Sponsor -Post

[jiggereye]

I see when I made the mistake of attempting to point out to a poster named "chairman" in an earlier post that if we as tournament anglers have to high an opinion of ourselves that if he would tell us what his product was, then since we have no affect on the buying public it wouldn't hurt if we stopped using his companies products. My ultimate point was that the fishing Manufaterers for the most part don't value us. I am in the minors but some of the top level pros tell me amazing stories of
the trouble with sponsorship. My corporation sponsored and I was later sponsored in the sport of auto racing and I have to tell you all the local thunderstock drivers are getting better assistance than many excellent pros. My corporation never lost money on sponsoring nor did any of my sponsors, and my company and most of my sponsors had nothing to do with the auto industry .Part of advancing this industry is to have More real full time completely funded touring pros. We all know that some organizations do help us all out but the poster struck a nerve and since it is a public forum I responded bluntly and honestly.
Obviously the company the poster "chairman" works for may be one of the helpful ones but the comment about the value the tourney warriors have in promoting his product appeared to say the opposite.
Hopefully this post will remain and not be deleted.
Lawrence Ecklor

[Keith Krych]

The "Chairman" you refereed to is Bruce DeShano, CEO and owner of Off Shore Tackle and Rivera Tackle companies. I have personally known Bruce for seven years fishing the MWT and PWT. He has always been one of the first people to help new tournament anglers.

His companies sponsor many fishermen on the PWT, RCL, MWT, MWC, and USFA tours. His has helped many budding “pro” fishermen to continue to participate in these events.

He is correct that many fisherman think that by just fishing they can collect sponsors and become successful. We have to become ambassadors for companies that support us as. What we as tournament fishermen must understand is that we need sponsors much more than they need us.

Some day tournament walleye fishing will be as well supported by corporations as auto racing is. But until that day comes. People like “The Chairman” will keep helping the walleye tournament angler.

IMHO
Keith Krych
NPAA #372

[jiggereye]

A bunch of folks have e-mailed me to tell me who the Chairman is. His reputation and products speak for themselves. But I am not looking for when this sport is supported like auto racing
but when it is supported like "professional"fulltime fishing when the opportunities for profit and exposure are appreciated for what they are. Sorry my passion for the growth of this sport
touched the wrong guy with the right intentions. Lawrence Ecklor