Hello Benjamin, could you introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello readers. My name is Benjamin Balme, I'm 40 years old, married, with 2 children, and I live in the Isère department between Lyon and Grenoble.
I have a keen interest in nature and natural environments. This passion has given rise to my professional activity as a nature reserve manager in this beautiful region.
I particularly enjoy being in wild, untamed places, in contact with the elements. I'm lucky enough to have the Rhône River just a few kilometers from my house, which is my main playground.
This is the kind of environment I like to fish in, with a preference for finding running-water cyprins!
Can you tell us about your early days in fishing?
Like many people, I started out paddling the rivers and ponds of my region with my dad.
Initially in charge of the landing net, I evolved into a more active angler. I fished for trout until I was 12, and then I spent a lot of time on the local ponds with my friends, catching carp and pike.
I discovered running water fishing a little later, at the age of 17, and I literally fell in love with the Rhône, an enchanting, characterful river on which I learned a lot.
Over time, I've learned to reconcile my various passions, my personal life and my professional life, so that I regularly find myself at the water's edge.
I don't spend a week without taking a few hours on the river banks, often for short periods of time. It's a necessity for my personal well-being.
When, how and why did you agree to become a Pro-Staff?
My passion for the living world led me to collaborate fairly early on (around the age of 18) with a specialist magazine, "Pêche de la carpe", to present the flora and fauna of aquatic environments. David Tartaglione and Léon Hoogendijk trusted me for more than 15 years to share my knowledge with readers of the printed press.
At some point, a few brands were interested in this exhibition, and one thing led to another, and I was able to collaborate with a number of firms.
For nearly 10 years, I've been involved with the Pure Fishing group, and more specifically the Prologic brand. I also have a partnership with Cap River, a French manufacturer of baits for carp fishing.
Partnerships are created above all through exchanges between enthusiasts. The human side is also very important to me. I don't need to be an ambassador to enjoy myself on the water, so on that basis, I see this role as a plus in the practice of my passion.
What does being an ambassador mean to you?
It's all about conveying a positive image through your passion. The "business" side must be identified at some point, because it's important to understand that a brand needs to get something back from its ambassador: it's a win-win situation.
Personally, it has also enabled me to perfect my photography and video skills, so that I can offer better quality content.
What's your fondest memory or anecdote from your time as a Pro-Staff?
I have a lot of little anecdotes that happened to me on the Rhône, but my first session on a big lake gave me a lot of pleasure.
The change of scenery was total, as I found myself with my session colleague on a magnificent Moroccan dam. The atmosphere on this lake is magical and the scenery magnificent.
What's more, the fish we saw during our stay were magnificent.
In a few lines, we went through all the stages during this session, from happiness with two big fish in a few hours, to long days of waiting in the rain without the slightest activity... Then to waking up the ladies with some very nice catches shared with my partner.
I'm also nostalgic for my first peaches, when I spent my evenings cooking potatoes in the garden and collecting nuts from my father's toolbox to make cheap lead sinkers! It's a long way from Pro-Staff, but you must never forget your passion.
What do you think of fishing in France?
Fishing is too little promoted at national level. Instead, it relies on local associations and the thousands of volunteers who work behind the scenes.
As a result, there are a wide variety of actions across France. The cliché of the fisherman, lugging his cooler to the water's edge, needs to change. Today, there are a multitude of ways to practice one's passion, with a common doctrine: respect.
My very "green" vision of this passion compels me to think that anglers really must be part of nature's sentinels and must work on a daily basis to preserve our aquatic environments.
Our region is full of little fish nuggets, and we need to do everything we can to preserve them.
Transmission is also a point that needs to be developed to encourage younger people to take to the water's edge. Fishing is a healthy passion that's also very rejuvenating.
Any advice for anglers who want to join a Pro-Staff team one day?
Live your passion to the full, convey a good image and be respectful.
If you have a bit of creativity and a desire to offer quality content, you'll quickly be able to "interest" a partner. But don't forget that fishing is first and foremost a passion, and under no circumstances should it become a constraint, or should the integration of a firm be an objective.
