Professional fishing only for the tough!

[Flysmallie]

1 hour ago, FishnDave said:

While I'd love to be making a living doing something I enjoy and am going to do anyway... it always seemed to me the best way to ruin the enjoyment

This is how I feel about photography. I could make money at it but I already have a job and I don't want another. Maybe tournament fishing made me that way. 

[pjlures]

Actually they did. Before bassmasters and 100000 dollar boats they had some called "world series of fresh water fishing" . Harold Ensley won it and maybe Glen Andrew's. They counted everything on a point system I think.

I was in a tournament one time where a fish, what ever, counted. Whoever caught most number won. Me and my partner went for perch and smoked it. It was on a private pond. We had to row the boat. Tough job.

 

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

IT sounds like a good gig to me, I drive for work just as much as any of those pros drive, i still come home and fish more than 9 tournaments a year.  Like wrench said most these guys already have money and hardly any of them rely on tournament winnings

[Gavin]

It's a low return form of gambling IMO. I figure most just show up to donate their entry fees and cosplay. They are kinda like the furries of fishing folk.

 

[Mitch f]

Well, FWIW… I wouldn’t encourage any of my children to be a professional bass fisherman. Or in my case fisherwoman 

[fishinwrench]

1 hour ago, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

Like wrench said most these guys already have money and hardly any of them rely on tournament winnings

Woah now.   I never said that ! 

All of the full-time pro's that I know NEED to leave weigh-ins with a check.    They don't need to WIN, but it's very important for them to finish fairly high in the money.  

[fishinwrench]

If you want a valid reason to bash the professional fishing industry I'll give you one.....

Companies sponsor as many pro's as they can, and that number is based on their gross sales (which they are hoping/gambling continues to grow).    Guess who REALLY pays for that? 

Go ahead, hold that credit card and boat title high....and take a bow 🙇‍♂️ 

The most expensive spool of fluorocarbon line has their brand logo on more jerseys than the cheapest, now doesn't it?

[Quillback]

Watched a bit of the day 3 weigh-in at St. Lawrence last week.  Guy by the name of Bryant Smith set the single day record for smallmouth in an Elite event with 29 and change.  The day I watched, he did not make the cut to fish in the last 10.  He said he was leaving immediately for the drive back to California.  Had to get back soon, has a one year old he hasn't seen in a while.  Dunno if he tows a boat back.

Those guys do work hard, it is highly competitive.  Most people who are successful at what they do, work hard. 

There's also a lot of stuff besides the fishing.  It helps to be a good communicator and a salesman, sponsors want people that are comfortable dealing with the public.  KVD, for example.  I don't know for sure, but I bet he's had a lot training as far as presentation skills, having been through quite a bit of training myself, you can watch people when they speak in public and pretty much tell if they have done some work to become a good speaker.  There are some people who are naturals, but relatively few.

[snagged in outlet 3]

5 hours ago, MrGiggles said:

Distance from your family, sponsor relations, living in hotels, pressure to always perform, the lack of long term success, those mental demands are going to take a toll on you. 

Sounds like an outside salesman running a big territory on straight commission.  

[Devan S.]

30 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Sounds like an outside salesman running a big territory on straight commission.  

I've been thinking this for a good 24 hours. Lots of jobs out there that check the boxes here on what is "tough".