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Hey guys. I see tons of posts on here about anglers attempting to get sponsored and/or hook up pro-staff positions. I thought I would shed some light from a bait company's perspective. I get a lot of emails from people wishing to get sponsored. Most just want free stuff.. and trust me.. we can very easily identify what it is you are really looking for, so be careful when communicating with a company. Also, what many of you may not realize, is that companies are in constant communication with one another. I am personally friends with many bait company owners, and most are not even remotely located close to me. We communicate daily and often talk about people who have approached all of us, looking for the same thing. Keep this in mind when you send emails or letters to companies of the same products. Once we find out you contacted all of us, most likely you will be dismissed. What not to do: -Don't send emails with bad grammar. This is the BIGGEST no-no you could possibly do. Not capitalizing letters or use of incorrect punctuation will dramatically decrease your chances. -With current technology the way it is, Facebook is not an unprofessional way of approaching a company. I interact with many anglers via facebook. And although some companies will frown on this, many don't care on what form of communication you use. HOWEVER, do NOT contact a company on facebook, when your page contains beer, girls, and disorderly conduct. That includes inappropriate statuses, pictures, etc. This will NOT help your cause. So if you feel your facebook page is not up to par, do not contact anyone through facebook. -Do not email or write a company and immediately tell us what kind of discount you want. If we work out a deal, that part will be considered and decided by us. -Do not approach a plastics company and include a resume saying you are sponsored by a plastics company!! I know you guys think that is obvious, but you would be surprised! -Do not contact a company when you have no interest in their product. If you are a spinnerbait fisherman and have never fished a jig, don't contact a jig company. Now things you should ALWAYS do: -ALWAYS be familiar with the company's product. Include something in the email/letter about one of their products and something that you like about it. -ASK QUESTIONS!!! Ask about our products. Be interested! -List all the ways you will help us. I know this has been said before but the main question we want answered is, "How does sponsoring you help bring us more business?" You have to 'wow' us. How do you stand out from everyone else? When we read your resume, we want to be impressed. Don't make up anything in the resume.. We do check. It also doesn't hurt to attach attach a few pictures. We want to know what you look like. Once you do make Pro Staff, constantly keep in touch. If we can't get a hold of you or haven't heard from you in months. You might be forgotten about. Also, if you really really really want to suck up. Hooking up a deal with a bait company and a local tackle store will grant you Pro Staff for life. That is the ultimate. Last but not least, BELIEVE IN THE COMPANY! Please don't just try and rack up as many as you can. Contact the companies you truly believe in. You will help them a lot more than a company you don't. I hope this has helped somebody. And if anyone wants to try your resumes on me, let 'er rip! sweetwaterbaits@yahoo.com Good luck and happy fishing!

6 more days...I don't illegally download movies and music, I don't target fish that are not in season, and I really don't like the bass season in Mi.

What a shock that on this board you ask a question about brand a and brand b and everyone wants to talk about brand c. Oddly enough there are brands other than shimano, who'd a thought. Rods are purely a subjective thing. I know for myself,I target species other than just bass. I fish from both shore and kayak/canoe. Typical rods these days are made for just Mr. Bassmaster at the bow of his glittery bassboat. Decide what you need and go from there. Personally I am happier with the TFO rods Ive gotten recently than the Cumara rods Ive been unhappy with for over a year. They have shorter rear grips and shorter lengths available. I dont want a 7'2" rod with a flippin and pitchin rear grip. So find what you like and go from there. I also have Veritas rods and love them ttoo, I would recommend either.

When the Golden Band from Tiger Land starts to march onto the field with 92,000+ clapping their hands in rythum to the beat, you get goosebumps. Then, when the band strikes those four famous keys, the crowd goes bonkers. Yes, it is Saturday Night in Tiger Stadium. Nothing like it in the world. If you have never been to a night LSU football game do your self a favor and try to get tickets and attend. You will never forget that experience.

True true Jigfishn10, caught this one today on a micolite rod, 4lb test, tiny swimbait with a 1/16 oz jig head, missed two others right before another storm. Learning a lot this last few years from all of you. Thanks.

That would be a lot of fun to participate in. It's a good idea for a small local club tourney. Depending on the season, I would go with either a jig, frog, or heavy spinnerbait.

It's only going to get worse. The ethanol lobby cares nothing about the welfare of the citizens of this country, only about making their clients (and themselves) obscenely rich at our expense! Extremely inefficient fuel, poor mileage per gallon, and damaging to most motors. What a deal!!!

This might provide some help - http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/spring-cold-front.html A-Jay

fished lox tonight from 4-7:45 and the fish were chewin! caught 10 fish over 5 pounds. every fish was fat and super aggressive. saw at least 100 gators. big worms and swim baits. here are some pics. 5.13, 5.10, 5.8, 5.3 and my partner mike with the big fish of 6.8. after we weighed those 5, we stopped weighing them. they were all around the same size. stellar night!

I thought I had this happen to a 7lber yesterday not bad amounts of blood but there was blood all over this fish and myself. After rinsing her off for a quick photo and measurement I noticed it was myself who was gushing blood in all the exitement I stuck the spinner past the barb into my thumb and was dripping blood all over the fish. But I have had a few gill hooks mine are more common on smallies taking rattle traps or larger cranks

I'm surprised that guy didn't float right to the top with his sack being so big.

Nice day. You have WAY more ambition than I do. I have a 50* rule. If it doesn't get higher than 50* within the first hour I ain goin. Congrats. Jeff

UWBass & DanielR, outstanding reading & I like hearing from young anglers

Wow. This thread got side tracked. From first hand experience, FLW College Fishing is a great start for many anglers who cannot afford full tournament expenses. No entry fees, travel allowances, discounted hotel rates, and fully rigged bass boats for use certainly doesn't qualify any of the participants as "rich". My experience has been great, and I've witnessed how large scale tournaments are ran by observing the Everstart series. I've talked with the hosts and the guys behind the scenes pulling cable and setting up the stage...they all do the College Fishing Series because they truly enjoy watching young anglers compete in the National experience. Does FLW make money? Of course they do. Would you go to work if you didn't? Many guys and gals are military veterans,like myself. A solid percentage of participants are serious about fishing and appreciate the opportunity to fish while in college. Altogether, it's a little tough seeing how people view us when it's clear that words are spoken without knowledge. --Back to the original question-- If the NCAA actually recognized fishing as a college sport, then I would hope others would have the opportunity to fish while in college. Whether or not it would benefit this particular discussion, I'm not sure. I do know one thing though, going to school and fishing the FLW circuit gives me a great appreciation for the early morning hours that the FLW puts in for us, and for the participants who drive 30 hours round trip to fish a 6 hour tournament. I'm one of them, and I'm a full time student. Don't knock it till you try it.

I'm a college angler at the University of Wisconsin and I feel the same way as a lot of these others guys do. First off, we're piggybacking with the Everstarts, which had 300+ anglers flogging the water for the past week and the off-limits areas are huge, and total available fishing area is relatively "tiny" compared to the Everstart boundaries (whole lake usually). Most of our tournaments with the FLW series are held in southern locales (due to warmer weather, and year-round seasons) but those are a 9+ hr drive for us in WI, plus an "off limits" practice period the week before the event. With school and work, we just can't drive down there and practice easily, especially those of us in clubs that have to pay their own way in gas and everything. Not to mention having these tourneys on huge, sprawling lakes that we've never fished before, and aren't anything even remotely similar to what we find in the north (we don't have giant reservoirs in WI). Plus it seems like every dang tourney, there's something funky going on with the water or weather (water dropped over 6 ft. in three days before KY lake tourney in early april, 41 degree water at LOZ etc.). To top it all off, you only get a 6 hour fishing day - you don't even get a full 8 hrs, which in these early spring tourneys would be monumental with letting the water warm up a degree or two more. So to recap my lengthy sob story, we're driving 10 hrs each way to fish six hours on a giant lake we've never been to before, usually in cold water conditions and on the heels of a major tournament with 150 boats. Rough rough rough. I know, I know. Everybody has to face the same conditions, and that's part of fishing and what separates the good from the bad, but man, it kinda sucks. Not to mention your boater isn't allowed to say a peep about any locations or likely lures that have been working. I can do all the internet research in the world and still bomb. Frustrating when you know you're a good fisherman and can clean house on the lakes back home, but fizzle and bring in two, one, or none fishing the supposed "best" lakes in the country. I'm happy that they give us this opportunity to fish in a "big" tournament, but not a fan of the way it is run. To add one more tidbit to my saga, they have a rule stipulating that you MUST be an active student to participate, meaning that if you are a senior and are to graduate in May, you are ineligible for any tournaments that summer or fall. FLW finally listened to us northern boys and is hosting an FLW college tourney on the Wolf River Chain in Wisconsin this June, but alas, I graduate in a few short weeks, and will not be able to fish on water I grew up on, and actually know how to fish Oh well!!!

They (BPS) aren't charging anyone sales tax, the state is. I'm not sure about other states, but in NY if the store has a brick and mortar retail store within the state, they can and will collect sales tax on online orders.