Meet Josh Sheldon | Tournament Fisherman

We had the good fortune of connecting with Josh Sheldon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Josh, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The thought process was quite by accident. We wanted to do something to help other fisherman in the area expand their knowledge and have a little fun at the same time. We started a blog and thought it would help us attract sponsors and build a fishing resume. The blog quickly turned into a full blown website and one snow spring day we sat around and talked about starting a podcast. We taped our first podcast on an iPhone in the living room of Brad’s house and found a provider the next week. We published the podcast with no production or marketing, just a fun 2o minutes with the 3 of us talking fishing. We thought we would get maybe a hundred local guys to listen and we thought that would be pretty cool. We did a post on Facebook and posted it to some fishing pages and within a couple days we had a few hundred listens. We were blown away. From that point forward we consumed everything we could on how to be a podcaster and how to form a business from podcasting. The popularity has grown and we continue to struggle to meet the demand of our listeners for more content. The podcasts success has lead to clothing sales promoting the All Eyes on Fishing logo. We began our own competitive Walleye fishing series in 2020 called The Colorado Walleye Trail. From those two successful ideas we have recently paired with another angler from our tournament series and we are on the verge of releasing our own tournament app called eTournament Fishing. The app is designed for the catch, photo, video and release format or tournament fishing and designed to grab hold of the market as the only tournament fishing app that is designed for professional fishing tournaments both onshore and off.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Brad Qualley is a Metro Area Commander and has been with the department since they rode on horseback. Brad is our coordinator and motivator as a good Commander should be. Josh is retired law enforcement after 19 years and now owns his own background check business where he specializes in extensive corporate and gaming backgrounds from California. Mitch manages Today’s Nursery in Parker where his is the foremost authority on everything that grows. We are a good mix of type A personality and we are all goal oriented. We have fought hard to learn the fishing industry and we use what we have learned in our day jobs to be able to push forward our own ideas in our own companies.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
That’s a tough question. We would mix in a little sight seeing with a little fishing. We all love to eat at local breweries and authentic Mexican food. We would have to show them some regional Walleye fishing to include a stop or two in Wyoming. Local attractions would include a stop at Bass Pro Shops Denver to who is one of the CWT sponsors. Depending on the time of year we might take in a Bronco game, Rockies game or the Avs! Any one of the mountain towns would be a for sure destination and many stops along the way is the way to go.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I think we can thank all those who took us fishing. Fathers, uncles, siblings, friends, etc… I have had a few very special figures in my life who saw my love for the sport and took me fishing. As I grew up and began looking into the idea of fishing tournaments, I lucky to have two Professional Walleye Trail pro’s living close to me. Not only were they in the same area but one was my boss. Gary Darling and Dan Swanson have began to show me the ropes of tournament fishing and Dan would be my partner for several years. That is actually how I met Brad and Mitch. During one of the first Colorado Walleye Association tournaments we noticed the highly competitive nature of most of the teams and their lack of friendliness to the new comers. I was fishing with my Dad and Brad and Mitch sat down next to us at a BBQ for the club and we began to talk fishing. The rest is history. We all have had those fishing buddies who have shown us that secret spot or taught us how to drive a boat.

Website: www.alleyesonfishing.com and www.coloradowalleyetrail.com and www.eTournamentfishing.com

Instagram: alleyesonfishing

Facebook: alleyesonfishing

Youtube: alleyesonfishing

Other: podcast can be found at the following locations: The free shorter podcasts are at www.alleyesonfishing.podbean.com If you wish to subscribe to The Next Level, that can be found at www.aeof.supercast.tech