It's Not Just About Catching Fish
Even under the best of circumstances, it’s tough to establish a perpetually profitable career as a pro angler. You have to be able to catch fish, market yourself, deal with sponsors, and take care of the mundane aspects of a business, too. To be honest, most of the aspirants are good at one of those: catching fish. Accordingly, that’s where they put most of their effort, aiming to hit home runs on fat fastballs down the pipe. That’s fine, it’s their comfort zone, but it’s also the least controllable part of the job. Even when you find the winning fish and the winning pattern, there’s still a very real chance that you’ll find yourself in the back of the pack.
No, I’m not telling you to stop working on being a quality fisherman. Staying at the top of that heap gets harder every year as the bar gets higher and higher -- but assuming you’re competent and semi-consistently competitive, your career edge lies on other parts of the ledger.
Take Advantage Of The Things You Can Control
Have you ever been to Vegas? Seen the fountains in the middle of the desert, the glitz and glamor? It’s heavily paid for through games of chance. Based on the millions and billions that the casinos rake in every year, you’d think that they had a huge advantage over the players but just look at blackjack. What’s the house edge? Forty percent? Twenty percent? Five percent? None of those – it’s less than one percent.
Clearly all of those fractions of percentage points add up. That’s the approach that you need to take as an angler, too. Find the stuff that helps you be profitable, the things you can control, and take your net profit of X and turn it into 2X, or even 1.5X. Go to your accountant and find (legit) write-offs or other tax benefits you’re not utilizing. Set up a self-funded retirement plan. Find a way to make your truck and/or boat more fuel-efficient. Work media bonuses into your sponsor contracts. None of these are particularly sexy, but a few hundred here or there each month adds up. Think about these things almost as much as you think about chasing little green and brown fish.
How I Do What Needs To Be Done
As for my own career as a writer, I hate talking on the phone. After doing it all day at my regular job, the last thing I want to do in the evenings is cold-call someone for a quote or set up an interview. That’s why the list of calls to make is the first thing I see when I look up from my desk. I know that if I can tackle that first, I’m running downhill after that. Similarly, when I don’t feel like writing, I catch up on my receipts or invoices, mindless work that I don’t particularly care for. Knock out the nasty stuff in small bits so you don’t have to do it in large chunks.
Historically, more quality fishermen leave the tour-level because they can’t hack it as a businessman rather than because they’re not capable of being competitive. Don’t let that be you.
