At a Crossroads...

I hope you don't mind me spewing all this cr-p here, but I consider so many of you "fishin' buddies" that I feel like I'm among friends (for the most part lol).

I think about fishing 24-7. I'm talking chronic fellas. I am 100% obsessed with bass fishing. I doubt the pros think about fishing as much as I do. Well, maybe a few.

When I fished the B.A.S.S. Opens two years ago I know I didn't set any worlds on fire; Lord knows I made my mistakes in every tournament I fished. The Opens were like a much-needed vacation for me. I learned more about bass fishing competitively in those 3 events than I'd learned over the past few years. But the most important thing I learned was that I can find good fish on big water. In the last two tourneys I fished (Erie & Onieda), I felt like, well, that I belonged there. I finished just out of the money in both, but more importantly I was "on" good quality fish, and I found them myself. I made bad decisions that cost me checks in both of those tournaments. Lessons learned.

I want to go back. In the worst way. I want to fish for a living. I want to fish every day, all day.

OK, I'm not in a good position here. We're like 120-something days into 2005. I've spent a single 8-hour tournament day on the water. Sure, it felt like I fished just the day before when I was finally fishing, but the fact was that I hadn't casted a bait in almost half-a-year (my arm didn't even hurt the next day). To me that is astonishing & very upsetting.

Aside from doing nothing on-the-water to improve my game, it's also making me generally unhappy.

I'm at a crossroads in my life. I want to be part of the fishing industry, in some capacity. I don't care what it is. Preferably tournament fishing, but I'm open to anything. I need to be outdoors more. There are lots of people working in fishing.

Why not me?

Is it really impossible for someone to build an excellent local tackle shop, & I mean excellent, and succeed? I know I'd much rather visit a "real" tackle shop than Dick's, WalM-rt, etc.

There are NO really good tackle shops in my area. None.

Should I put it on the line & make a real go of fishing tournaments? I know in 10 years it'll be to late & I'll hate myself for it.

I need a plan & I know I need to make a move.

You only live once, right?

I have a wife, child, home & other assorted overheads to be reponsible for, please keep this in mind when replying. I can't jeapordize any of them.

Hence my dilemna folks.

<ideas, opinions & criticisms welcome>

Warren

If you can afford to compete in the opens... I'd stick with that plan. As far as your current business... you're never too old to start over. If I felt that what I was doing was headed downhill, I'd get out in a hurry. 39 isn't old, young man... 49 is getting close.

As to fishing for a living, there's no time like the present. You know as well as anyone that a small number of guys really make a living on tournament fishing. But it might be worth a shot if you have an itch you need to scratch and have a supportive family and other income while you try to get established.

You didn't mention guiding. Does that interest you at all, perhaps on a parttime basis?

Whatever happens, I wish you the best.

It reminds me of this article I started to write, hoping to get it published, but just gave up. It pretty much started out with, when do we give up all our dreams and accept the reality of everyday life. Why do we do that, and do we really have to. I don't think at 29 I am in a spot to give advice, but I can give you my opinions. From what I know of you Warren you are driven , dedicated, and Intelligent. If you don't know it, you learn it. If you are good at it, you want to master it. You are open minded. You told me at the ramp after the second day at the NWC when I asked why you were smiling after not catching anything, you told me you always smiled, and that you accept the bad days along with the good.

I think if you decide to chase your dream, and really decide this is what you are going to do, I believe you will succeed. I don't know how you couldn't. If you decide to become a sales rep for a large company in this industry you will succeed. Your approach to life in general carries over to all other areas.

I don't know Warren, I know how Michelle stands behind me in whatever I want to do, and I am sure your wife and daughter are the same way. With everyone here, and your family pulling for you, I don't think you could fail if you wanted. Your a great guy, and have been a great friend to me, even though we have only met once. I have learned so much from you in the past couple years, from boating to tournament fishing, to just plain decision making, which has carried over to other areas of my life as well.

Take a step back now, and then take 100 forward!

Chris

It wasn't all that long ago (well, it WAS all that long ago, but you know what I mean) that I was in your shoes. In those days though, there wasn't nearly the money in pr fishing that there is today. Not nearly the investment, either. I finished in the money in my 2nd BASS tourney, and tried to convince myself that I could do this. But the long stretches away from home and the expense and drudgery of dragging a boat around the country half the year helped convince me otherwise. You share one of the same problems I did (2 if you count a strong sense of responsibility to the family) in that you live outside the 'bass belt', and don't get to keep in practice and in tune on tourney waters the full year. So I stuck with the writing end of the business, where I'd been tinkering for a while, and made that work pretty well.

I got to work in the industry anyway, and supported my family by writing about fishing and augmented that fishing regional tourneys for quite a few years after my first 'retirement' from non-fishing related employment. At least until the heart attack and aortic aneurysm 24 months later pretty much ran the well dry financially and forced me to find other means of income. Still in the industry of course, but my time is not really my own any more, and I don't get to fish nearly enough. But even then, I had sown the seeds to grow the writing as I did it part time for 15 years or so before leaving my other line of employment. I had the 'network' in place, so to speak. I just needed to work harder and devote more time to it. Don't know that I'd have the ambition any more to hustle the way I did 15 years ago to make a living at it full time freelance.

Just remember that fishing for a living (competitively) is more about your willingness and ability to maintain high visibility and promote your sponsors' products than it is about catching fish. I know some truly great anglers who've tried and failed because they weren't cut out for the promotional part of it, and I know some good but far from great anglers who have managed to make it a career because they are comfortable with the non-fishing side of the business.

I know what you mean about the sports collectibles, I use to be in that business as well back in the early 90's and made money hand over fist, self employed and living the high life, then the bottom dropped out. I knew I had to do something ,so I went back to school for an automotive technology degree with plans of one day opening my own shop, Well that didn't work out to well, but I didn't let it stop me, I pursued another oppurtunity in the same field as an automotive inspector. I still have that job, but now I am the regional Supervisor for one of the largest areas for a company in 12 countries with 45,000 employees, and I still don't know if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. The point is that when one door closes, another one opens, if you believe it will. Good things happen to good people Warren and your one of them. Take a day or two and step back and ask why? When your done asking why, ask why? again. You might not know what this means now, but you will, and if your still not sure give me a call.

PS,

I always wanted to open a tackle shop too and might be doing so on a part time basis at a local resort up here, not something that will pay the mortgage, but hell you never know where it will go, and that's the exciting part Good luck in whatever you decide

"Dan, danl, danny boy, Redbeard, actually Greybeard now"

I had that dream. Still there. Owning a tackle shop. Archery shop. Outdoors supplies etc. But the reality is guys who own those types of shops here in Illinois, rarely get to go outdoors. There is too much work to do. The business, however pleasurable, owns you.

Fishing the big circuits is just like owning a business. It owns you also. If you are not fishing, you are promoting yourself or a sponsor's product. Trade shows and tournaments mean long hours away from family. I have pumped gas on the road next to guys fishing the big circuits while I was on my way to a Federation event. Some of those guys had no clue where they had been and if it wasn't for preplanned notes in a book, they would not know where they were going. They were so tired they were just barely operating.

I decided that the stress was too much. That for me to have that kind of drive, I would not like who I was. So I started paying attention to having more fun. I think I caught more and better fish because of it.

Yeah, working for the state of Illinois kind of sucks. But it pays the bills, keeps the wife happy, and there is some form of retirement to look forward too. And the stress isn't killing me. I get weekends off, earn 22 vacation days a year. Have over 100 sick days saved up and get plenty of holidays and up to 5 Personal Leave days per year. That's a lot of time off to go fishing Federation tournaments, or kicking back in the pool.

Will I hate myself when I get old for not ever being on the cover of Bassmaster Mag. I am old and I don't hate myself. I found pleasure in helping others. I haven't fished many tournaments lately, but during the draws at tournaments, guys didn't groan or look down at the mouth when they drew me. There has been plenty of money won out of the back of my boat and I had just as much fun as when I was placing in the money.

Carlos

I don't know you but looked at the replies you have so far and at your website to get a feel about who you are...

I am 49, married w/ 5 kids and self-employed for the 2nd time in my life. I learned a hard lesson the first time I owned a business...Clients could care less if I had time off and it took me 5 years to finally realize I had to plan "me" time in my schedule.

Self-employment start ups, 99% of the time means you are slammed with "the buck stops here" obligations, regardless of what type of business it is. To get the business to the point that it affords you time to pursue your bass fishing dreams usually means several years.

Writing a business plan has been the best advice one could give someone in your shoes. Done properly, it forces you to address the issues you are exploring now. I would ask people in those positions you aspire to be in pointed questions and take notes before deciding...

IMHO it all boils down to making a short list of goals vs. most important priorities in your life...then try to imagine fast forwarding to say 20 years from now, sitting on the porch, as the evening sun goes down. The wife asks you, "Warren, do you have any regrets? Do you wish you had done something different with your life?"

I am sure you will make the right choice Warren.

My best to you.

Suthern

Guiding sounds great, I'd love to get paid for taking others out & instructing them.

Warren

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Warren

WW

YOU WILL NOT GET RICH GUIDING.

You might be able to get by on it if you have your major bills paid or have another income.

It is like any business. You have to take care of business. That means advertising, promoting, selling. I don't mean posting a few notices int eh local tackel shops. I mean being willing to share information in the hopes that people will appreciate it and come back to hire you. It means spending days on end making notices and fliers and pamphlets. It means getting somebody with real graphic arts talent to help you make your stuff standout. It means getting permission to put your notices in restaurants, chamber of commerce offices, RV parks, and other places where people who are interested will really find them.

Also, one of the fishing rags had a good article recently on proffessional guides. There were a couple things they suggested very strongly suggested. Don't tournament fish if you guide. Don't fish when you take clients fishing. Hmmm... That soubnds counter to what you want. I'm not saying you can't do those things. Dave tournament fishes and he is usually in the top ten. He has had mostly satisfied clients.

Now lets look at the busines end of it. Whne I first started helping Dave promote he was getting one trip a month on avergae. It has taken almost a year and a half, and now he get three or four a month, and if he wanted to give up tournament fishing and his day job he might be able to book about 8 per month. He spent abotu a year trying to build it before. Now I admit the Sonoran Desert in Southwest Arizona is not exactly what most folks think of as an ideal fishing area, but it works for a guideline for my purposes. Roughly 2 1/2 years to get to a point where he could survive off his guide service. You live in a stronger fishing area, and you have lots of connection so you might be able to do it a little faster, but...

There are some benefits to running a guide service. (if appropriately licensed) Lots of tackle companies have guides and captains programs that will get you a substantial discount on products. This may include tackle and products you could never pick up as sponsors as a straight tournament angler.

Of course that is paired up with the added headache of keeping records on all of this. Add-on the tax burden. If you do it while keeping a day job you have the added risk of having all your expenses disallowed as part of your hobby if you don't make money. I don't care what the tax guys say abotu you got so many years... Yes if you don't start showing a profit after three years you run the risk of having your business declared a hobby. The problem is that isn't a hard and fast rule. There are ways around it. To incorporate is one option. Of course that has its problems too with increased book keeping and increased taxes if you do make money.

There are also expenses you may want to consider. I am sure you know what it costs to operate your boat. A tank of fuel for mine costs about a hundred dollars at today's gas prices. Then there is maintenance, repairs, upgrades, and under the increased wear and tear of (hopefully) having lost of amateurs on your boat the more frequent replacement of equipment, and the boat itself. Those are pretty straight forward, but what about commercial insurance, business licenses, maybe a state tax license, and maybe even a local license form your county or city. Most of those licenses are reasonable, but they all add up. You might think you already have insurance covered, but the odds are you do not. That $100 a year liability insurance from Progessive does say it covers you for fishing tournaments, but it definitely does not cover you for a commercial for hire venture. That costs a whole lot more. Slap a couple signs on your truck, and now you need to have commercial plates on your truck and commercial insurance on it too. You might consider also getting a general liability policy for your business too. Guess what? Watercraft are one of those things often written as as not covered as part of commercial auto or commercial general policies, so you may wind up having three different insurance policies to cover your business.

If you are well organized, and successful you will still find yourself spending a couple days a week doing paperwork and taking care of details, chasing down stock in materials, etc etc etc... On top of that... the busiest time to book charters is ont he weekends, so if you are serious you have to count on giving up a lot if not most of your weekends.

You know when you will get to fish? All those days yo don't have a charter. Think you might want to take those days off and ssave the expense of running your rig Not if you want to be a successful guide. Psuh comes to shove. No matter how personable you are and how great the scenerey is if your clients dont catch fish they won't come back and your guide service won't grow. You have to spend your off days locating fish.

Will you get to spend more time on the water. Maybe. Probably more than running your sports memorabilia business. Will you get to fish more. Not more than if you went for a straight tournament career, but to be honest. I think that most folks would a have better chance of surviving as a guide than as a tournament pro.

Let me know Warren. I am the same age as you with similar aspirations. Makes it tought for me though because my contracting company is making money. Its pretty hard to trade a steady paycheck for a gamble, but it sure is tempting some days.

Bob La Londe www.YUmaBassMan.com

http://www.outdoor-links.com/news.htm#miles

Max www.rodholster.com www.outdoor-links.com

I know Dave has told me the first couple times he guided he was almost sick with worry about putting clients on fish. When you take somebody out for money you really have to focus on putting them on fish and makming them have fun. A bad outing doesn't just cost you a client. It can cost you future clients as well.

People have very high and sometimes unreasonable expectations about guided fishing. If you have reservatin about what you will or won't do or allow on your boat you need to communicate those clearly and explicitly in your literature and/or website and in personal communications as well. Like being an avid C&R angler. You need to be clea rthat they can take nothing but pictures before hand if that is the case.

There is a lot to worry about when you get serious about making anything into a business.

Bob La Londe www.YumaBassMan.com

Warren

Warren