From Hobby to Profession

[Moto]

Let’s say you love fishing for bass or even other species too, and at one point you realize it’s the most enjoyable practice in your life, and you absolutely love it and can do it all day. 

Is there a way you can make money off of doing it? I know they have tournaments but that is for professionals and it’s not all that simple. Is there a way you can turn this hobby into your business?

What is the best way (if there is) to make money off of fishing and doing what you love? 

[Bluebasser86]

I do some guiding and also make baits. I could probably make a living at guiding. I enjoy doing it and I can make more in 5 days guiding than I make in 2 weeks at my regular job, but it's not always dependable work and I have a wife and 2 kids so I just do it on my days off. The baits I really just make enough money to be able to make my own baits for free. I've won some money in tournaments but by the time you figure up all the money I spend on truck and boat payments/maintenance, gas, food, lodging, equipment, permits, ect, I'm not even close to breaking even there. 

[Catt]

The biggest thing going right now is teaching anglers how to setup & read electronics, it pays as much as guiding but ya aint gotta catch.

 

[thinkingredneck]

The best way to ruin a hobby is to try to make money with it.  Not trying to be a downer.  I quit tying flies for a while because I hated making the same flies over and over, even though I made some spending money.

[Oregon Native]

10 minutes ago, thinkingredneck said:

The best way to ruin a hobby is to try to make money with it.  Not trying to be a downer.  I quit tying flies for a while because I hated making the same flies over and over, even though I made some spending money.

Did the same thing with jigs...OMG....not anymore....everyone ties jigs.  But do still enjoy tying up secret baits.

 

[DropShotHotShot]

Check out the seminar Linders offers.  It's a workshop on how to get into industry

https://npaa.net/2018/06/08/fishing-careers-workshop/ 

 

Here is the link, it looks very informative 

[Scott F]

There are very few people who make a living by fishing. There are the professional touring pros. That’s a tough road to get to the point where you could support a family doing it. And, if you don’t catch enough, you actually lose money. Catching fish in front of a camera is one way to do it. There are a few guys who get on TV and are paid to catch fish.  Guides are not really paid to fish. They get paid by helping other people catch fish while they sit and watch. People in the fishing industry don’t get paid to fish. They get their money selling or making fishing tackle. Some people get paid to stand in front of other people and talk about fishing. But again, they aren’t getting paid to fish, they get paid to talk. 

Fishing for a hobby is fun. A lot of the fun, for me anyway, was doing something entertaining while I wasn’t working to pay my bills. If you work to get paid for fishing, you’ll have to find a different hobby. 

[Deleted account]

Take it from a guy who has made a living working several different jobs in 3 different sports. It will sap both the time for, and the fun out of it. The only folks I've seen enjoy working in what they enjoy are artists and wood workers. I have a friend who wants to become a charter captain that I'm trying to talk out of as we speak.

[Spankey]

Get yourself near or on a good body of water. Learn it, get good at fishing in great and poor conditions and become a guide. But you have to possess people skills or forget it. A lot of guides lack that. 

[Tennessee Boy]

55 minutes ago, reason said:

Take it from a guy who has made a living working several different jobs in 3 different sports. It will sap both the time for, and the fun out of it. The only folks I've seen enjoy working in what they enjoy are artists and wood workers. I have a friend who wants to become a charter captain that I'm trying to talk out of as we speak.

Yeah,  be careful what you ask for. 

 

I'm a software developer (aka a computer programmer).  I enjoy programming,  I do it at home for fun.  I'm very blessed to be able to make good money doing something I enjoy and I never take that for granted.   It is however,  not as much fun doing it professionally as it is doing it as a hobby.  In any profession you have to deal with business issues,  people issues,  and doing the stuff that no one wants to do because it has to be done. 

[813basstard]

Whatever you do for fun and attempt to monetize it, you won’t be doing what you thought. 

i.e

i did BBQ for fun. I loved to BBQ Everyone said I should start a business. I did. Then I didn’t BBQ anymore. Why? I was doing payroll, comparing prices per pound of chicken, negotiating bids, picking up wood in the middle of the night, etc..

it will be the same for any business. If your ok with doing less of what you actually love to do, then go for it. But if you think your just going to pull up, drop the trolling motor and start casting, your setting yourself up for disappointment 

[Deleted account]

21 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Yeah,  be careful what you ask for. 

 

I'm a software developer (aka a computer programmer).  I enjoy programming,  I do it at home for fun.  I'm very blessed to be able to make good money doing something I enjoy and I never take that for granted.   It is however,  not as much fun doing it professionally as it is doing it as a hobby.  In any profession you have to deal with business issues,  people issues,  and doing the stuff that no one wants to do because it has to be done. 

I thought the kids call it coding.  

My dad worked for the "data processing" dept of a Lever subsidiary in South America in the 60s. Walls of computers, punch cards, and tape reels. I was hooked. I Programmed Cobol and RPG until the arrival of Windows®. Loved to program useless silly things, hated the whole structured, documented, deadlines, and budget restraint thing. 

[greentrout]

Counting the Cost of Going Pro

By M.L. Anderson

 

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/pro-fishing-cost.html

[Tennessee Boy]

10 minutes ago, reason said:

I thought the kids call it coding.

They do but I'm not a kid any more.  I've been in the business for 32 years.  Like I said,  I'm blessed to be doing something I enjoy for a living.  I know most people are not.  I'm looking forward to retiring so I can "code" for fun when I'm not fishing.

[J.Vincent]

Love is to will the good of another.....if you Love fishing, then you must focus on how it can become a good for others...everything else will be determined with time. 

[Krux5506]

I fish for "fun" and even that can stress me out at times when I can't get bass dialed in! I'll fish a tournament here or there for the heck of it but definitely do not consider myself a tournament fisherman. Fishing is my #1 hobby but I can NOT imagine if my livelihood depended on it. As others have already said, I've learned to keep my hobbies and business interests separate. I need hobbies to help me unwind in my free time, not to make me extra money.

[Troy85]

You could create a website that has tons and tons of information on bass fishing, then create forums that pool some of the best minds in the bass fishing world. ??

[WRB]

The difference between advocation and vocation or hobby vs career very few combine successfully. The few that blend thier life's passion with thier life's work are very successful in many ways.

Tom

 

[Deleted account]

38 minutes ago, Troy1985s said:

You could create a website that has tons and tons of information on bass fishing, then create forums that pool some of the best minds in the bass fishing world. ??

That will never happen....