JT Bagwell

You guys are right on the money. CSB, I put together a proposal for each company. It is specific to them and I do not have a "blanket" proposal or form. Most of the time I shoot them some figures on paper, but most of the deal is handled on the telephone or in person. I have not made an attempt to add a sponsor in over a year. I have been working with the same companies (+/- a company here or there) for about 3 years now. JT Bagwell

Sam, I agree with a lot of what you are saying. However, I must disagree with the following quote: For starters we are both using computers to access this forum. Secondly I like to wear nice clothes and I like to eat (high end fashion and cooking items). Almost all of my fishing buddies have went on some form of nonfishing vacation in the last 12 months (I went to Jamaica, my neighbor went to Maui, etc). So I can not agree with your examples. In a sense, what you did was stereotype fisherman. I know several anglers that wear high-end clothing, watches, footwear etc. both on and off of the water. I think only one guy in my group of close fishing buddies is a hunter. The rest of us like other things. The point I am trying to make is that not all fisherman like the same things. However, we may fall within the demographics of a non-endemic company. For example: Movado watches might have a target market of men between the ages of 25 and 55. There are a lot of guys that age that fish. Granted there will not be a large percentage that are willing to spend $750+ on a watch, but there are those of us that will. Even if only 1 out of every 1,000 anglers would buy a Movado watch, we are still talking some serious coin that can be earned by the company. In a nutshell, you shouldn't rule out any company as a potential sponsor. All of them have the potential to reach their target market through the fishing community. Just make sure you get your fair share when you close the deal. JT Bagwell

I have no plans to fish either tour or even attempt to qualify for them. As of now, I make more money doing what I do than the vast majority of tour pros. With a wife, a new baby, two trucks, a house, a boat, and a bunch of other things I have to pay for, I do not think that it would be a wise business decision for me to even try. When I was younger and single, it used to be a dream of mine, but when I got older and married I decided it was just that, a dream. This was an excellent topic though. JT Bagwell

How about trying a Yamamoto Lizard on a drop shot rig? The drop shot rig is a very neglected technique for catching spawning fish. JT Bagwell

I have used the Standout hooks since they first came out and I have not noticed any trouble with missing fish. It is just like any other hook and technique, you will lose fish sometimes. JT Bagwell

Chris is right on several points. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors. JT Bagwell

No I won't be driving up for that one. I am pretty sure I have one that weekend. If you need any help with finding lodging, etc for the Regionals, let me know and I can get you some phone numbers and locations. JT Bagwell

Yeah, I fish some of our local ABA tournies. I had a horrible year this year though. I never could put anything good together on the Mississippi. Good Luck, maybe I will see you on the river. JT Bagwell

ABA has announced the locations of their 2007 Regionals. One of them happens to be in my back yard. Finally a big tournament that isn't a 12 hour drive from home. http://www.americanbassanglers.com/news.php?getnews=1&news_id=346 JT Bagwell

My list is pretty much the same as RoadWarrior's (minus most of the rock stuff). JT Bagwell

You are absolutely 100% on the money with that statement. I have some sponsors because I do a lot of promotional work. There have been times where I have been in position to receive additional agreements from smaller companies but turned down any kind of deal because it just wasn't worth it to me. I am not willing to work very hard for a pack of sinkers and a discount on a shirt with some company logo on it. As a matter of fact, I developed a mindset several years ago that I would not ever pay for a single piece of clothing (hats included) that had a company logo on it. I decided that if they wanted me to wear it, they would give it to me free. That might sound a little cocky, but that is how I handle business on my end. Just consider this- If you are wearing a Minn Kota hat in a photo that appears in your local Sunday newspaper that has a circulation of 250,000 households. If only 10% of those households had just 1 person that looked at your picture, Minn Kota would have had 25,000 logo impressions. Even if nobody knows who you are, they now have at least some brand recognition for Minn Kota because they saw that logo. Brand recognition is a very valuable thing to a company. Sorry I got a little off tangent, but I often wonder why a lot of people seek sponsors. To be honest with you, I think a lot of it has to do with ego. The more patches an angler has on their shirt, the better they are supposed to be I guess. lol JT Bagwell

I for one like the Pflueger President. I use them and the Pflueger Medalist a lot. I also think you have made a great choice for the size of the reel as well. It is not too big and bulky, but big enough to handle business. JT Bagwell

I think I have a jig column here somewhere - http://bassresource.com/fishing/jeremiah.html JT Bagwell

PowerPro for 95% of my needs and Shakespeare Supreme or Cajun when I need monofilament. JT Bagwell

I second that. Here in the midwest we don't have an abundance of "huge" fish, but I think it might be fun to use one of these bluegill baits. JT Bagwell Ps: Pond Hopper, where do you live in the QC?

Mine is a Jig and Pig or a 5" Senko (any color). JT Bagwell

Where I live we don't have to many retail outlets that are stocking the shelves with Swimbaits. As a result, I am not familiar with the different brands. I was looking at www.mattlures.com and I was impressed. Those are some sweet looking baits. They are even cheaper than a lot of the high-end Japanese stuff on the market. I just wanted to give some praise to Matt for his baits and tell anyone that hasn't seen them to just take a look. I think they are pretty cool looking. JT Bagwell

Matt, I think the way you handle business is probably close to the "norm" for small to mid-sized companies. The ones that still have somewhat of a personal approach to its customers and partners. I guess I was looking at it from the view of a large multi-country corporation. When I look at it from a different perspective, I see exactly where you are coming from. I was thinking more along the lines of: I can not believe that Triton, Yamaha, Daiwa and etc. are calling local or regional anglers offering them contracts. JT Bagwell

You know, that is a very good question. I happen to live right where they have held 2 of the last 3 FLW Walleye Tour Championships (at least I think that is what they are calling it now). We are also hosting the Walleye League Championship this coming season. Walleye fishing is big in this area, but I am not sure that it is as big as bass fishing. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it starts to get as big as bass fishing in the North because of all of the new tournament trails available for those guys to fish. JT Bagwell

Thank You I started using Cajun 2 seasons ago and I have not had any trouble. They may have changed the line since you used it because I can't recall a single time when I got broke off or anything. JT Bagwell

I use 40 - 50 lb test PowerPro for all of my soft plastics (and jigs). They only time I ever deviate from this is if I am fishing in clear water. Then I will use either Cajun Red line or Shakespeare Supreme as my main line or as a leader. It really depends on what is around me in the water. JT Bagwell

I disagree to some extent. I present the old saying - "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" I have been told of several cases where an angler wears the patches and has the stickers on everything he owns, but can't get an entry level sponsorship from the company. Also, I am curious to know the level of sponsorships that people are getting approached with. I can understand guys like VanDam, Swindle, Ike and others of that caliber, but for the regional or lesser known tour pro, I have a hard time believing that a company is approaching them with cash sponsorships. I clearly do not fall into the category with Ike and KVD and I can say that only once have I been contacted by a major fishing company to promote their products. That came about when the owner of the company read an article I wrote for a National magazine. In the article I mentioned (very briefly) his product. He made a couple of calls, got my telephone number and when I got home there was a message on my voicemail. My cash and major product business agreements have all been the result of me approaching the companies. In most of the cases, I was fortunate that someone at the company had already read one of my articles or something of that nature so I at least had minimal name recognition. As Ish Monroe told me a few years ago "You can't pay your bills with a few crankbaits and you can't eat them for dinner either." JT Bagwell

I have pitched ideas to a multitude of companies that were non-endemic to the fishing industry. With each of them I looked at their demographics and determined the best way that I could reach their target markets. My goal was always to show how I could help increase market share. Some of these companies were willing to take a risk and put together a business agreement. However, in most cases they were not willing to spend enough money to make it a "fair" business agreement. To simplify what I am saying I will give a very rough generalization. If "Angler X" gets 5 million impressions (via internet, television, print media, and personal appearances) per year, they have something of corporate value. With that being said, if an auto dealership offers a $1,000 discount on a $40,000 tow vehicle, it would not be deemed a "fair" agreement. It would be more one sided in favor of the dealership. But if they allowed "Angler X" to purchase that same tow vehicle at cost or use it free of charge for the season, that would be a more even business agreement. As I said that is a very rough example, but it seemed from my experiences that companies outside of the industry do not fully grasp the value of reaching fishermen and fisherwomen. JT Bagwell

Fishing line like Cajun's Red Line is translucent. Hooks like Daiichi's Bleeding Bait hooks are not translucent. When an object is translucent light can pass through it causing it to be less visible. An object that is not, will refract the same light and cause it to be visible. JT Bagwell

I have the Pflueger President and Pflueger Medalist spinning reels and they are both excellent. Both are smooth and fairly lightweight. JT Bagwell