From Bassin' Magazine
So You Wanna Be A Pro?
Story & Photos By David Hart

For Jordan Paullo, the decision to jump feet-first into the big leagues of professional bass fishing was an easy one. He was doing well in regional tournaments around his home in Connecticut, and in just a few short years, he had won five boats and quite a few checks.

“It was just a natural progression,” Paullo recalls. “I pretty much followed the same path that most other guys at the top levels took. I started fishing in club and local tournaments, then I moved on to regionals and then I qualified for the Bassmaster Tour. Things just started busting loose.”

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But the decision to drop out of professional bass fishing was just as easy for Paullo. In 2005, his fiancée (now his wife) was planning to go back to school, and he knew money was going to be tight. Although he had six top-10 Bassmaster finishes to his credit and a half-dozen sponsorship deals, he was far from rich.
In fact, Paullo, who now works as a regional sales representative for Shimano, says the biggest misconception about professional bass fishing is that once you get in, you’re on the downhill path to Easy Street.
“I wasn’t losing money, but even with six top-10 finishes, I wasn’t really making any money either, even with some pretty good sponsor deals,” he says. “It was a tough way to make a living. I enjoyed it, but I just decided that it wasn’t how I wanted to spend the rest of my life, so I decided to try something else.”
There are plenty of anglers who do make an honest living and a few who are wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. But for every Kevin VanDam, Larry Nixon and Skeet Reese, there are dozens struggling to make ends meet and perhaps hundreds more who have fallen by the wayside with little to show for their efforts but a mountain of debt, a beat-up boat and shattered dreams. Professional bass fishing is a tough way to make a living.

The Highest Highs
Amateur and professional anglers agree that there is no better way to spend a day than on some scenic lake with a fishing rod in their hands. Paullo enjoyed traveling to distant waters and trying to figure out how to catch the bass that lived within them. That inherent challenge was just as thrilling as actually scoring big in a tournament.
David Dudley, one of the top money winners of all time on the professional fishing circuit, agrees.
“I look forward to going to work every time,” says Dudley, who has won more than $2 million in his relatively short career. “How many people can say that about their jobs? I just love trying to figure out bass on a new lake in an unfamiliar situation. Sometimes I don’t, but that’s part of it.”
For Paullo, the lifestyle of a professional angler was almost as appealing as the actual fishing. Without exception, he enjoyed the company of his fellow anglers and looked forward to spending time at tournaments with them. It’s a camaraderie that can’t be found on any job site or in any office. Professional fishing is a fraternity that consists of lifelong friendships and people willing to bend over backward to help each other.
“I couldn’t think of a better group of people to hang out with,” says Paullo.

The Daily Grind
For every hour spent on the water, professional anglers spend at least one more doing something besides fishing. After eight hours of casting, reeling, casting and reeling, anglers spend an hour or two working on tackle in some dimly lit low-budget motel or in the gravel parking lot of a tackle shop or boat ramp. They eat meals in their laps as they drive to the next tournament, and they often practice for tournaments alone.
“I remember working on tackle in the headlights of my truck,” says Paullo, who usually slept in a conversion van at a campground near the tournament water. “I didn’t mind that, and it’s all part of the tournament scene, but now that I’m doing something else, it sure is nice to sleep in my own bed on a regular basis.”
Dudley put nearly 40,000 miles on his truck in a single year, sometimes driving eight or 10 hours straight.
“I don’t have it nearly as bad as those guys who live on the West Coast,” he says. “They drive from one end of the country to the other for a tournament and then back home again. Or they’ll spend a month away from home at a time, going from one tournament to the other.”
It’s especially hard on family life, which is one reason Paullo just couldn’t make the long-term commitment to professional bass fishing. Between sponsor commitments, practice days and actual tournaments, he would often be gone for a month or more at a time.
“I’d come home after a month on the road, and my wife and my dog would look at me like they didn’t recognize me,” jokes Paullo.
Other anglers, such as Dudley, take their families on the road with them. It’s just one way to avoid the time apart. Still, Dudley doesn’t particularly care for grueling travel, although he does understand that it is simply a necessary part of the career he’s chosen.

The Money Factor
Going pro not only takes time, but it also takes money, lots of it. There are the obligatory expenses associated with fishing — tackle, boat payments, gas and general maintenance — as well as tournament entry fees, which can run as high as $3,500 per event.
“That’s probably the main thing I tell guys who ask me about going pro,” Dudley says. “Have a comfortable cushion so you don’t spend all your time worrying about money when you should be focused on fishing. Don’t be afraid to run to the other end of the lake because you don’t want to spend the extra $5 or $10 on gas.”
Although expenses can vary, Dudley figures it takes at least $75,000 to compete in a top-level tour. That includes entry fees and all the other incidental costs associated with fishing a major trail. Paullo was spending at least $1,000 a week just on expenses, and he was living cheap.
“I stayed in campgrounds, I usually cooked my own food and I saved money every chance I could,” he recalls.
Of course, Paullo and Dudley didn’t fork over all that money just for the chance to fish. The two anglers did it for the shot at a hefty check. Winning a major bass tournament like an FLW Tour event is good for $100,000.
In August 2007, Arkansas angler Scott Suggs walked away with a check for $1 million after winning FLW’s Forrest Wood Cup. It’s the largest paycheck ever given out for a tournament, and some anglers predict the paychecks will only go higher. Even if you don’t win, you can still take home a decent check. FLW pays $10,000 all the way down to 75th place in their open events.
Dudley, however, has only won two tournaments since 2001. He’s managed to fish full-time, but he says a large portion of the pros on the major tours have jobs waiting for them back home.
“I know quite a few who are fortunate enough to have flexibility with their full-time jobs so they can fish an entire circuit for a season,” he adds. “Otherwise, there’s no way many of these guys could afford to fish.”

Getting Started
If money isn’t an issue and you’ve got the blessing of your entire family and you still want to give it a go, Dudley recommends starting out at the lower levels and working your way up. He compares it to any other professional sport where athletes start out in high school, move on to college and eventually end up in the professional ranks through a combination of luck and skill.
“I went and fished tournaments on lakes I knew nothing about or where I just wasn’t that comfortable,” he says. “Just because you’ve won some tournaments on your local lake doesn’t mean you can make it at the highest level. You have to be diverse and capable of catching bass under just about any condition you could imagine. I tell people to travel to another part of the country and fish in tournaments where you’ve never been before or in a place that doesn’t suit your preferred style of fishing.”
Paullo says the key to success is to first focus on fishing, especially for those anglers who are looking to make a career out of it. He believes too many anglers are worried about what happens off the water to stay focused on honing the skills necessary to compete.
“It’s all about catching bass in any situation that arises,” Paullo insists. “The more time you spend on the water, the more you’ll learn what to do and what not to do. A professional golfer gets better by playing as much golf as he can. Fishing is no different.”
Paullo notes that it’s critical to realize that no one, not even the best anglers, can jump feet-first into the professional circuits and make a fast buck. It’s a long, hard road, and one that can have plenty of bumps along the way.
“It’s a commitment,” he says. “Just like professional baseball players or golfers invest their entire lives into their chosen profession, bass anglers have to be willing to put in the time. Even if you don’t make it or you decide the life of a pro just isn’t for you, you can at least say you gave it a shot and fished with the best anglers in the country.”

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