Bryon Velvick won $100,000 during the recent Bassmaster Elite Series tournament held on Clear Lake and it raises an important question. Can you make a decent living by being a tournament fisherman?
This is an even more valid question when you consider the present economy — sponsorship money is drying up and the expenses of competing in the tournaments are on the rise.
We see the bass pros at the weigh-in scales wearing shirts with dozens of patches representing sponsors. We see their $60,000 bass boats. They are also on television. It seems like the perfect life, but in reality it is a low-paying lifelong dream and many struggle to support their families. In fact, professional bass fishermen are probably the lowest paid of all professional athletes.
In reality very few of the bass pros can survive on their winnings alone. Take the Bassmaster tournament for example. A typical eight-tournament nationwide circuit costs the fisherman $80,000 in entry fees. Then there are the motel bills, meals and gas, which can add up to another $20,000 or so. Whereas a few of the more famous fishermen receive a free boat each year, most are making boat payments, which is another $6,000 per year. Of course, it takes a new truck to pull that boat all over the country and that adds up to another $6,000 in monthly payments per year. Add it all up and it comes to approximately $45,000 a year in expenses alone.
Some of the fisherman”s expenses are offset by the tournament winnings and possible sponsor money. If the pro is really good, with a little luck he can win approximately $30,000 to $50,000 a year, which allows him to barely break even.
As for sponsor money, only a few of the top pros receive cash from sponsors. Well-known fishermen such as Skeet Reese will earn a six-figure income from his sponsors alone. He has been a professional fisherman for 13 years and won more than $2 million, but he is the exception.
Even when a pro wins a tournament the payout pales in relation to other professional sports. Take the recent Bassmaster Elite Series Clear lake tournament for example. Velvick received $100,000 for a four-day effort. In a professional golf match, the 30th-place golfer would win at least $100,000, with the winner taking home close to a million dollars.
One reason professional fishermen have such a small purse in comparison to other sports is because it”s not considered a spectator sport. Unlike football or baseball or even golf where fans pay to watch, there are no paying spectators out on the lake watching a bass tournament. The purse for the bass fishermen comes mainly from the entry fees the fishermen pay. Most bass tournaments pay back about 60 percent of the entry fees. In many of the tournament circuits the winner gets certificate for a new bass boat, which he can sell for about 80 percent of the list price.
Being a professional tournament fisherman is a long way from the glamorous life portrayed on television. As soon as one tournament is over, the fishermen hook up their boats and hit the road for the next tournament, which may be thousands of miles away. The recent Bassmaster tournament is a good example. Most of the fishermen drove out to the West Coast from the East Coast and at the conclusion of the Clear Lake tournament the pros had to drive to Virginia for the next scheduled Bassmaster tournament. A few have drivers but the majority drive their own vehicles to the next tournament.
Most of the pros spend months way from their families. Few make enough money to fly back home between tournaments, so they stick it out in some out-of-the-way motel.
Often their income is supplemented by their spouse”s income. This puts added pressure on the family. Many of the fishermen will stay on the circuit for a few years and then are forced to quit and take full-time jobs.
However, there are a few pros who do make it big. Skeet Reese, Kevin VanDam, Gary Klein and Shaw Grigsby are a few who make a seven-figure annual income. But even here a big part of their income is derived from sponsors, not from their winnings
If the pay is low why do the bass pros stay in the business? They”re a lot like professional rodeo riders and bowlers in that they like the fame and excitement of competing. They also have that dream that they will become the next Roland Martin and host their own TV show. However, for most of the tournament fishermen it”s more of a recreational sport than a living. They thrive on the competition and then on Monday go back to their regular day jobs.
