Let’s talk about Raww Fishing

[Characin Man]

How can a lie and a cheat be so successfu. I just watched a video where he “Caught invasive Eel.” in freshwater and the eel he ”caught” was a snowflake eel which is a saltwater or brackish species of moray eel. or ” 1 in 2,000,000 blue lobster caught in trap” normally I would just say he just doesn’t know but it is all fake and evidently he thinks his supporters are stupid. I just want to shed some light on how fake his videos are some are probably real but that’s just some. If anyone agrees than good there are more smart people in this world

 

[Hendre]

We don't really badmouth channels in general, YouTube is a business for people and people will take whatever measures they must to get the views. So while it is pretty hopeless to see, it's not going to improve by complaining on a niche forum unfortunately

Also welcome to MFK

 

[Chicxulub]

My general opinion on this subject is that he will only appeal two individuals who are not otherwise familiar with our hobby. This can be a good thing, as his activity bringing awareness to our hobby can be beneficial in that it brings people to both this forum and into the hobby. I would imagine that many people who find videos such as that will do a little bit of homework before actually committing several hundred dollars to taking the plunge into a fish tank, and realize there's a little more to it than those videos would imply.

So while many (though not all) of these YouTube videos are problematic in that they are both sensationalist and that they present questionable to downright inaccurate information, they do bring people into the hobby, so I can't hate them for that.

 

[BIG-G]

I watch a lot of different channels, Raww isn’t my favorite and otherwise doesn’t offer much in the way of good information.
This sort of staging for videos thing, I’m sure goes on a lot, not just on Raww so I can’t hate on one for doing it.
I don’t like the idea of using animals for video props though.
Hopefully people will view these type channels as I do. Watch for the entertainment go elsewhere for good fish keeping knowledge.

 

[Characin Man]

Thats true ok i wasn’t aware about the nkt badmouthing YouTube channels on this im ok with that and it is a good thing that there isn’t badmouthing on this

 

[Characin Man]

I think that The King of DIY is a good one same with Aquarium Co-Op

 

[crgklr]

I actually registered here just to say this, because the attitude in this thread is missing the forest for the trees.

RAWW Fishing isn’t for you. It’s a kids channel. And it’s damn good at getting kids fired up about fish, fishing, and the species you all claim to love. My 6-year-old is living proof. He’s completely hooked (pun intended). He talks about catching “pond monsters,” knows way more about native fish than most adults, and just built an aquarium with me because he wanted to keep a bluegill.

Franklin is creating the next generation of your community. I bet you're 100% spot on that he "rigs" or "stages" a lot of his content - you don't catch fish with a chocolate bar or a happy meal box if you don't do that from time to time. But ya know what? Kids freaking LOVE IT regardless, even if they know it's rigged they don't care they care about the fun that Raww Fishing is creating with his content, and the fun he is associating with your hobby. Isn't that something you want to have happen? Not all YT videos adjacent to this hobby need to do so with their pinky raised. Franklin is a genius going after the 5-13 demo, imo. They watch videos endlessly and their parents buy the merch! I say this as someone who has been swindled by my own son's eyelash batting into buying Raww Fam gear haha.

Anyways, my point is: you want more people in this hobby? You want future collectors, aquarists, anglers, or biologists? Then you need to accept that someone, somewhere, has to make the gateway content that reaches kids on their level. RAWW does that better than almost anyone on YouTube right now. And instead of recognizing the role it plays in growing interest from a younger demographic, OP is tearing it down and using words like "scam" because it doesn’t meet your standards for what this hobby and content around it should look or sound like.

That’s not helping the community. It’s gatekeeping.

Hope this comment helps change your perspective a bit.

Like I said I registered just to post this because OP's message was so hostile against what's clearly a channel not targeted at adults. As a result I probably won't be checking back but I wish you guys all the best! Grew up with a swimming pool full of monster bass that my brothers caught at the lake down the street. It's a cool hobby! Keep it going!

 

[Hybridfish7]

I actually registered here just to say this, because the attitude in this thread is missing the forest for the trees.

RAWW Fishing isn’t for you. It’s a kids channel. And it’s damn good at getting kids fired up about fish, fishing, and the species you all claim to love. My 6-year-old is living proof. He’s completely hooked (pun intended). He talks about catching “pond monsters,” knows way more about native fish than most adults, and just built an aquarium with me because he wanted to keep a bluegill.

Franklin is creating the next generation of your community. I bet you're 100% spot on that he "rigs" or "stages" a lot of his content - you don't catch fish with a chocolate bar or a happy meal box if you don't do that from time to time. But ya know what? Kids freaking LOVE IT regardless, even if they know it's rigged they don't care they care about the fun that Raww Fishing is creating with his content, and the fun he is associating with your hobby. Isn't that something you want to have happen? Not all YT videos adjacent to this hobby need to do so with their pinky raised. Franklin is a genius going after the 5-13 demo, imo. They watch videos endlessly and their parents buy the merch! I say this as someone who has been swindled by my own son's eyelash batting into buying Raww Fam gear haha.

Anyways, my point is: you want more people in this hobby? You want future collectors, aquarists, anglers, or biologists? Then you need to accept that someone, somewhere, has to make the gateway content that reaches kids on their level. RAWW does that better than almost anyone on YouTube right now. And instead of recognizing the role it plays in growing interest from a younger demographic, OP is tearing it down and using words like "scam" because it doesn’t meet your standards for what this hobby and content around it should look or sound like.

That’s not helping the community. It’s gatekeeping.

Hope this comment helps change your perspective a bit.

Like I said I registered just to post this because OP's message was so hostile against what's clearly a channel not targeted at adults. As a result I probably won't be checking back but I wish you guys all the best! Grew up with a swimming pool full of monster bass that my brothers caught at the lake down the street. It's a cool hobby! Keep it going!

The problem isn't the demographic or whatever his content is supposed to be, it's the whole releasing animals into a ditch and then re catching them to play into the whole "florida is covered in feral animals" gimmick, or buying a bunch of expensive fish and putting them in a kiddie pool, only to kill them because he can't take care of them properly, and then replace them for next week's video to repeat the process. A good chunk of his videos are "i got this fish for my gimmick pond!" and then 5 videos later it's like "my monster fish died!!". If you want to say his channel is for kids, then that's not the example you want kids following. If you want a channel that does that whole "fun" florida fishing content for kids, consider monster mike or paul cuffaro. They're a little better in that regard. Catch em all fishing does the same stuff as raww fishing but raww fishing is probably one of the worse ones. "Bass fishing productions" I would consider the worst as all of his content involves the whole clickbaitey "plant rare aquarium fish in a ditch or sewer and come back the next day to catch them for a video". Sometimes the fish he's using are so specific I could tell you which importer he got them from.

 

[HUKIT]

I actually registered here just to say this, because the attitude in this thread is missing the forest for the trees.

Thankfully you registered with this timely rebuttal. I am sure the original poster is more than likely still just as upset today as he was more than five years ago when he posted this.

To your point about him introducing the next generation of hobbyists then all I can say hopefully I’ll be dead when and if they become prominent…