Why are guys fishing NPFL?

[Tigercat]

National Patriotic Front of Liberia? I wish folks would do some research before they decide on an acronym for their organization.

Who? The Nigerian Professional Football League?

[Spot-a-saurus]

This is ALL opinion. I love fishing bass tournaments but at the end of the day it’s just a form of gambling and I’m okay with that. I also realize with where I am at financially and my family situation (young kid and wife) that it’s not in my or my families best interest to pursue it other than locally or a few “regional” tournaments per year. If it were a given that I “had what it takes” it would still be a horrible situation family wise for me. Everyone has a different situation and preference for how they are willing to live or what they give up. And that’s ok too. For me, missing moments with my son on a regular basis (3-4 months a year cumulative) for any “job” is not gonna cut it as long as I can provide for him and his momma doing something else where I can spend time with them. But this is specific to me and I realize some make it work and more power to them. Missing once in a lifetime moments with my son, deal breaker. Now if I didn’t have a wife and kids or my kid was already independent of me then that would vastly change my perspective. Not trying to disparage any one who works away from home because I know many do whether fishing or any other job and I realize you can love you families despite being away for some time. Just wouldn’t work for me

[Woody60]

Easy answer...because they want to,

[Skeeterbag]

Easy answer...because they want to,

Real knee slapper there woody

[DMart1]

America. The place where people always have an opinion on how others spend their money.

Seriously, who cares.

[Crankinh20]

Exactly how several guys I know run their fishing. Most of them have full time gigs or businesses.

Makes more sense than fishing elites or bpt

[Rangerdeepv]

Answer............because they can and do?

[Triton 186]

Are they broke yet after 2 years

[wvbassmaster]

Are they broke yet after 2 years

Seems to me there are growing.....

[Hoot]

They found a market for events that had the demand from those willing to pay the price to participate so just another example of free enterprise.

[cg2fish]

That can’t be pro because they pay to play. Pro athletes get paid to play. Bass tournaments have always been for the organization. Ray Scott was a professional business man. He was in to make money

[LTZ25]

That can’t be pro because they pay to play. Pro athletes get paid to play. Bass tournaments have always been for the organization. Ray Scott was a professional business man. He was in to make money

People on here don't understand this , every tournament there is a sure winner , the outfit that puts in on . Most tournaments are on T V and that pays the man in charge but the fishermen are still fishing for their own money they put up to enter . Just as an example of a real professional sport in PGA tournaments the top half that make the cut every week get $7500.00 put into their 401 account . I understand how young people could want to give pro fishing a try , and put off moving out of mom's house for 3-4 years .

[Quillback]

They found a market for events that had the demand from those willing to pay the price to participate so just another example of free enterprise.

Yep, make some coin while you can.

[basshammerwannabe]

So that makes the argument of this being a losing battle in terms of finances even stronger. It matters what you make off the water because you more than likely will lose it on the water

that goes with a lot of pros on elites, opens, bpt, intv..

[fishnfireman]

Ask the gentleman who just won 100K on Amistad.

[basshammerwannabe]

Hot take coming here.

I don’t understand why these guys are fishing NPFL. The financial sense of this league is borderline irresponsible. Here’s where I’m coming from:

Math
- $5K per tournament x6 events = $30k
- $2-3k per tournament in travel expenses =$15k
- 6 weeks off work (can’t quantify but an opportunity cost)
- A ton of miles on truck/boat

so let’s call it 50k to fish these tournaments to account for expenses and wear an tear on gear.

NOW let’s look at how many guys made over 50k out of the 105 anglers:
14 anglers made 50k or more. That means 91 lost money.
out of those 14 that made money only 9 made more than 60k(gross) . Seems like a lot of work/bad odds to make” 10k

Also. All of this for a league that can’t get their finances sorted out to even hold a championship???

And there is very little exposure that sponsors care about here.

Again just seems financially irresponsible to fish I’m my opinion. I just don’t get it. Am I missing something? No wonder so many bass fisherman go broke.

ive heard them say they make the schedule spread out so the working man can fish these tournaments and they arent away from family months at a time .. if he or she is invited to fish

[Mark Perry]

Hot take coming here.

I don’t understand why these guys are fishing NPFL. The financial sense of this league is borderline irresponsible. Here’s where I’m coming from:

Math
- $5K per tournament x6 events = $30k
- $2-3k per tournament in travel expenses =$15k
- 6 weeks off work (can’t quantify but an opportunity cost)
- A ton of miles on truck/boat

so let’s call it 50k to fish these tournaments to account for expenses and wear an tear on gear.

NOW let’s look at how many guys made over 50k out of the 105 anglers:
14 anglers made 50k or more. That means 91 lost money.
out of those 14 that made money only 9 made more than 60k(gross) . Seems like a lot of work/bad odds to make” 10k

Also. All of this for a league that can’t get their finances sorted out to even hold a championship???

And there is very little exposure that sponsors care about here.

Again just seems financially irresponsible to fish I’m my opinion. I just don’t get it. Am I missing something? No wonder so many bass fisherman go broke.

If we are being really honest you just described every pro trail, regional and even local trails. The number of people truly "making" money at any level of tournament fishing is incredibly low. Some guys will claim to come out ahead buy if you factor in every cost even fishing local events is a money losing deal.

I think most that fish enjoy the competition more than anything.

[Spot-a-saurus]

If we are being really honest you just described every pro trail, regional and even local trails. The number of people truly "making" money at any level of tournament fishing is incredibly low. Some guys will claim to come out ahead buy if you factor in every cost even fishing local events is a money losing deal.

I think most that fish enjoy the competition more than anything.

Yessir. Tbh I don’t know a single person that comes out truly “ahead” when you count their expenses fishing locally or regionally. Only a jackpot win of 20k+ will put you in the black and then you have to think about all the years you didn’t do that
I love the competition and have been fortunate to win some pocket change, but to pretend you get back what you put in, is in most cases not true. Like you said, that extends almost across the entire board of tournament fishing. A lot more guys spending money than making money

[fishnfireman]

If we are being really honest you just described every pro trail, regional and even local trails. The number of people truly "making" money at any level of tournament fishing is incredibly low. Some guys will claim to come out ahead buy if you factor in every cost even fishing local events is a money losing deal.

I think most that fish enjoy the competition more than anything.

Always felt it was just another expensive hobby. Many years I've managed enough wins to pay traveling expenses and entry fees. But NEVER enough to cover the complete cost of boat and truck. But I'm going to have those two regardless of if I fish tournaments or not.
Just a little less expensive than team roping- At least I don't have to feed the boat 365 day a year.

[WI-Bassin]

Hot take coming here.

I don’t understand why these guys are fishing NPFL. The financial sense of this league is borderline irresponsible. Here’s where I’m coming from:

Math
- $5K per tournament x6 events = $30k
- $2-3k per tournament in travel expenses =$15k
- 6 weeks off work (can’t quantify but an opportunity cost)
- A ton of miles on truck/boat

so let’s call it 50k to fish these tournaments to account for expenses and wear an tear on gear.

NOW let’s look at how many guys made over 50k out of the 105 anglers:
14 anglers made 50k or more. That means 91 lost money.
out of those 14 that made money only 9 made more than 60k(gross) . Seems like a lot of work/bad odds to make” 10k

Also. All of this for a league that can’t get their finances sorted out to even hold a championship???

And there is very little exposure that sponsors care about here.

Again just seems financially irresponsible to fish I’m my opinion. I just don’t get it. Am I missing something? No wonder so many bass fisherman go broke.

They just fished their championship on Amistad.