I am obviously no expert, but I would get a degree in marketing which will help tremendously with your sponsors. There are a lot of guys that have made a career out of fishing without a major win to their credit. Good luck to you and I hope you make it.

very true

+1... even better idea Paramedic/firefighter. Trust me it's awesome. I only work 2 days a week and try fish the rest.. how kool is that..

Probably not what you want to hear... but...

Fishing is not a poor man's sport. The guys that drive the F-250 4x4 trucks pulling 20 ft Triton boats with 225 hp motors either make a lot of $$$ or have a lot of debt. Maybe a little of both. Gas, maintenance, equipment, hotels, travel & entry fees (not to mention rent/mortgage & other bills back home) cost a lot of money & sponsors only pay so much. Probably not going to earn enough to pay those things unless you have a career.

I would recommend finishing school & beginning a career. If you don�t want to go to school then I would recommend becoming a fireman / policeman or joining the military to learn a trade.

But if it were me I would recommend concentrating on something other than professional fishing as a career. Once that is established then you can follow your dreams of being the next Kevin Van Dam. Just my .02.

These days you can make more money mowing lawns than any entry level "degree" job. You only live once my friend! Go for it.

Apparently stocking up on heavy lead weights gets you pretty far too.

But seriously.. My advice would be the same as the others. Get a degree first. BUT never, and I mean never, give up on what you want to do. As time goes by it gets harder and harder to make things happen. What seemed realistic at 25 doesn't even seem possible at 40.

Take advantage of your youth. With age comes more responsibilities making it tougher to achieve your goals.

Good luck to you young man.

i fished the central opens last year as a co angler and met/talked to alot of guys who made it there profession. thanks for all the advice, i jus want to make the right ones before its too late.

Perfectly said!

No insurance,401k,,pensions,retirementand it's seasonal and you have to pay all yoyr taxes,definitely not a job I would retire from.

Man life really goes down hill when these become the things you start looking forward to. Follow your dreams man your not guaranteed a retirement.

Just to hear all the possibilities and ask what seems to be a simple question shows wisdom, it's the un-cautious ones that sometimes make critical mistakes. Having said that, I would say to follow your instincts and like you have done here, never be afraid to ask for and seek advice. Ok, now having said that, I'm only 29 and maybe at my age, recomendations may still have little validity.????? Seriously good luck!

what i have done to try to save for when i do retire is set up a savings account put some money in it and put a little in it if i win some money, and i refuse to dip into it and hope i won't get into it anytime soon. I am hoping that when i become retirement age i can rely on myself and not the government and always worry about a 401k falling apart, you can do it on your own

I used to want to fish the Elites and FLW. I started doing well in local tournaments, and opened a small business to sort of finance my fishing. What I quickly discovered was that I enjoyed the business aspects a lot!
My advice to you... Don't ask for sponsors. When you start winning and placing high they will come to you. Probably with better offers than you would have received if you had been the one to contact them. Think in terms of your resume. Perhaps you might think about attending a school that has a collegiate fishing program. Anything to gain you some notoriety is good.
Get a degree in marketing or business. If you intend to fish for a living, you have to view it not as an interest, but as a business.

Every day I wake up and sit behind my desk, in my window-less office and do my job. I pull the lever ....all day long. Yeah, they pay me some cheese, I'm neither rich nor poor. But... I am bored. I have the "degree" and I've been in the rat race for 8 yrs. I'm not guaranteed a retirement, I'm not guaranteed a job after any given day. They will cut me in the blink of an eye. Have you ever watched office space? That's me right now.

Don't mean to be a downer but I'm trying to illustrate a point. Do something you love. If you have a passion for it, you will make it work to your benefit. Don't settle for something you don't want to do.

Life is awesome...don't waste it pulling the lever.

a good education is very important. When you look at all the pros on tv many of them already have other business aspects going for them that you dont realy hear about to generate income away from fishing. There are only a few that really make it out of thousands and thousands who break themselves trying. Get your education and have something to fall back on.