Entry 139-3

Randy Dearman on Sponsors

How You Can Get 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, for most of us, you're living the bass fisherman's dream. You get to travel all over the country, fish in all the major tournaments with all the best bass fishermen in the world. Companies pay your entry fee and your expenses and give you a salary to live on. What advice will you give a young person who came up to you at a show and said, "Mr. Dearman, I want to grow up to be a bass fisherman just like you."

Dearman: Stay on the water as much as you can, and learn all you can about bass fishing under different weather and water conditions and fish as many different lakes as you can and learn how to catch bass on those various lakes. But just as important if not more important is stay in school and use school to teach you how to be a tournament pro. Most young people don't understand that to be an effective tournament pro you have to be a businessman, you have to be a public speaker, you have to learn sales techniques, and you have to have public relations skills.

All the aspects of running a professional fishing business, being a public speaker and an effective public-relations person they can learn in college. The really bright young people will take courses in college that will help them become professional fishermen. I'd tell a young person there are two schools he has to go to. One of those schools is on the water. The other is in the classroom. And they're equally important. I would never advise a young person to shortcut his education, thinking that will help him become a tournament pro because he can spend more time on the water.

Also you need to realize that the odds of your becoming a tournament pro and having a group of sponsors who support you is about 1 in 1,000. So you need an education and another job to fall back on when your fishing is not paying the bills. Most of the pros I know have or had another job until they made it to the ranks of being a full-time fisherman. You can't just walk out of college and immediately become a tournament pro and feed your family. Even if you're good - really good - you still have a very slim chance of being a sponsored pro. Therefore, until you become good enough to attract sponsors, you need an education and an occupation that will allow you to meet your full potential as a professional bass fisherman.

Question: Randy, since selling product is an integral part of being a tournament pro and being sponsored by a company, how did you learn how to sell fishing tackle?

Dearman: I learned from the men who make a living selling fishing tackle - the manufacturers' reps. One of the best pieces of advice I could give a person who wants to become a tournament pro and wants to attract sponsors is to meet and get to know the manufacturers' representatives who sell products to sporting-goods stores. A sporting-goods dealer can tell you who the Strike King rep is in your area or who the representative is for any other company that you want to be sponsored by. Set up an appointment to meet that rep, and ask him what you can do to help him. Go with him when he goes to meet dealers. Offer to do seminars, and go to shows for him. Listen to what he does and how he sells product. Give of your time freely and when that rep sees that you've learned how to sell product and more importantly that you're willing to work for the company, then he will recommend that a company sponsor you.

Most young fishermen don't understand that having a sponsor is not about what the sponsor can do for you. It's all about what you can do for the sponsor. The more you do for a sponsor, the more willing that sponsor is to do for you. Sponsorship is a two-way street. If you're not willing to work with and for your sponsors, why should they be willing to support you and your fishing? Just winning tournaments is not enough to get sponsorships.

Question: How did you get started, Randy?

Dearman: In the area of Texas where I live, the reps didn't have a professional fisherman to do seminars, in-store promotions or to speak at sports shows. So I told them I was willing to do that. As I began to work for Strike King, Strike King began to work for me. I learned how to sell product and how to do seminars to be what the company wanted me to be by working with a rep and learning from the rep.

Randy Dearman on Sponsors

How You Can Get a Sponsor

Next: Being a Creative Fisherman

Contents: