THE BREAKDOWN: What it costs to be a Professional Bass Angler EP:1 

Trade you any day of the week. Work 2 full time jobs I’ll be cleaning. Sewer lines today. You may not be getting rich but your living your dream, some things mean more than money.

Extremely interesting stuff. Thanks for the pure transparency! Stuff I have always wondered. GREAT IDEA to publish these. Keep hammering and tight lines

It is truly an honest assessment of the life of pro fishing. You came out slightly ahead, and many didn't! Keep on chugging... you'll make it. Need to get some good sponsors!!! Big fan!!!!

Pulling for you! If you had planned to grow your social media, you really needed to do some videos on your practices and during the event. I do realize that everything takes time and you have prioritized getting the highest finish. That said, your lack of social media for the last number of years is why you are in the sponsorless shape that you currently find yourself. The guys who hav e done well on RU-vid are consistent with videos. Just saying, great finishes on the first 2 events, keep it going!

Cool man. This is really interesting stuff. Pulling for you.

Thank you for sharing this Jacob. Really cool seeing the numbers. Hope to see you raising one of those trophies very soon!

Sponsors are huge. Thanks for the videos.

I talk about this in my livestreams all the time and people are blown away cuz the reality is, unless you winning or top 5 consistently, u are better off working at target and make $17/hour guaranteed 💯. Or just be best local angler you can be. And cleanup close to home

Use this as a case in point...there is no money in Bass fishing unless you win a tournament or have superior sponsors

I think that was a fair assessment of your expenses. I look for your name and the final results, after every Elite tournament. You will have to stay in the 10K winnings or higher to stay a float. Good luck on the rest of the season.

It’s honestly sad , especially when you have won at this level

Jacob...do what you gota do, you are your own Brand! Stay strong and tough Bro...keep moving forward.

it's amazing that he even broke even . I remember when BASS first started when Clunn was camping out in the woods and some were staying in Jco campers furnished to them for addvertising

Love what you're here, Jacob. I have a question about the tax side. When taxed for your winnings, do you pay taxes at the time you get the check from that state or, do you pay get taxed once from your state of residence? Again, thanks for putting out this type of content. Keep your head up and good luck to you this season!

Thanks for the breakdown vid! I’m a big fan of the Bass Elite tournaments. Just curious at the end of the year what if anything can be taken as a tax deduction? Business miles etc to maybe help offset costs, granted it would be at the end of the season.

that was informative, its crazy how much fishing cost period. pulling for you, keep it in the green

Thank you for the transparency. I incorrectly assumed sponsorship picked up most anglers tabs or a significant offset. Good luck this year.

You’re doing this correct. But add in your truck and boat expenses. Those are tools you have to have to complete the job. Period. So after two events you did well in you’re still in the red slightly. Keep this up. It’s extremely informative. Please don’t sugar coat any part of it, or exaggerate anything either. Just keep posting the honest data. If you keep this data honest and pure, this may be the spark ⚡️ that lights a fire within the industry. Good work 💪

Great video lets people know this game isn’t cheap.

Keep grinding , you’ll get there. Thanks for sharing

It would be great if the fishing tournament industry could figure out a way to improve payouts so at least the guy in last place could break even. That being said, I have no idea on how to make that happen. Is bass fishing at its limits when it comes to tournaments generating revenue? Hard to say, thanks for sharing.

Don’t forget insurance, boat and truck registration, vehicle and boat maintenance and i would love to see how many TOTAL hours you spend each week on and off the water. Your Per hour wage is awful gotta absolutely love it to keep up the grind! Good vid from one entrepreneur to another!

This is a great video!

Interesting stuff. I'm looking forward to keeping up with these videos.

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting! Bout time you made another video😂

Question, is it worth it??

Keep it up! Cool to see.

True boat and truck deducted eventually but if im correct winnings taxed higher than say reg 9-5 job

always use a CPA to do your taxes when self employed-the fee is tax deductable so actually it's free legal representation. I'm curious about the boat wrap-is it possible to get a sponsor to pay for that?

Miss one check and it changes things real quick! The reality is that maybe one guy a year cashes in all 9

Look at per diam allowance as for as food and lodging. A good tax guy will make a big difference when you win big money.

At the elite level you would figure sponsors would help? Tackle?

Great video. Keep them coming.

It’s crazy what a boat wrap cost and what sucks they say you have to have it correct.

Doing good at champlain as i write....in/out first on day 3, then robertson bumped you down to like 4th or 5th but hope you smash em championship monday 2024

Glad you made some money. Keep it up. Lot of money spent to do something you love. Its worth it.

how about your rods and reels? i know many of the pros talk about having 20 plus that is definitely a expensive

Looks like without sponsors Elite fishermen need to be in the top 50 to break even

The big positive in all this is that you performed so well in each tournament. What you need to be successful is a big time 'paying' sponsor. Are there no business people out there who could help you get some decent sponsors?

So did get sponsor money that should pay the boat no rap and rigs to go fishing ??

Please keep doing this

There should be no entry fees for elite series.

Thanks for the breakdown. Keep pushing and living the dream! I will say your math is a little off though. $20k in winnings and $16k in spending is not net positive. After taxes you’re -$2,500 for the 1st two tournaments. Hopefully sponsorships are paying entry fees or taxes. 🎣

How many nights were you at each place?

I think this is worse than gambling , it’s almost like a donation , I think you need help or rich parents in order to do this at the Elite level , I know I could not afford to do it , how do you keep up with your bills at home also , to me this is not right , my wife if I said I’m doing this would divorce me just cause of the money pit

I'm really shocked by the tackle, I always thought pros got a lot of that for free! wow

Dig it!

Spent 16k and won 20k. Doesn’t matter whether you want to include the boat and truck payments or not. They have to be paid. Definitely not a good business plan .

15 grand a year on boat payments is just insane lol

so you spent 16k to win 20k and only 4k in the end..

You pay for the rap but do you grt sponsor money for having their brand on it?

I love to fish and do tournaments. However fishing will always be a hobby and never a job. A career in fishing tournaments is a losing proposition unless you are silver spooned or have a bunch of great sponsors. I will just go to work and fish when I can and not get burned out or go broke.

That's crazy as a pro angler you should not pay an entry fee

Can you call bass fishing a professional sport when you finish in the top 1/4 of the highest level of competition and if you calculate your expenses ( add boat and truck cost to is bill) you break even 🤔 ... Its a f@#$ing joke .... Wil be curious to see whith the sponsorship money if it make more sense... if you dont make real money out of it , its a hobby not a profession .... In my opinion to be considered a serious professional sport all Bassmaster elite anglers should be able to live (average salary) out of it regardless of their performances. Nice video !

Boat and truck payments are definitely part of the expenses. You are fooling yourself if you think not

If your going to do YT videos you have to have thick skin, make the video and dont worry about what guys with say! If their watching your videos to make a comment your making money.

Entry fee : $5,000. 🤦‍♂️ That's rediculous !

If you really want to know what I think. I think you need to get a real job, and fish for pure enjoyment!

If you going to use a white board then at least have it visible

So, respect your honesty, but You’ve not been sent to prison or signed a military contract. If it’s not worth the return go do something else for a living.

They have the life of a Truck driver and make less . Unless your at the top with many sponcers you can't make it in this sport . It's the same with rodeo

Food is an expense for sure

You and I know sponsor money is disappearing. Pro fishing is a money pit. You need to be young, no real responsibilities, some FU money and luck….a little advice: don’t put fishing in front of family, you will regret it later……Good Luck.

You just got embarrassed by a 19 year old who just put 100k in his pocket video fishing…Id be more worried about that than paying bills…

Keep catching them Bud! I think your breakdown is good enough it gives a good idea what it cost. Of course at tax time you will claim the boat and truck as a business expense, that's a no brainer.

Really sounds like pro bass fishing is like gambling. It’s not like you get a salary. That’s scary.

Good stuff....I like the break down....its tough...keep on keeping on

Basically working at Walmart stocking shelves is probably more profitable and less stressful.

Jacob. Talk with us, not at us. The whole “Some people will say”, or gonna say it if you don’t agree I don’t care isn’t a good watch, nor is it entertaining.

Keeping it real dude. Don’t know if your fishing out of pocket or have any sponsorship help. I understand that sponsorship comes in many forms and a lot of them don’t pay the bills.

How much of that is paid by sponsors and how much of it will you get back as a tax write off? Interesting vid man thanks!

Fishing just ain’t a great career choice

i still think its funny how 20 years ago, guys got 120k for winning. now entry fees are triple and we win less money.

I was routing for you at Fork

listen you do u if your honest that's all u can do only thing is it's sad at the level you guys have to pay for anything sad but it is what it is

NOW HEAR THIS! To All That Can Do Simple Mathmatics of the Addition family. Just having a basic boat and truck $100,000 properly equipped for tournament fishing. That's $1,600 month in payments for 60 months financing. Now you all decide if you can afford to Bass fish simple Math.

How is it a profession??

I agree the payouts need to be better and there’s a lot of things that could change to accommodate the anglers more. But you can do some things to instead of hanging your head and crying about it. There’s guys out there living in their truck bed eating ramen noodles and hot dogs every night following the tour. Sounds like you need to do some grinding in the sponsorship world cause it ain’t all about fishing, one of the richest dudes in professional fishing hasn’t ever hoisted a blue trophy, that should tell you something.

Good stuff man thanks for sharing

So, if you count the truck/boat expense of $1,500 per month ($18k/yr.), plus $4k for wraps, that’s $22k. Divide that by nine events is about $2,500 per event. Add in your $6,500 average event costs (entry fee, lodging, food, fuel, etc) and your at $9,000, so if you finish outside the top 10, you’re barely breaking even? What are you getting from sponsors? Do they pay you to use/endorse their products, or do they give you free tackle/gear?

Without anglers banding together and demanding better payouts and trickle-down money from BASS and all the advertising $$$ they get. Fishermen will continue to be used as free commercial props.

Gotta know someone or have money otherwise a regular joe that is really good at fishing can't do this unless he or she goes to work everyday buys a boat and used his or her own expenses

I do not understand how the majority of pro anglers do it. Let's face it. Most of the elites are truly unknown. There are a few standouts that make the money and the rest of the field donate. Seems like a really bad deal. Growing up, i always wanted to be a pro, but when i put pen to paper, i was shocked. You gotta have the new stuff. Seems like a super bad deal unless you have wealthy parents to help or you own a big business to support the habit. Serious Sponsers are few and far between. I wish you success buddy.

Jacob, didn't you have a pretty good idea what it costs to be a Professional Bass Angler before you started?

I appreciate the honesty.. people think its all fun and games but theres alot that goes into fishing and they dont realize alot coming out of your own pocket… head up keep on the grind we will be watching!!!!

Thank you for sharing.

anyone who thinks they'll make money in tournaments is a fool

Great explanation of what it cost to get into it.

need a silver spoon like the 19 yearold

Shouldnt his sponsor pay for his wrap? What does his sponsors cover? Anything?

5k entry fee is bonkers...and all of this doesn't include a fully kitted boat and vehicle capable of towing it, not to mention dozens of top of the line rods and reels. Fishing = pay to win lmao

Quite a bit of those expenses will be deductible on your taxes, though that doesn't increase the size of the checks you can cash.

Damn 3.5k entry fee. That’s crazy.

Say you fish 10 tournament's a year at 8K=80k a year say 2 years and 150K for truck and boat puts you at 310k. A lot of mobile tool salesman invest 300K for tuck and inventory on initial investment. Point is, putting 310k out to chase your dream is scary but not uncommon. Making 3K on the first 2 is a great start. Not a good margin but FUN. Good luck.

Jacob, NEVER regret being honest and above board! Especially when it’s your business! Facts and figures are used in every business. 😊In today’s world we can’t tell the truth without being attacked for going against what the public believes (the narrative). I started fishing as a hobby when I was 6 years old. I am retired now fishing is my only hobby! I have great respect for your willingness to tell the truth!

No fucking way. No 401k. No nothing. Thanks for the entertainment. Living the dream. I'm rooting for ya player

That's a good rule of thumb to assume it costs ~$7k to fish an elite tournament between entry fees, food, lodging, tackle, etc. The top 50 make $10k and the top 10 make more. So if you finish top 50 but not top 10, you're keeping your head above water but barely. There is also the big cost of the boat, truck, rods, reels, electronics ,etc., which I hope is funded by sponsors because otherwise it's impossible to break even unless you finish in the top 10.

Bottom line is professional fishing isn’t just about the fishing. You have to market the SH#T outa our brand. Hopefully you’ll find your mojo to bring on more sponsorships and create your brand! I really wish for the majority of the elite pros just making it was enough, but obviously it’s a struggle bus for most!

Two checks and good AOY for now. Keep it up. Perhaps talk to your accountant and capitalize your wraps, boat and truck?

I think you're a great Angler and I think a lot of people identify with you, someone needs to sponsor you, I think ppl wud buy from your sponsors to support you. I sure wud!