EDITORS NOTE: Jeff has been writing for Hooked since the magazine was incorporated. This is the 16th year. He is a prolific producer of content, with stories and videos covering the globe. We at Hooked are very appreciate of his work.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
One of the questions that I get asked quite often is “what motivates you to keep doing what you do” – making a living within the fishing community. The first thing that always comes to mind is that I just want to avoid having to get a real job – a Monday to Friday gig, where I might not be my own boss. While, it hasn’t always been easy, profitable or convenient when it came time to get a loan for something, I have stuck with the fishing thing, and it has been working out pretty well.
Being in the boat is also a happy place for me, always, regardless of the weather or the fishing. The fish don’t bite every day and I’m okay with that.
Today, at 41 years of age, this is how I’m combining tournament competition, guiding, outdoor writing, sponsorships and promoting the sport of fishing to make a living.
Tournaments
As a youngster, I was fortunate that my parents took me to catch the weigh-ins at the Kenora Bass International, our hometown tournament that started in 1988. I can remember just wanting to go and try to catch a glimpse of the fish while the guys were in the weigh-in line. I fished the Kid’s KBI a time or two and then for my tenth Christmas, my Dad and I got an entry in the 1993 KBI – we were going to do it.
Our goal that first year was to simply catch a bass so we could walk across the stage. The first several tournaments, our results we not that great but after a few years we started to get competitive. We were fishing several events on Lake of the Woods and Shoal Lake.
In 2000, at 17, Chris Savage and I won the KBI, which was a big boost for sending me down the fishing road that I took.
In my late teens and early twenties, I fished every tournament I could across the region, even a few walleye tournaments but I never had the success in those that I did in the bass events. My summers revolved around competing in these tournaments. I fished as many different waters as I could and I think that helped me become a better overall angler, just gaining experience in a variety of situations.
We didn’t always do well but my friends and I were fishing a lot, learning a lot and every once in while we would win one and keep the gas tank filled up.
In 2012, I caught a break when one of my guiding clients offered to help me sign up to fish some pro level tournaments in the U.S. I signed up for the four-circuit FLW Tour Opens and did well enough in those to qualify for the FLW Tour the following year.Those events had $4,000 USD entry fees and at that time I didn’t have that kind of money to spend fishing tournaments on waters that I had never seen before, fishing against the best bass anglers in the World.
Fortunately, I did well enough to hang in there those first few years and I’m still doing it today. I fished the FLW Tour for six years, then in 2019 I joined the Bassmaster Elite Series, the top circuit in professional bass fishing. All the tournaments that I’ve fished over the years, hundreds of them, led me to Knoxville, Tennessee in March where I won the Bassmaster Classic, the Superbowl tournament in bass fishing. The $300,000 first place prize from that event will help to keep me going for the foreseeable future.
A TOUGH WAY TO GO
Competing in tournaments is the toughest way to make a living in the fishing industry because there is no guarantee that you’re going to catch fish and make money. You’re gambling basically, but if you are good at it, you can win good money and gain credibility that can help you in some of the other endeavors that we’re going to discuss as we go here.
Further complicating the tournament gig for anglers in our part of the world is our season is so short so we only have a limited number of events in which we can make money. To really chase this dream, whether you want to fish professional walleye or bass tournaments, you almost must cross the border into the U.S. where there is a bigger stage and more opportunity to make money competing throughout the year. Central Canada is a fantastic place to learn and hone your skills, however.
Guiding
In the 1970’s my Grandpa, Wally Stewart, built a cabin in Echo Bay on Lake of the Woods. Our whole family would spend good chunks of the summer there and I spent hours and hours casting off the dock. Eventually I was able to start taking a 14 foot Lund with a 15 horse motor out to explore and find adventure on the water, probably at around ten years old. At first, I had to stay within sight of the cabin and always wore a life jacket but as time when on I could venture further away. The cabin offered me access to the lake and fishing at an early age and I just caught the bug.
THE EARLY DAYS
I was a teenager when I started reach out to some of the tourist camps on the lake. I needed a summer job and I wanted to guide. By the time I was 13 or so I knew my way around the west arm of Lake of the Woods and Shoal Lake pretty good. Roger Clinton out at Ash Rapids Camp hired me to work on the weekends, doing camp work and helping out with whatever I could. When I was 14, one of the guides didn’t show up one morning and I got to do my first fishing trip. I was a small, geeky kid with glasses so I’m sure when I jumped into the boat, the American guests probably thought, “are you kidding me”?!?
I took them to all of my best spots, and we caught a bunch of bass and pike, it was a success.
Through high school and university, I guided every chance I could during the summer, in between tournaments. I worked at several camps around Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake before eventually starting to do my own thing once I had a decent boat. Working at the camps was a fun lifestyle, you meet a lot of people and get to spend a lot of time on the water. More responsibility came with running my own trips but the pay was better and I could fish wherever I wanted.
Today, I still guide when I get a few free days here and there. Over the years, I have booked trips in all seasons, including ice fishing. The great thing about the Lake of the Woods area is we have so many options for fish to catch throughout the year. The ability to catch fish on different waterbodies, in all types of conditions is a valuable trait if you want to be successful as a guide or tournament angler. You have to be able to put fish in the boat. The best advice I can give is to fish every chance you get, on different waters, in all types of conditions, not just on the nice days or the spots where you know you can catch fish.
WRITING
After high school I went to the University of Manitoba but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life so I was kind of on the “keep Mom happy” program. I left there with a degree but I needed to work. I was fairly busy with my fishing activities, some sponsor opportunities were starting to pop up but I needed to do more, especially during the down times for fishing.
I started reaching out to all of the fishing magazines and got a few jobs here and there. The more I did, the more opportunities I got, especially as the Internet become more prominent.
Today, the written word doesn’t get the same number of impressions that video or social media content does but there are still plenty of folks out there that want to read a good story. The university process helped teach me how to write and put my thoughts together. For anybody looking to pursue writing work, having some competence in video editing, or running a camera would probably be good skills to learn to supplement the writing gig.
Sponsorships
Another of the questions that I get asked quite frequently is “how do I get sponsors”? Obviously, obtaining support to pursue your fishing activities is another dream come true, but the reality is, it’s tough today to get sponsorship opportunities within the fishing industry. Most of the companies have a budget that they follow and, in most cases, these budgets are hammered.
In most situations, the best way to earn a sponsorship, whether you are a tournament angler, guide, or content creator, is to form a relationship with brands that you like and use and then try and let it grow. At some point you must stand out from the group that you run with, by catching fish, gathering a strong following and earning credibility. This goes back to simply fishing a lot and spending time on the water, honing your craft. Learn how to take good photos and make video, those are important elements that you need to provide.
I actually used to write letters to some of these fishing companies when I was a teenager and that’s how I got my foot in the door with some of them. At the time I had no idea where fishing would take me but some of those relationships still remain today. For me, I’ve been really lucky to have some of the best sponsors who have supported me for many years. Without the help I would never have been able to continue chasing the fishing dream.
That’s my overview of how I stay busy throughout the year with my fishing activities. As I mentioned earlier, it’s not the best way to get rich but if you work hard, continue learning and stay on top of how to catch fish, you can make a living, spend way more time on the water than most and be happy. Have a great season fishing everybody.