Hello Thierry, can you introduce yourself to the readers of Fishing.news ?
Thierry Baumann -Hello fishermen, my name is Thierry, I live in the East of France, near Strasbourg. I have been working in the retail industry for 30 years, where I do different jobs. My free time, I devote it to fishing, just to relax and live my passion as much as possible.
About 4 years ago, I decided to create an Instagram account @boatfishingpro and also a blog www.boatfishing.fr with the objective to share this passion of fishing and sailing. I have been regularly feeding these social networks in order to share my fishing experiences to whoever wanted to.
Six months later, I was contacted by Florian Langer, FishXplorer's boss, who asked me if I was interested in joining the FishXplorer France Team he was creating. That's how I started just after a catfish session in Camargue with my brother.
I am therefore proud to be the oldest member of this great team which has become a real family and which is constantly evolving.
My target fish changes according to the period, the seasons and the opportunities, I travel a lot, in Denmark, in Holland, but also on the French territory. I would qualify myself as an opportunist of fishing with only one real objective, to catch the biggest fish of each species, whether it is pike perch, perch, pike, asp, sturgeon and obviously catfish.
Can you tell us about your early days in fishing?
Thierry Baumann -In fact, fishing is a family affair, we all fish and have always done so, a passion passed on by my great grandparents and which has affected the whole generation.
Over the years, I have sought to perfect my techniques, adapt my vision and I would say think "like a fish" to better understand their activity and refine my analysis of their behavior.
Fishing is a means of escape for me, of decompression to keep my balance. I have always taken the time to observe, to analyze this nature to which we owe respect and humility. This symbiosis with the elements that surround us, nature, landscapes, water, wind, gives me a pleasure and a source of appeasement and inspiration. Even if the fish are not there, the fact of having spent time sailing and fishing is regenerating in every way.
On the other hand, my sense of fishing is deeply linked to the preservation of our environment, to the respect of the rules of the reproduction periods, to an ecosystem more and more fragile and threatened by bad habits. Let's all feel concerned, each one at his own small scale, and this can be done by simple gestures such as collecting waste along the banks.
When, how and why did you agree to be a Pro-Staff?
Thierry Baumann -The brand spotted me via Instagram, it's a good way to communicate and get known, showcase your skills and create a community between fishermen around the world.
After a year working for FishXplorer, Florian proposed me to become a Pro-Staff. It was a real pride and a result of all the work I did before. Today, I have a real pleasure to invest myself and to represent this brand. I took particular care to take "clean" photos so that my community could appreciate them, always highlighting the shot and the frame. As time went by, I learned to communicate better on the products, without forcing, but trying to arouse the desire and interest.
I think that the presentation of my account and my search for specimen may have contributed to the fact that I was spotted. The fact that I fish from a boat, a float tube or from the shore is also an asset for a brand, because it gives the possibility to adapt and to use almost all the lures and to fish in almost all the conditions.
So I accepted to become a Pro-Staff, because FishXplorer is growing, we have the opportunity to communicate and share freely. Moreover, I have well integrated the strategy and I completely adhere to our way of working with our originality and our group strength which is more and more scrutinized by the other brands.
What does being an ambassador mean to you?
Thierry Baumann -An ambassador, for me, is a person who has understood how to promote his brand, who wants to share with his community, who knows how to make people want to do it and obviously, he has to do it with passion. You have to be accessible and know how to give techniques, sometimes even spots!
Your best memory, or anecdote, as a Pro-Staff to share with our readers?
Thierry Baumann -I have two great memories to share, the first was a young fisherman who contacted me via Instagram, he wanted to catch his first catfish! We exchanged on the equipment, the region, its spots (river, lake, depth etc. ...). It was important for me to see how he fished to be able to advise him at best. And after a few weeks, he caught his first catfish. Congratulations to him and great reward for me too. The sharing, the communication and the desire were there.
The second memory is more recent. The Pro-Staff FishXplorer team at the CNPL in Clermont. We all made incredible connections in just 4 days. Most of us only knew each other through social networks. We worked and set up a booth in just a few hours, communicated with many fishing enthusiasts, sold our equipment with conviction and finished our evenings on the kneecaps, but with a crazy atmosphere and a real complicity. A real human adventure, simple and rich.
How do you see the fishing industry in France?
Thierry Baumann -As far as fishing in France is concerned, I notice the trend of no-kill for many of us which is becoming more and more democratic as the years go by. What I would like to see is that the federation, the APPMAs, move even more towards the preservation of carnivorous species in our rivers. Some regions still have a lot of trouble conserving the fish population for many reasons. Let's follow the methods of the Nordic countries, in order to maintain the fish in numbers and in good health in our French waters.
The world of Pro-Staff remains complicated, I find that some forget the path taken and sometimes put their passion in the background without even noticing it, especially on social networks where the exchanges between communities disappear. Some people drop their first followers for a question of ratio and engagement rate. Personally, I think it's a pity to take "the melon".
Fortunately, the majority remain accessible and disregard their brand by putting the fishing passion in the foreground. That's what counts, never forget the pleasure, otherwise, you have to stop the partnerships and refocus on the basics. That of sharing a simple moment at the water's edge.
Any advice for anglers who want to join a Pro-Staff team one day?
Thierry Baumann -The advice I would give is very simple, be passionate, fish for pleasure, the objective should not be to become a Pro-Staff at all costs! You have to stay humble, exchange with people, discuss, share, it's very important, take care of your pictures and your fish. Give yourself a line of conduct and keep it. You will see, brands are on the lookout on social networks, one day, you will be contacted.
