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oohh at last its hit the fan !!!!!!!!!!

Paul Bullinger said:
There's a wider issue at stake here and that's regarding the mis-use of AI. Putting the MB video to one side, I think the public have got to be aware that, these days, the camera (and the recording) CAN lie.
We have all probably seen footage of politicians and "celebrities" saying and doing odd things, that turn out to be false. It seems some individuals enjoy creating false stories. Not sure what drives them to do this...maybe notoriety, financial gain, for a "laugh"? Who knows.
All I do know is that if something doesn't "look right" or "sound right" or if the subject person is acting in a way totally out of character, then I would say its an idiot using AI for malicious purposes.
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It's deeply concerning and has the potential to subvert democracy.

As the wider issue of AI is pretty scary. I saw the headlines last week from Google's head of AI stating that AI posed as great an existential threat as climate change.
 
Andy Bebbington said:
That's bowler on the wye, well well he's messed up now.
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update on my post as i jumped in without thinking, the video looks and sounds like martin but who knows with today`s technology it may have been doctored, you would think he would deny it if it was not him.
 
Derek Funcks said:
If its not him, He,s probably going on his lawyers advice, and saying nothing at this time.
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And it mentions Peter Drennan on one of screenshots. I'm guessing that this won't be the first legal battle PD has been involved with over the years.
He'll have PR people on it as well as legals. If it were to be proven then the potential damage to both the MB and Drennan brands would be pretty significant, based on some of the reactions on here. If they are innocent and this is the latest incident in a smear campaign then it might be time to bring out the big guns? Let's see how it plays out.
I like Martin Bowler and I think he's been a good ambassador for the sport. I just hope he's not felt pressured to do something stupid to create content for his new Fishflix venture. I'm sure uncle John Wilson RIP pulled a few strokes over the years, when catching for the camera.
Not condoning him , but let he who is without sin cast the first stone and innocent until proven guilty( which we seem to forget nowadays)
 
Paul Richardson said:
And it mentions Peter Drennan on one of screenshots. I'm guessing that this won't be the first legal battle PD has been involved with over the years.
He'll have PR people on it as well as legals. If it were to be proven then the potential damage to both the MB and Drennan brands would be pretty significant, based on some of the reactions on here. If they are innocent and this is the latest incident in a smear campaign then it might be time to bring out the big guns? Let's see how it plays out.
I like Martin Bowler and I think he's been a good ambassador for the sport. I just hope he's not felt pressured to do something stupid to create content for his new Fishflix venture. I'm sure uncle John Wilson RIP pulled a few strokes over the years, when catching for the camera.
Not condoning him , but let he who is without sin cast the first stone and innocent until proven guilty( which we seem to forget nowadays)
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Well said Paul.

I'm pretty sure that's the stretch of the Wye PD has done lots of filming on in the past. Judging by the salmon groyne and the far bank trees. His own stretch maybe?

I think MB alludes to this being nothing to do with Fishflix in one of his Insta comments, so I'm assuming the video footage is back from the Drennan days?

MB has been a fantastic ambassador for angling and has brought a lot to the table. Innocent untill proven guilty as you rightly say.
 
On the face of it this is not a good look for Martin Bowler .Being charitable maybe they mean't they were simply going to put the hook back in the fishes mouth and re film the unhooking process for some reason ? On a wider more general point ,aren't we being a little naive here ? These videos are made for entertainment , product promotion and money making . Such videos involve editing , many takes etc . I am sure there have been many films made where the catching process has been edited to make a'' better'' finished product , such chicanery may not be to everyones taste but it is a reality . Look at a few fishing videos , it is clear that creative editing has taken place , continuity mistakes can be seen even in professional fllms .As far as this video clip is concerned, I reckon we should give Martin Bowler the chance to have his say / give an explanation before jumping to hasty conclusions .
 
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Yes, lots of cuts, changes in the editing process.

Mortimer etc with different rods hooking and then changing when playing fish as has been noted.

JW himself holding up fish he didn't catch etc etc.

However, it's a bit strange a simple " it's a fake" wasn't an immediate response.

Anyway. I'll wait and see.

My only experience of MB was that he often fished a bit of the WA whilst I was there.....with a person who on one occasion smashed a double figure pike over the head with a hammer after it took a roach he was playing. This despite an offer by a pal to return it downstream.
Not good company to keep.
 
Had a call from MB last week regarding fishing a couple of the clubs stretches, he is a member of the club and took the trouble to make sure we were ok with this and asked if there was anything we wanted him to do. Not all anglers do this.
A friend of mine went to the Severn a couple of weeks ago to fish for Zander, having never fished for them before he contacted MB who was more than helpful regarding methods and venues.
Hopefully this will all prove to be false as if not would be a disaster for him.
 
I found MB 'guesting' on one of my waters some years back. Even had the nerve to ask me to take a picture of him athe barbel he caught. This thread posted doesn't surprise me
 
Richard Isaacs said:
Why is that a “nerve” Chris.
If someone asked me I’d only be too happy to do this and congratulate them.
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Presumably because he didn't have a ticket?

I've asked him a few questions over the years and he's been good enough to respond. When I was growing up he was a bit of an idol, particularly when the 'Catching The Impossible' series came out. I always thought he was one of the good guys so hopefully it is fake.

If it is fake then presumably there is a copy of the original video with original audio, that would go some way to addressing it. I think outright denying it and publishing the original video would probably be the first things I would have done.
 
Think similar has been going on for years. I remember a local Barbel Society talk about 25 years ago when a top predator angler admitted rehooking big Scandinavian Pike onto Rapala lures for publicity photographs. The trip included a visit to the Rapala factory and might have been sponsored by them. They were told to help themselves to lures and they really took advantage. The Rapala lures were useless compared to a local lure which resembled Herring and caught loads. I remember looking across at Ray Walton and we were both horrified.
 
Apparently some big names have been seen doing this before. Not sure that will help MB one bit though if he is indeed guilty. He doesn't have the profile of the more maverick type of fishing personalities who may have got away with it, he comes across as the very acceptable and genuine face of angling.
 
Pretty damning this from one of the ESP/Drennan Media team.

On an open forum on FB and it's been shared multiple times so I figure no harm in posting it here.

I was very much on the benefit of the doubt/no one would be so stupid side of the fence however seems there's no smoke without fire unfortunately. A real shame if that's the case.
 

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Lewis Baldwin said:
Pretty damning this from one of the ESP/Drennan Media team.

On an open forum on FB and it's been shared multiple times so I figure no harm in posting it here.

I was very much on the benefit of the doubt/no one would be so stupid side of the fence however seems there's no smoke without fire unfortunately. A real shame if that's the case.
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“The footage was discovered”
Well it’s come from somewhere and someone
But no one wants to take ownership of creating that footage.
If it is real like Jack reckons then there would be a viable legitimate source admitting to taking it and caching MB red handed doing the act.
I’m not 100% convinced and I wasn’t before reading Jacks comment.

I’m very much on the fence with it and reserve judgment until the evidence says otherwise.

Doesn’t Jack film for ESP nowadays 🤷🏻 he’s hardly going to be doing Martin any favours is he.
 
Richard Isaacs said:
“The footage was discovered”
Well it’s come from somewhere and someone
But no one wants to take ownership of creating that footage.
If it is real like Jack reckons then there would be a viable legitimate source admitting to taking it and caching MB red handed doing the act.
I’m not 100% convinced and I wasn’t before reading Jacks comment.

I’m very much on the fence with it and reserve judgment until the evidence says otherwise.

Doesn’t Jack film for ESP nowadays 🤷🏻 he’s hardly going to be doing Martin any favours is he.
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Equally when Martins talking about taking legal action against people, I would assume Jack would be pretty confident in what’s he’s said.

I’m reserving damnation until it all comes out but personally I don’t think it looks good at all.
 
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