PARK RAPIDS, Minn. — Like many youngsters growing up in northern Minnesota, TJ Erickson (Timothy James, in case you’re wondering) started fishing at an early age in his hometown of Roseau.

At first, his dad was always there, and then with advancing independence as he aged, Erickson was one of those kids you see either walking or riding a bike toward a local fishing spot, toting a fishing pole in one hand and a tackle box in the other.

“We grew up on the Roseau River,” Erickson said. “That was right in my backyard, and so from the time my parents would let me walk down to the Roseau Dam by myself, I would go down there and be casting.”

Some 25 or so years later, he still often fishes by himself, but his audience is slightly changed from just his parents waiting at home, or friends who would later join him in a 12-foot boat.

“All summer long, we’d fish that same stretch of river; we would just never get bored of it,” Erickson recalled. “We’d probably get the same pike, day-in, day-out, but we would do that almost every day, all summer long.”

Desire to film

These days, through technological advancements that were just emerging when he first picked up a fishing rod, Erickson has a virtual audience of almost 25,000 subscribers — and thousands of others who visit occasionally — who regularly check out his YouTube channel, where he shares his fishing adventures and knowledge.

It’s an interesting progression for someone who decided on a college because it was located in an area that had good duck hunting.

Erickson graduated from Roseau High School in 2010. In addition to his passion for fishing and hunting, he played hockey and baseball, and then played baseball at Itasca Community College (now Minnesota North College-Itasca) in Grand Rapids, Minn. At the end of two years, he got an opportunity to continue playing baseball at Mayville State University in Mayville, N.D.

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“The coach said, ‘We’ve got a good education program, and we’ve got good duck hunting,’ ” Erickson said. “And I said, ‘All right, I’m there.’ ”

It was during that time that Erickson bought his first video camera. “I’ve always had the desire to film,” he said. “When I was hunting ducks, I would have a GoPro. I never did anything with that footage, though. … I just liked it and wanted to capture those memories.”

He did, however, have in mind that he wanted hunting and/or fishing to have a role in his life that was more than a hobby.

“My original plan,” he said, “was that I was thinking I was going to teach in Roseau and guide on Lake of the Woods.” But then he and his wife, Alyssa, both were offered teaching jobs in Park Rapids, solidly located in Minnesota’s “Lakes Country,” where they were hoping to live.

Exploring new water

Arriving in a new area with perhaps hundreds of fishing waters to explore within an hour’s drive, Erickson started to explore new lakes. He also took the next step to expand his interest in video from simply capturing footage to learning how to process and edit. And for that, he spent a lot of time watching instructional videos … on YouTube.

In 2019, Erickson launched his fishing guide business and also posted his first YouTube video. Looking back, he says he still had a lot to learn about both guiding and video production, but both efforts improved with time.

A turning point, of sorts, materialized a couple of years later when forward-facing sonar technology was emerging. “I wanted to learn more about this whole Garmin LiveScope thing, or this forward-facing sonar, and I didn’t see a lot out there on the internet, on social media, on YouTube,” Erickson said. “I told my wife I thought there was an opportunity to help people learn about that, so I put out a couple of videos.

“Honestly, a lot of what I was hoping for was just to get some publicity for my guide service, so I could, you know, get my name out there. And that worked very well. I got a lot of business from that, and it got to a point where I was actually too busy to take all the trips, which was an awesome problem.”

Both efforts kept growing for a couple of years until Erickson decided to stop guiding and concentrate on his YouTube productions. Today, he has more than 25,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel (and 15,000-plus followers on Instagram). He has posted more than 160 videos that have attracted nearly 7 million views. One of those early productions on forward-facing sonar use has attracted nearly 300,000 views alone.

Variety of topics

Erickson’s programming covers a variety of fishing topics, including outfitting a boat, where to fish, bait, tips for early ice fishing, and a friendly competition called the Walleye Cup between Erickson and friends Nick Lindner and Brett McComas.

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An elementary school physical education teacher, Erickson credits his background as part of the formula for producing video content that people look forward to watching. Catching fish on camera provides the entertainment, but “a lot of my programs are very educational,” he said.

Comments on his YouTube channel reflect that. Relating to a program released last year on early ice fishing for walleyes, one viewer wrote: “These videos are very helpful. I don’t have a lot of time to scout and move around with 4 kids, so any video that helps me narrow down where to go is extremely helpful. Thanks for the great tips!”

And from the same program: “Awesome video, so much info, a true treasure. Thank you.”

Assessing where he’s at today, Erickson says it’s kind of surreal to have earned the following he has while doing something he truly enjoys. “It’s really kind of cool to see how many people that, I hope, have been positively impacted, might have gotten a little nugget of something that has made their fishing experience more enjoyable, or helped them catch more fish,” he said.

But there’s not much time to reflect and relax. Winter is coming soon, and Erickson is already well into planning his next programs to film when the ice is ready.

Online

Find TJ Erickson’s videos at youtube.com/@tjericksonfishing.