Joe Simonds on Building Salt Strong, the Power of Community, and Smarter Time on the Water

For Joe Simonds, fishing was never just about catching fish.

It was about time. Time with family. Time learning the water. Time not wasted guessing.

That idea—how to make time outdoors more effective and more meaningful—became the foundation of Salt Strong, the saltwater fishing education platform and community Joe co-founded with his brother Luke after leaving careers in finance.

More than a decade later, Salt Strong has grown into one of the most influential fishing communities in the country, serving tens of thousands of anglers through education, technology, and a deeply engaged member base. But the journey didn’t start with an app, a product roadmap, or a business plan.

It started with frustration.

From Bass Lakes to the Gulf Coast Learning Curve

Joe and Luke grew up in Florida, splitting their time between freshwater bass fishing near home and occasional saltwater trips with their grandparents. As kids, time was abundant. Trial and error was part of the fun.

That changed as adulthood set in.

When they tried to seriously break into saltwater fishing, the learning curve hit hard. The information available was outdated, sponsor-driven, or purely entertainment. There was no real-time education, no place to understand why fish were where they were, and no way to shorten the process.

“Back then, it was fishing magazines and TV shows,” Joe said. “By the time information hit your doorstep, it was months old. And most of it wasn’t teaching—it was selling.”

That gap became obvious: anglers didn’t need more gear—they needed better guidance.

Leaving Finance to Build Something Useful

Joe and Luke eventually walked away from the financial services world—not because it failed them, but because it didn’t excite them. A small company sale gave them just enough runway to bet on an idea:

If we help enough people catch more fish, goodwill will turn into a business.

They didn’t start by selling tackle or subscriptions. They started by creating free content—YouTube videos, how-tos, knot tutorials—and listening closely to the comments.

Those comments became the roadmap.

Every question was future content. Every frustration was a signal. Over time, that approach built trust—and an audience.

Community Before Products

One of the most important decisions Salt Strong made wasn’t intentional at the time—but it became their biggest advantage.

They built community before technology.

Long before an app existed, Salt Strong members were connecting, sharing reports, asking questions, and helping each other. What began as a Facebook group eventually evolved into a private, purpose-built platform—one designed to be searchable, inclusive, and free from the noise and limitations of social media.

“That community is our moat,” Joe said. “It’s the one thing that would be hardest for anyone to recreate.”

The result is a living knowledge base powered by real anglers—local insights, seasonal patterns, and on-the-water experience that no algorithm can fake.

Smart Fishing Spots: Turning Knowledge into Technology

After years of resisting the idea of an app, Salt Strong made a calculated leap.

Smart Fishing Spots launched not as a generic mapping tool, but as an intelligence layer built on human expertise. Every spot in the app is manually selected by captains, guides, or experienced anglers—not scraped or auto-generated.

Those spots then adapt to conditions like tide movement and water temperature, helping anglers understand not just where to fish, but when and why.

“You can’t just drop someone on a spot and expect success,” Joe explained. “Education still matters.”

The app didn’t replace the community—it amplified it.

Education as the Differentiator

What Salt Strong recognized early—and what still separates them—is that fishing doesn’t have coaches the way other sports do.

Parents can hire trainers for soccer, swimming, or golf. But in fishing and hunting, most learning happens through expensive guided trips or years of trial and error.

Salt Strong set out to change that by becoming a digital coach—shortening learning curves so limited time outdoors actually pays off.

As life fills with responsibilities, that efficiency matters.

“When you only get a handful of days a year to fish, you want them to count,” Joe said.

Marketing by Listening, Not Guessing

Salt Strong’s growth didn’t come from chasing trends. It came from consistency and feedback.

YouTube became the top-of-funnel engine because anglers needed to see techniques—not read about them. Questions in comments turned into video titles. Search behavior shaped content strategy.

Paid advertising came later—only after Salt Strong understood customer lifetime value and acquisition costs. Organic trust built the foundation. Paid channels scaled what already worked.

“We never wanted to rely on one channel,” Joe said. “That’s risky.”

Why Community Wins in an AI World

Joe sees technology accelerating—but not replacing—what matters most.

AI can generate game plans, improve workflows, and speed up content creation. But it can’t replicate relationships, trust, or shared experience.

“If anything, AI will make people crave community more,” he said.

That belief shapes Salt Strong’s long-term vision: expanding beyond saltwater fishing into freshwater, hunting, camping, and broader outdoor education—while keeping community at the core.

Building Memories, Not Just Products

At its heart, Salt Strong isn’t selling subscriptions, lures, or maps.

It’s helping people create memories.

Time outdoors with kids. A successful day on the water. Confidence replacing frustration.

That’s the real currency.

And it’s why Joe Simonds’ journey—from finance to fishing education—resonates far beyond the Gulf Coast.

Because when time is limited, how you spend it matters more than ever.

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