RE: Blaukat on state of the sport – I enjoyed reading the article by Randy Blaukat. I have been working in the fishing/hunting industry since 1979 and have observed the same trends in professional fishing. Tournament fishing has been good for the industry, bringing vast improvements in boats & tackle, and making fishing more of a mainstream spectator sport.
Unfortunately, too many people think they need the same gear as the pros, and the cost of a bass boat, tow vehicle, and all the tackle is starting to scare some people away. Watching John Cox win the FLW Cup out of an aluminum boat and no working depthfinder was great and might help to show more people that you don't need $100K worth of equipment to be successful.
I am not a pro so I cannot comment on the level of competition in B.A.S.S. vs. FLW, but B.A.S.S. pros are much more visible to the average angler. All you need to do is attend both the Bassmaster Classic and the FLW Cup events to realize the difference. Nonetheless, FLW has a very successful model that appeals to a lot of people and a huge grassroots tournament organization that helps a lot of people get into the game.
Although tackle and marine sales may be solid, the industry as a whole is not growing and we need to recruit more new people to outdoors activities like fishing and hunting. We cannot do that by making fishing look like an elitist sport that requires a huge investment. There are also more and more tackle companies trying to sell their products to a smaller group of major national retailers so the business has become extremely competitive and advertising / promotional monies are harder to find.
The truth is that there are only about 12-15 big-name pros that the average consumer recognizes and they get the big money deals. That may not be fair but it is the way things are. Some companies would rather spread out their promotional dollars and sponsor a bunch of "up and comers" instead of one or two big-name guys. The massive influx of guys trying to become a pro has also made it tougher for the established pros because these newer guys are hungry and willing to take whatever kind of deal they can get.
Randy and many other pros have been smart to secure non-endemic sponsors, many of whom have a lot more money to spend than tackle companies. They become "brand ambassadors" for these companies/organizations, and have to be much more than just good fishermen. This model is what made NASCAR successful, and although we can't compare the dollars in fishing to racing we can use the same strategies to reach people.
The future of all fishing depends on getting more people interested in the sport, not selling the existing anglers more expensive gear. It doesn't matter if you are just a casual angler, a guide, or a seasoned pro. It doesn't matter if we reach people by taking a kid fishing, appearing on a TV show, or driving a wrapped boat down the highway, but we need to attract more people to the sport. If the numbers don't grow license sales will decline and state agencies will have less money to improve the resources. Tackle sales will not grow and there will be less promotional monies for all the pros.
