How To Become A Professional Bass Angler

I live in northwest Louisiana and had the pleasure of witnessing and attending many of the events and weigh-ins during the 2009 and the 2012 Bassmaster Classic that was held here on the Red River. It was an awesome experience and got to personally meet many of the top professional bass anglers in the sport. Go to one of these events if you ever get the chance.

One thing that all of these top anglers in the sport of professional bass fishing have in common is that they all started at the grassroots level. They began their careers fishing small tournament trails in their area. As they gained the knowledge and experience to make them more competitive they moved up to more challenging tournament trails. Many of those anglers were also looking to move up and become a professional bass angler fulltime themselves.

So where do you start. Well obviously you need the lures and equipment for your style of fishing. I recommend getting the best you can afford. You will be fishing an average of 8 hours during a tournament competition; week after week; month after month. Some of these will be 2 and 3 day events and that doesn't even consider your practice time. These are the tools a professional bass angler so keep them clean and in good working order.

If you don't have a boat, no problem. You can team up with someone that does or enter the tournament as a "non-boater", meaning you will be placed with another angler by a drawing or other means. This is also an excellent way to start even if you have a boat. You will learn a lot and gain knowledge and experience by fishing with someone else already involved with tournament fishing. Most of the professional bass anglers did just that when they got started fishing tournaments.

There are different tournament trails for the area of the country you live in. I'm mostly talking about largemouth bass tournaments here but same applies to Walleye bass tournaments and even Crappie tournament trails. As you move up the competition ladder you will be fishing unfamiliar waters with little time to practice to learn the lake or river system you will be fishing, so a complete understanding of the species is very important.

Understanding the biological needs, habits and habitats of the fish is what gives a professional bass angler the edge over their competition, many of which do have a college education. Read about, study, learn , and then go apply that knowledge on the water every chance you get. Take that seriously and you will gain that edge needed to place in and win competitions.

And that brings up another important aspect of your road to becoming a professional bass angler. That aspect is confidence. Confidence in your skills as an angler and confidence in the techniques and lures you will be using. Confidence is a huge trait of a professional bass angler. They have taken their knocks and setbacks and come back stronger for it.

You can't let one not so good day or experience discourage you. You are just going to have those days when just nothing you do seems to work. Learn and study on what you may have done differently then put it behind you and move on. There were 49 anglers fishing this years Bassmaster Classic. They are considered to be the top professional bass anglers in the US but there were a few that either didn't bring a fish to the weigh-in or only one or two. Even those day happen to the best of the best.

So friend when you are ready to join the ranks of a professional bass angler I do hope to see you up there. Remember, those anglers in the classic at one time had the same dream as you do. They got where they are because they followed a dream.

If becoming a professional bass angler is your dream then I encourage you to do and learn all you can about what it will take to succeed in this sport. Bass fishing tournaments can be very rewarding. Just ask Chris Lane who won this years Bassmaster Classic. $500,000 is a nice payday for doing something you love to do.

I wish you tight lines and good fishing