Hey there Sea Changers. Today we travel close to my heart with my 11 fishing affiliate programs to catch this year. I commented recently in my post on selling fishing equipment online that these posts are fun ones for me to write as I am an avid fisherman and I have seen first hand the buying behaviours of many like me. My fishing colleagues in my local area purchase much of their gear online and, after some research, I am confident that they are not the only ones.

So for those of you interested in building an online affiliate marketing business around all things fishing, let’s check out some of the programs I have found by investigating:

• What they offer
• Commission rates
• Payment terms
• Cookie duration
• Application processes
• Affiliate/Marketing materials provided

Before we start however, let’s have a look at what I mean by the term ‘fishing’ and how it can be incorporated within an affiliate marketing website…

What do I mean by fishing?

I know we all know what fishing is, but this is quite a large niche so I just wanted to highlight what we are looking at. To my way of thinking, for those looking to make money selling fishing equipment online then there are a number of areas that we can focus on including:

• General equipment
• Fishing accessories
• Fish specific targets such as bass, salmon etc.
• Area specific fishing – lakes, rivers, beach and so on
• Boating and boat accessories
• Fishing charters and tours – high ticket items

And of course anything else that you may incorporate when you think of fishing.

What can affiliate marketers promote?

There are essentially no real barriers to what affiliate marketers can promote when it comes to fishing. There are however some things to be aware of as you run your eye over the affiliate program possibilities that may suit your site. These are:

1. Know your audience – some purchasers know exactly what they want whilst others are simply looking for the best choices for family fishing holidays etc. Choose your affiliate sites accordingly.
2. Professional and/or avid fishermen will not take risks with equipment that they don’t trust – so make sure the products you are promoting are of good quality.
3. Fanatical fishermen will want clear, precise information with features and benefits highlighted – and you will need to make sure you have the language right.
4. Fishing charters are expensive – which is good for you as an affiliate marketer – but if someone is going to pay good money online, you will need to be very clear on what bang they are getting for their buck.

That said, there is a large range of potential purchase avenues here meaning that people will spend money online if you can make their lives easier. Basically, as long as you are solving problems, then you are on the right track. And to give you a boost, let’s have a look at 11 programs that I have found below:

1. Tackle Direct

Let’s start with a big one – Tackle Direct. Tackle direct is a fantastic site on which to base your own affiliate marketing business (I actually lost 20 minutes of writing time here as I was too busy checking everything out that it has.). There are over 80,000 products on the site – too many to list here obviously but they do have the following:

• Rods
• Reels
• Line
• Tackle
• Clothing
• Fishing accessories
• Boat electronics and accessories
• Safety and survival gear

As per the above graphic, the site is nicely categorised into fishing location types with menu lists of everything you would need to cover in any number of niches within that category. For example, if you were looking for bass fishing affiliate programs, then this site would be a good one to cover that as well as cross selling opportunities if you wanted to discuss using the same fishing rod for beach fishing etc.

In fact, if your site is aimed at any fishing related niche, there are so many cross selling opportunities here that it is a must use site. There is also enough content here to allow for some great review posts as well as some higher priced items meaning greater revenue from your links. They also stock most well-known brands such as Shimano, Penn, Diawa and St Croix.

Commission Rate: up to 6%

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: 30 Days.

Application required?: Yes – The Tackle Direct affiliate program is managed by Ratuken Linkshare. You will be required to apply for an account, set up your network and then for the Tackle Direct affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Banners, text links

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2. Piscifun

Piscifun is another great fishing site covering a large range of gear suitable for most fishing related niches. Their range is restricted to fishing equipment only however they have a comprehensive catalogue including:

• Rods
• Reels
• Tools
• Bags
• Lines

Regardless of the type of fishing you are discussing (Ice, Fly, Salt water etc.) there is a rod and reel on this site that will suit your requirements. All of the products listed are their own brand meaning there is also a decent range of parts available to assist with those maintenance related posts. Pricing is also extremely competitive making it a good site for family fit out requirements or gifts.

Commission Rate: Starts at 12%

• Silver member: 13% commission rate when total commission >$200
• Gold member: 15% commission rate when total commission >$400
• Platinum member: 16% commission rate when total commission >$800

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: 60 days

Application required?: Yes – Piscifun’s affiliate program is managed by Share-A-Sale. You will be required to apply for an account and then for the Piscifun affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Access text links, ad banners, customised and affiliate only offers

Note: Piscifun also offers a good dropshipping service for those of you looking for another way to make some money within this niche.

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3. Okuma

Okuma’s plan is to “celebrate fishing around the country” and having just reached its 25th year in business, it continues the list of really good all round site with a massive range of own brand products for all fishing types.  Their range is too large to list it all here so the highlights include:

• Rods
• Reels
• Combos
• Tackle and fishing bags
• Maintenance products
• Spare parts
• Racks and holders
• Shirts and hats
• Sun protection clothing
• Gloves
• Travel rods
• Braid and mono line

That list really doesn’t do the site justice but the fact that their products are designated into ‘families’ makes for some great review options and comparisons within affiliate marketing posts.

This is definitely a site that you could base an affiliate business around in the general fishing niche or within the specific worlds of Ice, Fly, Salt water, estuary fishing etc. as well. As with the site above, all of the products listed are their own brand including the relevant maintenance options with a great range of gift options too.

Commission Rate: 5%

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: 30 days

Application required?: Yes – Okuma’s affiliate program is managed by Share-A-Sale. You will be required to apply for an account and then for the Okuma affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Product links, ad banners, customised and affiliate only offers

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4. Bob Ward’s

To be honest, Bob Ward’s is probably more of an all round outdoor site than one just related to fishing. It does however have a decent range of fishing outfits, gear and accessories that could suit any camping or fishing site. Their fishing range is not as large as some others however there is still a good array of products for freshwater, fly and ice fishing including :

• Rods and Reels
• Tackle bags
• Nets
• Knives
• Chairs
• Clothing
• Waders
• Ice Jigs

This is a great site for those in the niche categories listed in the graphic above. For those in the hunting and/or hiking niches, there are some great cross selling opportunities to add fishing escape options to your site. Alternatively their range of hunting and hiking products can be utilised for cross selling opportunities in sites or posts covering subjects such as wilderness trout or salmon fishing for example.

Commission Rate: 8%

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: 120 Days

Application required?: Yes, Bob Ward’s affiliate program is managed by Avantlink. You will be required to apply for an account then for the Bob Ward’s affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Banners and Text Links, RSS feeds

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5. Bass Pro Shop

As with Bob Ward’s above, Bass Pro Shop is an all round ‘outdoors site’ with a great range of fishing gear that can be incorporated into any fishing niche. It’s range of products within this category is large and comprehensive including:

• Lures
• Terminal Tackle
• Fishing Accessories
• Fishing Rods
• Fishing Apparel & Rain Gear
• Fishing Reels
• Rod & Reel Combos
• Tackle Boxes & Bags
• Bowfishing
• Fishing Sunglasses

Again, this can be categorised into categories such as saltwater, freshwater, fly and ice fishing as well as a massive range of cross selling opportunities within its hunting, hiking and camping ranges. The added bonus of this site however is the ability to go for those high ticket items within its range of boats and water craft.

With sites like this, you can make some regular affiliate income with the usual fishing gear outlined above with the ability to earn some massive commissions if you manage to snag a boat sale as well – it happens. Some suggested posts here would be outlining the actual fishing requirements and then matching them to a relevant boat. You could also review and promote boats in separate posts.

Commission Rate: 5%

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: 14 days

Application required?: Yes, Bass Pro Shop’s affiliate program is managed by Impact. You will be required to apply for an account then for the Bass Pro Shop affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Text links and banners, great access to marketing materials

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6. Cabela’s

Look, call me lazy, but to be honest, just re-read my outline on the Bass Pro shop above and substitute the word Cabela’s. They are both well-known and trusted entities with the same opportunities for affiliate marketers. I guess you just need to determine which affiliate program you believe is best for you. Oh, they also use the same affiliate platform (Impact) so you could probably even incorporate both into your site if you wanted to…

Commission Rate: Starting at 4% – higher tiers based on sales

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: Not stated

Application required?: Yes, Cabela’s affiliate program is managed by Impact. You will be required to apply for an account then for the Cabela’s affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Ad banners, updated data feed, Pre-written content, text links

7. Trouts Fly Fishing

As the name suggests, if you are looking for a fly-fishing affiliate program, then you have found it here. Trouts Fly Fishing has everything to do with the art of fly-fishing including::

• Rods
• Reels
• Tackle
• Flies
• Lines
• Waders
• Clothing
• Vests
• Accessories
• Gloves

An added advantage of this site is its community based feel with blogs, videos and discussion forums covering all things fly-fishing for newbies and professionals alike. It lists many of the most well-known brands as well as a decent rewards program and rental service (always a great promotion point of any blog post).

Commission Rate: 8%

Payment Terms: Monthly.

Cookie Duration: 90 Days.

Application required?: Yes, Trouts Fly Fishing’s affiliate program is managed by Avantlink. You will be required to apply for an account then for the Trouts Fly Fishing affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Text links and banners, data feed

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8. Bubba

As a fisherman, there is nothing worse than a blunt knife so if your site is anything to do with catching fish, then Bubba is a great addition to it. This site is all about the fishing knife with types for every fishing (and hunting for that matter) need.

They also offer a limited range of other products including:

• Clothing
• Tools – pliers etc.
• Gaffs
• Nets
• Knife sharpeners
• Filleting gloves

This site is probably not large enough to sustain an affiliate marketing business on its own but as I alluded to earlier, is a fantastic addition to any fishing related niche site. The other advantage here is their large catalogue of educational videos to talk you through the filleting process for any number of fish species opening up a huge range of information post opportunities with applicable knife links included.

I would also be promoting this site heavily around Christmas and Father’s days for those manly gift ideas.

Commission Rate: 7 – 10%

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: 30 days

Application required?: Yes, Bubba’s affiliate program is managed by Avantlink. You will be required to apply for an account then for the Bubba affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Text links and banner ads

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9. West Marine

For this next program, we enter the world of boat fishing with West Marine. They provide a massive range of boat related rod, reels, tackle, gaffs, nets etc as well as plenty of other targeted products including (but certainly not limited to):

• Electronic sounders and fish finders
• Bait tanks and pumps
• Rod holders and racks
• Lures and baits
• Trolling motors
• Sea and shallow water anchors
• Fishing Kayaks

This is a great site for any boat or kayak related fishing niche with so many products to review, compare or provide advice on. There is also a huge range of other boat related products such as maintenance, galley and safety items. They stock all of the major brands and there are great multi use opportunities with their sailing and other water sports products as well as access to some potentially lucrative high ticket items.

Commission Rate: 2-10%

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: 7 Days

Application required?: Yes, West Marine’s affiliate program is managed by Avantlink. You will be required to apply for an account then for the West Marine affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Links, banners and custom marketing

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10. Lucky Tackle Box

Lucky Tackle Box is a subscription based program where customers receive a “box full of baits” each month. Boxes include lures, soft plastics and tackle delivered monthly.

There are a number of choices per price point providing the best lures for bass, trout, multi species or ice fishing. The range here is certainly not big enough to sustain an affiliate marketing site on its own however it is a great addition or gift idea for just about any bass/lake fishing or boating site out there.

Commission Rate: $6.50 per new subscription

Payment Terms: Monthly

Cookie Duration: 30 days

Application required?: Yes, Lucky Tackle Box’s affiliate program is managed by Avantlink. You will be required to apply for an account then for the Lucky Tackle Box affiliate program. You will need to enter personal and website information as well as promotional plans and platforms to be used.

Marketing material provided: Banners, Text Links, Marketing imagery available

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11. Fishing Booker

And finally, for an extra income opportunity for any fishing niche, I would suggest you add something like Fishing Booker to your site. Fishing booker links readers to charters in their local areas all over the world.

There are a number of categories to choose from such as:

• Fishing location
• Species target
• Fishing techniques
• Geographical location

Each tour has a full list of reviews and expected outcomes allowing for any number of promotional opportunities on any affiliate marketing site.

Commission Rate: 9%

Payment Terms: Monthly ($100 threshold to be reached)

Cookie Duration: 90 days

Application required?: Yes, personal and website information required.

Marketing material provided: Banners, Text Links, Widgets

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Amazon associates

Alternatively, should you wish to set up your site up with a range from a few different brands or companies on the same site then you can do so via Amazon. Amazon provides access to a good range of fishing related products and has a fairly good affiliate program as well. So if you wish, join the Amazon Associates program, locate the best fishing gear for your niche within Amazon itself and you can post links on your own site as per below:

Amazon’s commission rates in this niche tend to be on par with some of the programs listed above (4 – 7%) however some prefer this avenue due to the sheer amount of traffic and trustworthiness that comes with a company site of this size.

FAQ

How to find your own affiliate programs

As stated earlier, by outlining the sites above I have really just tried to give you a good cross section of the types of programs that are out there by listing the really good ones in each ‘category’. That does not mean that you cannot find affiliate programs that better suit what it is that you are trying to do within this space – especially as I could never even begin to cover every fishing sub niche in the one post. Luckily for us, there is a simple way to find these programs online.

All you need to do is enter “affiliate: niche type” into your search engine (substituting ‘niche type‘ for whatever product it is that you are choosing to sell).

There are fishing related affiliate programs for everything else that we have listed at the top of this page as well – you will just need to have a look around until you find one or two that suit your site. Once you have completed your searches, you can look through and find programs that:

• Relate to your niche/problems that you are solving.
• Have quality products – your brand can be severely damaged if you promote poor quality product.
• Have solid payment and customer service arrangement.
• Pay decent commissions.
• Have good testimonials covering commission payouts and quality of product.

In most cases, you will need to apply for the program before you are allowed to promote their products – don’t take this step lightly or you will be rejected. Affiliate programs will generally want to know:

• Your website name.
• Traffic levels.
• Why you want to join – (so I can make money by selling your fishing lures is unfortunately not generally a good enough answer).
• How you plan to promote their products.

Conclusion

So… There are 11 Fishing Affiliate Programs to catch this year. I hope it has been helpful for you as you commence your own fishing based affiliate marketing business and as usual, please do not hesitate to comment below if you have any questions, need some advice or have any experiences to share. Oh, and especially comment if you have any experience with these, or any other programs as well.

Do you want further assistance with any of the above or need help to build your own fishing based website?

Are you looking for a comprehensive training platform that can give you step by step training, 24/7 support, tools to develop and host your very own website, ongoing assistance with SEO and social media and access to some of the best affiliate marketing minds on the planet, then click on the following link to read more about Wealthy Affiliate.

Until next time

Have fun

Paul

Note: If you make a purchase from this page, there is a very good chance that I make a commission from it – these commissions do not increase your sale price. This may include sales made via Wealthy Affiliate