Threads like these are the reason I find bass fishermen funny.
Fishing 9 tournaments does not make you a pro.
When sponsors put your kids through college, you would be considered "pro".
Threads like these are the reason I find bass fishermen funny.
Fishing 9 tournaments does not make you a pro.
When sponsors put your kids through college, you would be considered "pro".
Thats always been my opinion. If you make your living at whatever you are a pro. If its winnings or sponsorship so be it. Money in vs money out.Originally Posted by SteezMacQueen
Nope. I am fishing one division strictly for the fun of it. No plans to go pro.
We know Guys fishing the open series that can’t win at the club level —However they have the money to fish the opens -they are going PRO :) LOL
It's an interesting question. A lot of comparisons have been made to AAA baseball, but it's still not an apples to apples comparison. Even at the highest level of bass fishing (BPT and Elite Series), the pros are still paying entry fees to compete, with no guarantee of a payout. I can't think of another mainstream professional sport where the competitor has to pay to play, and has no guarantee of making money at the end of the day. If we're talking about earning a living off of the competition alone, I think many of the fishermen that we consider to be pros (BPT and Elite anglers) would not meet that definition. Most of those guys are not paying their bills from tournament winnings, but rather sponsorships. And I think many of them are paying their bills with money from businesses they own, and their fishing adventures are supplemented by being independently wealthy. If we're strictly talking about a prop being someone who pays their bills from fishing, then the real pros are guides and not tournament anglers.
Perhaps some of these open anglers make enough money from sponsorships to earn a living, but there certainly is not enough money to be made in tournament winnings. I'd say most open anglers are people looking for a higher level of competition, and people chasing a dream.
With the opens payouts being as bad as they are probably 98% won't break even, add that to the fact that anyone with a boat and money can do it=not a pro
Kind of odd when they say they are going pro and have to pay for the entry fee to fish the events. In my eyes your a pro when your sponsored and get paid to fish.
Take baseball for example , how would it be if you had to pay to be on the Yankee's. I would guess you're not a pro but someone who pays for the privalage.
Threads like these are the reason I find bass fishermen funny.
Fishing 9 tournaments does not make you a pro.
When sponsors put your kids through college, you would be considered "pro".
Matty Wong won the Bass Nation Championship and qualified for the Elites and fished the Classic.. He achieved Pro Status without fishing an open or any major event. You can look there are others that have qualified for the Elites by fishing just 3 opens.
In the equine sports, which are pay to play, they have professionals and amateurs competing at the same levels of the sport and have different divisions at each level. They define a professional by whether or not you receive income for coaching people or training horses. If you do receive income in the equine business for riding/training/teaching, your status is designated as professional. Therefore you have to ride in certain divisions at each event. Amateurs can ride in any division of their choosing, either against professionals or not.
If a sponsor is paying you, any amount of money in fishing, not just 10% off of your select bait, I would classify that as professional. People can have multiple sources of income and still be considered professional imo.
I see a lot of similarities between bass fishing competitively and the competitive equine industry.
Kyle
2010 Nitro Z-7
PB: 11 lbs, 1 oz
Adding: Also: BASS considers you a rookie on the Elites if you have made 500k or less in career earnings. It would be really easy to decipher pro versus amateur based on their career earnings. If you you have made over 100k in career earnings, you can have your “pro card”.
I don’t know why this isn’t done, it would for sure save time to debate other useless topics LOL
Kyle
2010 Nitro Z-7
PB: 11 lbs, 1 oz
That was the Golden Age of Triathlons when the sport really took off and there were Triathlons with shorter distances that included more individuals than the Ironman Distance events. Scott Tinley, Dave Scott, Mark Allen, Scott Molina. Kristen Hansen and Julie Moss were the stars. Recall Lance Armstrong winning Triathlons as a teenager before his cycling career.
You sure have an impressive Triathlon Resume I was never very good however loved the variety of the training and going to Triathlons was a whole lot of healthy fun for someone approaching 40.
“Going pro(fessional)” describes intent to compete at the highest level - anywhere in the journey. Being a professional is arrival at the destination…
High stakes poker maybe. Pro fishing is similar to gambling, put up your money and try to win. And like poker, it is not a sport.
To me it’s as simple as this.
Huh....I always thought the "Pro" in "Fishing Pro" meant promoter.
WashCo Tournament Series
The problem lies In the definition of “pro” when it comes to fishing. Truthfully unless you are fishing invite/qualified for series fishing you could argue that you are not a pro. The reason for this is that essentially with enough bank roll anyone can essentially fish anything and everything up to the elites or MLF.
realistically though I think the more common understanding of “pro” amongst the community would be someone that has major sponsors and that is in essence attempting to fish for a living. In a strange way these YouTubers are actually more “pro” than many tournament bass anglers. Aaron Weibe, has (had?) a boat deal, an electronics deal, ice fishing gear deal and was earning a living fishing making YouTube videos.
to many, much to BBC’s pleasure wearing a straight brim hat and wearing a fishing jersey makes you a pro.
don’t overthink it, unless we all want to agree that unless you are in the elites or MLF you aren’t a pro.
06 Stratos 294 ProXL
Say it Ain't So they wouldn't show those two events on the Sports Networks if they weren't a True Professional Sport.
However on second thought that line of thinking would make Paintball, Cornhole and Competitive Eating all shown on Sports Networks a sport so I'm retracting my previous attempt at humor so I don't get a BBC version of WWE Body Slam.
You're bringing back lots of great memories, Hoot! Yes, I raced against Molina (Scott, Sean and Phil), Tinley, Mike Pigg (I went to grad school in Arcata where Pigg is from), Dave Scott, and many of the top female triathletes back then. No, I never beat them, lol as they were the first, true professionals (i.e., full time). This was when I was living in NorCal and was racing every weekend. Good times.
You sure have an impressive Triathlon Resume I was never very good however loved the variety of the training and going to Triathlons was a whole lot of healthy fun for someone approaching 40.
I'm going to give a strange analogy. When I read this thread it reminded me of how everyone in the porn industry is called a porn star but the overwhelming majority are not a star. I think you have to preform at the upper level of your profession and stand out from others to be called a star. A very similar analogy can be put on being a professional fisherman. There is fisherman out there going through the motions on high level playing field but are they really professional. I don't think so unless their performance on a high level field shows they can make a sustainable living from their performance...and for the record I realize my view is a little unorthodox.
Fun to take everyone’s money at buggs!
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