Today’s media offers lots of options for learning about bass fishing. Whether an accomplished angler or new to the sport, without question there’s video material on YouTube that will help you up your game.
In recent times, we’ve seen a clear division of who’s providing that content. Sure, some sensational wannabes are out there just making material for hits. But a number of “influencers” have taken center stage, often creating entertaining and useful videos. Finally, a number of touring bass pros have also taken up the roles as media stars, providing a well-rounded way of reaching more fans.
Like any other facet of pro fishing, we see standouts here. Scott Martin immediately comes to mind with his monster channel approaching 700,000 subscribers. Jacob Wheeler has an incredible video library in his own right, producing dozens of pieces each season.
Here’s where I want to focus our discussion. Recently, while perusing Wheeler’s material, I couldn’t help but notice one video had far more views than all the others. Some 10 times more than normal for his channel. That piece? A side-by-side comparison of forward-facing sonar.
Here, Wheeler outfits two boats, one with Garmin’s Livescope and another with Lowrance’s ActiveTarget products, and goes all-in. Readers should note that, at the time of Wheeler’s comparison, a viable forward-facing Humminbird product was not readily available.
Anyway, the comparison is raw, unfiltered and – believe it or not – unbiased. Nothing against Wheeler here. My intention is to simply point out that we rarely get an uncensored look into fishing equipment by professional bass anglers, as their sponsor allegiance and obligations prohibit such discussion.
In this case, Wheeler had no obligations. From what I understand, Wheeler specifically cut ties with any electronics sponsor so that he could use whatever brand he chooses. In fact, Wheeler often runs multiple brands of electronics on his boat, thus getting the biggest benefit of each for different applications.
Other pros did the same once they saw their inability to compete with the forward-facing sonar product originally released by Garmin. The ability to compete became more important than a sponsorship.
This is a first in pro bass fishing, in my recollection Sure, we’ve seen pro anglers fudge a bit on lure credibility. But to drop a major brand off the jersey, for the sheer purpose of competition, is relatively unheard of.
Back to our subject. With the transparency of Wheeler’s video, fans got what they needed, and they showed up as a result. Over 200,000 views later, the video has become one of the most widely-played on Wheeler’s channel.
Why should this matter? Because tournament bass anglers, who are now required to be content creators by their sponsors, must play the numbers game. Views add validity to their contracts.
And what we’re seeing – surprise, surprise – is that validity gets views. Validity as in “this guy is showing me something to improve my fishing rather than something he wants to sell.” That’s always been a struggle in our sport.
Too often, we see a video touting the claims of a breakthrough product, demonstrated by a guy wearing a hat and shirt with the product logo, fishing some private lake where the bass would eat a red-and-white Hula Popper. Really? That’s what we’re supposed to learn from?
But occasionally, we watch a guy with nothing to prove. For instance, I routinely turn to a YouTube channel where the host teaches knots and does tackle comparisons, all the while keeping a light attitude driven by fun over ego. Some of his videos top 1 million views. From what I can see, he has no sponsors or allegiance to any particular brands. If he did, I wouldn’t watch.
I see the Wheeler video as an example of that in our sport. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get the opinion of Jacob Wheeler on anything bass fishing, assuming that opinion wasn’t filtered by a contract?
I wonder when other bass pros will get this message. When will the bigger names, who we’d would love to quiz about techniques and tackle; when will those guys see the value in dumping a minuscule sponsor contract in pursuit of a greater, and possibly more lucrative, social following?
In the future, I envision this happening. I see professional anglers, possibly tied to a big lifestyle brand, maybe a boat and motor deal, and then few or no other supporters. They’ll use that freedom to bring viewers and subscribers an unfiltered look into bass fishing at its highest level of competition. In the end, they may win more.
And we’ll all be the beneficiaries.
(Joe Balog is the often-outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)
