A Rant Over a Growing Trend

(By Tim Zdrazil - Updated 6/3/2016)
Let me begin by saying that this blog post entry may ruffle some feathers; Good! I have had about all I can take on this particular issue and if I don't vent it off now, I will probably explode.

For the record, here is exactly what I believe. I, Tim Zdrazil am NOT a professional bass fisherman. I have a full time job that is NOT bass fishing. I have never and will never consider myself a professional bass fisherman until such time that my sole source of income comes directly or indirectly from bass fishing period. I also believe that the ONLY people who can rightfully call themselves professional bass fisherman are those that EARN money solely from bass fishing directly (winnings) or indirectly (sponsor paychecks, seminars, guiding etc). I further believe that if you are independently wealthy and are not paid directly (winnings) or indirectly (sponsor paychecks, seminars, guiding etc) for bass fishing you ALSO should NOT call yourself a professional bass fisherman. You are just a guy with a ludicrous amount of disposable income and you have an expensive hobby. There is one at least. I know this for a fact. Simply put, a professional bass fisherman feeds his/her family and pays his/her bills with bass fishing money.

Now that I have clearly stated what I believe, I am going to rant. The last straw for me was in a recent article concerning this distinction and the acid tinged comments that came with the article. I am not going to mention names or link articles here. This may be controversial enough without starting a war with anyone in particular. The article was written by a true professional bass fisherman. There seems to be a class war going on between the true professional bass fisherman and the rest of us. I have read three separate accounts to date that specifically call out so called 'wannabe' professionals. They say things like "just because you slap some patches or logos on a jersey doesn't make you one of us". One pro in particular said he was offended when a local guy said to him that he was proud to be on the same 'team' as him. Offended? Are you kidding me? First of all, you mister pro guy have no idea what the local guys status is with the company in question. How arrogant and presumptuous of you to even think that you might. That local guy may be a huge asset to the company in question and spend hours upon hours doing good promotional work for the same company that you as a professional also represent. He may have been very proud to think that he is working for the same company as you the professional that he looks (looked more likely) up to.  All of the articles and mentions that have put me in this state pretty much boil down to that sentiment. How dare you little peon put yourself in the same league as me. Oh mister pro guy, what makes you think that we do? I know that I personally dream of doing what you do. However, I do NOT put myself anywhere near your league with one glaring exception. I work my tail off for the companies that I represent. In fact, I take it to a fairly serious extent because I am blown away by the fact that they wanted me in the first place. I am so grateful and so very proud to be on these teams, that I feel like I have to work every day to make sure I am contributing to their success. I want them to want me on the team every year til I die.

I have nine true sponsors. I am on nine true teams. I am on nine different pro staffs. I PROMOTE and represent for nine different companies. Get it? Doesn't really matter how you state it. Each one of my companies has there own setup for this stuff and call it what they want to call it. But the bottom line is that they have agreed (actual contracts with most of them) to do such and such and I agree to reciprocate with such and such. When done properly, it is mutually beneficial. Guys like me who fish the lower and middle tiers of FLW or B.A.S.S. can do a ton of good work for companies in this business. Am I doing commercials or magazine appearances? NO. But I am a world class street worker for them. I am constantly looking for ways to help them move more product or advertise a new offering. Garage bands learned a long time ago. You need a dedicated street team busting for you every day if you want to pack the local joint. Most days its the band themselves, but you have to be on the street doing the work. I would argue that a guy like me that can only practice the day before most one day events and maybe a few days for a multi-day event is on the street way more than the guy that is on the water 5 of every 7 days.  Guys like me spend 5 or 6 days a week obsessing and talking about bass fishing. We Tweet, we Facebook, we Insta-whatever. We are always working towards that 1 or maybe 2 days a week we can be on the water. We are the fans, the co-anglers, the weekend warriors that fill those bottom rungs and create an opportunity for all of us to move higher in this sport. Yes it is a sport. Bug off if you don't realize that. You shouldn't be reading this probably.

The point is you NEED us. You wouldn't have an Elite series or and FLW tour without us. We are the building blocks for what you do at the top. Do you honestly think for a minute your Elite status would exist without the thousands of us at the lower and middle levels. Imagine for a second an NFL with NO college ranks. Imagine MLB with no college and farm league system. Why would these companies need you the professional angler at all if the entire market was 300 to 400 so called professional bass fisherman. We the wannabes buy the products, we beat the bushes, we talk to our local tackle shops about the new bait that they should stock. We are the absolute essential ingredient to your professional career. And for pete's sake, we are your fans. We are the most devoted followers you will ever have. The Smith family in middle America probably have no idea who you are or frankly care to know, but we dream about doing what you do for a living. Why would you turn on us? Why would you look down your nose at us? Why would you be offended because we happen to work with the same company that you do? Without us you are nothing. Without us you have no career. There is no market. There is no Elite anything. We get it. We really do. We are NOT you. We WANT to be you. Some of us WILL be you. So why, why, why would you treat us like dirt on your shoe?

 What you do is amazing. The travel alone would kill off most of us. The constant pressure to perform is mind numbing. The attempted balance between family, logistics, travel, business commitment is truly perilous. We get it. Are there some true morons in our ranks? Of course. Are there true idiot wannabes? Yepper, but the vast majority of us are just as tight a community as you are. We work hard and care just as much as you do. When I see guys at the BFL events here in Florida that I've known for 8 years its awesome. We catch up and talk about the conditions and are we "on anything". And heaven help us all we talk about sponsorships we've landed for the coming year. We celebrate for each other even when we land competitor companies. We do what you do at a much smaller level. We may only have a day to practice, but we are on the water just like you from sunup to "not miss the meeting" time. Grinding and praying we find the pattern that might get us a win. We take our commitments seriously too. There is not a single day that I am not doing something for one of my sponsor teams. It is a constant deal for me, because I am NOT a professional, I have to do this. I feel compelled to overachieve in every facet of this sport, so that one day maybe just maybe the stars will align and I will have a chance to feed my family doing it. Most likely not going to happen. But why this new trend in knocking us down every chance you get? Another pro recently pointed out that sponsor dollars are hard to come by and with the masses of us small fry getting into the game that its even harder on them. Really? So in essence you are working for a company that is stupid? Bet you wouldn't say that to them directly. They obviously understand that 10 guys like me, street warriors, working in the lower ranks is also helpful. Why else would they do it? Grass roots in many cases far outweighs concentration at the top. Also consider that you once were probably me. Finding the time, saving the money, working every angle you could to live this dream even if it is never fully realized. Its my dream dude. So stop laying your stuff on my dream. I could spend most of this rant just on how unprofessional things have gotten up there at the top, but that is not why I am ranting here.

Now its time to take issue with the rest of us. I truly believe that for the most part all tournament fisherman, fun fisherman, bank busters, kayak crazies, lawn chair on the dock cooler by your side guys/gals understand most of what I have vented so far, but some of us are also the problem. I am on Twitter off and on all day. I have been very fortunate using social media to help my teams out. I interact with other fisher folk every day. We talk about everything from products to interesting tweaks to presentations. We talk about where we are fishing, whats working, whats not working or why they aren't biting right now. Unfortunately I have also noticed a trend with the 'rest of us'. Please guys take this message to heart. Begging for product or hinting that you would love to try some of the product if it magically appears in your mailbox is not the way to join teams. The single best way to be noticed by teams in the first place is to BUY and USE the products first. Talk about the products first. I recently had a coaching session with a young man who truly could be great one day. He stands every chance of making it to the true professional levels someday. But a tweet to the company in open space saying you would love to talk sponsorships is just not the way to go. Really really not the way to go. Especially if your timeline is filled with profanity and teenage drama from your school day. Use your head. If you want these companies to notice you, notice yourself first. I do not expect any of my teams to give me anything. They do not owe me something. We work together for one purpose and one purpose only; Sell more product. If I am successful in this joint venture they will continue to support me the way that they do. At my level, every little bit counts. But the key for me and what I tell every team rep that I work with is simple. I will never ask or demand anything from you. I will only ask you to tell me what else can I do?  How else can I help? If you come running in with your hands out, you will be disappointed. I am humbled and thankful beyond reason that I have the level of support that I do from all of my teams. They are amazing and I am proud to be a part of them. I will do everything in my power to keep them moving forward just as I hope to continue forward.

One last pet peeve and the rant will finish up.  Please guys be respectful of your fellow fisherman who have sponsor deals. If guy or gal X is having a conversation with guy or gal Y about a particular product, you are NOT helping your team by jumping into that conversation with your teams product. It is disrespectful plain and simple. If you are invited into the conversation or asked for your view then sure. But I have seen multiple instances recently of conversation jumping when someone was teaching someone else about a product only to have super interrupty team guy/gal leap in to challenge with a different product. I get the enthusiasm. However I am not doing any of my companies any good if I become that guy. At some point someone is going to smack you around for it.

OK, I feel better now. If you truly want to help us out, buy some of the stuff we have given to you or shared with you. It's part of our deals. We get product into hands to test to learn to hopefully love and ultimately increase sales. I promise you this is truth. If you buy, use, celebrate and share the products that you love. You will be noticed by the teams. Make relationships. Get to know the staff guys/gals for those products. Share your ideas and ways to use those products.  Write reviews, participate in forums, show the companies what kind of street warrior you can be for them. They will notice. Opportunities will arise.  No matter what level or type of fisherman you consider yourself remember this. We ALL, every single one of us, has the same goal. That little tap or bump, that quick pick up of slack line, the feel of that weight on the other end, and a bone jarring hook set with a battle to the boat. We are all the same. We love fishing. We love the outdoors. We are a huge and yet very unique family of people. There is room for all of us. The simplest rule is still the best rule. Treat everyone the way YOU want to be treated.

You can follow me or my sponsors on -
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Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/tzdrazil

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