I was wondering if any of you wonderfully intelligent bass fisherman could tell me what would be the easiest route to enter into the business side of the fishing industry. I"m a business major with a focus on marketing and I would be interested in almost anything having to do with fishing, I absolutely LOVE IT! Some of my wedding pictures were in my boat and i took it on my honeymoon with me. Haha I was looking on the FLW website to see if i could get any answers and no one has emailed me back since yesterday. I'm almost out of college now and I would love to begin a career that i enjoy. The only problem is that i'm in East Tennessee and i haven't been able to really find any oppotunities close to home. I wouldn't mind a move just not too far away. I know Strike Kings offices are in Collierville (outside of Memphis) but thats on the complete other side of the state (Tennessee is a long state!) Any help would be most appreciated.

Tight Lines

Chris

"What would be the easiest route to enter into the business side of the fishing industry"

I would guess that getting a job at BPS, Cabela's, Dicks, or even in the Wal-Mart sporting goods department would be a good place to start. By being involved in one of those companies you'd probably get to meet reps. from a lot of other great companies in the industry. Then, if you're a good guy and good at what you do, you might get your "dream job."

Yes, that is a great way to do it. Get in with a local tackle store, and meet as MANY PEOPLE as ossible and make great relationships, if they think you can bring something special to their rep company or  their clients, windows will open.

Do some research to find out who in this industry uses people and actually has a HR dept. Jobs at the larger retail outlets will seldom lead you to anything more than that job. Manufacturer's reps deal with buyers, not sales floor people. However, with a degree you might be able to work through the ranks.

Most of the larger companies such as Strike King use distributors to move their product. Contact them to inquire about area representation.