MondoCat hosts virtual fishing show

AUBURN – After the coronavirus pandemic put in-person fishing shows in doubt last fall, Bryan Mellage of Auburn turned to the Google search engine to find something online. With searches coming up empty, he realized if he wanted a show for North America, he would have to organize it himself.

He wanted the kind of show a person would experience if they went to an arena physically, only online.

Mellage: “It has to be a fishing show. It has to have other people’s products. Its got to have people who are helping sponsor it, but also, what can I learn from it? So we got other fishermen, some pretty big names in the catfishing industry to give interviews and tips on how they fish and the products they sell.”

He put together a lineup of experts that included Brad Durick, a TV personality and author who is a guide on the Red River in North Dakota.

Mellage: “He gave us a good, 40-minute Zoom meeting, where he talked about how he fished, the tips he uses, so it was a very, very good time to learn from a professional at the top of the game.”

 

 

Mellage said the show also enticed participants with vendor deals, free shipping and a $15 donation to the Fallen Outdoors for every one of Mondocat’s patriot poles that sold. Fallen Outdoors is a national organization that takes veterans on fishing and hunting trips.

 He said the first show attracted about 60,000 viewers.

Mellage: “To be very honest, people who are little bit older like myself …  a virtual show, what’s that? There was a little standoffish, but the longer they thought about it, it kind of work on them. The younger people picked right up on it no questions asked. Not even a problem. They just sat on their phone and watched it. It was accepted very easily.”

Mellage said he is looking forward to the face-to-face experience of traditional fishing shows, but he expects to be involved in more virtual fishing shows in the future.

Mellage: “The whole outdoor industry has been riding this very strong wave of people saying I’m going to go back to what I like and that is outdoors, camping, fishing, hunting and anybody in that outdoor industry has been experiencing a pretty good spike in sales because of that.”