Hello Romain, can you introduce yourself to the readers of Pêche.com?
Romain Freydefont -My name is Romain Freydefont, 28 years old, happily exiled in Savoie. I grew up in Lyon, made my weapons in Street-Fishing. Then I came to the Chambéry area for studies, and I fell in love with the region. Our mountains are really beautiful! I fish most of the carnivorous fishes according to the seasons and the conditions, mainly in fresh water, but also in salt water, in particular to shoot the overpowering tuna.
With time, I specialized on black-bass fishing in float-tube, and pike fishing in boat on the alpine lakes. I have spent a lot of time understanding their behavior in order to fool the monsters that haunt our waters! The tracking of record fish has always transcended me.
Can you tell us about your early days in fishing?
Romain Freydefont -I started fishing when I was just starting to walk, fishing for roach with my father and my cousin. Those fishing days were mostly a time for me to be in nature, to marvel at all the fauna and flora. A 3 meters rod, a bucket of groundbait, a box of maggots and it was gone for a frank party of pleasure.
As the years went by, I turned to carp fishing in big lakes, with great memories of bivouacking in the depths of nature, with a small fire in the evening and the stars! Then, as the fishing slots became shorter and shorter, I turned to lure fishing for carnivorous fish and I never left.
When, how and why did you agree to be a Pro-Staff?
Romain Freydefont -My buddy Ludo with whom I fish a lot had joined Fiiish a few years before. I had discovered the products and demanding as I am, I found my happiness in the range of the excellent products in the catalog. At that time, I had a huge amount of fishing time as a student, I was in full technical progress. I was spending my time on my float-tube, with several hundred pikes per year. At the same time, Fiiish was looking to form pairs of ambassadors by region. Ludo introduced me to the Fiiish communication manager and the adventure began, already 4 years ago.
What does being an ambassador mean to you?
Romain Freydefont -It is to live his passion as intensely as possible. It's about passing on your passion, your advice, your best photos to help others progress, or simply to motivate them to go and enjoy nature. Our goal is to show everyone how to use the products, by giving feedback on our sessions, by showing the patterns that worked. From a technical point of view, it is a constant exchange with the research and development department on the products made available by the brand, and how to propose improvements to meet the needs of anglers on the water.
What is your best memory, or anecdote, as a Pro-Staff to share with our readers?
Romain Freydefont -Wow, good memories of fishing, I have tons of them. Fishing is a vector of pure happiness, which one to choose is difficult. During the last Ambassador Camp Fiiish, we were looking for tuna on the hunt. I was used to small tuna in the Mediterranean and I knew that they were barrels that were hunting, the kind of fish that makes you feel sick to your stomach when you cast. And it did not fail, a few turns of the cranks and the Crazy Send Eel was swallowed by a huge tuna, the kind of fish where you have the impression to have hooked a high-speed train that never stops. The fight was huge, we took turns, a real team work, that's great! Just talking about it makes me smile behind my ears! And my arms hurt...
How do you see the fishing industry in France?
Romain Freydefont -I am divided between optimism when I see the evolution of the mentalities of the majority of the fishermen, and pessimism when I see the environments being scorned as they are by the pollutions, prohibitions of fishing, and privatizations of environments. Also, we have fishermen who prefer to put blinders in front of their eyes on the evolution of the environment, and willingly accept to fish elbow to elbow for overdense trout in ponds, really everything I run away from...
Any advice for anglers who want to join a Pro-Staff team one day?
Romain Freydefont -Take pleasure in your passion, don't force yourself. And if your passion becomes all-consuming, if a part of your life is based on fishing, the links with the brands will be almost natural. You must also like to share your little finds, and beautiful photos that motivate. Fishing is more than a passion, it's a part of my life.
