When I was in high school and college the BASS Pro's were often guys who had regular jobs and also fished on the top tour level. These were regular middle class guys with a dream. Many of these guys were successful in the tour. If you look at results and payouts now days there are only a handful of guys on the top pro tours who even win enough to cover their entry fee's for the year. Also, there are very few sponsors out there anymore who really support the tour level guys. Before the last major recession it seemed like good sponsors were everywhere. During the recession the sponsors pulled out. After the recession was over and things came back financially it seems like the companies went to the "pro staff" format of really just giving discounts to people who will advertise for them on social media. Now it seems like every other weekend tournament guy to the YouTube bank fishermen are now "Pro Staff." Because of this the companies get their advertisement for basically free. So is professional bass fishing really just for the wealthy or have the grass roots guys devalued the sponsorships so much that the top local guys cannot obtain legitimate sponsorships to be able to try to go pro? If we have caused this ourselves by so many weekenders becoming "Pro Staff", how can we correct the problem?

The term "Pro Staff" is used widely by many anglers and there are several levels of pro staff involvement. Having been on both sides of the Pro Staff thing I can speak to that. For five years I traveled all over the ArkLaTex area representing various bait & outdoor equipment companies. We had a few dozen guys on our pro staff.

When the rep job went away I started guiding full time on Fork and approached several companies I knew about becoming my sponsor.

The first & most common level of pro staff is one where the company provides product at a discounted price to the guys on their pro staff. This is by far & away the most common.

The second level is where the company gives "free product" to the angler in exchange for promotion time at shows, events, or on air. This is also pretty common for the guys on the grass roots level like Bass Champs. Typically there is a contract between the company and the angler stating a set dollar amount of product for that year.

For me with Berkley I had a $2500 a year allowance to spend on any Berkley products at dealer pricing from their catalog. (Yes, companies used to use a catalog before website) This product was payment for the advertising I provided on my boat trailer. It was fully enclosed and had all my sponsors names on it.

Gotta run for now. To be continued.....

Don�t forget the pro in prostaff stand for promotional staff

You can correct the problem by entering and winning/place in a BASS open, and finishing AOY in the opens

Ken- the deals you are talking about are the exact deals that I am asking about. These deals provide no financial funding to the anglers (just discounts) to help pay the expenses, but still provide advertisement for the company. When enough guys do this it decreases the companies need to pay the top pro's to advertise for them. I think the result of all of this is it is now very hard for an average guy who is a very good fisherman to try to turn pro. That results in only the wealthy becoming the new "Pro's". Therefore we do not have the best at the top level anymore.

Disclosure: I love bass fishing. But to be fair bass fishing the way we do serves no purpose besides leisure. If we all fished for food there are more effective ways. That being said as a sport bass fishing is a completely grotesque consumer machine. The real money is paying the top 1% of the sport and the rest is all just lunch money. I hate how much bass fishing revolves around products and the next infomercial of why this plastic worm is better. People just dont buy into that mentality anymore. I feel like as product's get better to catch fish the purpose of being a professional angler will dwindle. Its alot like wanting to be a rockstar to me. Anyone can be in a local band but only the top 1% make it happen.

professional fishing is kinda like the farmer that hit oil on his property he tells his son they will farm til the wells go dry. there is just not enough money to go around with less an less fishing related businesses in the 80 s there were 11 boat businesses in a town of over 100000 folks now there is 1 it makes a difference.

There�s still a lot of sponsorship money in our space. It�s being split significantly but there�s money if you know how to sell. End of story.

Pro staffers don�t help anything that�s for sure.

The sport isn't getting killed by YouTube. Its being changed by YouTube. Sponsors are aware of the product exposure they are getting from tournament anglers as well as on the interwebs�. Bottom line is they move more product from guys that make fishing videos. Look at guys on tour like Brandon Palaniuk and Scott Martin. They've probably tripled their sponsor exposure by fishing on tour AND posting videos online. You want real sponsors? Win a big derby and start a YouTube channel. The answers to the test are right in front of all of us.

As far as "only the wealthy" making it to the top tour circuits I think you have a point. There are a couple generations of anglers who have missed out on the College circuits. That seems to be the best way for an average joe to make it big these days. Joe Lee and his brother are the prototype for any high school kid that loves to fish. If you're an older guy that ship has sailed and you need a big chunk of change to start fishing the BASS Opens or BFLs.

Very true statement
J D

I want to start with saying it's something that is not just effecting the fishing industry but in the current marketing spaces everything is internet based I can give more specifics as I am running a start up marketing firm. EVERYTHING is how much exposure can I get for my money and technology has hurt but advanced a lot of marketing such as youtube with everyone starting at 5 years old has a smart phone and access to the internet. But, this is just the start of it and you have to step back and think would you want someone with 200K views on youtube showing your products or billboards on the side of the road where maybe 2% of the people that see it give a [censored].

I look at them as 2 desperate things. There are real fisherman who fish tournaments etc. guys like KVD, Swindle, BP, etc.. Some make videos too. I watch all of BP�s stuff. Don�t watch Scott Martin. Don�t care for his videos but respect him as an angler. Seems like a very nice guy.

Then the posers who are making money entertaining mindless kids who have no clue - like Goober Squad, 1rod 1reel (what a beating), and erasing bass, etc etc.

It�s where it�s going. This younger generation mostly just wants to be entertained. The louder and more obnoxious you are, the better. Generation Ritalin will subscribe.

If anyone tosses someone a couple jigs to try they (or gives them a discount) they automatically call themselves "pro-staff". Don't get me wrong, I enjoy free stuff as much as anyone but my definition of "pro" is "gets paid to do it".

There is a lot more to bass fishing than tournaments. I think most weekend warriors would be hard pressed to name 10 current pro anglers...

Generation Ritalin...�

B.A.S.S. Live, FLW Live, and MLF have, are, and will continue to disrupt the market. I believe a majority of their viewers (consumers) are tuned in to equipment, techniques, and baits irregardless of the angler based on observed success/performance, not promotion...