Careers In Bass Fishing

[Trav]

Capt Don

Number 8 is exactly why I dont do the tourney thing anymore. And after almost a decade of being a guide and catering to others I had almost lost all drive for the fun of the sport. I finally had to just get selfish and start thinking of what I wanted instead of servicing or competing. It is very important not to lose grip of the fact that it is a pleasure sport and not get wrapped up with treating it like an industry.

Doesnt matter what you do for a living. When your zeal becomes your job, it can quickly turn into a grind. If you dont keep open your perspective as to why you jumped into it from the start, and hang on to that, your favorite hobby can quickly be something you "have" to do other than what you "want" to do.

[Al Agnew]

Excellent advise above. The one thing I want to stress is that you have to be able to sell...sell yourself and sell their products. You better be outgoing, sociable, able to talk to people both one on one and to large groups. You gotta be good enough to hold your own in big tournaments, but that won't be enough. Sounds like you're on the right track with the business and marketing degree. But figure that you need enough resources to do it on your own until you can prove your credibility, which may take years.

[jscheetz]

My failure was totally based on the fact that I am an isolationist and dont socialize.

Trav - I am shocked... and speechless to find this out about you.

Interesting topic - I get asked the same thing all the time by guys who want to make a living being a musician. I would think a lot of things are the same - Have some talent, as others have said be bold and market yourself non-stop, get a little lucky along the way, meet lots of people and make lots of friends, and if it is what you believe you were put here to do - never give up and never let anyone tell you that you can't do it. SOMEONE is going to do it - might as well be you!

I would think that just getting to go around and fish the big tourneys and make big money is a hard gig to get - but just like with music - Everyone wants to be Aerosmith - but that is kind of like winning the lottery. However you can make a living by doing enough different things - Like for me, I record and sell CDs - dvds - T-shirts - hats - instructional books, I tour and gig live, I do session work for other artists, I teach, I write columns for magazines, I produce other bands in the studio, I teach recording seminars, I demo gear for companies at trade shows, I record instructional CD-roms for a company, I do guitar clinics in stores and schools, I write and sell songs to be used on TV, film and commercials - even on the "All my children" soap opera, - and sometimes when things go right I get to play onstage in front of 20,000 people opening for someone like the Scorpions, or ZZ Top - - But it takes doing all these things and MORE to allow me to make a living with music. If I was just sitting around waiting to be Aerosmith - I would have to be digging ditches or flipping burgers to pay the rent. So if you will get out there and hustle and do a ton of little things, then the big things start to come, and you can be indeed making a living doing what you love instead of being miserable like many, many people are. But the further you are away from it (like getting a job at a bank instead of at a rod manufacturer) while you are waiting, the more hazy the dream becomes and the easier it seems to just let it go.

Once again - figure out where you can "shine" and then pursue it. I mean - who would have thought a goofball like Mike Iaconelli would be a huge star? But He had some talent and found a good way to market it and there ya go - -

So you just as well be next! ... Someone's gonna be!

JS

[Trav]

js

haha

As opinionated as I am, I find social interaction a bit detesting.

Its one thing to throw out conversation online and another to have to look them in the eye.

I chalk it up to a number of dissociatable disorders but my shrink says it is normal with cases like myself.

I hate to tell her that I have always been this way but she thinks that it is normal for individuals with a lifetime of gifted intellegence facing mortality to judge the human race as nothing but a bunch of degenerates.

I personally consider myself reserved and anal.

By the way,

I was a musician once. I was a singer/screamer. Was mostly in tribute bands singing Zep, Doors, Pantera, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and ect. My throat gave out on me.

Must have been all the cigs and pot. haha

[crappiefisherman]

THUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Trav]

Shhhhhh.....I thought I heard something..........Did you hear that?

[flyfishmaster]

smallmouth man,

I know this reply does not pretain to bass fishing, but the info below shoes how the new host of Trout Unlimited's show "On the Rise" got to where he is at today. It is a great story, is just like everyone else has talked about above, you have to be in the industry to get anywhere.

The full article can be found at: On the Rise - preview

later

FFM

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Frank Smethurst is the host of Trout Unlimited's "On the Rise," a television program that will air this spring on the Outdoor Channel. Raised outside of Atlanta Georgia, he went on frequent family trips on the Eastern seaboard that contributed to his early fascination with the outdoors. Frank began fly fishing at the age of 6 under the mentorship of a neighbor, Ron Curry, who was an early pioneer of salt water fly fishing in the Florida Keys. By age 12, Frank was working at the Fish Hawk in Atlanta, and learning still more about the sport from the shop's owner, Gary Merriman. Frank supplemented his wages by tying custom flies for everything from trout to tarpon, and worked steadily at the Fish Hawk until he was 18.

Frank attended the University of Georgia, and after fishing extensively in the greater Athens, Georgia area, graduated from the Henry W Grady Journalism School with a degree in radio, television and film production. As Frank finished his education, he simultaneously began his career as a fishing guide in Telluride, Colorado. He moved there permanently in 1989.

As Frank developed his guiding career, he began to blend his passion for fly fishing with his studies, and has appeared in numerous television and film productions over the years. he placed third in the 2003 Fly Fishing Masters and won the 2004 Fly Fishing Masters along with his friend and teammate, Giff Maytham. He also produced and appeared in the acclaimed film, Running Down The Man with his friends Ben Knight and Travis Rummel of Felt Soul Media.

In Trout Unlimited’s "On The Rise," Frank continually travels the American countryside with his Toyota Tundra and custom Airstream trailer, striving to blend the stunning visuals and great settings which fly fishing for trout continually offers. Along the way, he highlights TU’s important efforts towards preservation of coldwater resources, and learns more about the big picture of TU’s very real contribution toward the sport and the resource that he loves and cannot live without.

[jscheetz]

Trav - something about your humble nature would have led me to guess you were a singer.

JS

[Trav]

Did I say sing? That might be speaking nice about it. Haha