If you fly fish, and you’ve ever come anywhere near the internet, you’ve seen gear giveaways.
But there are two kinds of people in this world:
- Those who assume all giveaways are scams and rackets.
- Those who try to win any and every free thing that could possibly be given away.
I’m here to tell you that the latter is probably closer to being right.
That doesn’t mean you should blindly give your email address, physical address, or social security number out to anyone who waves a trucker cap at your Instagram feed. Use discernment. Patronize reputable sources, like these smart people did.
Jumping through some legitimately modest hoops for a chance at winning something is absolutely worth it. Here are three reasons why you should take a minute to enter good fly fishing giveaways:
- Give information to get information. Yes, companies and websites will undoubtedly send you email. But a lot of the stuff they send is good. In fact, some of the emails I get have really great content. Tying videos, blog posts, pretty fish pictures – with product placement, of course. If we’re honest, isn’t that what many fly fishing magazines are?
- It’s “socially” responsible. Again, I’m fully aware that your interaction benefits the companies holding the giveaways. Yet tagging a friend or sharing a link doesn’t only benefit giant corporate entities. It benefits fly fishing. How? It pops up in your social media and gets more e-traction. That carries a lot more weight than you might think. It is also a tried and true vehicle for fledgling brands to get their name out.
- You might win. Somebody’s got to win – it might as well be you! I personally know a handful of guys who have won some seriously valuable prizes. I also know that I’ve given away a lot of gear to people all over the USA. It happens, and when it does it makes that follow, like, or subscription totally worth it.
So, I think you should enter fly fishing giveaways. It’s easy, it’s good for the industry, and you could wind up with a new rod, a trip to the Bahamas, or a sticker. (There are some really nice stickers out there.) Casting Across has benefited from holding giveaways, and I know a lot of grassroots fly fishing initiatives that have as well. Whether you like it or not, they are part of the culture of fly fishing in the 21st century. I think they are, with discernment, worth embracing.
The latest one to come across the wire is from Loon, Sage, Fishpond, Smith Optics, Yeti, Rep Your Water, and Riversmith. They are holding their annual “Spirit of Giving.” To enter, head to the Spirit of Giving site.
But if you don’t, I won’t lose any sleep. That means my odds of winning will be just that much greater…
All the junk email that fills up at a relenting pace is not worth it. Not to mention that the pop-ups seem to last for ages. Companies share information and your suddenly inundated by an army of cyber attacks by the fishing lords. I’ll pass, but since your likely the beneficiary of some kick back by promotion, its worth it I’m sure. My wife likes giveaways and sale promos from every company in the world. I’m the one who spends the time cleaning the clutter. Good luck, perhaps somebody will get lucky and win a sticker, lol. For the record, I’m not attacking you or giveaways. Some people are into this and they go to bed every night dreaming of winning a new fly box. Not me, I’ll buy my own Wheatley, lol..
I can see your point. But when I look through my junk folder, fly fishing emails are hardly the worst offenders!
And FYI: no kickbacks… but I wouldn’t be above it! 🙂
After the giveaway is over there is always the unsubscribe option if the emails are too frequent or annoying, JZ.
And Dean is an expert in this field!
Now if there was a cold free craft beer IPA giveaway of some sort, deal me in. Dam the tray flooding! Hey, I admit it, I’m a shallow person who still manages priorities rather well. Come to think of it, I catch a lot of trout in the shallows as well. lol.
You’d be surprised at how many giveaways are tied to breweries!