Entry 139-1

Randy Dearman on Sponsors

How to Get and Keep a Sponsor

Editor's Note: In 1983 Randy Dearman of Onalaska, Texas, started fishing the BASS circuit and also became a Strike King Pro. According to Dearman, "Strike King was my first sponsor, and I plan to stay with Strike King as long as I'm a professional fisherman. Strike King has always had great products, and over the years the company has allowed me to help develop products for them. They consistently come up with new products, and I feel fortunate to be able to work with a company like Strike King."

Question: Randy, there are few tournament fishermen who've had as long a relationship with a sponsor as you've had with Strike King. What advice will you give a young fisherman who wants to get a sponsor and keep a sponsor over many years?

Dearman: Work hard for your sponsors.

Question: Randy, what exactly do you do for Strike King, and why has Strike King supported your fishing for more than 22 years?

Dearman: As a tournament fisherman, I've had years where I've really done well, and I've had years when I've really done poorly. However, I've always tried to help Strike King sell products. And therein lies the real secret of having a sponsor and working with a sponsor as a professional angler. Most companies know that a professional fisherman is like a professional golfer. You can't be good all day every day, every month, every year. However, if you work hard with your companies and for your companies, they tend to stay with you.

Some young tournament fishermen who want to be tournament pros don't realize that if a company doesn't sell product, then they can't sponsor fishermen. If the fishermen aren't actively trying to educate the public on how to catch fish with that company's products, then the company doesn't make any money and can't support fishermen. The Strike King pros not only try to sell Strike King products but also try to teach people how to fish and how to catch more fish. The more people a professional fisherman can involve in fishing, the more the support will grow, and the better the whole fishing world will be for all of us.

Question: Randy, what are some of the things you do to help Strike King sell products?

Dearman: At all the tournaments, I talk about Strike King and how I fish their products and catch fish on their products. I also do sports shows, seminars and in-store promotions to try and teach anglers how, where, when and why I use Strike King lures to catch bass. I'm also a fishing guide. When I'm on the water fishing with a client, I'm using Strike King lures and teaching fishermen how to use Strike King lures.

One of the biggest values a fisherman can obtain when he hires a guide is to use that guide to teach him how to catch more fish with the tactics the guide has developed over the years. Therefore, when a client gets in the boat with me, he's not just going on a fishing trip, he's stepping into a classroom. I not only teach him where I fish, but how I fish, the lures I use, the action I give those lures, and how I catch fish. When a man spends a day in the boat with me on a guided bass trip, I not only tell him how to catch fish on Strike King lures, I prove to him that I can catch bass on Strike King lures. And more importantly, I prove to him that he, too, can catch bass if he uses these lures.

Randy Dearman on Sponsors

How to Get and Keep a Sponsor

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