Game and Fish/Sportsman Magazine Reveals Fishing-Gear READERS’ CHOICE AWARDS

by Michelle Scheuermann March 02, 2015

Game and Fish Magazine Readers Choice logo USA (Ammoland.Com) – Several surprises emerged when more than 2,200 bass anglers selected their favorite fishing gear in Game & Fish/Sportsman magazines’ Readers’ Choice Awards.

According to Senior Editor John Geiger, Shakespeare’s revamped Ugly Stik scored an impressive victory over top-end baitcasting rods such as G-Loomis’ IMX and St. Croix’s Avid X.

“We weren’t sure how readers would like the new Ugly Stik, considering the success of the traditional rod and the higher price tag of the new Elites,” said Geiger. “But it looks like they are a hit with our hardcore anglers.”

The Ugly Stik Elite won 27.4 percent of the vote. The G-Loomis IMX got 17.8 percent, and the St. Croix Avid X received 15.4 percent.

In the Favorite Boat category, Alumacraft’s T-Pro 185 strongly challenged Ranger for the top spot. Ranger has won the category several years in a row. This year, their 621FS was the readers’ pick by about 6 percentage points.

In other notable results, Hobie’s ProAngler 17 floated above the competition with 46 percent of the votes in the Favorite Kayak category. Humminbird’s Onix also enjoyed a decisive win in the Fishfinder-GPS category.

Although the St. Croix’s Avid X came in third in the Baitcasting Rod category, it won the Spinning Rod category. In other results, Shimano’s Symetre was the favorite spinning reel and Abu Garcia’s Revo MGXtreme was top baitcasting reel. Rapala’s MX Waking Minnow won top lure.

A majority of the 2,200 respondents considered themselves expert or advanced bass anglers. The survey also revealed that, on average, Game & Fish/Sportsman fishermen spent just over 50 days fishing in the past 12 months, and a majority caught more than 50 game fish.

“Through their experience and their opinions, we can see that these voters are veteran anglers when it comes to evaluating gear,” said Geiger, who coordinates gear coverage for the magazines.

Complete results of the voting are in the March issue of Game & Fish/Sportsman magazines, on newsstands now, and online at gafmag.com/rca-2015-fishing. Award trophies will be presented to winners at the 2015 ICAST show in Orlando.

Game & Fish/Sportsman, a nationally distributed magazine with more than 400,000 monthly subscribers and newsstand sales, had asked manufacturers to submit new gear nominees in 12 categories, from rods and reels to boats and stand-up paddleboards. To be considered “new,” the products must have been introduced in the last three years. The magazine then queried a large sampling of readers, subscribers and e-newsletter recipients to determine favorite picks.

Winners in each category include:

FAVORITE SPINNING ROD

St. Croix Avid X, 26.8%

Runners-Up: Abu Garcia Veritas 2.0, 19.9% and Shimano Clarus, 19.5%

FAVORITE SPINNING REEL

Shimano Symetre, 34.1%

Runners-Up: Pflueger Patriarch XT, 20.5% and Quantum Smoke, 17.0%

FAVORITE BAITCASTING ROD

Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite, 27.4%

Runners-Up: G Loomis IMX, 17.8% and St. Croix Avid X, 15.4%

FAVORITE BAITCASTING REEL

Abu Garcia Revo MGXtreme, 36.5%