Your appearance, the first impression you portray, is just as important as your bass catching skills when it comes to dealing with outdoor writers. Always dress accordingly and please remember to take off those sunglasses for photos or videos. Color is very important, especially for television and magazines. Bright clothing is essential. John recommends a read hat and yellows, especially for magazines. These are essential colors for magazine colors, according to John. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d seen a major magazine cover where the editors didn’t select persons wearing reds or yellows.

When you have the chance to be interviewed, don’t answer a reporter’s questions with a simple yes or no. Take advantage of your opportunity and make detailed explanations. John also cautioned not to lie about how you caught your fish. Writers will ultimately hear the truth and it can ruin your credibility forever. He also recommends to keep a list of ideas you may have for future articles and contact outdoor writers to inform them of your ideas. This can often lead to outstanding publicity for you, and perhaps more importantly—your sponsors.

Tournaments present great opportunities to work with an outdoor writer as everyone is focused on fishing. Remember, if you are being interviewed, you don’t have a thing to prove to a writer, he already knows you can catch fish or he/she wouldn’t be talking with you.

When working with an outdoor writer on the water, John suggests to work first, then fish. If you have the chance to fish ahead of time, that’s great. Naturally, the best lighting conditions exist early in the day, so if you can catch a few fish in advance, the interview process will be much easier. You should also try to catch more than one fish. Three to five is best so you will be able to capture the better jumping fish shots. Then you can fish and work on the rest of the story.

John also suggests for anglers to keep a folder containing biographical and background information on yourself with you at all times. It’s wise to send the writer information in advance to help them establish a familiarity with you and the areas you’ll be fishing. This allow them to ask more pertinent, interesting questions resulting in better articles or shows.

Lastly, John recommends for anglers to provide any writer you will be working with your phone number, cell number and e-mail address in advance. This way, they can easily contact you regarding questions and/or last minute travel arrangements or problems.

Return to Index

John’s first response was “Return Phone Calls!” For example, John had recently called and left several messages for an up and coming bass pro in an attempt to set up and interview. The pro didn’t acknowledge or return his calls. John became extremely frustrated with this individual’s lack of professionalism and became reluctant to even do an article on the pro. The fishing industry is much smaller than most of us might think, and writers talk to other writers. You can easily see how this type of behavior can be a fatal career mistake. At all costs, anglers should avoid gaining this type of negative reputation and—simply return your phone calls.