Lately, during the extremely cold weather that we experienced a couple of weeks ago, I took some time to watch a few fishing podcasts. There are a handful of programs that I follow from top anglers within the world of professional bass fishing. 

One of these is “After the Cast” with Major League Fishing pros Andy Montgomery, Edwin Evers and Ott DeFoe, strong personalities and great reputations for not only being outstanding anglers, but good Christians. 

Their podcast is a behind the scenes look at the daily rigors that tournament anglers go through from the travel they face, to practice and tournament days. 

But they’ll also sit down and talk about hot topics going on in bass fishing. They’re not afraid to voice their opinions and share their thoughts which makes the podcast very interesting to watch. 

Another podcast I follow is “Zaldangerous,” also known as “The Bilge,” a program with Elite Series angler and Texas pro Chris Zaldain and his wife, Trait. These two do not shy away from controversial topics and are not afraid to challenge the establishments of B.A.S.S. or Major League Fishing (MLF) when it comes to rules violations or recent decisions that have been made with regards to a tournament organization.

Both podcasts, “After the Cast” and “Zaldangerous,” are programs that anyone would enjoy. They’re both great at shedding light on the hot topics in professional bass fishing while discussing possible solutions.

These are people “living the dream” by fishing for a living. They travel like gypsies and caravan across the country, fishing the best fisheries in America. They discuss today’s anglers and how to navigate the demands of professional bass fishing. 

But their biggest concern is trying to provide for their families as a pro fisherman. So many of today’s anglers face obstacles that previous generations did not. First and foremost, how to navigate social media. This is a problem the older generation of anglers never had to deal with. 

All three professional bass tournament organizations require that all anglers participate in social media. This can be in many forms like a podcast, Facebook page, YouTube videos, Tik Tok or maybe an Instagram account. 

In today’s business world, it’s important that anglers have a social media presence as a way of promoting sponsor product and themselves as well. Of course, we all know that social media can be a place of controversy with people who are looking to discredit or cast blame on others for a particular situation. 

Having a great social media presence is all about how many “clicks” or “likes” you’re getting with the posts you’re making. A really good account can translate into valuable dollars. It’s also another avenue where anglers can make money to help supplement their income.  

But here’s a question — can the average angler make it as a professional bass fisherman today? The biggest issue facing anglers today are with sponsors; there just are not enough to go around. Sponsors are a critical part of how anglers make a living and provide for their families. Tournament winnings are just a bonus for anglers and are not factored into their annual budgets. 

The fishing industry in general is just not big enough to support all the anglers looking to fish professionally. Most are stretched very thin with regards to how many anglers they can afford to sponsor. 

The industry is short on sponsorship dollars with there being three major professional bass fishing organizations — Major League Fishing (MLF), B.A.S.S. and the new National Professional Fishing League (NPFL).  

Anglers today are having to think outside the box and look at nonendemic companies that may have never had a presence in the bass fishing market.

Back during the old FLW days (2000 to 2012), there was Walmart, Land of Lakes, Kellogg’s, Snickers, Castro Motor Oil and many more that sank huge amounts of money into many of the old FLW Tour anglers. 

But ever since the demise of the FLW Tour around 2012, these sponsors have chosen to walk away and are no longer interested in this market, leaving a huge sponsorship void for anglers to pursue. 

Less sponsors means a bigger strain on anglers’ budgets as they try to navigate the costs involved with making a living as a professional.

Bottom line is this: with a shortage of sponsors it makes it very difficult for the average angler to participate on the professional level. It’s sad but it’s starting to look like only those anglers who have money, have a good financial support system like mom or dad, or wealthy grandparents will be the anglers who can compete on bass fishing’s highest level.  

As the old saying goes, “money can’t buy happiness,” but it can buy you a spot on a bass pro tour!