The frostbite young guns

Good evening everyone,

My absence on IDO in the last couple years has been largely due to the presence and the proliferation of the many youtube fishing personalities that have emerged as hosts of their various shows. I’m intrigued by the new emergence of this “Frost Bite” crew supported by (apbassin, aaron weibe and others). Evidently they are launching their line at the MN ice show this weekend and a website on Monday.

I will be curious as to what type of product they produce, price points etc. not to mention what kind of guys they come off as in person. They are all younger guys my age and I’m fascinated by the fact that they are willing to put themselves up against established giants in the industry (rapala, clam, northland, st croix and a host of others). It will be interesting to see how their online youtube personalities translate into being businessmen and marketers. If you have some interactions with them, or pick up some of their products at the show, feel free to reply and post your impressions. I’m also curious to see how they will play with the middle aged and older fishing crowds. Will they be seen as annoying young pups, or new pioneers pushing the boundaries of ice fishing?

I’ve never met any of them. But do watch AP and Aaron on you tube a lot. Apbassin is incredibly annoying to me but I still watch. Aaron weibe is a strange one but I love his style of videos info and entertainment all in one. I also like jay Siemens Aaron’s old camera guy. I hope they make it. The older crowd had to move over these young guys are ambitious. I think there is room for everyone

I will say that they are certainly unique and intriguing personalities. I hope they have success as well, just to prove that it can be done.

I agree with Bearcat that (in my opinion) AP is annoying. Took a while to give Aaron W a go, but his videos are different, well done, and he’s pretty good about teaching and sharing strategies as well.

Curious to learn which “two Minnesota guys” are building their rods…and if they’re any good.

eehhh. Just another ice fishing jig maker lol.

AP did mention in like 2 videos back who is making there rods, well at least one of the builders name.

Interesting… I found this. Ill follow along. Posting this unwatched ha so hopefully its not to terrible or boring.

As great a vehicle YouTube is/was to allow new and often younger personalities to flourish outside the traditional rights of passage into the fishing industry. At the end of the day, Frostbite will be another (overly) packaged product that needs to be on the shelves, marketed, then followed up by a healthy dose of customer support. If anything is apparent, ice anglers often have complaints and questions that need answers and remedies. The product will have to be good and i bet they’ll probably need to temper their respect for the community that will also be the consumer to keep that feel good “I’m an ice angler” feeling.

I wonder if the rods are gonna be custom?

______________ wrote:

…
I wonder if the rods are gonna be custom?

I dare say no more for fear of “disappearing”.

Best of luck to them. Seems to be a cutthroat business in a small portion of the fishing industry. (ice fishing)

I can’t imagine I would buy their product or watch their video’s. After all, ice is to be used for cocktails or else be avoided.

Jamin wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>fishwater wrote:</div>
…
I wonder if the rods are gonna be custom?

I dare say no more for fear of “disappearing”.

That’s a daring comment in this neck of the woods

Jamin wrote:

I agree with Bearcat that (in my opinion) AP is annoying.

I’m in the same boat as Jamin and Bearcat, APBassing is annoying. There is no actually fishing tips or information in his shows except product placements.

Did I hear right in the video that their going to be IN the Torne booth at the ice show? Maybe that’s their rod builder…

Mat Peirce wrote:

Did I hear right in the video that their going to be IN the Torne booth at the ice show? Maybe that’s their rod builder…

I heard that also in the video, cool side Aaron is going to be onsite this weekend.

Ap does visits at thorne bros and aaron has as well. So I’d assume they have a relationship. And that’s probably there rod builder.

No insight for this new venture but I know Wiebe has been using Haat Rods through the ice the past couple seasons. I saw the jigs and plastics on Siemens’s channel within the last week and they look nice but agree it’s a really competitive market, tough to break through regardless of who you are.

FWIW I’ve watched Uncut Angling from the start and still really enjoy it, don’t watch AP’s channel too often cause the videos are OK content at best, Siemens is doing fine but still finding his legs on being the host vs camera guy/guest.

Ice fishing is now a game of “best marketing wins”. Product quality is going downhill in favor of making cool videos and promoting the heck out of them on social media.

If their product is half as good as their marketing they will thrive.

Joel VandeKrol wrote:

Ice fishing is now a game of “best marketing wins”. Product quality is going downhill in favor of making cool videos and promoting the heck out of them on social media.

If their product is half as good as their marketing they will thrive.

I think their ultimate success will depend on your last statement. I completely agree with your entire sentiment. At the end of the day, no matter how much fanfare, social media presence, and promotion they have the ability to create, if the product is good, it will be a success. If not, it will be another failure in the industry. At any rate, I’m glad we will have the opportunity to choose another product and judge for ourselves.

I’ve met Aaron a couple of times, he’s as genuine in person as he is in his videos. He’s a class act and no doubt will pack Thorns booth.

WS

I’m interested to see the Frostbite stuff also and hope they do well with it.

I do get the “annoying” comments referenced above, but in general I take in that batch of guys (AP, JonB, Lake Fork Guy, LunkersTV, Chris Bulaw, etc) with a slightly different perspective. I’m 50+ and have plenty of friends in that age range who enjoy fishing in its various forms (particularly ice fishing and spinner trout fishing in SEMN). I hadn’t felt much momentum with fishing in that younger group in my daily life until the last 18 months. I don’t know how many occasions during that timeframe that I’ve been able to strike up a conversation with young family members, or other random people in their age range using the “Fishing YouTubers” as a topic. The one thing all of these guys have in common is a love of fishing, hunting, or generally being outdoors. For that, they get a good deal of slack from me.

My 2 cents…
-Bruce

For me Youtube is as about entertainment and getting to see to see the world without having to “go there”. I enjoy APBassing and the others who make up the Googan Squad but they are more entertainers than professional outdoorsman…but they work very hard and make a great living “having fun”. If I were younger I’d definitely go down that same road; and I love the fact they are bringing more youth into the fishing/hunting scene…that to me is the best part.

I will say APBassing is very fortunate to have Aaron W join this FrostBite venture as he brings a ton of fishing credibility to that company.

Joel VandeKrol wrote:

Ice fishing is now a game of “best marketing wins”. Product quality is going downhill in favor of making cool videos and promoting the heck out of them on social media.

I guess I don’t see this happening at all, especially in ice fishing. Ice fishing equipment HAS to be quality or it fails and word travels fast. Clam seemed to cut corners for a couple years, and I feel like their brand is still trying to recover their reputation. Plus, competition among suppliers always benefits the consumer, so the more the merrier I say!

one of my favorite you tube channels is tom boley

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joel VandeKrol wrote:</div>
Ice fishing is now a game of “best marketing wins”. Product quality is going downhill in favor of making cool videos and promoting the heck out of them on social media.

I guess I don’t see this happening at all, especially in ice fishing. <em class=”ido-tag-em”>Ice fishing equipment HAS to be quality or it fails and word travels fast. Clam seemed to cut corners for a couple years, and I feel like their brand is still trying to recover their reputation. Plus, competition among suppliers always benefits the consumer, so the more the merrier I say!

I Agree Werm, competition is always a good thing. With all this frozen water comes a shanty ton of cash.

yak fish wrote:

one of my favorite you tube channels is tom boley

Boley and Wiebe are both excellent at what they do. Very informational and yet entertaining videos. BIG fan of that 39 hours show Wiebe was a part of a few years ago. Do that more frequently and marketing will never be a problem!

They have about a million YOU Tube fans as a built-in customer base. Most of them are young kids & teenagers who consider them rock stars. I’ll be surprised if they sell anything better quality than the Chinese made Clam stuff. I am curious about the rod maker. I do enjoy watching their videos, especially Wiebe.

AP is an annoying FIB, but that kid and the rest of the Googan squad grind. He played a large role with the rollout of Googan Bait’s first soft plastic. Wondering if Frost Bite jigs will be the same level of quality.

Wiebe will carry this brand until he gets tired of it or it pulls him away from doing other things he would prefer to do…

These guys have a passion like no other. It is a hard industry to get into but they have connections and again they are so passionate about what they’re doing. They will adapt and overcome obstacles and will be a big name in the industry one of these days. Super excited to see their online site launch on Monday.

Nothing against Shamus, (welcome by-the-way) but it is always interesting to see what topic gets people worked up enough to make their first post.

Here is their booth at the St Paul Ice Fishing Show. Lots of young kids wanted to buy their swag.

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