5 questions with Pro Angler J.T. Bagwell

               JT Bagwell is a name that many Anglers are familiar with, having been in the business for over 15 years with over 150,000 followers on social media. Jeremiah’s name can also be found all over YouTube, Facebook, Bassresource.com, National Pro Staff, Twitter, ProBass Network and countless other social media outlets. JT started fishing as a child and grew into a popular outdoorsmen through his involvement in Tournaments and networking. Although he doesn’t participate in tournaments anymore, he is still very active in the Bass fishing community. JT is an accomplished writer who has articles, columns, how to videos and Youtube videos that can be found practically anywhere. His name can also be found linked to big brands such as Wiley X eyewear, Gary Yamamoto custom baits, Phenix baits, OT Wear, Devil Dog Arms, OtterBox, Mystery Tackle Box, Lucky Craft and Under Armour. I reached out to JT to ask a few questions regarding the fishing industry, conservation, and the future of the sport he has dedicated over 30 years to. And within a day he graciously agreed!

Q: I know you started fishing at a young age and were influenced by your Grandparents, now that you’re the father and the influence do you see the same fire inside your own children? And how do you think we can do a better job passing on our love of the sport to the digital born generation?

I absolutely see the fire in my boys (Luke and Lance). They are extremely competitive for being ages 7 and 11. They even have their own Instagram page called @FishingWithLukeAndLance where they show off some of their catches and funny pictures. Bass fishing is one of our biggest bonding times. Once their baseball season is over we fish multiple times per week. They are starting to talk a lot of trash to me when we are fishing and tell me that they are better than me, but every now and then I have to remind them who their daddy is and bust out a giant bass on them.

My personal opinion is the only way to get your kids into fishing and away for tech gadgets is to take them to the lake and make them leave the electronics at home, but you have to do the same. While you are at the lake, you have to make it fun for them. Start off catching bluegills and crappies and then as they get old enough to cast and reel, introduce them to Bass fishing. A key aspect though is to keep everything fun for them. It might be tough sometimes for the adults when kids get snagged and tangled up every 5 minutes but if you are constantly yelling at them for it, they will hate fishing because it is a miserable experience.

Q: When did you decide to hang up the fishing tournament gloves and take the path of being a writer/promoter? A lot of people would love to make fishing a full time job rather than a hobby, at what point did you realize that was a possibility? 

 I stopped fishing tournaments about a year after it was no longer fun for me. I competed in a TONS of events over the years and eventually it just was not enjoyable. I was starting to hate fishing. So I took a job with a multi-billion dollar corporation that allows me to fish a lot and do it when/where I want to. I didn't want competitive fishing to make me hate the sport that I had loved since I was 3 years old.

 ​I have done writing and promoting since the very beginning. I have a Major in Business Management and a Minor in Marketing, plus I could always write really well from the time I was a kid. I figured out pretty quickly that in the Bass fishing industry, catching fish was only a very small part of the equation. 

 It is extremely difficult, especially now days, to get paid to go fishing. There are way too many people that will promote a brand for free simply so they can say they are on a "Pro Staff." That takes away a big chunk of the revenue stream that anglers depend on from companies. That is part of the reason I have been working with more non-endemic companies for the last several years. 

If you are seriously considering becoming a Pro Bass Angler you need to fish as much as you can. Don't spend your time chasing sponsors. You need to learn everything you can about the habits, seasonal patterns and everything else Bass related. Then you also need to go to college and get a degree in something that you can use to help your angling career. The degree will always be there for you to fall back on if the fishing world chews you up and spits you back out like it does most anglers with big dreams.

                Q: In my last blog I talked about how the amount of hunters in the U.S. has decreased by 29 percent since 2010, while the amount of Anglers has remained steady the predictions going forward aren’t looking good. Some blame the limited access to public fishing areas while other blame conservation efforts, what are your thoughts on how we can keep this from happening?

                ​That's a good question and I hadn't really thought much about this before. I do believe there are probably several reasons that fishing remains more popular than hunting and continues to grow. First of all, ease of entry into the sport of fishing has to be a factor. Anyone can go buy a rod/reel combo and hit up a local lake with a box of worms and catch fish. That is not the case for hunting. The availability of public fishing waters definitely is a factor as well. Plus from the Bass Fishing side of the sport, it is marketing in a way that makes it "cool." Shows like Major League Fishing, The Bassmasters and things like that are pumped into millions of households every week via television and the internet. These shows are fun, dramatic, show off fast boats and show anglers in their full custom tournament jerseys. It just gives it all a cool, sexy look.

                 Just keep in mind that the ease of entry that I am referring to is only for fishing in general, not competitive fishing. That is whole different animal that costs tens of thousands of dollars to get started in. For example: You can easily spend $125,000 just on a truck and bass boat. That is before you even fill up the gas tanks. This figure doesn't include all of your tackle, hotels, tournament fees and the never ending miscellaneous expenses that fishermen have.

              Q: I’m proud to say that I belong to one brand as a field staff, which is the GoWild app. The co-founder of the app Brad Luttrell has an awesome podcast called Restless Native. Questions often come up from listeners about sponsorships and promoting yourself. Can you give any advice for those who are seeking sponsorship opportunities? I read your “Sponsorship Workshop” article, and I thought it was very resourceful. But I’m learning that a lot of average anglers are looking for ambassadors and pro staff positions outside of tournaments.

                ​One of the first things you have to understand in terms of sponsorships is that it is a business. Companies don't care if you like to fish and have done it since you were 5 years old. What they care about is that you can present yourself in a respectable, professional manner while putting their brands and products in front of MILLIONS of people. I personally amass well over 30,000,000 impressions (the number of times a picture of me is viewed) per year just on my social media. This does not include print media, my brand partner's social media accounts, in-store promotions, seminars, videos, ect. These are the kind of statistics that will separate you from the hundreds of thousands of other anglers that are trying to get sponsors.

               I have a multi-part video series on my YouTube channel (@BagwellFishing) that gives some detailed information regarding sponsorships. I encourage you all to check it out.

                Q: I read that your proudest moment fishing was winning the Exelon Fishing for a Cure charity Tournament, in which you gave back 20 percent of the winnings to the charity. Are you still involved in charity work? If so can you share with us where we can help out? 

              Yes that was a really cool experience and the event was for the Teenage Meningitis Foundation. I had been invited to fish the event about a month earlier after I won another event at the same lake. Shortly after that, I heard a story from this lady about how her beautiful, outgoing teenage daughter went away to college and somehow contracted Meningitis and passed away. It was such a horribly sad story and at that point I pledged to win the tournament and donate 20% of my winnings to the foundation. A month later I did just that. I won the even by a large margin and I actually handed the money to the girl's mom on stage. It was an emotional experience to say the least.

               ​I still try to help charities whenever I can. I was just at a charity Bass tournament a few weeks ago for a Volunteer Fire Department. I do not have a specific one that I work with but there are several that I have a soft spot for, for one reason or another and have helped in various ways. Some of them are The Lone Survivor Foundation, Special Ops Survivors Foundation, King's Home, Wounded Warrior Foundation and more recently I have become interested in some Autism awareness organizations and donated to one called My Little Buddy's Boat. Check it out at http://www.mylittlebuddysboat.com/

  

I would like to give a huge thank you to JT for taking the time to answer these questions. As an accomplished angler and writer to was a lot of fun looking up his credentials and early work. As a new blogger who does this for fun, I found inspiration and motivation to explore bigger stories and more people. If you would like to follow JT Bagwell, his Instagram and Facebook links are below.

 https://www.instagram.com/bagwellfishing/

 www.facebook.com/BagwellFishing

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5 DIY kids projects to get them outdoors

Summer is upon us, and before you know it school will be out and kids will be restless. While vacations, sporting events, camping, fishing, and hanging out with friends are probably on the list of things to do there are other alternatives. In our quest to get kids outdoors I’ve compiled a list of DIY projects for kids this summer. Most of the required items can be found around the house, which means they won’t break the bank.

Birdhouse

                One of the most basic projects for kids to do with their parents is to build a birdhouse. How many projects can combine family time, creativity, conservation, and great memories? Birdhouses can be simple or challenging, depending on the amount of time and effort you want to put your kids though. What I found with my oldest is that it has become a tradition for him to put the birdhouse out in the Spring. He made his first house in 2012, and it has survived hurricanes and squirrels while still holding strong. Last year, we had a Robin take residency in our birdhouse, the year before it was a finch. We hang ours on a shepherds hook in the yard but we put it in a different spot to mix it up. Birdhouses run relatively cheap as well, we bought ours in the craft section of Walmart for 10 bucks.

Bird Feeder

                Birdfeeders are great because they can be made out of practically anything. Ive seen feeders made out of bagels and milk cartons, but my favorite kind to make with the kids is made from a mason jar. I bought 12 mason jars from Walmart, a roll of twine, and some wooden dowels for under twenty dollars. We made ten of these with my sons Cub Scout group. The simple and rustic look was very popular, and one scout told me he used leftover sun catcher paint to make his unique. Homemade birdfeeders are a great way to bring wildlife into your backyard, and seeing a bird feed out of it gives a feeling of a great deal of accomplishment in children.

Pond in a Planter

                For a few years now I’ve wanted to put a small pond in the yard. The pond inserts are expensive, a 10 gallon preformed insert can run upwards of 100 bucks. If you had a pump, fish, and live plants you are talking another 100 dollars on top of that. I recently found a project on Pinterest that saved me hundreds of dollars and cured the pond itch. The new trend consists of making an ecosystem in a planter pot. I found a 30 gallon planter in the woods near our new home. I cleaned it out and filled it with rocks and water. The kids and I then went to a park where there was a pond, and dug up a small bunch of aquatic plants. After a week of acclimating the water, we went to PetSmart and bought a 5-15 gallon pump for $7.99 and comet goldfish. These fish can survive the winter temperatures as cost 14 cents apiece. The end result was a nice pond on our patio that the kids enjoy watching and the wife enjoys hearing while she reads outside. I’m going to buy LED lights for the inside, to help the atmosphere on the patio for the summer nights. My kids learned about fish care, how the plants filter the water, and the importance of upkeep in the pond.

Soda bottle Barometer

                As a cub master for 60 kids, I’m always looking for cost effective projects to do with the kids. I had to find a project related to wheather, and came across a barometer made from a soda bottle. The project was simple, cut the top off and flip it around, use masking tape around the edges to keep the top on and create a seal. Lastly take a ruler and a permanent marker and make a line for every hald inch of water. The scouts had a meeting every two weeks, and we would start off by discussing the amount of rain we recorded at each house. There are also numerous websites such as the National Weather Service where you can get your towns average rainfall records for every month of every year. This fun and simple project can be made for less than 5 bucks, and the amount of information the kids learned about the weather was priceless.

Balloon powered car

                This project can be completed either indoors or outdoors,  but my kids loved playing with these on our deck. The car is lightweight, and the air from the balloon propels the car forward. We made our cars using a piece of cardboard for the body, bottle caps for the wheels, wooden dowels for the axels, and a balloon attached to a straw by a rubber band. Glue or tape the straw to the body and have the kids blow up the balloon and let the car go. They raced these for hours, created a racetrack on our deck, and even made little jumps that required some repairs after. 

                Again, these projects are simple and cheap but they allow children to use their imagination. The time spent making these will be more memorable than any video game or board game, and it gets kids outside and exploring something new. It’s one more way to help us Plant your Roots outdoors.

No Tresspassing: blocking conservation efforts

                

I live in upstate New York, our town is unique in that it has 6 lakes, a creek that leads to the Hudson River, and numerous ponds. Over the last 5 years there has been a push from our local Government to limit the amount of access the public has to these waterways and even state land for hunting. The town has argued that it isn’t their fault, the people using these areas have polluted, abused, vandalized, and disrupted the nature around the public areas. I have seen the destruction first hand, the beer bottles, the extra fishing line, and all the trash in between. While this is far from acceptable, we need to find better alternatives to closing down these areas.

The facts

According to a five year study conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hunting participation declined by 2 million people. Hunting expenditures declined 29 percent from 36 billion to 25 billion dollars. While fishing has been study, with an estimated 35 million anglers in the U.S., every year less and less people are trading in hunting and fishing gear for hiking and wildlife photography. These two growing activities are beneficial for the well-being of the person, but there isn’t any money going to State Conservation efforts. In New York, many State Parks are now charging per car to enter, but now some famous trails require an additional fee to make up the cost. This is keeping people from adventuring outdoors or exploring someplace new, which is also starving local businesses in revenue generated by tourists. These numbers are overwhelming to Conservation efforts, U.S. Secretary of the interior Ryan Zinke stated; “This report absolutely underscores the need to increase public access to public lands across the country.”

                Similar issues come with privately owned land being used for hunting and fishing. Many landowners have been burned by visitors who have destroyed property or have broken laws while using the land. Furthermore, an increase in lawsuits over the last decade have some landowners worried about the liability.

                Since there has been a decrease in hunting and fishing, mainly due to limited access (and the rise of electronics) funding for public land and public access points has decreased. In the past, the purchasing, protection, and upkeep of public land has come from two sources. First, the federal excise tax on Firearms, ammo, fishing equipment and archery has always gone back to the State for these lands. This is possible due to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration act. Secondly, license fees for fishing and hunting through the State wildlife conservation programs. As I stated above, billions have been lost due to the decline in outdoorsmen.

 
                                 

Solutions

                There are many programs out there that assist with conservation efforts. These include large programs such as the “adopt a highway” program and even new programs such as Raise em’ outdoors and local park activities. But this clearly isn’t enough to keep the numbers from falling. I am currently working with the town to try to get more public access to these lakes, but it is a slow process considering the damage that has been done. More police means higher taxes, more upkeep means extra cost to use a trail. In the end… it’s on us. I would like to see about getting an “Adopt a trail” program or a “adopt a public beach” program going. We won’t be able to change a private landowners mind easily, that land is their lively hood. But unless we push for easier access to land and water, these numbers will continue to decline.

Have any thoughts or ideas? Subscribe or comment, or shoot me an email. We all need to plant our roots.