i am 15 years old and i am looking for a way to support my bass fishing addiction. most bass anglers have family members to learn from....well not me. i have tought myself everything i know and it all lead up to a high school tournament victory! i was wondering if there is any way i can make money bass fishing at this age? i do have a boat that i saved up for and it is a bass fishing machine! well thank yall for reading and please message me or comment if you have any ideas! thanks everybody!

Get good grades, get part time job and go to college fish for fun don't get caught up in the hype, flash and BS sponsorships that don't mean anything.

But I always heard sponsorships help out on the cost of the sport...bass fishing is really expensive and I need all the help I can get

I wish they had or I knew about the high school and collegiate fishing teams back in my day. I would have been all all over it. IMO that's the way to go bud.
Talk to your parents tell them that's something you want to pursue as well as a college education.
Plan it out as you go and talk to them about it. Ask for a fishing allowance if you keep good grades to help support it.

Chase your dreams kid. Just find a passion with it to get that degree and have a fallback plan.

get some sponsors and a boat and start whippin azz on the local circuit

Thanks! And I did save up for a boat, just have to get it registered

GEt Doug to take ya out on Hubbard.. heard he can teach you alot!!

just do not turn into a teenage punk who offends many while fishing

learn to be respectful and humble and white shades and flatbills are not a requirement to be a good angler

be proud you are learning your ways and not depending on mommy and daddy's coin to try and look good

if you are in need of some tackle and stuff I always seem to accumulate too much stuff, let me know if you want some of it..

Time on the water.

Start fishing small local tournaments and work your way up. It's a great experience just have fun!!

Work hard in school first, job second then a degree in business or marketing. Fish whatever tournaments you can but it's a pretty cut throat deal, people will step on you just to get a 10% discount and another name on the Jersey.

A man who knows how to network and sell himself can succeed and that's where the degree will help. Maybe even set a goal of building some contacts in the fishing tourneys that can eventually turn into a job or investment opportunity later down the road within the industry. Seems to me the real smart fellows out there all have something going other than relying solely on tournaments and sponsors IE: Yamamoto/Kanami baits, Cliff Pace and Gary Klien got BOSS Outdoors/Fishingskirts.com, KVD with Tracker, hydrowave etc.

Heck even if none of that stuff works out the degree can get you a corporate gig in the industry if you work hard for it.

+1

One thing I can say I learned from being in Fl for two years is there is a bigger market (job wise) than just the guys out there fishing on the circuits. There is marketing, engine repair, reel design/repair, boat repair/upgrades just to name a few. Does being a good stick help well I�m sure KVD, Palaniuk, Duckett, Boyd, or any of the elites or flw anglers and they would probably say yes. But whenever I�ve gotten a chance to meet one they�ve said something similar to what Jake said. Go to school and learn to market yourself!Good luck buddy

Stay out of debt whatever you do. Good luck

Not sure where you are located but I know that in the DFW area there are several boat repair, fiberglass repair shops that might need general help. It may be grunt work but you can make some great contacts. Retail stores and tackle shops are another avenue. You can always meet people and learn to interact with the public in the retail stores. The more you learn people the better you will be at marketing to them. Finally, as a young man make sure you are a product that a company would want to be represented by. Your appearance, attitude and how you treat others goes a long ways. Its not what you can get from a sponsor, its what can you bring to a sponsor.

Getting a job will give u money to fish. Sponsorships pretty much just allow u to look cool and get discounts off products never advertise anything u truly don't believe to be a good product and never advertise or promote something u don't use. Not telling u that it's bad to have sponsors that do this. Just saying allot of people are fake and I would hate to see another young guy turn into this fake fisherman who puts 6 different "sponsors" in his signature and changes them every 4 months. Lol like any sport if u do good you will also have haters so just do your own thing try to respect others