By Cory Allen

Carefully Edited by Fishing-Headquarters.com

Editors Note: The following narrative was written by our friend and online magazine contributor, Cory Allen, to his personal Facebook page on Thursday, November 20th. Prior to this elongated status update, he and Andrew Ragas had one of their weekly intellectual discussions in which perspectives on fishing and the operatives of its industry were clamored about. For better or for worse, the story below is what happens when Cory Allen finally equips himself with a modern keyboard.

Allen: We live in a culture of inverse equation. In almost every form of media, image precedes credibility, validity, and recognition.

So many people are promoted to positions of authority within fields due to their “marketability.” And then their “ability” is given legitimacy by nothing more than the image projected by a marketing team and smoke and mirrors.

In fishing, whether recreational or professionally, I see it everyday. I do NOT speak of myself, as it’s never about myself. What a tiny sliver from which to draw a conclusion from, which is personal experience, and that’s inconsequential anyway. I’m not qualified enough to lecture on a mass media format anyway, so it’s not a bitch fest, I assure you. It’s about watching education and authentic skill being set at the back of the bus while a lucky strike and a “big break” is given precedence in which a gimmick is seen to hold value in whatever element someone deems fit, and the mold is made to create another Easy-Bake oven figurehead. This isn’t absolute, but especially in the days of social media it happens far too often to count.

In our generation of media and popular culture, stars are born from nothing more than the flick of a stage light, and no one even stands to question whether or not their tap dance is even worth watching. They just accept it.

“Well if they’re a big deal, they must be a big deal.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. I think, if you wonder, why I get so heated over the Buck Perry story. It’s the quintessential example of this way of thinking, and I see it permeate in nearly every aspect of what is collectively our culture. For instance in music and cinema, why was George Clooney cast at Batman? Ever? Even in a Joel Schumacher abortion? …. Oh right, because he’s George Clooney.

Whether it is to generate dollars (because that’s what it’s always about), the same sentiment is drowning and degrading the fishing industry as we all know it. Money and popularity supersedes quality and expertise.

I have an extensive list of anglers I bow to, study after, and admire. Most of them I’d name and you’d never have heard their name. They live normal lives, work normal jobs, and whenever they show up on a court they usually send the home team back to the dock with their tail between their legs. Alas, but they are not “marketable” to be a success in this industry. They aren’t the artificial poster children or barbie dolls the industry and its participants all flock to and devour. Most of them are eccentric, off-beat, even somewhat abrasive. Thus making them human, and in my opinion all the more interesting.

The question consuming me, that weighs on my mind daily, is why?

Why do we accept this?

Why do we allow this to happen?

When did recognition begin to precede qualification? And when did qualification stop leading to recognition?

Seek thee out the diamonds in the rough, my brothers and sisters.

The shiniest rocks on the television are usually cubic zirconium anyway.

Follow up Questions by Allen:

WHY are THEY the ones working “normal jobs”? We’re stifling our progress on all fronts but especially in angling with this. If you gave some of these guys the resources and the time to focus on angling, they would leap up forward through nothing but sheer osmosis by decades if not more. I’ve always believed that the best people at a particular trade or skill deserve to be paid for practicing and imparting it. Somehow, we let this whole thing get flip flopped… It’s either about petty competition, or simple carnival barking.

I guess I feel like its’ funny that the modest are the most deserving, and the boisterous are the least. I wouldn’t do an actual “tv show” as they are manifest today if you gave it to me, which of course, they never would, and for good reason. But evil triumphs when good men do nothing. It’s not now we should worry about as much as what things can and will progress into if the trend on all fronts continues.