Maybe not quite as big as the Dean Rojas signing with Gander Mountain, but a week away from the kick-off of the FLW National Guard West Series and Mitch Southern of Yucaipa is styling in his new wrap.

Southern’s Ranger won’t be hard to find on the water, as his new sponsor, Canidae All Natural Pet Foods, has designed a stunning lime, black and yellow creation that will knock your eyes out. In fact, Mitch won’t be alone this season, as young Chris Bond, an up and coming star from Apple Valley, will share the team colors.

With not much time to corner these guys, I caught up with Mitch over at Diamond Valley this morning as he was checking out his equipment in advance of heading to Lake Shasta on Saturday. He was easy to spot, and gracious enough let me take photos from every angle.

But knowing how financial issues have hammered the competitive game, I had to ask how this new sponsorship deal would affect him. Mitch was straight-forward: “I own my own business, and it’s been difficult to fish. But we learned from the past. We went through that 1990, 91, 92 and we didn’t have any money. This time around we put some away so we could get through it.

“But having a sponsor?,” he said, “That changes everything. Now I can go and see what kind of man I am.”

So what is Canidae? The company, located in Norco, is a maker of premium dog and cat foods. “Canidae” (pronounced Kana-dee) for you who still remember your biology, is the taxonomic name for dogs (canines), however the company also has line-up of products for cats as well. Owner Scott Whipple, I’m told, is not one for personal publicity, but those in the world of pets, gun dogs and the like are very familiar with him and his unique manner of doing business.

So dog food and bass fishing? When you look at the outdoor angle,  it’s really not such a stretch to see pet food associated with professional anglers. After all, many, many of the men and women on the water are dog owners as well.

Said Mitch, “From all that I’ve read, Canidae is the best pet food on the market. And they guarantee it!”

While Mitch may not be a national touring pro, he has had his share of success in our region. Heck, he won the first WON Bass pro-am at Diamond Valley, was a runner-up to Angler of the Year in that circuit, won the ABA Classic at Lake Mead and has been recognized previously on the California Top 40 Bass Anglers List.

Bond is not a bad story either. Recently he jumped from the co-angler/AAA ranks to take his place in the “front seat.” However, the last season I covered him on the WON Bass Tour, Bond had an uncanny knack for catching the biggest bass of the tournament, and did so on two or three occasions.

As for the business arrangement, Mitch says “It’s a one year deal,” but he’s truly committed. “He (Whipple) doesn’t know how much this means to me. I wouldn’t be able to do this without his help.”

But there’s more to it that I can see. From his earliest days as a ball player (Mitch was a third round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals) he has come to understand what the best relationships are about. “Loyalty,” he says, “goes deep with me. It’s more important to me to represent this company well than for me to win out there.”

But I’m thinking, we might just be getting a little of both.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 5:32 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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