If You Were A GOAT

[Mobasser]

When I was much younger, I fished some tournaments here in Missouri. Honestly, I was never very good at it. But, I had dreams of being a famous professional fisherman. Winning big events, lots of money, and having sponsors pay for my tackle.                                                      Travelling the country, giving seminars, and fishing from the newest boat, with only the finest gear money can buy.                             But, I don't have these dreams anymore, and haven't had for a long time.                                 Of course the money would be nice, but I think this lifestyle could be hard also. If your a married man, what if your wife didn't want to travel with you?              If you have children, they couldn't go much of the time, because they have to go to school.                                                     This means a lot of time away from home and family.              And last thing. If your considered one of the say,  top five pros in the country, all eyes are on you to win, or at least place very high consistently. The level of competition at the top events is fierce.

      Your only human. You'll have good and bad days regardless.            I'm sure others here on BR have had dreams like this also.            If you were in this group of pro anglers, how would your life change? Do you think you could happily live that lifestyle?                       For me, I say no. I'm too much of a home boy, and too locked in to change.                              How about you? Could you live the life of a famous professional fisherman?

 

[T-Billy]

The travel involved in being a touring pro doesn't interest me in the slightest. 

[Spankey]

No. Would not want the stress. Only way I’d be interested is if I owned my own business and the cost of fishing could be offset or intertwine into the business. Or the losses for that matter. There no “oh well it a tuff bite today, that’s ok I still had fun”. Those dudes have to produce to make any money. Back many moons ago, I club fished some in the Red Man Circuit. Being green as grass I did learn a lot. Fished with some good guys. But there is stress to it. Sometimes the harder you try to fish the tuffer the fishing gets. 

[BASS302]

[RDB]

Most professional fishermen are not famous outside of people in the fishing world.  My wife would have a 50/50 shot of picking out KVD in a lineup of two and I’m a fishaholic.  It is a hard way to make a living outside of the top pro’s, so you better really be passionate about fishing.  Sure there are some who make a lot of money but there are way more who scrape by or have to do side gigs like guiding.  People get on to pro’s for promoting certain products but without those sponsorships, few would last more than a few years.  I love to fish and have fished my share of tournaments but I would take a massive pay cut to do it full time.  Maybe that’s more an indictment of my skills ?.

[scaleface]

If I hadnt gotten married , yeah I would like that kind of lifestyle  . I would have been staying in camp grounds .

[Deleted account]

Nope. I had a great job, but it involved traveling most of the time different city or country every week or two, expense account, best hotels, and a bunch of perks, can't imagine doing that while towing a boat and staying in cheap hotels, for maybe money.

[flyfisher]

I have done a nomadic lifestyle albeit not because I was a pro fisherman but because I wanted to rock climb and fly fish more than college.  This is what I would rather do if I had the chance but with family now priorities change and I wouldn't trade that for anything.  

 

[lunkerboss923]

I would have a woman at every tournament and I'd live like Rick Clunn back in the day! 

[DaubsNU1]

I've come to realize that I thrive in a structured environment / life. Being a tournament pro does not appeal to me. Neither does guiding (fishing or hunting). 

 

Years ago good friends of mine worked at Cabela's corporate HQ in Sidney, NE...hunting and fishing was work for them. Took some of the fun out of it. 

 

I did meet a walleye tournament pro once, through my Cabela's friends. That guy was a jerk. 

[DitchPanda]

My issue with pro fisherman is they are always in videos and articles whining about how hard it is to make a living. Not all of them but a large number of them. Randy Blaukat does it about every other video. If its that tough here's a novel idea...get a real job like regular people. I would not want to be one of "those" guys. 

[Bird]

No, tournament fishing is the opposite reason I love fishing.

I'm not pressured to catch and make my own schedule.

I enjoy watching though and adore some of the guys who's made it big like Jimmy Houston, Hank Parker, Bill dance to name a few.

Gotta believe that lifestyle has it's share of stress.

[Deleted account]

4 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

My issue with pro fisherman is they are always in videos and articles whining about how hard it is to make a living. Not all of them but a large number of them. Randy Blaukat does it about every other video. If its that tough here's a novel idea...get a real job like regular people. I would not want to be one of "those" guys. 

Yes, there is that, but unlike most other sports, there is no way for most of the guys to make much, and in some cases any money, so technically, they aren't professionals. 

[DitchPanda]

43 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Yes, there is that, but unlike most other sports, there is no way for most of the guys to make much, and in some cases any money, so technically, they aren't professionals. 

If there's no way to make a living...than don't do it. I'm not a materialistic person and agree that money isn't everything and happiness in your job is important....but the reality of it is you need at least enough to put a roof over your head and food in your stomach. I just don't like people that constantly complain about a situation but do nothing to improve it.

[Tennessee Boy]

 I’ve known several guys that borrowed a small fortune chasing the pro fishing dream and never got anywhere.  I enjoy watching pro fishing but I think it’s kind of a dirty business.  They convince people that they can get rich doing what they love.  In reality,  very few make a living doing it and only handful make good money in the sport. 

[gim]

3 hours ago, T-Billy said:

The travel involved in being a touring pro doesn't interest me in the slightest. 

This is probably the primary holdup for me too. I’m a competitive person and I like to fish, but not that much. I know that I don’t have what it takes to be a professional angler.

 

Plus I already travel somewhat frequently right now as a part of my full time job. Doing it for months on end doesn’t appeal to me.

[A-Jay]

As long as my boat trailer tires were shiny, I'd be good.

A-Jay

[Catt]

Back in the 70s I was on the verge of turning Pro but my Ex talked me out of saying that was no way to raise a family. 

 

Looking back I'm totally satisfied with the outcome.

[Bluebasser86]

No, I don't think I could deal with the stress.

[Big Rick]

From the outside looking in it seems to me that sponsorships is the money maker here. There are so many well known pros that seldom win the tourney but their truck, boat, and jersey are loaded up with logo's from sponsorships. And often these pro's fall out of contention early in a tourney and spend the rest of the weekend at their sponsor booths earning their check. 

 

Look at Gerald Swindle for example. According to BASS he has fished 299 tourneys and finished first ONE TIME. Yet he's got 21 major sponsorships. Yes, he's won $2,284,746.14 in his life but he's fished BASS nearly 37 years. That averages out to $61,749.90 per year. Dude ain't fished for 37 years and lived on that money. Which leads me to believe that SPONSORS is the key. 

[TnRiver46]

If I was a goat, I would eat tin cans and what not……….

 

 

I never have to worry about it because I have never caught a big limit of bass, much less doing it week in week out 

[WRB]

2 hours ago, lunkerboss923 said:

I would have a woman at every tournament and I'd live like Rick Clunn back in the day! 

Sleep on the ground to get close to the rhythm of the environment. Few women would appreciate Clunn’s Zen life style and the reason his family stayed at home. 

Tom

[GRiver]

I did the traveling thing , I’m done living out of motels. I get called  to consult and tech advise, but it short term travel now.

Like  Scarface said staying in a RV and in the camp grounds would probably better.

I like the the way I fish, it’s for relaxing and stress reliever, not for creating stress.
Although having all the new gear, tackle, boat and electronics sounds intriguing too.

I do love to fish, I would hate to lose that by “having too fish”

 

[RDB]

48 minutes ago, Big Rick said:

Yes, he's won $2,284,746.14 in his life but he's fished BASS nearly 37 years. That averages out to $61,749.90 per year. Dude ain't fished for 37 years and lived on that money. Which leads me to believe that SPONSORS is the key. 

Certainly a $61k average in todays dollars would be difficult considering expenses but it’s a little better spread out over 37 years.  Sponsorships are definitely important and some are creating YouTube channels for extra income as well.  Many are doing sessions on BassU (and others) though I don’t know how/if they are compensated.  My gut is they probably are getting some compensation unless it’s part of their sponsorship agreement.  Not to open up a can of worms but though many people hate the Googan Squad, for better or worse they have found a way to monetize their fishing.

[WRB]

Way back in 1968 I thought of becoming a B.A.S.S. Tournament angler full time. I was DQ’d my 1st tournament for fishing outside structure and not allowing my boater to fish the bank. Back in the day you coin tossed who got the run the boat the 1st half of the day and I won so fished a long underwater point end using jigs. My hoater said I cheated not allowing him to fish where he wanted to start. Good O’ boy ruled. Lesson learned, catching bass doesn’t pay the bills. My engineering career paid far more then bass fishing could ever do. Family 1st, hobbies 2nd.

Tom