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The first thing to
consider if you're cut out to be a pro angler. More than anything, you must
be a people
person. You have to love to talk to people, teach people, listen to
people, the kind of person that never met
a stranger. If you're not at ease with people you haven't met, if you're
not open minded, if you don't enjoy
meeting and talking to new people from all walks of life and
backgrounds, then Stop Right Here! (I promise
you have no chance to make it as a pro.)
You need a cool level
head in stressful situations and be able to act in a practical manner in
an emergency.
An analytical mind also helps. You probably will be the kind of person
that likes math and working with
computers, (either of which will pay much better than angling), and you
probably like doing puzzles of any
type. A good head for business is also necessary to make it. You'll be
on a really tight budget for a number
of years and you can't afford to make the wrong decision, (Business
managers also make more than anglers.)
You need to be in good physical shape and able to actively work on your
feet for hours at a time without
getting tired. It will also help if you like working on things with your
hands. You should kind of like to work on
your own car or maybe wood working as a hobby, (Mechanics are also paid
better than anglers.) And probably
the least important yet absolutely necessary qualification is that you
love to fish and are excellent at it.
So, we'll assume from
here on out the personality description fits you and that you kind of
like poverty.
You've committed to go pro and need to know how to do it, or at least
get a pretty good clue. First realize the
business you're going into: private business owner / operator;
advertising pitch man and consultant; salesman;
teacher; financial planner; travel agent; marine rigging and repairman;
rescue worker; biologist; and last (and
least) fisherman. If you overlook any one of your jobs, you're
doomed to fail. As you might expect, nobody is
particularly interested if you catch fish. What everyone is
interested in is if you can teach them to catch fish.
If you can, then clients and sponsors will beat a track to your door, if
you let them know where your door is.
Getting Ready
Like
all small businesses, the better the preparation, the better your
chance of success. If you're serious
about being a pro, then I'd recommend starting up slow, getting your
experience, and getting a collage degree
while you're at it. There are a tremendous number of things you need to
know, and a good collage can teach
you a lot of it. Depending on your particular interest, there are
several degree programs you could major in. If it
were me, I'd go with something along the lines of Communications Major,
Advertising, Business Management,
Accounting, or a combination of all of the above, (I'd try for a few
courses in all of the areas.) A minor in
Biology or Fisheries Management would help. If you're not particularly
good with computers, then a few
electives in computer based accounting and planning would be useful.
It's not so much the degree, (although
that never hurts), as it is the knowledge. You're betting your future,
along with your family's, on your ability to
run a smart business, take it seriously.
While all of the
course work is going, it's time to put together the tools of the trade.
Obviously a boat and
tow vehicle will be required. A computer with a good office suite is
almost as important for the professional.
Then you have all of your gear to collect. And don't forget the
licenses, insurance, and permits you'll need as
well. A few bucks for a lawyer should also be in the start up costs.
First the boat. You
can get by initially with a 16' boat with maybe a 90 hp motor, but very
quickly you'll
want to move into a 20' class probably with a 200+ hp motor. And if you
make your living out of a boat, then
a reliable, well maintained boat is a must, (with a broke boat, you may
not eat.). Ranger boats have been a
traditional favor brand of the pros, not for the name, but because at
least the older ones were built like a tank.
They aren't fast, and not as sexy as some, but they will take a pounding
and be back for more tomorrow.
Keep the motor
absolutely, dead nuts, stock. You are interested in reliability and
keeping costs down, not
going fast. Get a full set of gauges, and use them. In particular, an
hour meter is useful to make absolutely
sure the engine service is up to date and done to manufacturer's
recommendations. While you're at it, worry
about the storage of your rig a little. Having a nice, clean, organized
boat is not merely a matter of pride, it's
your work place and you need to protect it. Even if you're on a limited
budget, figure out how to put up some
type of shed or roof over your boat to protect it and get as good of
boat cover as you can find. And, please,
keep it locked up. Your customers and sponsors really won't care if you
boat was stolen before they write
you off.
Tow vehicles give you
bit more latitude. A new truck is nice, but not necessary. It does have
to be reliable,
(again a stranded customer doesn't care why), and clean. A nice looking
truck can be used as a mobile
billboard, a source of valuable sponsor income. Depending on your
location, you may or may not care about
4WD but a sport utility type is usually a better choice than a pickup.
The added storage and passenger
capacity is useful in your line of work. Like your boat and motor, make
sure to keep the maintenance current
and it's always cheaper in the long run to take care of any problems as
soon as you detect them instead of
waiting to get stuck somewhere.
As a small business
man, the personal computer is a Godsend. You'll need some way to keep
track of
expenses, income, schedules, phone numbers, fishing logs, orders,
reservations, sponsor letters, and of
course, taxes. You are selling your time along with your fishing
knowledge, so time is valuable to you. Get a
computer adequate to run typical office applications and learn how to
use it. Keep back ups of all of your files
and set aside time every day to keep the records straight and up to
date.
No job is over, (or in
this case started), before the paper work is done. Your state may
require a license to
operate on public waters. You'll definitely want to protect yourself
with commercial liability insurance, and the
state may require you post a bond as well. You can do all of this as a
Sole Proprietor business, but it may be
to your tax advantage to file as a small corporation or a limited
partnership with other pros or family members.
Check with a lawyer and/or tax advisor before filing for all of permits.
If you're going to be a professional,
conduct yourself as one and don't even think about cutting corners. The
penalties of trying to fly by the seat
of your pants could cost you everything you have or even land you in
jail. It's a painful, expensive thing to set
up your business, but it's absolutely necessary to do it right. I could
cite any number of tragedies I've seen
over the years where something unexpected came up totally out of the
control of the pro, and they ended up
paying for it for years to come. You may find other pros on the water
that run an under the table operation,
and by cutting corners, under cut your prices or steal sponsors with
less than market value packages. It's
true in any business, but these guys are amateurs and no real threat to
your business, so ignore them and
wish them well. The true pros will come out on top in the long run every
time.
One of the better ways
to look at the finances is that your banker is your first, and most
important sponsor.
Unless you're of independent means, you'll need some serious financial
help getting started, (Boats and
Trucks aren't cheap.) If you're going to get the bank to go along with
this, you'll have to approach it as a
business transaction. If you just show up and say you'd like to finance
a boat to open a professional fishing
service and don't have a sound plan, you'll get thrown out on your ear
just as soon as the banker can stop
laughing long enough.
On the other hand, if
you go in knowing all of the expenses (with documentation), have a good
plan for a
reasonable steady income, have thought out all of the details about
licenses, insurance, and such, then you'll
be pleasantly surprised just how receptive audience you might find. If
you conduct yourself as a professional,
chances are good you will be received as one. The more detailed and well
thought out the plan, the better the
chances are of getting financed. Don't approach it as someone wanting to
finance a boat or truck, but
someone looking for a business loan that will put up the boat as a
capital asset for security. You've got a lot
of other expenses to worry about, so present them as a package, along
with what assets you bring to the
business, and show how the business will repay the loan and leave you
enough to live on, (something your
family will also appreciate.) If you are taking some course work on
business management, a Business Plan
is you definitely want to learn and maybe have your professor help you
with.
The Plan
At this
point you must be wondering just where all this stuff is leading.
Here is the general game plan. You
need some serious experience and would like to get paid for it. The best
way I can think of is to go into the
Guide Service business. This gets you paid for being on the water. Plan
on doing this off and on most likely
for the rest of your life. Assuming your idea of "pro" is
those guys you see on TV, then serious tournament
competition is in your future. There is an entire pyramid you need to
climb before you can even think of making
a living that way. You've got a ton of work to do before that pays off,
(if it ever does.) Then there is the teaching
part. You'll be involved with seminars, classes, presentations, all
sorts of things that hawk a product, an
approach, or just fishing in general. If you're one of the gifted and
talented, you'll end up making a good living
teaching other people how to fish. If you work hard, you'll at least
make a good living.
Nothing is going to be
free or easy. Nothing worth while ever is. Oh sure, you could get really
lucky, nail a
couple of giant fish, win some big tournament somewhere, pick up
endorsements, and be happy by Tuesday.
You could also win the state lottery, and probably have a better chance
at that. You can skip some of the hard
work if you're independently wealthy, but then this is just an expensive
hobby, not a profession. Assuming
you're committed, there are dues to be paid and work to do.
There will be
basically three stages in your professional career: Guide; Tournament
Pro; Teacher. You don't
have to do all of them, but it's a rather logical progression. You'll do
more of one than another at different
stages of your career, but will probably get into all of them at some
point. As we go on, we'll look at each one
up close and see what to expect.
Getting Geared Up
OK, it's about time to get to the fishing part. While
you're trying to learn all of the business elements, get
everything collected, probably hold down a full time job to pay for all
this stuff you need to fish. Every
opportunity you can make, fish. You need to pick a lake and know it
better than you know your girl friend's
tattoo. Fish early, fish late, fish at night.
Don't take the lake
you pick for granted. It will be your work place so choose carefully and
wisely. If you're
able, working in the deep south has the obvious advantage of offering
year round work. It is also a place people
go to in the winter for vacation, and a tourist trade is always a huge
plus. If you're planning to get serious
about tournament fishing, then choosing a lake where a lot of large
tournaments are held will give you a head
start. Of course all of the other factors about where to live also
apply, (cost of living, available shopping or
entertainment, taxes, schools, etc.) You'll find a majority of working
pros in either Texas or Florida, both of
which are great places to work and live. Unfortunately, you're about 30
years too late to get into the ground
floor and have to face some stiff competition for customers. This makes
doing your homework all the more
important.
A couple of guys that
I knew getting ready to open their own business use to make it to the
lake every
morning at 4:30. They'd fish until about 7:30, load up and go to
work at 9:00. I saw them there every weekend
and a couple of nights a week. After a year or so, they had caught just
about every bass in that lake so many
times they had each one named. By the time they were 25 years old, they
had one of the more successful
guide businesses in the area from which they both made a good living for
their families. They were the 1 in 10
that made it, largely because of their preparation.
It won't do you much
good to fish when you want to or when the weather is right. You have to
fish in all type
of conditions, and look forward to it. Rain, high winds, cold fronts,
burning hot summer days without a breath
of air, even sleet or snow. If the lake isn't frozen over, get on it.
Anyone can catch fish when they are biting on
pretty days. The true professional can find a few fish under any type of
extreme condition. The only way to
learn is to do it. It's also important to learn how to operate the boat
safely in all conditions. Your life and the
life of your customers will depend on your ability to make the safe call
every time. If a thunder storm is in the
area, you had damn well better know when it's time to get off the water
and to safe shelter, (it also helps to
know where the safe shelter is.) If you get caught 20 miles from the
ramp in a 30 mph wind, you had better
know how to best get back to the ramp safely, how to get to safe harbor
and then go get the truck 20 miles
away, and exactly when to make each choice. If you're on the water every
day, it won't take long to figure out
there are more windy days each year then calm ones. You had better have
a stock pile of places to safely
and comfortably fish no matter how hard wind blows or from what
direction.
Every one has visions
of catching big bass. It's always nice to do that and it can often lead
to a big
tournament check or a big tip from a paying customer. But big fish are a
luxury a professional can rarely
afford. You need to reliable catch fish every time the boat hits the
water. That normally means dinks, or just
barely legal fish. The small ones are aggressive, normally relatively
shallow, and need to feed just about every
day. As a professional, I'd much rather have 3 or 4 spots where I knew I
could stick 1 or 2 dinks every day
than have 20 holes where I might catch a big fish.
Getting Started
So you've
picked a lake, know it like the back of your hand, can catch fish
most every day in most every
weather condition, what do you do now? Find a guide service broker. Most
of the advertising you see in
magazines, on the 'net, and other places are by brokers. A broker takes
care of the arrangements, books the
trips, sets up the guide, and takes a fee for his effort without ever
seeing the water. This may be $25 to $50 a
trip, which is cheap for you. Compared to trying running your own ads,
running up your phone bill, make your
own filers, and all the other things trying attract customers, a
commission every trip works out to money in
your pocket. In the popular areas, there are lots of brokers. In less
popular areas, tackle shops, fish camps,
or other fishing related services may also act as a broker. In these
cases, you can probably pick up a part
time job around the place as well for those many days you're not on the
water. You may eventually want to
take over the booking yourself, but getting started, a broker is the way
to go.
So what does your day
look like? It starts about 3:30 getting up, getting your breakfast and
preparing a box
lunch for you and your customers for the day. Run by the gas station and
fill up and get your ice, (remember
to ask for a receipt, it's deductible), and head to the bait shop. The
majority of guides in areas that allow them
will use live bait. The reasons are simple. First, you assume your
customers won't have a clue on how to bass
fish, (something you need to determine on your courtesy call the night
before), and live bait means they really
don't have to. There is also the factor you can expect a 50% discount on
your daily bait, for which you charge
full price, making it an additional source of profit. It seems trivial
until you figure wild shiners retail for $1 each
and on a good lake you can use 3 dozen, ($18 for your trouble.) While
you're there try to cultivate a good
relationship with other guides. Exchange information freely. You don't
have to tell them everything you know,
but never, never, lie. There is plenty of water for everyone and you'll
normally get at least as good as you get.
Welcome other guides into your areas if you think the area will take the
pressure. Areas where bass are
schooling is always valuable and appreciated information. You'll very
quickly get to know who to trust and
who to take with a grain of salt.
Anyway, off to the
hotel to pick up the customers and then to the lake. Don't expect any
help getting the
boat in the water and ready, (you don't want the help from a lot of
these guys.) You get the same rate for one
or two guests, so expect two at least half the time, (guides are
expensive.) Load them up, stick them in life
jackets, (insurance requirement), and unless they are experienced and
say something about it, drive slow.
You can scare the hell out of someone that's not use to a modern bass
boat, and it makes a very poor way
to start the day.
As you're rigging up
and get to your spot, explain in detail everything you're doing and why.
These guys are
here as much to learn as to fish. Until you're sure of the skill level
of the customers, pick easy lures to throw
and give them easy rigs to throw it with. Spinner baits, crank baits, or
short leader Carolina rigs are always
favorites. Save the worms and certainly the Slug-Os until you're sure
the customer is ready to handle it. If
you're going to fish at all, throw something light and keep away from
the prime areas with your lure. It's not
important if you catch fish, it IS important the customer does. Move all
the way to the front of the boat, (a
hand controlled trolling motor is standard for this reason), and keep
your live bait moving slowly along the
structure, letting the customer fish the shallower water. Instruct the
customer to throw towards the front of the
boat at an angle. This keeps him from tangling up the live bait lines
and makes sure his back cast is moving
in some direction other than at you.
Most of the tourist
trade will want spinning gear but always keep a Zebco 33 handy in case
you get a real
newbie or if Dad is out with the kid for the day. I would suggest buying
about middle-of-the-line gear for
guiding. There isn't any reason to spend $400 a rig for someone just
learning to cast, but you still want good
gear for those who fish regularly. The medium priced gear holds up well
to daily use and will be suitable for
even tournament level fishermen. My personal favorite is Shimano reels
because they take a lot of abuse and
don't have a lot of setting for the customers to play with all day. I
also normally prefer braided line when I can
get away with it. This stuff is fairly easy to pick out backlashes when
the reel is set right without harming the
line. It will last until the customers get hung up and break off enough
to use up the line. And changing out
monofilament on 4 rods every night, (and sometime twice each during the
day), is both a time consuming
pain and expensive.
Keep a conversation
going most of the day. Tell stories about the lake, teach them about
various lures, tell
them about the structure they are fishing, tell them about your family,
anything. Fishing can get boring if you're
not catching much, and chatting passes the time. The customer will show
fairly clearly if they aren't really
interested in the conversation. Remember, even for a seasoned tournament
type, you have something to
teach them. Teach them the lake and local patterns if nothing else. Only
rarely will you find someone who
isn't interested in learning.
Not everyone furnishes
food and drink, but it's always a good way to get a happy customer. One
of the
points of local knowledge you desperately need to have is the location
of all of the public rest rooms you can
get to from the water. I've never had a female customer that didn't
appreciate that courtesy, and many of the
gentlemen also appreciate it. Even if it doesn't bother you, putting
ashore for lunch and a stretch is will earn
the gratitude of your customer after 4 or 5 hours in the boat. And
ALWAYS have sun block on board for the
customers. They never remember it and always need it.
Of course you'll also
need other comfort items such as a good rain suit for each of them,
(always carry at
least one XXL, it can be too big but too small doesn't help.) A jacket
or two is also nice to have on those cool
morning for customers coming shorts and a T-shirt. A light weight life
jacket with good ventilation is a great
idea for customers that don't know how to swim. On those hot summer
days, run around a little just for a nice
breeze. In the winter, park it for the most part and don't freeze your
customers. For heavy weather, get to
know which docks are empty or the location of all of the low bridges to
get out of the weather. Keep an eye
on the sky. The safety of everyone on board is in your hands.
If you don't already
know first aid, you better learn quick. Given two inexperienced
fishermen in the boat
with you, extracting hooks will be a daily occurrence. Cuts, bumps and
bruises will keep you busier than most
medics. Have a fully equipped first aid kit on board and know how use
it. Maybe more important is to know
when NOT to use it. Not all hooks can be extracted, and some medical
conditions require immediate
professional help, know which ones. Know CPR, (I know several guides
that have had to use it.) The Red
Cross is a good source of information and courses. You might want to get
some advise from you doctor. I
consider a cell phone or radio mandatory safety equipment as well no
matter how small the lake, (also helps
when you break down.) Keep emergency services programmed in if the
equipment is capable. And show your
customers how to use it just in case you're the one that needs help.
OK, the day is over
and you've had a nice 8-10 hours on the water. Get your rig loaded up
and the
customers back to the hotel. Remember to thank them, ask them to
remember the broker for their next trip
and ask for you if they had a good time. Many guides in the business for
a while actually develop such a
referral base they won't take new customers and are booked up a year in
advance. Don't forget to get paid.
Make sure to show gratitude for any tip included, (occasionally you make
more in tips than for your base fee.)
Somehow, they will always need to write a check, (made out to the
broker), so you need to swing by on the
way home, drop of the check, pick up your check, and hurry home before
the sun goes down.
Time for maintenance.
Clean up your rig, fix anything that broke. You'll need to clean and
lube the reels,
change the line, sharpen the hooks, and pull maintenance on the truck
while you're at it. After a while you'll
get good at it and it will take about an hour.
Grab something to eat,
clean up, and start the evening business. You need to check in with the
broker if
you haven't already, let them know how the trip went and get your next
client. You've got to call tomorrow's
customer, find out if they live bait or artificial only, going for
trophies or numbers, etc. If you have other
referrals, make contact and work on advanced bookings. File all of your
receipts and update your books.
Don't forget to fill out the truck's mileage log. Once you have down a
system this will only take an hour or so
each night. If you've had a good day and a good tip, you'll have between
$100 and $150 to show for the day's
work, occasionally more, on bad days less.
Well, it should be
about 9:00 by now and you've got half an hour to spend with the family
before bed time.
Three thirty will come early and tomorrow you need to do it all over
again. Such is the life of a professional
guide.
Tournaments
Most
guys trying to turn pro think of tournament fishing. While your
guiding, you might find time to fish
some local gigs and maybe a regional tournament trail like the Red Man
series. Get your experience and
time on the water, but don't expect to set the world on fire just
because you're a guide.
RULE NUMBER ONE:
NEVER MIX YOUR GUIDE BUSINESS WITH YOUR TOURNAMENT FISHING.
If you have any questions, see Rule Number One.
You need to set up a
separate business for this. Keep separate books, expenses, and split the
service of
your equipment between the two. You need to play this clean as well.
Report your winnings because you'll
most likely still run at a loss most of the time, (you can use the write
off.) If you do cash a big check, you'll
need all of the little tournament losses to make up for it.
Never take a client on
a pre-fishing trip for a tournament. You'll want to fish different types
of water. When
pre-fishing, you'll want to get a bite then move on before you burn your
tournament fish. When guiding, you'll
want to set on a hole until it dries up. If you ever try to combine the
two you'll end up with a wasted pre-fishing
trip and a very hostile customer, (and most of the time a hostile broker
as well.) Tournament fish on your own
time, not your customer's.
Oddly enough,
professional guides are normally poor tournament fishermen. They get too
hung up on
fishing shallow water for small fish, which they do every day, to want
to spend the time to find the advanced
off shore structure and bigger fish that the tournament types target.
Plus, if you're on the water 5 days a week
working, you may not want to spend your weekends finding a different
type of water. And if you work trying to
stay relaxed and out of the way, it's hard to concentrate and fish hard
come tournament time. Never the less,
guides do have all of the experience on the water under all conditions
and when they do turn to serious
competition, they are a force to be reckoned with.
Your path to
professional tournament angling is no different than the weekend
fisherman. You have to start
local, work in the regional tournaments until you can consistently do
well, try to attract some sponsors, then
move into national competition. You're added time on the water may
shorten the path, but not eliminate it.
Remember, 99% of everyone who tries it, fails. Don't set your sights on
a goal so lofty you'll feel like a failure
if you don't make it. If it happens, it happens. Try hard, work hard,
but don't depend on it or risk your family's
welfare trying too hard to make it happen.
We could write all day
about tournaments, but here we'll move on to much more interesting
things, like how
to make a living at it. Reference any of the many articles or books on
tournament fishing techniques you need.
Meanwhile, let's move on to the important stuff for a professional:
finances.
Sponsors and Teaching
When
it comes to professional fishing, particularly tournament fishing,
sponsors make the world go 'round.
If you add up the expenses, you'll find out may 4 or 5 guys out of a 500
man tournament actually cover their
expenses. On a professional trail, perhaps half a dozen guys will
actually show a profit from tournament
winnings any given year. What keeps the trails going are the sponsors.
First, let's look at
the budget for a typical professional trail. You'll have 6 or 8
tournaments to commit to, but
we'll just look at one and then do the math. You'll need to make at
least two trips to the tournament site for a
good chance to cash a check: one before cut off and then one the week of
the tournament. Figure about $200
a week for tow vehicle gas, another $200 for the boat. If you share
expenses with other pros on the same trail,
(always a great idea), then maybe $75 a day in hotel, meals, and
miscellaneous expenses. You'll have
between $600 and $2500 in entry fees depending on the trail and the
tournament, so figure maybe $1500
average. Add in maintenance on the gear, vehicle and boat, for say,
another $200. So, with 10% in reserve,
your budget should be about $4,000 per tournament or up to around
$30,000 in expenses for the trail and
about 4 months you're not working and drawing a pay check. And, of
course, tournament season is always
right in the middle of the best bass season back home so you're losing
the best guiding days, and tips, of
the year. You need help….Bad.
Then look at the
attitudes of the sponsors. They are in business to sell products or
services to fishermen,
and that means you. They ARE NOT in the business of giving money away,
and if they were, it still wouldn't
be to you. So, if they won't give you money, you're left with the old
fashion way, you have to earn it. Here is
where those advertising courses pay off. If you know what the sponsors
are looking for, then you're in a better
position to provide it.
There are all sorts
and levels of sponsors. You'll need them all. Start small and work your
way up. You can
find sponsors even for your guide business if you work at it. If you
want to make ends meet, or even wave at
each other, you need to learn how to attract them and keep them.
Image is everything.
You need to look like a good product spokesman. Grungy fishermen
straight off a day
on the water need not apply. You need to look neat, confident, and in
control. Nothing controversial like beards
or long hair. As silly as it might sound, stay in shape. A good athletic
look always sells well. TV pitch men
are a good example, maybe less the tie. You need to speak well, and be
at ease in public, (remember those
speech courses and communications?) You're out there representing the
image of the company, take it
serious, it's your job.
Early sponsors
suitable for guide businesses is really a barter arrangement primarily
involving discounts.
The tackle store gives you your bait a half price for being a regular
and sending customers their way. You
might find a marine mechanic willing to keep your motor serviced and
running in return for advertising space
on your boat, motor, or truck. Bait companies may furnish samples for
your customers or give you deep
discounts for using their baits on trips and maybe wearing the company
hat or logo on your shirt. Don't only
think about fishing related items. One guy I know gives boat sign space
to a Cleaning business in return for
doing his wash and dry cleaning. Another guide has a sweetheart deal
with a local filling station where his
boat was ordered in the company colors and the sign was a decal put
under the clear coat, for which he gets
free gas and oil at the station. Be creative! You don't know until you
ask and all they can say is "no", (a word
you'll get use to hearing.)
Next level is where
you start asking for a little cash. Instead of sponsoring fishing trips,
you normally have
better luck sponsoring seminars. You can set up fishing seminars at
local sporting goods stores, schools,
clubs, just about anywhere. Offer a public seminar some Saturday morning
for kids in a public park with a
lake. You can approach bait companies, tackle shops, boat deals, etc. to
pay you $50 or $100 as a major
sponsor and include their name and logo on any fliers or advertising you
do, (might try to get a copying
company to co-sponsor by providing the fliers.) Radio stations will
often advertise for you as a co-sponsor if
the seminar is being held at one of their normal advertiser's locations.
To hone your seminar skills, start off on
your time and nickel. Public schools are always a favorite. Summer time
activities many times are coordinated
by the city or county providing a willing and interested audience of
kids looking for something to do. The more
of these you can show on a resume, the better off you'll be attracting
sponsors from here on out. Civic
organizations or social services like Big Brother / Big Sister are
another source of audiences. Get good at
this, if you're a tournament pro this will be your new job.
Now comes the time
you're ready to graduate. You've won a couple of regional events, maybe
have a
couple of trial chances at national trails that have come close, have a
good resume, a local reputation and
some strong local sponsorship. You're operating at a high enough level
now where there are no set rules, but
there are some guidelines. Don't worry too much about the major
manufacturers, they are already sponsoring
the top names in the sport and until you've got a win or two under your
belt, save your breath. Initially you're
looking to offset major expenses, (say entry fees.) It's kind of a
chicken and egg problem, until you commit to
the national trail, the sponsors won't bite, and without their support,
you can't afford to commit.
Normally, you go to
your best local sponsors and try to bump it up a notch. The local
sporting goods store
may not have the budget, but their regional office might and the local
manager might be talked into putting in a
good word or two. If there are locally based national corporations, then
national headquarters are always good
visits, even if the connection isn't obvious, (worth a shot.) You should
have quite a bit of experience at this
point of presenting to sponsors and know the type of thing they are
looking for. Once you commit, (which may
come mostly out of your own pocket the first year or two), then things
get a little easier. For example, most
major boat and motor manufacturers have memo bill programs. Under this
type of sponsorship, a touring pro
will agree to exclusively use that brand, proudly wear the shirt and
hat, and make a few personal appearances.
In return, the start of the year you pick up your boat at the factory
and are billed at wholesale on a memo. The
bill is due at the END of the year. This means you can use the boat all
year, sell it at the end of the year (at a
profit if you take good care of it), and use the proceeds to pay the
supplier the wholesale price. Then you pick
up next year's boat while you're there. Nice deal, fairly easy to get
once you're on the trail.
Many such deals are
available. It doesn't pay your expenses, but does reduce them a bunch.
As you get to
know other pros on your trail, you'll find other opportunities for
sponsors will present themselves. You may
never make money casting for cash, but after a few years if you're a
good spokesman, at least it will stop
costing you much to try.
Well, that's about the
best I can do. If you're seriously thinking about becoming a
professional, at least
you've got and idea of what it's all about. It's certainly not what you
see on TV, and there are lots of places to
fail and road blocks in the way. But if you're determined, plan it well,
and think before acting, you can make a
career out of fishing. Best of Luck and put me down for a guide trip in
your area.
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