Starting a YouTube Channel

[JWall14]

As some of you know I am a high schooler who is completing his first serious year of bass fishing. I have always watched people like Jon b, Flair, Ap, etc. and thought how fun it would be to do that. I would really like to share what I have, and continue to learn with others. I believe the best way would be YouTube. I have never  made a YouTube video but am very good with computers so editing would not be a problem.  I am not sure what to make videos about or what to film on- I have a dslr and tripod available so that will be my primary recorder for now. 

 

Anyone have have ideas for a channel name or content ideas? What should I start out content wise? Anyone know how to contact other fishing YouTubers? Anything else that could help me gain popularity or tips to make my videos better?

 

-I am also a little nervous about how others will react- any tips about this?

[bholtzinger14]

I enjoy instructional videos more than just watching people cast and cast. Have a point to the video.

Dont go out thinking today i am going to make a video on jig fishing and go out and get skunked. Go fish and get good video of catching fish and explaining things as you go. You can always record your intro/outro after you finish fishing.

I hope that makes sense. Only took 30 minutes of typing while at red lights. Lol

I dont know how he does it but l love how Greg Blanchard displays the bait he is using before he catches a fish in the video.

 

[JustJames]

I subscribed only a few Channels but always search others for specific techniques that I want to learn. 

Do you plan to make money of YouTube video or just for fun?

To gain a lot of subscribers I guess you have to have more than just fishing, Good editing, Demographics, and contents, GF, Sister or anyone that look prettier than you lol.

I think you could watch those popular Youtubers and adapt some that suit to you.

Greg is just pure fun fishing on Kayak.

Jon B get a lot of talent editing/creating video clip more like travel channel lol, not so technically. I like when he fish with Jig

LFG is also good with fishing fun mix with good editing.

Another channel that I like is 618 fishing. He just plain simple and very real. Those BFS guy should watch him for his enthusiastic of his tiny lure.

 

[J Francho]

There are a million YouTubers out there, and only a few that actually make money doing it.  You'll have to set yourself apart from all the rest if you want to do this.

[JustJames]

Or follow the trend and be one of the googan squad lol.

[Montanaro]

You gotta ask yourself....why and what.

 

What kind of content will you provide...how will you provide it?  Who is your target?  Length of videos?

 

All successful channels have a theme or format they follow.

[LxVE Bassin]

Find out what your actual goals are. If u want to make money know that YouTube is saturated with fishing channels and only small percentage make money. Not saying it can’t be done but the odds are against anyone unless you truly find something to set you apart.

[BigSkyBasser]

No matter what you do, it needs to stand out from everyone else and their mother trying to get a Youtube famous fishing channel. I.E.quality footage over quantity.

 

My favorite example is Ndyakangler. This guy doesn't do anything crazy, but his footage is incredible and he's always hammering the crap out of huge smallmouth. Plus he has some of the best topwater videos on all of Youtube.

[bholtzinger14]

1 hour ago, BigSkyBasser said:

My favorite example is Ndyakangler. This guy doesn't do anything crazy, but his footage is incredible and he's always hammering the crap out of huge smallmouth. Plus he has some of the best topwater videos on all of Youtube.

100%. I would love to go fish with that guy. Cant believe no kayak company has given that guy a better yak. My butt and back would kill me after sitting in his yak for an hour. I guess catching fish heals all pain.

[JustJames]

This is a very good example.

Let see Ndyakangler, how many subscribers? I'm sorry I'm not looking down on the guy, he might have a very good fishing ever channel but not making any money not even sponsored from Kayak company.

Another one that I think every agree about being very great fishing channel " keeping it real fishing" How many subscribers he got, does he make any money?

Let look at other side, I've seen lately two of lady fishing channel, one up north and another one fish mostly for Muskie, they got sponsored big time by Shimano and their channel just started not too long ago.

Another one that I think also most agree to be wasted of time watching "APbassing" he got 600K subscribers.

Think differently, set yourself apart, huh? 

Depends you wanna be great Youtuber or making money out of it.

 

[LionHeart]

Best channels are Keepingitreel Fishing and BassResource easily.  If you haven't checked them out, do so, and it'll be easy to see why I say that.

 

They offer real, true, useful info, and are easy to watch.  It is obvious they Don't have a hidden agenda like groping for sponsorship.  Too many YouTube channels have gone that way and it feels more like watching a commercial than anything else.

 

Also, do not be like that one kid from googan who is super obnoxious.  For the life of me, I Don't know how anyone can sit through one of his videos.

 

Also, if you give advice on your channel, make sure it is earned through experience.  Don't just regurgitate the same info everyone else is saying in hope of sounding like you know what you're doing.  I'm fairly new to bass fishing, but have seen gobs of this going around and it doesn't do anybody any good.

 

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

[Troy85]

FatCatNewton has taught me several techniques, such as how to weedlessly rig a Vienna Sausage and using deer antlers to attract buck bass, he also came up with the idea to attach spinner baits to an umbrella rig.  He is on the cutting edge of bass fishing techniques.

[NYWayfarer]

Here is my advice, you won't be able to please everyone with your content but aim to please the majority to be successful. For example the forum members here at Bass Resource are going to want something vastly different from watching a YouTube vid than the core audience of teenagers that subscribe and follow YouTube fishing channels.

 

Make sure you have regular content, every 2-3 days is optimal.

 

Things I see that make channels successful:

 

Thumbnails with women or something crazy in the picture

Titles of vids that say something like "I almost died"

Responding to subscribers comments, even if it's a "Thanks for watching"

Giveaways, lots of giveaways. Be sure to have that in the vid description that you are doing a giveaway

Challenges

Collaborations with other Youtubers

Catch and cook of bizarre species.

Having a good intro and exit motto. I watch EPF simply to hear him scream "What's up YouTubbbbbbe!!"

Catch something and put it in an aquarium and then post video updates on it.

 

Some of these things will rack up subs. A few will be a slow burn of steady subs. Good luck with your endeavor.

[JWall14]

I think I’m going to take the winter and fall to plan and polish my techniques. I will start in the spring with videos. Thanks for all the input guys it’s really appreciated!!

 

And yes Ap is easily the worst googan no offense to him. He’s a good fisherman but not great with videos. My favorite is Jon B. 

[NYWayfarer]

7 minutes ago, JWall14 said:

And yes Ap is easily the worst googan no offense to him. He’s a good fisherman but not great with videos. My favorite is Jon B. 

Jon B clearly loves fishing. You can see it in everyone of his vids. His editing skills are impressive but no amount of editing can fake that enthusiasm.

[Glenn]

Or.... just be yourself.  

 

Don't try to emulate what others are doing, else you'll be "just another youtuber".  Ignore what others are doing, and instead do what feels right to you.

 

How aggravating is it to watch a video of some guy trying to come off as a knowledgeable angler, only to realize he's just regurgitating other videos?

 

Wouldn't it be refreshing to watch a new angler's journeys as he learns new lures and techniques? The exhilaration of catching that first fish on a newly learned technique, or the epiphany of a new way of understanding fish behavior?  We've ALL been through it and can relate.  That's a huge audience.

 

Just sayin'

 

[JWall14]

Thanks Glenn! I will strongly consider doing something like that for the first year or so.

[pfishing]

I am in the process right now, 3 weeks into it; 5 videos and 160 subs, not a bad start!

[J.Vincent]

On 9/19/2018 at 4:57 PM, Montanaro said:

You gotta ask yourself....why and what.

 

What kind of content will you provide...how will you provide it?  Who is your target?  Length of videos?

 

All successful channels have a theme or format they follow.

Yes this is good advice

[J.Vincent]

On 9/20/2018 at 10:42 AM, Glenn said:

Or.... just be yourself.  

 

Don't try to emulate what others are doing, else you'll be "just another youtuber".  Ignore what others are doing, and instead do what feels right to you.

 

How aggravating is it to watch a video of some guy trying to come off as a knowledgeable angler, only to realize he's just regurgitating other videos?

 

Wouldn't it be refreshing to watch a new angler's journeys as he learns new lures and techniques? The exhilaration of catching that first fish on a newly learned technique, or the epiphany of a new way of understanding fish behavior?  We've ALL been through it and can relate.  That's a huge audience.

 

Just sayin'

 

This is probably some of the best advice I’ve heard. Just be you because in essence YouTube is reality tv and starting from where you are and showing the mistakes and successes , throughout the learning process would be entertaining and original !

[Paul Roberts]

Like Glenn said, "Be yourself". Not much of a choice, really. Before I started narrating, I was picturing a mix of David Attenborough and Rod Serling. But, I got... me.

 

Following Glenn's lead...

If you are not an expert at something, or think you might not be, don't pretend to be. There are too many real experts out there that will expose you. Documenting your journey, your process, your learning, can be a good way to go.

 

And... don't just follow what so many others are doing: "new toy" reviews, or catching fish after fish after fish after fish... without a story -unless maybe you live in a unique place with uniquely large fish, and you can catch them regularly (NDYakAngler, BamaBass, ...). If you are "just fishing" then think of your outings in story form (SBFISHINGTV). People relate to stories. Look up "storyboarding" so you can step back a bit and think in story form. Think in terms of adventure, finding things others don't, especially if they are accessible to many, they just don't know about them. 618 Fishing offers this type of intriguing content.

 

Another venue is the vlog. A day in the life of... you. Sharing what you are excited about. Besides avoiding really annoying faults like bad audio, really poor language or speaking, motion-sickness-inducing camera work, too much "truck time", repetitive scenery, etc ... the most important thing seems to be the sheer volume of... not totally lame content. Seems people are habitual, and can become regular followers. I had a housemate who could watch 3 episodes of a sit-com in a row, every evening, and... they were all re-runs he'd seen a million times before. Frequency and consistency. 

 

If this is a just for fun, or a potential business venture, your strategy will likely be different. The YT model may or may not work for you. YT pretty much requires frequent and consistent production to build an audience, and get a good click rate, which is where ad revenue -all YT offers, directly- comes from. Sheer volume and attention-getting productions earn you clicks, and hopefully, an audience. 

 

In my case, I'm, maybe foolishly, bucking the model, and gone for in-depth content, and documentaries. Lengthy and labor-intensive stuff that the YT model doesn't directly support. But that's who I am. Remains to be seen if it'll fly. Otherwise, I either have to adapt, or... find a different venue.

 

Good luck with it. The new media venues out there are exciting. Jump in and find your way.

[soflabasser]

I have been on Youtube longer than most members here and have noticed that the most successful fishing Youtubers are the ones that sell the hype (selling the sizzle of the steak) more than the actual fishing. I do not like watching those channels but understand they do it to attract more subscribers which in the end of the day means more money for them. This means that if your goal is to make money on Youtube you need to be entertaining to the regular fishermen,especially young fishermen which is the largest age group on Youtube. If you do not care for Youtube money you can always make a Youtube channel with videos true to your personality, which might not be the best for making money on Youtube but it will be more enjoyable to watch for those who do not like the overhyped channels which seem to be so common these days.

[JustJames]

5 hours ago, soflabasser said:

I have been on Youtube longer than most members here and have noticed that the most successful fishing Youtubers are the ones that sell the hype (selling the sizzle of the steak) more than the actual fishing. I do not like watching those channels but understand they do it to attract more subscribers which in the end of the day means more money for them. This means that if your goal is to make money on Youtube you need to be entertaining to the regular fishermen,especially young fishermen which is the largest age group on Youtube. If you do not care for Youtube money you can always make a Youtube channel with videos true to your personality, which might not be the best for making money on Youtube but it will be more enjoyable to watch for those who do not like the overhyped channels which seem to be so common these days.

This ^^^ should be the very first thing for you to think about. 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The mere fact that you're asking these questions seems to indicate you're not quite ready. Anyone with a smart phone can post a video to YouTube and with great content ideas would likely post themselves. The only value media has is pay per view or advertising. Advertisers want eyeballs and demographics. If you can't deliver those, then plan on posting as a hobby, which is fine if that's your goal. 

[schplurg]

These are only my personal preferences (I've only been fishing 6 months):

 

- Show fishing in your videos. Lots of it.

- Do not have hot wing contests, prank videos, or do anything that resembles an episode of Jackass.

- Some of the Googans are good solo but the Squad itself - well if you wanna make money maybe that's the way to go. They rarely fish and I find them lame (I'm 50 so...).

- Don't talk a million miles an hour (Flair). Calm the hell down

 

Channels I like:

- Greg Blanchard. Very cool, mellow and doesn't act like a fool, informative and lots of fishing. One of the very best.

- Brendan Miller. This kid has a great sense of humor while keeping most of his vids about fishing. He does good video work and is still improving. Cracks me up.

- Tactical Bassin. Almost too much information in each video really. I wish they showed more fishing while they talk.

 

Be yourself.

 

My music theory instructor told the class one day, "You can pretty much do only one of two things - make good music or make money with music." Figure out which you want to do. I say make the content you like and let the chips fall where they may.

 

Have fun and let people see that! 

 

Edit to add:

Watch Glenn's videos here at Bass Resource! Who wouldn't wanna fish with that guy???