Fishing Sponsorship

[fishingmaster2097]

I am 14 years old and really good at fishing. I have a REAL love and passion for the sport of fishing! I just love it and I'm pretty good at it. I always have the need to go and catch more fish. Stride for new PB's and goals. Open my mind to new techniques and tricks to catch fish. So, I was wondering, If I get better, if there are:

1. Any companies that will/could sponsor me If I get better?

2. If there are any Ice Fishing/ Open Water fishing tournaments or derbies within reach of one and a half hours of Calgary that I could go to, and get better and maybe, just maybe do pretty good at?

If there are than please let me know either PM me or just comment on this thread. I hope for the best of luck for myself and all the fisherman on this forum! Tight Lines and Wet Nets everybody! :character0053:

Thank You,
FishingMaster2097

[chubbdarter]

First you need to present yourself well as a good representative of the company.

Others must recognize you as a capable fisherman, its not enough to think of your self as good

Communication skills are vital if you are to work the front line. For example most of the best staffers are asked to work premium shows and attend well recognized fishing events.

Good luck with your quest

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

First of all you should look at getting into some of the Walleye tournaments , make a name for yourself . Then you will possibly have sponsors coming after you .

I hope your not that guy who loves to fish and is just looking for free stuff , because thats not even cool .

I sponsor a group of Prostaffers , who help me advertise my fishing company . Not one of my guys I would say are pro , some are far better fisherman then others and others that are far better at getting my name than others and so on and so forth .

[fishingmaster2097]

Yeah I am not one of those guys who are good at fishing and want free stuff. I will work hard to do this. I was looking into the Nipawin Vanity Cup Walleye Tournament. That looks like a good start. I am ok at finding walleye. I dont want to say I'm the best because that is first of all Bad Karma and second of all I'm not the best. Thanks guys for the tips.

[pickrel pat]

Yeah I am not one of those guys who are good at fishing and want free stuff. I will work hard to do this. I was looking into the Nipawin Vanity Cup Walleye Tournament. That looks like a good start. I am ok at finding walleye. I dont want to say I'm the best because that is first of all Bad Karma and second of all I'm not the best. Thanks guys for the tips.

I think you are well on your way and will succeed. good luck young man!

[fishingmaster2097]

yeah thanks pickerel pat, the thing is trying to get to sign up. I need one of my guardians to. Its going to be hard but, I will never give up.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

Yeah I am not one of those guys who are good at fishing and want free stuff. I will work hard to do this. I was looking into the Nipawin Vanity Cup Walleye Tournament. That looks like a good start. I am ok at finding walleye. I dont want to say I'm the best because that is first of all Bad Karma and second of all I'm not the best. Thanks guys for the tips.

How about starting off with paying Entree fees and fish some of the SAWT .

[chubbdarter]

constructive criticism

stay focussed with your goal. Nipawin is not within the milage of your first post.

[pickrel pat]

heres a little tip to tounament fishing......... 95% of the people in the top 10 at the tourneys, are locals or came a few days early to pre-fish the lake......

[npauls]

Like mentioned before start at some local low key tourneys and go from there.

The Vanity is a top notch tourney and has a pretty long waiting list to get in.

You should look into the angler young angler tourney. If I could afford it I would pay the entry fee to that and see if you could meet me down at Travers and spend the day on my boat chasing walleyes. It is a fun little tourney and gets the young fisher people into a tourney type environment but they keep it fun and every person involved under 18 years of age receives a prize at the end of the day.

Good luck and keep working towards your goal. If you work hard at it you will have success. Do some reading online and check out some of the other walleye forums that are out there. There is a ton of information and always new stuff to learn. Another good thing to do is watch the professional tourneys online and soak up all the information that they offer.

[fishingmaster2097]

Like mentioned before start at some local low key tourneys and go from there.

The Vanity is a top notch tourney and has a pretty long waiting list to get in.

You should look into the angler young angler tourney. If I could afford it I would pay the entry fee to that and see if you could meet me down at Travers and spend the day on my boat chasing walleyes. It is a fun little tourney and gets the young fisher people into a tourney type environment but they keep it fun and every person involved under 18 years of age receives a prize at the end of the day.

Good luck and keep working towards your goal. If you work hard at it you will have success. Do some reading online and check out some of the other walleye forums that are out there. There is a ton of information and always new stuff to learn. Another good thing to do is watch the professional tourneys online and soak up all the information that they offer.

Thanks Everybody and npauls. I will not start off at Nipawin then, if it is a high level tourney. So Travers has a little "starter" tourney? If you want I will go with you, and get some walleye tips. Me and my stepdad. If that is OK with you. I would be overlyhappy to do that with you. I will have to ask him and PM you later. But thank you very much for the information. And thanks to all. I will keep striding for my goal and hope for the best. Tight lines and Wet Nets Everyone!:sHa_shakeshout:

[BigA]

Best of luck fishingmaster. If fishing really is your passion in life, keep up with it. There is nothing better than being able to make a living by doing what you love.

[fishingmaster2097]

Best of luck fishingmaster. If fishing really is your passion in life, keep up with it. There is nothing better than being able to make a living by doing what you love.

That is so true! Thanks:sHa_shakeshout:

[chubbdarter]

There is some prostaffed guys on this site that are backed by major companies in a large way. They dont advertise their positions, part of their proffessionsl conduct. Hopefully they will chime in and help you

[fishinggeek]

I can tell you finding sponcership is a VERY hard thing to find. But it is possible. You need to slowly get youself recognized in the fishing world. try online tournaments (bountyfishing.com). Get known on facebook and find alot of well known people as friends. And you need to find and catch BIG fish and concistintly catch them. A very good example of this, is one of our friends, aauron weib, he has just recently started a fishing show called Uncut angling (UncutAngling.com), he has purchaced all the camera gear and provided all the expenses to edit and produce all the episodes all by himself. he has been around for a while and is one of the most truly dedicated and hardcore fisherman i know (except for me and my bro, lol). He has been picked up by wild TV and will be airing in a year or so, and WILL be one of the best shows you will see. but he has had to travel, travel, travel. and find high class fisherman to shot shows with to get his name up there. Check him out and you can start getting some ideas. Or just catch 3 All tackle World Record fish and you can get a kick start in your career. lol. (fishinggeeks.net)
Hope to see you around, and fishing fishing fishing will only get you closer to your goal. :sHa_shakeshout::sHa_shakeshout:

[yada]

I am 16
YOUTUBE!!!!
Make a channel and get like 100-250 subs and your set.

I am sponsored by a 4 small companies, 3 in america and 1 in canada.
Its not like im a pro or anything. I just like to fish and help people out.

Sometimes these companies send me some lures to try and i give them feed back. Sometimes they offer me a bunch of free stuff and i normally dont take it. 2 of them are family owned, and 2 of them are guys who just do it afterwork.

Dont expect to be in the bass masters classics because your sponsored. I do it to help out some small buisness owners, not for my own profit. Its not that exciting.

Oh yeah, big companies dont sponsor people under 18.

[yada]

Oh, and my way is a lot cheaper than others...

Making youtube channel - free
Most Tournys - expensive!!

I dont have the money to spare to fish SWAT, but i do have the time and effort to make a youtube video once every week.

[trapshooter]

I am 14 as well, I made 2 youtube channels and am sponsered (prostaff) for one company and hopefully another in the fall! Present yourself, I film my hunts and fishing trips. I have a professional DSLR camera and 2 semi professional camcorders. That is the way I like to do it, certainly not cheap though.

[Serengeti Charters]

We are sponsored by P-Line and have partial sponsorships with Lamiglas and Owner Hooks. The key to getting these things is building up a reputation as an angler (or company in our instance) that consistently catches large fish and a lot of them. The best way to do this in my opinion is a combination of social media (youtube, facebook, etc) and producing (tournament victories or well showings). If you can do this you can present your case to large companies and can get sponsorship, although it is not easy.

Like I said, reputation and being a well known producer is going to be key...making a youtube channel alone won't get it done for you, it'll be mainly results based.

[Mariko's Rod]

if anybody wants to stamp me with there logo feel free it would be good buisness for you the way ive been hammering the pike and walleyes! My left cheek is open.

[RapStaff]

If you are serious about getting a sponsorship I recommend getting a job at a sporting goods shop in the fishing dept.
Get to know the Reps. They are the gateway to promise land.
This will not happen overnight.
Pay your dues.
Good luck young man!

[The Fisherman Guy]

Years ago when I was a sponsored snowboarder, the goal of the companies who sponsored me was to - sell more product. The biggest asset to me getting sponsored was that I worked in an independent snowboard shop and knew my products and I was enthused about the sport.

From the perspective of the company, what better advertising is there out than a biased salesperson? If I know the product very well because I use it all the time, I received that product for free with the intentions of selling more of that brand of product, it will help drive sales of that specific brand of product. One of the questions I was frequently asked in snowboard sales was; What do you use? Suggesting the product that I know the most about, only shapes the perspective of the buyer. My enthusiasm about the product would then transfer to the buyer, creating value. In turn, they were buying into the enthusiasm.

The benefit for a company to sponsor someone is to brand a well respected expert who is immersed in their target market. Brand the expert that other people look up to and respect, with a product, and those people who look up to the expert will want to use the same products the sponsored expert uses, in pursuit of the same results the expert achieves. In snowboarding, if Travis Rice can stomp amazing tricks on a Lib Tech board, the consumer will want to buy that product to be like him! Perhaps the product helps Travis achieve the amazing results he is capable of, that is marketing.

Please remember this:

Sponsorship is not a title or status; it is a relatively inexpensive gamble by a company to drive sales of their product. It is a lot of work to positively represent a company as an expert, and takes plenty of time to know everything about the product you are sponsored by. For instance if you are sponsored by Shakespeare, it is implied that you aren't to use any other product that competes with Shakespeare - or wear any other brand which competes with Shakespeare. That means that you will miss out on using other products which may be better than the product you are given by your sponsors. You will not receive any money on a level 1 sponsorship. As a sponsored amateur, you will get product only. Mostly hats and tee shirts with big logo's on them and a limited amount of the actual product - rods for example. You might get 5 tee shirts, 5 hats, some stickers and three rods. Only when you achieve professional status could you receive cash incentives for published photographs of you wearing a logo of your sponsor. Depending on the location of the photo (cover shot, full page, or quarter page) and clarity of the logo will determine the amount the picture is worth to you.

At least that is how it worked when I was sponsored, in a completely different industry. It could be different now, and it could very well be different in the fishing industry.

[spaghetti]

One of my Friends down from Florida actually is in his College's Sports Bass fishing team.

Got a scholarship from it and I think is listed somewhere in the 20th or 30th'ish best in his league or something.
I dunno.

Interesting stuff, but I don't think I could ever do it myself.

More interested in silly fish like Suckers, Pumpkinseeds, pike and goofing off.

[drake]

i would put down the rod and focus on school.....pretty hard to win a SWAT tournament from shore

[SportHuntingHelp]

Getting sponsored is a tough go in any market. I was sponsored myself in the fight world. I also sponsored other competitors through my clothing line at the time. It is a tough go for everyone involved including the sponsors. My recomendation is if you want to get sponsored and are given the opportunity make sure you truly support your sponsor. Represent them every where you go at every opportunity. This is a partnership not just a way to get free stuff.

[Sundancefisher]

I hope your not that guy who loves to fish and is just looking for free stuff , because thats not even cool .

I am a mediocre fishermen...so if I ask for free quality used stuff...is that okay and better than being good and asking for free new stuff?