For a Bird’s Eye View of Fishing, Head to the Sportfishing Summit

I’ll never forget my first American Sportfishing Association (ASA) Sportfishing Summit. For years, the former publishers at Fishing Tackle Retailer had been clamoring to me about the event. As I boarded a plane from my home base in Memphis bound for Portland, Oregon, the mystique of the summit swirled in my mind.

I was excited to be going. As the digital editor of Fishing Tackle Retailer (I served as this website’s digital editor from 2014-2021), it was one of my first opportunities to get out and mingle with the leaders of the sportfishing industry. Finally, I could begin to figure out what was going on inside the halls of a conference that, unlike ICAST, changed locations every single year.

From my desk, I had seen our team jet off to places like New Orleans, Charleston and Tampa. The freelance travel writer in me was itching to go somewhere new. The outdoor editor in me had a lot of questions.

What was this mysterious symposium? Who, exactly, was going to be there? What are they doing?

I got my answer in the Pacific Northwest. Inside the entrancing, wooden walls of Skamania Lodge alongside the Columbia River, I began to piece together what the Sportfishing Summit is.

The ASA Sportfishing Summit is part TED Talk and part ICAST, a hybrid half-week of education that brings together the brightest minds in the recreational fishing industry and business leaders from around the world. The ASA president is there. So too is the organization’s board of directors. But more crucially, a host of committees ranging from marketing to communications to trade show and retail all gather as well; and those committees are comprised of more ground-level industry experts like tackle store owners, magazine editors and representatives from manufacturers.

At the Summit, you can hear keynote speakers with noteworthy business pedigrees; and you can immediately hop into a breakout room with colleagues that can (and often do) implement lessons from those speakers into new policy recommendations that might make their way all the way to Congress. Thanks to on-site experts from ASA’s government affairs team, the conversations are laser-focused on issues that impact angler access, tackle sales and life on the water.

The Sportfishing Summit is ASA’s other signature event of the year. But if ICAST is a chance to enter a maze of new tackle, the Summit is a chance to get a bird’s eye view of the industry at large. Moreover, it’s an opportunity to fly with the flock of industry leaders impacting the future of the sport.

Many years after I touched down in Portland, the Sportfishing Summit is the event I most often recommend to industry players who want to get a better grasp on how things actually work. There is nothing like it. And for those with a curious mind and a thirst for personal growth, there may not be an event as rewarding all year long.

This year, the ASA Sportfishing Summit heads to San Diego’s Catamaran Resort Hotel October 15-18. The weather is sure to be beautiful, and rumors of a tiki party are already swirling around the industry. But I’m more interested in the lineup. Let’s walk through which keynote speakers are on deck this year and how they can impact your business.

Political Predictions and the Upcoming Presidential Elections – David Wasserman

There’s simply no topic that is more top-of-mind this fall than the upcoming presidential election. Set to take place just weeks after the Sportfishing Summit, the pivotal moment in American history will send a wake rolling across the global economy. Understanding what that wave might look like will help your business navigate the transition ahead.

In San Diego, Senior Editor & Election Analyst at The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter David Wasserman will talk to the industry about important issues ASA members should be aware of leading into November. Wasserman, an NBC Contributor, will use data-driven forecasting to look at national and local trends and consumer loyalty to brands to help illuminate what the future of sportfishing could look like under a new administration lead by either candidate.

The Psychology of Churn – Stephanie Vatalaro and J.D. Strong

Few industry experts have a better understanding of angler retention than this duo of senior strategists and directors from the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation. In San Diego, Vatalaro and Strong will present the brand new findings of a year-long study on angler retention titled “The Psychology of Churn.”

Conducted by global market research firm Ipsos, “The Psychology of Churn” uses behavioral science to better understand why anglers quit fishing and proposes solutions that retailers and manufacturers can utilize right now to keep more anglers on the water. The study was just completed at the end of July, and it holds the keys to unlocking almost $10 billion in lost revenue for the sportfishing industry—that includes you.

Innovative Ideas on Leading Change – Ryan Estis

What is actionable content and how can it help your marketing efforts? Keynote speaker Ryan Estis is set to leverage two decades of experience as a top-performing sales professional and business leader to break it down. Estis is a former chief strategy officer for acclaimed global advertising group, McCann Worldgroup, which represents brands like Mastercard, Microsoft, Xbox and Chevrolet. At the Sportfishing Summit, Estis will break down corporate marketing jargon into a digestible spread of strategies that your business can use to boost its bottom line right now.

Suffice to say, the keynote lineup this year looks stellar. Forward-thinking leaders in the sportfishing industry would be wise to attend. And with direct flights to San Diego available from a bevy of fishing hubs like Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, Orlando and Seattle, the voyage can be relatively seamless. At the ASA Sportfishing Summit, visitors can pull up a chair and focus intently on our collective success.

Register today and take your first step towards building bigger and better relationships with fellow leaders in the sportfishing industry at the the 2024 Sportfishing Summit!