fishing

30 Fishing Affiliate Programs That Should Reel You In

30 Fishing Affiliate Programs That Should Reel You In

Introduction

Fishing is among the most popular pastimes in the United States. In 2017 more than 49 million people went fishing at least once. According to the American sportfishing Association anglers support more than 800,000 jobs in the US alone. The industry is worth over $200 billion per annum.

Given those sorts of numbers should you be creating an affiliate site about fishing?

Hopefully the information I’ve dug up will help you to make an informed decision.

Academy Sports and Outdoors

Academy sports and outdoors

A general outdoors store but it does feature a large selection of fishing equipment and clothing. Over 6000 product lines by the look of it. Rods, reels, lures, waders and tackle storage to name a few. They’ve been trading for more than 80 years although they only got into the sport side of things fairly recently.

They also offer tons of great information via their expert advice section.

The commission rate of 2% is probably not going to set your world on fire. They still have a reasonable EPC around $20 and their wide variety of products could prove a useful asset to your fishing site.

Angler HQ

Angler HQ

Angler HQ will pay you up to 7% commission as an affiliate if you have a fishing related website or blog. They also offer higher rates of commission to influences and content partners.

Bass Pro Shops

Bass Pro

One of several general outdoor sports stores featured in this article but they do have a large section of fishing equipment. Stores like this have the added advantage that you can cross sell into other departments such as boating, camping or apparel.

The program is run through the impact network and will pay you a commission rate of 5%. The cookie duration is a little on the short side at only 14 days.

Boatsetter

Boatsettor homepage

Boatsetter offers a range of 1700 boats for hire in 600 locations. Your website visitors should be able to find a location and boat to suit their needs.

You will receive a commission of $20 per sale and their EPC is one of the highest of all the fishing programs at more than $97.

Bob Ward’s

Bob Ward

Another generalist sports and outdoor gear store. They do have a section specialising in fishing which includes a combination of gear and clothing.

Offering a pretty reasonable 8% commission rate and an excellent 120 day cookie duration. This program is probably worth further investigation.

You can sign up on Commission Junction, transactions average between $100 and $200.

Bubba

Bubba

Bubba features a number of knives and other tools and accessories that would be useful to a fisherman. The affiliate program offers 7% commissions with an increase up to 10% for a higher volume of sales.

The site doesn’t feature that many products so you would probably want to include this program as part of a larger strategy on your fishing blog.

Cabelas

Cabela's

It would appear that they are using the same theme as basspro.com. Their affiliate program is also managed by Impact but their payouts are slightly lower, starting at 4%. You can achieve higher rates based on the amount of traffic you refer to the site (sales).

Columbia Sportswear

Columbia sportswear

More of a generic store than specific to fishing but they do offer their performance fishing gear range. They sell a wide range of clothing including some specific to fishing like the fishing gloves and tackle vests.

They don’t sell rods and reels but they do sell thermal cases which could be used to store your catch.

Their commission rate is only 8% and they have a 21 day cookie window. Given the lower-priced nature of their products compared with some of the other sites listed here. Their EPC of just over $20 is not totally surprising.

Enigma Fishing

Enigma fishing

Offering a juicy 20% commission, enigma is arguably one of the best programs in this list. Certainly when looking at their EPC.

As well as selling usual fishing gear such as rods and reels Enigma also offer an opportunity for anglers to get sponsorship.

If your visitors spend more than $150 then they’ll get free shipping. If you happen to refer someone who has a history of military service then they would receive a discount.

Fishing Booker

Fishing booker

Boat rental is quite expensive. Fishing Booker pays 9% commission. You might have found an ideal affiliate program to promote. It would be an interesting addition to any fishing site. Even a casual fisherman is probably going to want to fish from a boat occasionally, just as a treat.

Fishing Tackle & Bait

Fishing tackle and bait

For those with a UK based audience this could be a good site to link to. The affiliate commission is only 5% but they do offer a wide variety of products and it would appear they still deliver to Europe after Brexit.

Fish West

Fish West

Offering all the usual fishing related gear but also giving you some opportunities to cross sell into camping and eyewear. Also offers a selection of gifts and books.

They pay their affiliates 8% commission and have a 30 day cookie.

Forza Sports

Forza

Another generalist site that features a selection of fishing related gear. Not as large a selection of products as some of the other generalist sites but they do offer a more attractive commission of 10%. They do have quite a high EPC of over $90 and a fairly generous cookie duration of 30 days.

Hook & Tackle

Hook and tackle

A site that focuses on producing and selling performance apparel for fishing. With a particular focus on UV sun protection. Another site that offers a generous 8% commission rate and their reasonably generous 30 day cookie.

Lucky Tackle Box

Lucky tackle box

Offers a wide range of fishing gear through its online store. It also offers a subscription package which features a monthly magazine, a number of baits, lures, tackle and accessories.

Affiliate’s could earn $6.50 for every new subscriber they managed to refer. The subscription packages start from $14.99 per month.

Marine Products

Marine products

While Marine Products doesn’t stock fishing equipment. Its wide selection of boat related equipment will be of interest to any fishermen that tend to fish from a boat.

They have a very generous cookie duration of 120 days and offer commission rates from 8% to 13% depending upon the category of product.

Maxcatch Fishing

Max catch fishing

Another site specialising in fly fishing equipment. Unfortunately their commission rate is only 5% so you might find better opportunities elsewhere.

Orvis

Fishing affiliate programs

Another site focusing on fly fishing. Unfortunately it only offers a 5% commission so unless they have a particular item you want to cover you may have better luck elsewhere.

Okuma Fishing

Okuma

Offering a wide selection of rods and reels along with some accessories and apparel. You could earn up to 5% commission by signing up as an affiliate of Okuma. The program is run through Share-A-Sale and has a cookie duration of 30 days.

Piscifun

piscifun

Stockists of top brands such as Berkley, Spiderwire and Penn. Piscifun also manufacture their own high quality fishing gear at affordable prices. Offering their customers free shipping worldwide which is quite unusual.

Affiliates earn a hefty 12% commission with the potential to increase that to 13%-16% for increased sales. Share-A-Sale manages the program and you have a 60 day cookie window.

Pro Tackle Solutions

Pro tackle solutions

If your website has a more international audience rather than just a US-based one then Pro Tackle Solutions might be a good option for you. They will ship purchases to 185 countries and carry a wide variety of fishing related products in all the usual categories.

They offer a reasonable 30 day cookie and pay 8% commission on referred visitors.

Rapala

rapala

Rapala are most famous for their lures which have been massive sellers since the 30s.

In addition they sell a wide range of accessories and clothing.

Could be a good choice if your site is niche down to fishing lures. You would receive commissions of 4% in general. Sales of “StrikeMaster” products would earn you 6%.

You get an acceptable 30 day cookie but there EPC is amongst the lowest in this roundup at only $18.

Sportsman’s Guide

Sportsman's guide

Probably better known for their army surplus, Sportsman’s guide also offers a wide range of outdoor sporting goods.

They carry a decent range of fishing products in the usual categories such as rods, reels and lines.

Your visitors will probably appreciate their very generous free shipping offer on any order over $49. The commission rate varies depending upon the product from 2% to 5%. Unfortunately they are not very generous with their cookies as you only have a seven day window. Their EPC is okay at around $25.

Swiftly Fishing

Swiftly fishing

Unfortunately this program only pays out in-store credit, otherwise it would look like quite a good one. Their standard commission is 10% with a 60 day cookie.

Tackle Direct

Tackle direct

One of the largest online fishing stores featuring more than 50,000 product lines from some of the top manufacturers. Their affiliate program is run by Rakuten and allows you to earn up to 6% commission. While the commission rate is not the highest, the sheer quantity of products available makes this an option worth considering.

Telluride Angler

Telluride angler

Offering a generous 8% commission this fishing store could be a useful partner to your fishing related website. Average orders are around $350 and you have 120 day cookie duration.

Customers referred from your site can benefit from free shipping on all orders over $100. Telluride stock equipment from the leading fly fishing brands such as Simms, Lamson and Hatch.

Trident Fly Fishing

Trident

Offering a very chunky 10% commission along with 60 day cookies. There is no reason why you can’t include Trident as an affiliate partner as long as you are creating content around fly fishing.

Trouts Fly Fishing

Trouts fly fishing

They’ve now been in business for more than a quarter of a century and stock many of the major brands in the industry.

Customers that you refer to them will be able to take advantage of free shipping and a price match guarantee on all products for the current model year.

Any purchases they make will earn you a reasonable 8% commission and there is a cookie duration of 90 days.

Vail Valley Anglers

Vail Valley

Offering a wide range of the top branded fly fishing equipment. They will pay you 8% commission on referred sales with a cookie duration of 30 days.

In addition to the retail side of the business, customers can also rent equipment and book tours.

West Marine

West Marine

Originally founded as a boating supply company they now boast over 200 stores. They have also expanded their product range to include fishing products.

If your website visitors are more likely to fish from a boat than a dock then this might be the right program to promote. They can get both their fishing and boating requirements all in one place.

Your commission rate on this program will vary from 2% to 10% depending upon the product category. You also only get a three day cookie!

Their EPC is just under $58 so that would suggest affiliates are able to make money with this program.

Hopefully that whetted your appetite for a fishing related affiliate blog.

How to Promote

In order to get some free traffic from Google you will have to niche down and target keywords that have the lowest possible competition. If your site can start to gain some momentum then you can try to target more difficult keywords that should bring in more traffic. Over a period of 6 to 12 months if you do it right you should start to see traffic coming in.

Some people might suggest paying for links or spending a lot of time doing outreach. It depends if you are looking for a quick buck. Buying links in this day and age is probably a mistake. Doing one or two guest posts to give your site a bit more visibility would probably be a good idea as would building some social media channels. Don’t spend too much time with social media however if it detracts from you adding content to your site. There’s no point building up social media channels unless you’re able to add content on a regular basis.

However the biggest factor that is going to drive your growth will be organic traffic from Google unless you are in a position to pay for ads.

In any niche it can be a good idea to focus on beginners as they will often be looking for lots of advice. What equipment to buy, where to buy it and how to guides. All of these make great articles for a blog.

You could niche down to a specific type of fishing such as fly fishing or ice fishing for example. You could target particular types of equipment even, maybe looking at rods or reels.

Conclusion

There are a wide variety of fishing related affiliate programs that you could link to from your fishing blog. Don’t forget it’s not just the obvious rods, reels and bait. There’s lots of other things that fishermen are going to use including camping gear, food, clothing and boating equipment.

If you already have a fishing blog with traffic then you should be able to find a nice mixture from the programs listed above. If you’re thinking of starting a blog then this should give you confidence that there are ways to monetise other than display advertising.

James

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