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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