I have recently been giving some thought to what makes a fisherman (used here as a sex neutral term) a "Professional". I will share my thoughts and invite other members to add their input and discussion. I tend to adhere to a school that would only consider someone a professional if fishing serves as their primary source of income. Now we need to separate commercial fishermen from tournament anglers. For this debate I wish to discuss tournament fishing only.
Does a person who owns a bait and tackle store and fishes for money in tourneys a pro? How about an outdoor columnist who does the same? I would not consider these people professional anglers, nor would I include entertainers like the Lindner family or Babe(no disrespect intended). My thought is that if the way you pay your bills and keep food on the table is by fishing you are a pro and maybe the rest fall into a different category, perhaps 'semi-pro'? I do consider endorsment money as fishing income as without the tournament wins the endorsement money dries up. (see Tiger Woods) Your thoughts?
Tom

I think some of the Lindners have done some proffesional fishing but doubt they have the time now. Don't know about Winkleman though. Of course there are a bunch of "retired" pros who have fishing shows now.

Great topic for discussion Tom! To lay the groundwork, you first give a definition of professional angler which as you said is a person whom their priamry source of income comes from angling on a consistent and repetitive basis. I understand your perspective on angling as the sole income (endorsements included) to define a professional angler on professional tours (see Van Dam, Kevin ). Bait & tackle shop owners I would be consider small business owners in my opinion, no different than a mom & pop grocery store or a locally owned mechanic shop by John Smith and apart from corporate franchised businesses (i.e. Kroger's, Midas, Bass Pro Shops).

Entertainers (tv hosts in general) and columnist can be a whole different world. Al Lindner was a professional angler on the Bass Master's tour at one time and I believe that some of his son's (Troy I know at least) have competed in Bass Master events more recently. Al Lindner used his career as a professional angler to launch his career as an entertainer/tv host. Likewise Bill Dance who was a professional angler before he was ever a tv host. It depends on what side of the fence you're standing on I guess. From my perspective, I would see somebody that fishes to create entertainment and instruction using that as their primary sole income also as professional anglers. Tv shows attract advertisers and the hosts them self have their own endorsements they are imbursed for during their shows (Hi-Seas Grand Slam mono, anybody?) which generate revenue which they get a return on as income to provide finanically for themselves. Assuming all things being equal and the tv host has no other sources of income greater then the revenue they create by hosting their show, then I would say they are professional anglers without having to be on a professional tour.

Columnist in the angling field, six of one half a dozen of the other. They fish to write, they write becasue they fish. Based on the critieria that financially, professional angling provides the primary income to support a person's livilhood. Then much like the tv hosts, columnists, if they are being paid to write of their fishing experiences, then would that not define somebody that is fishing as to provide for their primary source of income also a professional angler?

At least that's my perspective, and everybody is different. This was a fun topic and I've spent too much time at work writing this post , so I will get out of here now and wish you all the best and safe and many blessing for the new year.

Another thought for consideration: Many of the outdoors shows on TV and radio are produced by an independent company that then purchases air time (ever wonder why so many of these shows air at odd hours?) hoping to sell commercial time and cover their expenses and turn a profit. As far as the TV hosts that fished in the past, I consider them former pros that have now become entertainers just like a retired athelete or coach moving to the TV booth. Tom

I don't know.  Even if the mom and pop tackle store owner is fishing every week on one of the circuits and mom is home tending the store, he would be a pro in my opinion.  I agree the tv guys that no longer compete are "former" pros.  Even if a guy is not placing and making any money per se, someone (Sponsor) is footing the bills in his or her name, therefore a pro.  If a guy drives out one weekend for a tournament and goes home to day job, I think I would consider him semi-pro.  Maybe there should be a cutoff of say more than 10 tournaments a year or something like that.

Other pros would be guides and commercial.

JustDave 

I think JustDave's description is accurate. I have been a pro/semi pro musician nearly all my adult life. At one time, playing music was my sole source of income; I was a pro then. I own my own business and play part time now so music is not my primary source of income, it is supplemental, so I consider myself semi pro now.

i would like to throw another twist to this i had va brother who fished part time on the pro circuit while still holding a full time job out of bthe fishing industry. he had sponsors one of which was ranger who gave him a fully loaded bass boat every two years.basically they sold him the boat at a steeply discounted price and what he sold the old boat ( old as in 2 yrs old ) for more than paid for the new boat. he won a couple of minor tournaments and came in tenth in the classic for superbass several years back. he has fished some flw events he considered himself a proffessional and he was unable to fish any amueter tournaments like buddy tournaments etc. so he was considered a pro by most everyones standards. he never made it to the point where he could chuck his fulltime job because one he had a family to support and 2 because of his age he didnt think he could reach the point of being able to support that family. so he give up the pro circuits and is now able to fish the ameuter circuits agaIN which he occasionally does so would you consider his days on the circuits as pro even if it was only part time. what he does now certainly wouldn't qualify even though he continues to have several sponsors including the ranger one

Let's say KVD goes into full retirement and never fishes another tournament, his income coming from the usual retirement investments many retirees set up regardless of where the income came from. Will we then strip him of his former "Pro" title? We'll call him "former pro angler"? I doubt it. How many excellent anglers fish all the same tournaments KVD did, but only a few were lucky enough to cash in to derive their major income from winning tournaments? Are all the "losers" non-pro? I don't think so.

My opinion is an angler is professional if he or she has realistic potential to be part of the first day of tournaments on a consistent basis. They have paid the price, earned the slots, knowing only a tiny fraction will make a living off the sport. Most of them will tell stories of how they lost by an ounce or a pound on the second day. Are those getting so close but leaving empty handed non-pros? I consider some people I know who have never fished a tournament, but have the skill to go win the money, who fish recreationally like most pros do, who have chosen an outdoors career that excludes them from competition. Some famous pro anglers started off as government fisheries biologists. They gave up the day job to go pro angling full time, not at all able to serve two masters, but had already earned the rights to the "pro" title by being leaders in the sport among youth in that region.

The term "pro" applies the same across most if not all fields of expertise. I hired an electric company to rewire my home after lightning struck. They had the credentials and had been operating many years, but made a mess of the job. A friend retired as an electrician in Texas decided to help me out, so he moved in here a week, re-working the whole deal without charging labor. The city inspector said he had never seen anywhere near the artistic perfectionism displayed behind the circuit box and elsewhere. Which would you say is "professional"? The ones still in business mostly making their living doing that, or the one that doesn't work for a living, who is a screaming expert at what he does? I like calling the friend the true "pro" even though he mostly now collects rocks, minerals, gems, etc. He was true to his profession. His goal was excellence before any consideration of possible income.

Well, both are considered "pros" if the main criterion is making the majority of their living doing something or basing their income off benefits of their former work. Back to fishing. Most anglers maybe have a boat, all the same equipment pro anglers have, and share many other things between them. But the vast majority will never pay the price to fish so excellently they do or should display their art to the world.

The pro anglers I respect the most are local guides, some above retirement age, for a while not allowed to make too much income else give back some or all of their SS payments. They are expert at taking clients out year around, making sure they have the catching experience of a lifetime. They typically don't fish against a client, but coach them, They make really good money daily, some now unlimited since they reached 66 (like me). All of those guys are quite capable of going on the road again, qualifying for slots, and are able to sponsor themselves, no doubt changing the headlines...but they are satisfied, happy, with a lifetime of tales to tell these cold nights around the Rook tables. The cheese stuffed fried jalapenos sure sweeted the memories. Most have remained fit and could rise up to challenge the youngsters in the drop of a hat.

Jim

Anyone who fishes on TV wearin one of those cool shirts with all the logos on it is a pro in my mind.

call me old fashion on this...........a pro is one that is paid x amount to do a certain job and thats what they do. semi-pro is one that is good at doing that same job. but isn't could enough to win, but is being paid well for trying. once a person has reach the goal of semi or pro is not allowed to compete in the amueter or should i say college or olympic levels..

but would like to say like jim put it, there are many more people that can do a job as good or better then the one that is being called the pro. but they are not being reconized for it becuase they might not have the creditionals, but have the love for it. one example that i could give is about 2 brothers. here is 2 guys that have the same love for the sport of fishing, one at least at one time could out fish the other. both started a bait and tackle shop together. both fished local touraments, both held their own in these tourneys now you all know one of these guys as a pro. -- kvd --.

Good answers all! The forums need more discussions like this. Jim brought up a good point about guides. Some of these guys are true professionals spending as much as 300+ days on the water each year and in some climates that is not easy to do. The most heavily used body of water around my home near Chicago is the Fox Chain of Lakes. Due to a quirk in Coast Guard regulations the guides on this body of water need an OUPV license also known as a '6 pack'. That is a lot of work on top of knowing thousands of acres of heavily used water. These guys and those like them are much more deserving of the title "Pro" that a guy who works a day job and fishes 6-10 tourneys a year even if he does have a boat and shirt covered in logos like a NASCAR driver. The guides also have to be able to put clients on any species available not just a specialty species. Tom