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Posts: 42
| What do you all think it takes to become one of these. What are some great attributes of those that you do know? |
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Posts: 243
| Wearing flannel, drinking coffee or reciting a bible verse in front of a fireplace during your closing, and having "Babe" or "Lindner" in your name somewhere. Or maybe that's just the recipe for longevity in having an outdoors TV show.....
Sorry, couldn't resist.
It's pretty cliche to say that the successful guys are the ones who are willing to "go against the grain" or something like that, but probably a lot of truth to it. Based on the guys I consider better than most (friends/family), I think they put more time in than most and are knowledgeable. You have to spend the time to be consistently successful, but spending it wisely makes the difference. I think a lot of them also make/tweak their equipment in innovative ways. |
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Posts: 1220
| I think the threshold is when it begins to clearly be "other" people who are the primary singers of your praise...and not "you" who is leading the choir of one. |
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Location: minocqua, wi. | a really, really thick regional accent, a speach impediment or the inability to control the volume of your voice come to mind ... |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | A secondary source of income. The ability to manage that income. |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | A willingness to work very hard for ridiculously long hours as an independent businessman
Willingness to be away from home for long stretches of time
Understanding of marketing and sales and ability to execute both seamlessly
Support from the significant other to the extreme
Good to excellent camera presence and ability to get in front of one regularly
Excellent command of the English language, well educated or able to sell the 'not so well educated' package
And allot more.
There are several positions in the fishing business that fit the description.
Guides definitely do if they are full time, and that's the entry point. For some, guiding is a rewarding career. People skills and ability to use and run the gear and put folks on fish or game regularly. Not as easy as it sounds.
Magazine and TV personalities. Good on camera presence. Ability to 'connect' with the audience. Surround oneself with folks who make a quality production possible, and ability to sell same to sponsors. Tough gig to make a living and even tougher to make a career. Ability to write or good ghost writer. Connections in the industry.
Competitive fishing Pro. REALLY tough gig, and only a few rise to the top and make a good living at it. None in the muskie business; there's no venue provided for that to happen.
Not really many in the Walleye Business either, even many accomplished Pros who win regularly and are able to sell their brand to sponsors usually have to offer TV, writing, and other classifications to make a living. Tommy Skarlis is a Pro in the absolute sense, fishing competitively and doing personal appearances supporting his sponsors is all he does.
Bass is big enough to support levels of success from PAA Pros to FLW Pros to BASS Elite Pros. I just shot images and video of Scott Martin, Roland Martin's son, winning $601,000 and the FLW Cup down in Arkansas. He's really good at this, and has a great career ahead of him. I also shot a video with one the 2011 FLW College Fishing Champs. They basically blanked in the Cup, but the fishing was tough.
KVD is at the pinnacle of this classification. He's a machine on the water and a dynamo off, even when rude folks approach him in public. Consummate Pro with the skill sets to allow him to become a millionaire at the sport while still pretty young. There's your model for success, and part of the skill set incorporated in that model you need to be born with.
Lots of careers in the fishing and hunting business from sales, sales management, marketing, and manufacturing, importing, etc. Most are working for a corporate structure, and the bigger the corp. the smaller the chance of ever really hitting it big on the career front, but those jobs need to be filled, too. Those who make it to the top usually are the independent cusses or extremely talented and well educated businessmen and women.
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Posts: 793
Location: North Central IL USA | IM Musky Time - 8/22/2011 11:15 PM
Wearing flannel, drinking coffee or reciting a bible verse in front of a fireplace during your closing, and having "Babe" or "Lindner" in your name somewhere. Or maybe that's just the recipe for longevity in having an outdoors TV show.....
Is that what Linder does on his tv show? |
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Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Al and Ron are very committed to their faith and do not apologize for it. I suggest that ends that part of this conversation. |
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Posts: 132
| What are some sales jobs that are associated with muskie fishing that you can make over 100k a year? |
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Posts: 1767
Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Dirt1123 - 8/23/2011 11:31 AM
What are some sales jobs that are associated with muskie fishing that you can make over 100k a year?
I think those are called "dreams" |
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| My perfect little secret of success...my father built a really nice scrap metal business...then died and left it to me! |
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| Junkman - 8/23/2011 12:56 PM
My perfect little secret of success...my father built a really nice scrap metal business...then died and left it to me!
i'm available if your kids don't appreciate you marty ... err/umm ... dad
anyone out there who can bring me $10MM in flexible packaging sales can make more than that and fish whenever you want to. |
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Posts: 132
| So there are no jobs that have to do with fishing and sales that can bring in a large income? |
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| Nope. |
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Posts: 16632
Location: The desert | Dirt1123 - 8/23/2011 2:57 PM
So there are no jobs that have to do with fishing and sales that can bring in a large income?
LOL!
I know there are no "stupid" questions but.....unless your name is Kevin van Dam, there is a good chance you are SOL. |
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Posts: 132
| Well that sucks |
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Location: Smith Creek | Working in the recreational fishing industry won't get you rich... its more of a quality of life deal.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Seriously though, too small of a niche. Some reps can make a pretty decent living but they're on the road 300 days a year busting their humps and not fishing. |
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Posts: 454
| Tough business for sure. I have to believe that Musky Mayhem Tackle is doing ok though......... |
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Posts: 366
| The best way to make $100K in the fishing industry is to have an nest egg that earns about $200K/yr in interest, and be able to be out there "promoting" yourself on the water all the time, and only burn through half of it.
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | The sure fire way to make a small fortune in the fishing business. Is to jump in and slave away but start out with a LARGE fortune in the beginning. That is the best I can describe it. Even when things are good you are only one event from financial disaster. Get your degree, go to work for a good company that has something to do in fishing and other areas as well. Then do design or lure building as a hobby. When you are too busy you've made it!! |
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Posts: 156
| Thinking about the guys that are at the top of the Musky fishing heap. How many of those guys started out as guides? Seems like most of them. Multiply $350 by how many trips you think you can book a year, then subtract depreciation on a boat, truck equipment, fuel and insurance. No matter how you slice it you are looking at very little income from fishing until you get noticed and "make it big" (assuming you have the right stuff - personality, charisma, etc. - to make it to the next level). |
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Location: North Central IL USA | I wouldn't want to do my hobby for a living. Then it becomes 'work'. Much better to get in a line of work that gives you more free time...school teacher perhaps. |
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Posts: 41
| Honesty. |
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Posts: 247
Location: Uxbridge Ontario | Pros make it to the next level in 2 ways.
1. Recognition for your skill
2. A great business plan with the charisma the perform as an outspoken person. |
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Location: Lake Tomahawk, WI | Bottom line: Being able to sell product at a volume that the company(s) will pay you. That's it, that's that. Many ways to do this, none easy. And, most companies with the money to pay already have their salesmen or 'professional outdoorsmen' on the payroll.
Or guide/outfit. That's no picnic either. Several top guides I know, payed their dues many times over, struggle from year to year. No job security, but now days that's par for the course across most of the job world. Many years of time invested to reach the point you can make a good living.
JS |
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Location: Minnetonka | Professional Muskie Fisherman? Self proclamation and/or 600 bucks.
Edited by Hammskie 8/25/2011 8:55 AM
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | Here's a look at the guides side as he sees it all. Boat, gas,oil, insurance, gear, repair etc... add that all up for the year and then divide by the guide days. This gives you a drop in fee. So everytime you drop the boat in you have a fixed cost number averaged over actual expenses incurred. Most guides will be around $45-75$, depends on their rigs and paymt's, and their water./ guide days etc...This come right off the top of the fees charged. Then if you have to add the truck in , miles etc...the cost to show goes up again. The profit margin of each guide trip is in flux. It can quickly disappear. All the winter expenses continue to mount up waiting for income to arrive to relieve them. And most of the guides are chomping at the bit to get it started every year!! It's a lifestyle not a hobby. That's why when guides get old you don't see them avertise anymore. They developed their clientile and live with it in peace. Lot of work for 1/2 the money, but when you can't anymore you never look back and regret a single second of it!!! |
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