Fishing is big business, and FXR founder says the sport's growth is only getting started

Matt Robertson walked away from The Champions on Old Hickory Lake outside Nashville with the richest first-place payout in bass fishing history, capping a three-day tournament that featured a staggering $3.25 million purse and brought together some of the biggest names from Bassmaster and Major League Fishing.CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTKICK OUTDOORSAnd if the event was any indication, the business of fishing has come a long way from the neighborhood pond.Matt Robertson celebrates with his catch on stage after winning the 2026 World Bass Enterprises - The Champions Tournament on Oct.31, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn.

(World Bass Enterprises/Getty Images)According to the 2026 Special Report on Fishing from the American Sportfishing Association and Outdoor Industry Association, 57 million Americans went fishing at least once in 2025.That's up from 50.1 million in 2019.Those numbers help explain why companies with roots outside the fishing industry have increasingly turned their attention to the water.Take FXR, for example.The Canadian company built its reputation making performance apparel for snowmobiling and motorsports.

But founder Milt Reimer told OutKick OutDoors that he began recognizing fishing's potential roughly a decade ago, after discovering just how much overlap existed between his motorsports customers and the fishing community."We just started to connect through that, and then just realized, man, there is a lot of participation in Minnesota, especially," Reimer said.Fishing, he explained, was already a summer passion for many of the same people who spent their winters on snowmobiles or their weekends riding dirt bikes.That connection eventually led FXR into the fishing apparel business, where the company now sponsors several professional anglers including Robertson, Fisher Anaya and 2026 Bassmaster Angler of the Year Trey McKinney.Trey McKinney, 2026 Bassmaster Angler of the Year, prepares to launch on the final day of The Champions tournament on O...