New Age of Tournament Sponsors

In this day and age getting sponsored by a company to fish tournaments is really difficult and the Pro Staff program for most companies fill up fast if there are any openings. I started fishing tournaments about 6 years ago and I probaly contacted 100 companies locally and within the fishing industry regarding sponsorships. I got alot of responses like "At this time all positions are filled" or "Please contact us next year in regards to a sponsorship" that first year I ended up signing with 3 sponsors all of them were local buisnesses. I have learned alot about sponsorships since I started, here are a few tips:

1. Don't expect to get paid - Most companies will offer a good discount on their product, free product or apparel in exchange for advertising. Getting paid would be nice but don't expect it from most companies .


2. Have a Resume - Most sponsors want to see who you are and what you can do for them. When making up your angling resume include organizations you belong to, tournaments you have fished, where you placed in those tournaments, current sponsors if any, upcoming tournaments, how you will promote there product, how many years have you been fishing etc.


3. Contact Everyone - Go through your tackle box and make a list of companies that you have purchased from like Berkley, Shimano, Mepps etc. and contact them regarding sponsorships. Also look at companies that make reels, rods, and equipement.


4. Stand by Your Word - If you tell a potential sponsor your are going to do something for them and they sign you to their prostaff team, remember to follow through with what you promised.
5. Promote Your Sponsor - Remember they are depending on you to promote their products so when you are talking to people at tournaments, if you are out fishing on the weekends, if you are talking to friends about fishing remember who sponsors you.

Lay It On The Line

The quality of your fishing line can be the differance between a good day and a great day on the water, over the past 25 years I have used different fishing line from manufactures that claim to have the best line on the market. Lets be honest alot of manufactures produce line that is sub par and market their product by having fancy packaging, then to get even more anglers buying their product they get a TV host to promote their weak line and when you look at the big picture they are getting paid to promote their line wheather it is garbage or not. A few years ago I went to the Spring Fishing Show in Toronto fed up with using sub par line and was looking for a product that stood up to tournament fishing and weekend trips with minimal problems. That day I ended up talking to a representitive from GAMMA Technologies and after explaining to him my problems with my current line he asked if I would like to try a knot strength test comparing GAMMA line with several other lines. I was surprised to find out the gamma line out preformed trilene, stren, shakespeare and spiderline and purchased a few spools of 8lb Gamma Copoymer line and headed back to Thunder Bay for some field testing. I spent all summer that year fishing GAMMA line in tournaments and convincing anyone that would listen to try this new line, after landing a big northern pike on 8lb line without a leader my fishing partner was convinced to give GAMMA a try.

Gamma has developed fluorocarbon and copolymer lines that have incredible strenth and abrasion resistance with low memory which results in less time fixing your line and more time fishing. Gamma line also gives you more confidence when fishing because you don't have to worry about breaking your line when fishing structure, so you can fish that rock pile you always wanted to try. If you are tired of the same old line give GAMMA a try you might be surprised what you are missing out on.

For more information on GAMMA lines visit thier website http://www.gammafishing.com/