Fishing is more than just a hobby – it’s a life skill.
After all, “…if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
But it’s also an enjoyable way to spend time outdoors, which is exactly why 49 million Americans take part in freshwater angling, deep-sea fishing, or fly fishing.
Fishing is not just an “old man’s” sport either — 60% of people who fish for fun are under the age of 45.
In even better news for you affiliate marketers out there, the recreational fishing industry is worth $212 billion per year.
So maybe you might want to check out the fishing affiliate programs we tracked down for you.
Fishing Affiliate Programs
- Enigma Fishing Affiliate Program
- Columbia Sportswear Affiliate Program
- Boat Setter Affiliate Program
- Academy Sports & Outdoors Affiliate Program
- Forza Sports Affiliate Program
- Sportsman’s Guide Affiliate Program
- Legacy Food Storage Affiliate Program
- West Marine Fishing Affiliate Program
- Rapala Fishing Affiliate Program
- Phoozy Fishing Affiliate Program
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Enigma Fishing
Enigma Fishing isn’t your typical e-commerce business selling rods, reels, and accessories.
Instead, they describe themselves as “…a company of anglers creating products and opportunities for anglers”.
What this means is that they do manufacture some of the finest fishing rods and reels on the market, but they also create opportunities for anglers to get sponsorships.
And this is something that’s sorely lacking in the professional sports fishing industry.
You’ll get free shipping on any order worth over $150, and they also offer a discount for those with military service.
The Enigma Fishing program pays a 20% commission on every sale referred through your links, and their EPC is the highest of all the fishing affiliate programs featured here.
The 90-day cookie is a nice touch because their product range carries a premium price tag – conversions might take longer.
- URL: Enigma Fishing affiliate program
- Commission: 20%
- Cookie: 90 days
Columbia Sportswear
Columbia Sportswear might not seem like an obvious place to find fishing gear or at least not at first.
Until you find their PFG (Performance Fishing Gear) range for the more fashion-conscious angler or fly fishing enthusiast.
They sell everything from fleeces, shirts, and fishing gloves, to shoes, shorts, bibs, tackle vets, duffle bags, and thermal cases for storing your catch.
So although they don’t sell rods, lines, or lures, they have a number of items most fishing fans will be happy to spend money on.
The only thing they don’t sell is the tall fishing tales you’ll tell your buddies after a day on the water.
Affiliate promoting this program will get an 8% cut of all sales referred through their affiliate links.
If you’re already operating in the fishing niche (fly fishing, angling, deep sea, etc.) this is a program worth adding to your portfolio.
- URL: Columbia Sportswear affiliate program
- Commission: 8%
- Cookie: 21 days
Boat Setter
Some fishermen and women are happy to stand on a beach or riverbank casting out optimistically.
But they could change things up and click over to Boast Setter to rent a boat to take them and their friends/family out onto the open water for some deep-sea fishing fun.
Most people think that boat rental is something only truly wealthy people can do, but you can lease a craft from as little as $240 for a half-day.
Or about $40 each for you and five of your friends.
And you get to choose from 1,700 boats in 600 locations, so you’re bound to find something to suit your fishing needs and your budget.
This is a per-lead program where you’ll pocket $20 every time somebody makes a booking.
A percentage-based system would be nicer but you can always try negotiating that later if you can drive enough business their way.
- URL: Boat Setter affiliate program
- Commission: $20 per lead
- Cookie: 30 days
Academy Sports & Outdoors
Academy Sports + Outdoors actually started out in 1937 as a tire shop that sold army surplus on the side, and then began stocking sports and outdoor goods for their customers in 1980.
And the good news is that a fishing fan will find that each of their 250 stores stocks a very comprehensive range of rods, lines, lures, reels, tackle boxes, fish finders, clothing, bibs, and even canoes and kayaks.
Their site also features an ‘Expert Advice’ section filled with tips on everything from how to smoke trout, to the best saltwater baits – there are tons of fishing tips there.
As an affiliate for this program, you’ll get paid 2% commission on every sale you make.
Their EPC isn’t huge, but their ‘Network Earnings’ score indicates that their program is generating a lot of revenue.
So it makes sense that their affiliates are too.
- URL: Academy Sports + Outdoor program
- Commission: 2%
- Cookie: 30 days
Forza Sports Affiliate Program
Relax, we’re not trying to sneak an MMA program in here.
Forza Sports has an entire section of their site dedicated to outdoor sports and activities, including fishing.
This sporting goods company started out in a basement back in 2008 and grew to occupy a 115,000- square foot facility within a decade.
And that means they have space to stock a complete range of fishing goods, including lures, bait, fishing lines, rods, reels, waders, boxes, terminal tackle and lots of other fishing accessories.
Or basically, everything the typical recreational fishing fan needs.
Affiliates promoting this program will get 10% of each referred sale, which results in an average payout of $9.55 per transaction.
Their program also has a 10% conversion rate, so they obviously handle their sales and customer service like pros.
- URL: Forza Sports affiliate program
- Commission: 10%
- Cookie: 30 days
Sportsman’s Guide
The Sportsman’s Guide has a reputation for being a leading supplier of army surplus, but they also have an impressive range of outdoor sporting goods, including pretty much everything you’d need for fishing.
This includes all the usual items like rods, reels, lines, terminal tackle, and tackle boxes, and apparel from leading brand names.
But they also stock more specialized products like ice fishing gear, fish finders, downriggers, and trolling motors.
So this actually makes them more of a one-stop-shop for fishing than many of their competitors.
An added bonus is that they also offer free shipping on orders of $49 or more.
This is a program I’ve seen promoted on a number of YouTube channels I subscribe to, so I was already familiar with them.
But that also means they’re more than familiar with working with social influencers and/or high-volume affiliate marketers.
In terms of commission rate, their programs pay up to 5% per sale, but their 7-day cookie is a pain.
- URL: Sportsman’s Guide affiliate program
- Commission: 2% – 5%
- Cookie: 7 days
Legacy Food Storage
And now for something very different from the other fishing affiliate programs listed here – emergency food and survival gear from Legacy Food Storage.
Most fishing trips require hours of sitting or standing around, often in remote locations where tasty food isn’t readily available.
So your visitors can stock up here on freeze-dried meals here, but also on other items like solar lights, first aid kits…or even a portable toilet.
Yes, this is the Authority Hacker out-of-the-box thinking at work, yet again.
Program affiliates will receive a 10% commission on every sale they refer to Legacy Food Storage, and there’s a 30-day cookie to give your traffic time to make up their mind.
They have an average order value of $366, so your typical payout per customer should be $36.
- URL: Legacy Food Storage affiliate program
- Commission: 10%
- Cookie: 30 days
West Marine
West Marine (originally West Coast Ropes) was set up in 1968 by boating enthusiast Randy Repass.
He noticed that most boating supply stores were run by guys who preferred spending the day spinning salty sea yarns than serving their customers.
So he opened a single boating shop that stocked the basics, and now 240 stores later, they’re a household name.
All from providing a good range of products at fair prices, and backed with great customer service.
Fishing fans will find absolutely everything they need here, including rigid and inflatable boats.
Now, there are some potential downsides to this program.
First is their 3-day cookie duration, which is just meh.
They also pay varying commission rates depending on what you sell.
So, electronic items are worth 2%, anchoring is worth 5% and clothing is worth 10%.
That can get confusing, fast.
- URL: West Marine affiliate
- Commission: Up to 10%
- Cookie: 3 days
Rapala
Rapala is kinda like Duck Dynasty, but with fishing lures instead.
The business was founded in the 1930s by Finn, Lauri Rapala – he noticed that big fish ate smaller fish, especially the wounded ones.
So he created a whole line of specialized lures, 20 million of which are sold each year around the world.
In addition to their award-winning lures, they also sell ice fishing accessories, clippers, fish grippers, and even scales.
Oh, and orders over $99 ship free of charge.
Affiliates for this program get paid a 4% commission on all purchases made by new or existing customers, so that’s an added bonus.
The 6% commission rate is reserved for sales of their ‘StrikeMaster” product range.
- URL: Rapala affiliate program
- Commission: Up to 6%
- Cookie: 30 days
Phoozy
It was a toss-up between Phoozy and another generic fishing supply company for this final slot.
But we chose Phoozy because it’s different.
What you get is a specialized protective sleeve for your smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Its main selling point is that it provides thermal protection for the battery inside your electronic device…but it also floats in water.
So, it’s use a Phoozy, or an exceptionally well-trained dolphin to help recover your phone from the river, lake or ocean you happen to be on.
Promoting this program will get you a 15% cut of each sale, which averages out to around $6 for each referral.
- URL: Phoozy affiliate program
- Commission: 15%
- Cookie: 30 days
Over to You
And that concludes our roundup of the best fishing affiliate programs out there.
Our choices deviate 100% from other roundups because our focus is on helping you actually make money with your website.
Not just blow smoke up your ass with crazy promises about some programs we barely researched.
Idle promises of “roads paved with affiliate gold” are all too common in this game — even though there’s real money to be made. Our affiliate marketing statistics show that the average affiliate marketer earns more than $8,000 per month.
So, if you want the real skinny on what works in affiliate marketing, then we have a treat for you.
Our free training with Gael.
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