Samuel Sobieck, a 2013 New Prague High School graduate, is living his dream by affording life solely off of his passions, fishing and making videos.
He’s better known as “Sobi” by friends and followers. He has over 70,000 followers on YouTube and about 40,000 on Instagram. Sobi also has sponsorships from major companies, many started or based in Minnesota, such as Vexilar, Clam Outdoors, Rapala, and Shore Lunch. The sponsorships and the advertising revenue from his social media views are enough for him to enjoy fishing, and making videos of fishing, as a livelihood.
It’s the passionate, genuine, and inviting nature he has that has gotten him a continually growing fan base of all ages. I wouldn’t even know about Sobi if it wasn’t for my nephew Payton Hennen. Hennen’s a young fisherman from Montgomery who just graduated from high school. He’s has been following Sobi for about three years now.
About a year ago, Hennen’s mother ordered some Sobi merchandise as a gift for his 17th birthday but there was a problem with it shipping out in time. She reached out to the manufacturer, a small company, to see if there was something they could do. There was nothing to be done about speeding up the merchandise but they contacted Sobi to see if there is something that he was able to do for Hennen. Sobi did a personal video wishing him a happy birthday, something Hennen was giddy about at the time and seemed even better than getting the merchandise to him.
Since then, Hennen has run into Sobi on few different occasions. The first time he met him in person was at Lake Country Convenience & Bait in Sheildsville the week after Christmas in 2021. Hennen was with Yousif Darif, one of his cousins from California who was excited to try ice fishing for the first...
To see more on this story pick up the December 22, 2022 print edition of the Montgomery Messenger.
A true fish story: “Sobi” is living his dream
