On Camera Work for Byron velvick during the 2008 Bassmaster Classic
pieces to perform, and they must keep track of all of it to make quarterly reports to their sponsors on activities performed on behalf of each sponsor. This means that the actual fishing part of the job tends to get pushed further and further to the back end of the job duties. don’t get me wrong, they are expected to be on the water during agreed upon tournaments, but if a day of fun fishing, or personal practice conflicts with a sponsor event, they have to be there. The smart angler begins to realize that their job is becoming less about “Professional” angler and more about “Promotional” angler. There really is a vast array of examples to draw upon as well. if you were to take a look at those anglers that you would list as the highest paid in the sport, you could deduce that they are among the best anglers in the business, and you would be accurate. However, what you may not know is that those anglers are also amongst the hardest working group on tour as well. Their work ethic carries them on the water,
where they practice dawn to dusk for tournaments, but it also drives them to work massive amounts of days doing promotional work as well. Many of these anglers may average 100 to 125 days a year on the water practicing and competing, but they put in another 75 to 150 promotional days a year between store appearances, sports and dealer shows, filming for television, working with the media for articles and their sponsors on new product.
it truly can bE a hard knock liFE
in case you think that you will be the one angler who is good enough to circumvent all of those rules and you will just be able to fish most of the year, post results and then hunt all fall and winter; think again. Kevin Vandam is widely regarded as the best angler the planet has ever seen, and he puts in more off the water days than almost any of them. There is room for great anglers to step up and make names for themselves competitively, but that can take time; perhaps even several seasons. But along the way, prove your worth off the water. instead of dreading show season, learn to love being at sports shows working with sponsors and meeting the general public. Change your paradigm from listing your title as Professional angler first, to Promotional angler and you could build yourself a career. The industry would appreciate it, as will you when you keep signing those contracts.
®
10