we wouldn’t recommend it. If that is your definition of a “good reviewer” so be it. We appreciate you being a subscriber since the early days!
2. Yes just like TackleTour.com, we (Tacticalbassin.com) are an affiliate with Tackle Warehouse. This helps offset costs for products and time doing 3 (unsponsored) videos per week. However we DONT sell advertising space all over our page or on any of our platforms like most.
3. We try very hard to be unbiased. Matt and I spend our own money to purchase products we normally wouldn’t purchase, just to try them out for our subscribers when they have questions about them. As fisherman we gain confidence in certain products and its hard to not use those products all the time. Bottom line…. We talk about products we use, like, and have confidence in.
4. Im a Game Warden not a Fireman although the last few summers hasn’t felt that way.
Matt and I try to be as transparent, real, and approachable as possible. Please, next time if you have a question or a concern, shoot us a message or an email and we will chat. Thanks guys Tight Lines!
Tim Little
Tacticalbassin.com