Life of a pro fisherman isn’t as glamorous as it sounds

Many of us have dreamed about going pro. And while those dreams typically focus on being an athlete from a major sports franchise, there comes a time when those dreams wander away from the traditional.

For instance, how many of you have thumbed through the pages of a favorite outdoor magazine, or clicked through a website, and wondered what it would take to become a pro staffer for a company that makes popular outdoor gear? Or imagined going fishing almost every day and getting paid for it? Or daydreamed about the glamour of hoisting two tournament-winning bass in the air for the cameras while wearing a shirt covered in the names of corporate sponsors?

Gregg Brown, a pro angler from Henderson who competes on the Fishing League Worldwide tour, said being a pro angler is fun but not always as glamorous as one might think. Not for most competitive anglers anyway.

“To be a professional, and a good professional, one that’s got his name on these baits, is pretty glamorous. But there’s very few of us on these baits,” Brown said. “And it costs a lot of money to do it. It takes a lot of time and hard work. You can’t do an eight-hour job and be 100 percent there. There’s guys that do it, but you gotta be young and in your heyday.”

Brown admits that he started his professional fishing career a little late in life and wishes he could have started in college like so many anglers do today. “The FLW supports high school and college fishing. And what a better way than to get us out there and give us a chance to go?” he said.

Nevertheless, Brown still thinks he can achieve his fishing goals. All it will take is work and sacrifice. Luck, he said, has nothing to do with it.

“A professional fisherman isn’t lucky. It’s not luck. He earned it,” Brown said. “You have to work at it. And not just the time there, the time you’re away, it has to be on your mind some. And a professional bass fisherman, I guarantee it, the only thing he is thinking of is his next cast. You gotta live, eat and breathe (fishing) to be a professional bass fisherman.”

The problem with going pro in anything that starts out as a hobby is that your hobby quickly becomes your work. Imagine living in a world where you have to get up at 0-dark-30 almost every day and be on the water almost every day. Then there is the constant travel from one water to another.

While Brown enjoys tournament fishing, he recommends focusing on the fun aspect of the sport, even if you choose to pursue a pro career.

“Just enjoy fishing,” he said with a chuckle. “Don’t take the fun out of the event, because to be a professional fisherman is a lot of work. But the rewards are great.”

As with any pursuit, what you get out of competitive fishing is proportional to your personal investment of time and energy. Brown also pointed out that pursuing a professional fishing career is a lot like moving through the ranks of other sports from high school to college and so forth. With each step on the ladder, the number of competitors who move on becomes smaller, “and the guys that are left are the toughest ones.”

“Fishing is what you put into it,” Brown said, “if you love to fish, then you can go on loving to fish anytime, but if you’re real competitive and want to be a real professional with your name on these baits, someone the people know and live a glamorous life, you gotta be one of the few. And there’s not 25 or 30 in the whole world that have been that good.”

I guess that means the rest of us will just have to keep practicing.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His “In the Outdoors” column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions are his own. Find him on Facebook at @dougwritesoutdoors. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.