Looking Forward, Looking Back
Posted by Pete Robbins on Oct 24th 2021
By now, most of the fishing world is aware that Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits was acquired last week by GSM Outdoors. I don’t know what that means for the future of The Inside Line, but I am hopeful that it only means it’ll grow bigger and better. This site has been a huge part of my writing life and my writing career for over 16 years, and I’ve blogged here for over a decade, which as far as I know makes it one of the longest continuously-running fishing blogs in existence – certainly the only one with the imprimatur of a major tackle company. Over that time period, I’ve never missed a week of blogging, and you can count on one hand the number of weeks I’ve produced fewer than two entries. On the flip side, there have been dozens of weeks where I’ve contributed three, four or even five pieces of content.
The purpose of this entry is not to brag, but rather to express thanks for what I’ve gotten here - the full support of Ron Colby and Heidi Roth (and in the pre-blog era, Jerry Puckett), who understood from the beginning that I could do far more for the company by telling truths and writing about a wide range of fishing topics than I could by shamelessly pimping baits. Face it, the Senko is the number one selling soft bass plastic in the world for a reason – it works better than the rest – and the word of one writer and weekend angler in Virginia wasn’t going to meaningfully move that needle one direction or the other. However, given the space to do so (and GYCB’s built-in audience) I could raise awareness of things that matter to the sport as a whole. At times it has ruffled a few feathers, but when I’ve done my homework and made my case the GYCB brass has always had my back unconditionally.
The value to me has been huge – not only have I become a better writer because of the freedom I’ve been granted, but I’ve gained multiple clients who liked what they read and wanted a taste of it for themselves. You can’t get rich as an outdoor writer, but all of those little checks add up to more in the fishing account. Most importantly, this opportunity has made me excited to write every day. I feel creatively fulfilled in a way that I never could have been just writing about spinnerbait techniques and tournament results.
As noted above, it is my sincere hope that they keep me and the Inside Line around, but if for some reason they don’t, it’s been a great ride and despite the fact that I gave a lot, I received more benefit than I gave.
