Go Pro, The death of the article?

So I get this question a lot, "Sean, why don't you have a YouTube channel?" It is a fair question, one I've thought about many times myself, but never really given it a lot of thought. Since 2011 I have been writing blogs, posting on forums, sharing pictures and  stories on social media, so forth and so on. So its safe to assume that a youtube channel would be a reasonable outlet for me to share information. To be honest I have shopped for action cameras such as the go pro, and really I think I would enjoy watching my season highlights over and over. However, I realize the amount of work it would take in editing such videos to share, the attention it would bring to certain waters I fish, the nagging and annoying comments videos tend to attract, etc. Very rarely do you see trolls out there commenting on well written articles, but spend some time on YouTube and you'll find no shortage of these comments. Maybe reading is above these gentleman's IQ level, I'm joking.....sort of.  My decision to write and shy away from shooting videos goes a little deeper than that though. First and foremost, writing allows me to reflect and ask myself questions that I would otherwise ignore. (Such as this post.) Furthermore, I feel that a reader and the author of a written text share an equal part of a story. I can sit at a desk and write the most detailed description of an event that I could possibly imagine and the reader would still find a way to make it relatable to him or her in a way that no one else could. For example I wrote the following on Facebook a while ago regarding a recent musky trip:


"About two hours into the trip, while standing in my kayak, I made a long cast over a fallen tree. As my bait bounced off of the topmost limb and began swimming (upright) again I saw a torpedo launch itself from the depths. It was a musky, and a good one at that. By the time the musky had gotten within striking distance it was almost under my kayak....I immediately took the fish into the first turn of the figure 8...The fish stayed within inches of the bait across the nose of the kayak and had made the first turn down the side of the boat. As I began sweeping my bait away from the stern of the kayak, the rod loaded up and the water exploded. The fish was hooked."


Not publishable quality, but a story none the less. So what did you picture? Was it couldy, raining, or sunny? Was I on a large lake, a wide low gradient shallow river, or maybe below a dam fishing trapped pre spawn fish? Was I casting a topwater, a bladed bucktail, a large swimbait? This is the beauty of writing. If I asked a dozen people each would have their own set of details, probably formed from some memory of their own. It could have been a stream they had seen a musky on in the past, a lake where the guys from In-Fisherman targeted musky on, etc. The written article is far from dead, it may not be the most popular outlet to share information but its here to stay.

Time for Reflection

Photo Courtesy: Toledo Blade 

If you were offered Kevin VanDams job and lifestyle would you take it? It's a fascinating thought that most fisherman would jump at without question. What if I told you, without hesitation, that I would pass on this opportunity. Let me explain. I grew up fishing with my family, and as the stories go I caught my first fish from my car seat before I could even walk. From the day I turned 16 and could drive myself I have spent the majority of my free time fishing. I've kept extensive fishing logs, spent countless hours blogging about fishing, been a member of almost a dozen different fishing forums, helped manage fishing websites, etc. If I wasn't on the water fishing, I was thinking about fishing. So to say I would turn down a professional fishing job still seems crazy right?

Well sit down and think for a minute about the things it takes to be a professional bass angler. Long hours on the road, being forced to fish in all conditions physical and weather related, very little free time to do what you really want, your family (pets) have to constantly travel or worse see them very little, your forced to promote products that you may or may not use/like, have to give seminars in crowded malls, etc. This doesn't sound appealing to me at all, and I'd be willing to bet very few of you reading this would enjoy it either.

The idea of getting payed to do what you enjoy doing is something we all dream about, but how many people really stop and think about how much work it takes to get to that point? OR, if they would still enjoy their hobby as much if they were forced into doing it every day of the week? You see guys, and girls, on social media pushing this product or that product because in their mind it makes them feel like they are on their way to becoming a paid fisherman. The term Pro Staff gets pushed around a lot, and by now most people understand that it means promotional and not professional. My social media is full of people who "Pro Staff" for dozens of products, most of which they don't even use or support. (Guys its obvious!) Some individuals even change prostaff positions annually. One year they push this boat manufacturer, the next the competition, so forth and so on. I just wonder what these people think this looks like to the outside world? "Man this person has "prostaffed" for all of these companies, they must really be a great fisherman...…" I'm sorry but that's not at all what goes through my mind, and I'd be willing to bet others see through that crap too. It shows a person who has zero loyalty and is willing to step on others if they feel it will get them ahead in whatever they are doing.  I'm not saying all people who pro staff are only doing it to make a name for themselves, however, I do feel the vast majority are.

Ok, so I'm getting off track and I'm probably going to make some people very upset. However, if your reading this and think I'm talking about you take a minute to reflect on your goals. Why did you start fishing? What made you enjoy fishing to begin with? What do you want out of social media, youtube, twitter, etc?  Do you still enjoy fishing as much as you did in the past? If not, when did things change? Even if you got that KVD spot, would that really make you happy?  Sometimes in life we get so focused on trying to be better than everyone else that we don't take the time to think about what we really want. So I guess the point of this post is to ask people to reflect on what makes them happy....and if that means pro staffing for Billies Sport Bras then have at it.

Testing: Check 1, 2

Wow, I cant believe its been nearly four years since my last blog. Over the course of the last four years social media has served as my primary method of sharing fishing information. However, recently its became cluttered with political bullshit, self proclaimed professional fisherman, fad diet salesman/women, keyboard warriors/trolls, etc. On a recent float with a friend, Scott, we discussed the topic of blogging. He had followed the blog in the past and was curious to why I had stopped writing. I was blown away at the fact that he had once read the blog, and even more so after we had finished fishing. That conversation sparked my interest in writing again. I went back and forth for almost a week before I decided to jump on the computer and see if I could remember my old username and password. It took a few tries but here we are. I feel now is the right time to step back into writing, if nothing else for my own enjoyment and reflection.

Many of you may be wondering why I stopped writing the blog? The short, and purposefully clouded, answer is politics within the kayak fishing community. Maybe......No most certainly.....I felt I had payed my dues and was more deserving of recognition than some of the others in the community. As many of you know, or will soon find out, having unreasonably high expectations of yourself can often lead to some of the most disappointing and frustrating adventures. It is those experiences that humble us and allow us to learn and grow. Well that's essentially what happened with the blog but instead jumping back in and continuing to write, I tossed in the towel. My purpose in writing had changed and was no longer enjoyable for me. In the end I am glad things worked out how they did. I have matured a great deal, and realize now more than ever the purpose fishing has in my life.

 Additionally I'm not the sort of guy that needs to be in the spotlight anyway, especially when I'd be dancing to someone else's tune. So for now grab the flashlight and we'll put on our own little show.