I've been thinking over the last couple days about the rapid growth of kayak bass fishing. As gas and boat prices continue to rise, the number of kayak fishermen does as well. The first year of a national kayak bass fishing trail starts next year with pretty decent money involved (with the right amount of entries). That being said, what do y'all think the chances of guys making a living kayak bass fishing are in the future? How far away from this do you think we are? I'm just interested to see some thoughts.

I think this new trail has the opportunity to be something great. Pretty sure the guys fishing the glitter boat trail don't make a living off of the fishing they do but the sponsorship opportunities they have. I think if someone has the drive and opportunity to make a go of this and can do decent and if the trail catches the attention of the right people it has the makings of something great. As big as kayak fishing has gotten and with all the people that are looking at saving the earth and it's resources that everything is starting to come together at the right time. Chad Hoover has done a great job of introducing the public to the sport of kayak fishing which I think will help the national trail tremendously . I am excited to see how this goes would be great to see something that we all love to do take off and be as good as the Bass Masters. The one thing I hope that doesn't get lost in all of it is the closeness that the kayak fishing community shares, I tell people all the time pb guys catch fish and keep most of it secret kayak guys catch fish and call their friends over to get on the fish ,plus if someone in the kayak community needs help with a kayak, information or whatever the whole community is more than willing to help. Sorry kind of ran on with this just some thoughts I had.

A career is generally considered to be a long term job that provides sufficient income to support yourself and a retirement check once you're too old to work. I don't think that anybody could make a career out of kayak bass fishing but I don't tournament fish at all so I don't know how much money you could potentially make. Assuming that you win every tournament that you enter how much money are we talking per year?

I think Henry Ford said it best. "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."

+1

I think we definitely are on the right track we are far from the 150k purses of the elite serries but I can see it getting closer in the next years. There are trails like capital city who are continually gaining sponsorship participation from big name sponsors and the new Kbs trail is going to be a great series to get the whole nation competeing together. So eventually yes I can see someone making a living kayak fishing.

The difference is that the expenses for fishing a national kayak trail are going to be way less than fishing the Elites. It's not going to take 100k 1st place payouts to make a living fishing a national trail. The average cost for a guy to fish the Elite series is 80-100k per year. To fish a national kayak trail wouldn't touch half of that. I think that's what we have going for us as kayak fishermen. Our cost to be on the water is very minimal compared to PB fishermen. This is also why it may be tougher to get more money involved from outside sources, but who knows? All I know is it's headed in the right track and I really appreciate what guys like Beau Reed and Chad Hoover are doing to take it to the next level.

Hey, I've got a nephew who had a good paying job working for a video game company selling people more powerful items and weapons and placing them inside the game for them to "find." If people will pay real money for imaginary toys to play with inside of a virtual fairy tale land on their computers, I guess anything is possible.

There's not enough sponsorship money out there to support enough of the anglers for a national trail that guys can make a living off of. Most of the elite guys money comes from their sponsors. The 10th place angler in the elites pocketed $117k this year in tournament winnings. Not bad except it probably cost him $80k in expenses. So without his sponsers he only took home $37k. And that's the 10th best angler in the sport. Imagine the guy that finishes 75th. Most tackle and kayak companies are just small businesses that can only afford to pay small amounts to a few guys. There's always going to be a few Chad Hoovers that are good enough marketing guys to make a living at this. But I'm not going to quit my day job anytime soon to make it on the circuit.

It really all depends on what your cost of living is. The good thing about kayak fishing is the initial investment isn't crazy and the maintainance is low. A new bass boat every year costs $60,000 fully rigged. Some guys are willing to sleep out of their trucks all year, some aren't. If you've got a lot of credit cards and bills racked up, trying to pay those with kayak fishing probably isn't smart. But if you're debt free, chasing it may seem a little more feesable. All this being if this national kayak series takes off.

Another thing that you have to consider is "are you good enough to compete at that level". I consider myself a pretty decent fisherman but the reality of it is, when you compete at a level with $100k prizes, guys will come out of the woodwork to fish these events. And more than likely, I would get my [censored] whooped by 30 lb/110" stringers on a regular basis.

What I have gathered in the few years that I have been in the sport is that sponsors do not care how many tournaments you win. They care about how much product you can promote and the skills your possess in writing, speaking and representing the product. If I were to make a go of the outdoor industry I would turn my attentions to companies that need marketing help. One of the great thing about pro staff opportunities is that it can give you access into the business side of the sport. From that point it is what you make of it and the networking connections you can make. I agree with many of the points above. Good luck to everyone who chases the dream!

Some of the bass guys are getting 100k-500k+ a year in sponsor money. I don't see it happening any time soon kayaking. Heck, I couldn't get Hobie to pay my way to the Worlds this year when I got the invite. I only had a week and a half to come up with the money to head to Amsterdam. Couldn't make it happen.

This. I know a lot of guys who do very well competing on the local & regional stage and even a few that made it to the show but I can count them on one hand. Every one of them will tell you they would struggle at that level, at least in the beginning. Cashing a check, or even winning a regional event is nothing compared to competing against the best of the best, 4 days straight on some of the best fisheries in the world.

I think the emphasis is on the first word "some" in your post. As in a handful. Most scrap money together they save in the off season, mortgage/debt their way into it, or, which is often overlooked, they simply have the financial means to go do it. Very few live holistically from bass fishing outside the household names.

Having said that I think there is room out there for a higher level trail and without going into too much detail I think kayak bass fishing could be more attractive to the non-endemics because of the compelling cross over demographics of the sport.