get your degree fo sho

then get your time on the water

This is the best advice i can give you. Build a lake in your backyard. Just like field of dreams, if you build it they will come.

Get a degree in the medical field. Registered nurse, radiologist, respiratory therapist, physical therapist, ect. Best job market growth out there. Then you can get a job almost anywhere, make good money, and pretty much pick the schedule you want to work.

Fish every chance you get with different people and on different lakes to learn a variety of skills. You will be able to fish more events and much more comfortable knowing you have a stable career at home to pay the bills. Put in the work on and off the lake, and your dreams will become reality!

A bunch of good ideas!!! I would do abunch of that, then win the TBF living the dream package and be sponsored for a full year on the FLW tour with the use of a wrapped boat nad truck to go with it!!!!

www.texastbf.com

Trying to fish professional is hard and you better get use to rejection, losing, SACRAFICE, and hard work for little to nothing. But sometimes what you get in return is more than money can buy.

My advice fish Rayburn and Toledo, they have tournaments every weekend, and a lot of the guys that fish the opens and american series fish there every weekend plus quite a few Elites started their career there. If you still have a little money at the end of a year or two, chances are you can fish with anyone.

Guys will not come knocking down your door if you win, chances are you get in the game long enough and get lucky and meet the right people at the right time. I have met some really great people that have helped me open some doors but I had to hang around those doors awhile.

Good luck I hope it works out for you.

All I want to say is I used to repo cars, and Ive seen way to many trucks with boats attached get repoed. These guys lived for fishing, they slept in the bed of there truck with all there clothes and gear beacause they didnt have a house to go to. They did nothing but fish trying to make it pro. Its sad to see guys with so many dreams and so much passion and talent forthe sport and they still fail.
Dreams and hard work will only take you so far. At some point you have to use your brain.You cant live or fish without money. If you only fish,fish,fish with out a good education or a good carrer you are going to set yourself up for a hard dissapointing life. dont listen to anyone that says you dont need an education or a good job,,theyre full of sh*T. the old saying lays true "Work hard to Play hard" thats life.

"Also alot of the truck and boat combos we repoed the guys had to leave almost all there fishing tackle in the truck because they didnt have anywhere to put it...no bs,,its a hard life"

Get whatever reliable boat and truck you can afford with the help of family and friends, get a tent, several tarps, a decent cot to sleep on, coleman stove and lantern. Sign up for the Central and Southern Opens and go LIVE on those lakes for as long as you can prior to any tournament. Fish daylight to dark EVERY day. Eat, Sleep, Fish.

I am assuming you are a high enough skill level now that you can locate and catch fish. If you an do that, you just need to spend more time on those lakes than anyone else and know exactly where you are going to catch each fish on each day of the tournament. Do whatever you have to to make money during the time you are not fishing. If you want to go pro, you have to qualify to be one. The Opens (in my opinion) are the best and easiest (not easy, but easiest) way to get there. Don't spend ANY money every unless it is on your boat, your truck, your entry fees or your tackle and fishing expenses. When you make the Elites, you will need ALL of that money you were able to save.

Commit to it for 2-3 years. If you haven't made it by then....time to go to school and get a real job. If you do make it by then, keep doing the same thing and maybe you will do well in your first few tournaments.

There is plenty of time to go to college....but now you have no responsibilities and you can 100% commit to making it as a fisherman. Even if you don't make it, the experience will take you far in life. Good Luck!

If I could, I would go back to school that has a fishing program and get a degree in Marketing or Finance, maybe even in the medical field since they make great money and are always hiring.

One way to save money and do what you want is limit yourself to the bigger tournaments. Save the money from week to week and spend your time concentrating on one or two cicuits. (Spend that TOW and practice, practice)

If you start fishing "everything you can" you'll be spinning alot of wheels and spending alot of money every weekend. Now days that is next to impossible without going bankrupt. I sure wish I could do that!

I cut out all club events, jackpot tournaments, big bass events, ect and put my money into large individual tournaments. If your spending 200-300 a weekend in entry fees, tourney, and gas, it doesn't leave much money for the large events.

It's tough to make yourself do it when everyone heads out to the BIG BASS Bonanza, Legend Tourney on Fork, ect.

That has been the one and only way I could fund my tournaments.

I'm paying more for entry fee than I pay on my house each month....when you do that you have to cut back elsewhere.

Best of luck and there are some good tips on this post for the young guys!

networking is a huge part of the game

Totally agree with Bass_Bustin_Texan. Local tournaments you are fishing against a bunch of homeboys that have grown up on these lakes and have fished them all their lives. Focus your time, money and energy on the tournaments that get you qualified to fish at a professional level. None of the local tournaments get you there....just additional time and money.

Anyone who tells you that you can make more money by mowing yards than by earning a college degree is someone I would probably not take advise from.

Don't be afraid to follow your dreams, but I would recommend following them once you become established. If you are working part time for your dad, then you probably can't afford a $30,000+ truck & $25,000+ boat along with all of the fuel, maintenance, insurance, equipment, food, rent/mortgage & other expenses that go along with it. If you do some research on some professional anglers & their career winnings, there are very, very few who come out ahead. Remember, even when they are winning they are still paying bills. Plus, if you're not even confident enough to guide yet...

But just because you don't have those things yet, that doesn't mean that you won't within a few years. I would concentrate first on getting an education or learning a trade. If those don't interest you, maybe becoming a policeman, fireman, paramedic or joining the military would. You have job security, the pay isn't bad, you have medical benefits along with a 401k & plenty of time off to fish.

I apologize for sounding harsh. Best of luck.

or you could marry a young nurse...

i win a lot of my gas money fishing the little local stuff, if you can compete at a higher level you should be able to win or at least be in the money in all the local stuff