Knowledge, skill, and experience are key qualities and attributes important to personal success. However, without passion for whatever it is that you are doing, success is often unattainable and/or rarely sustainable. This is true of every human being … from the grocery store clerk to the college professor, from the garbage collector to the bank president, and from the lawn care person to the professional angler.

Fishing begins in most peoples lives as a pastime and for some who develop a true love for this sport, it becomes the ultimate escape from the pressures of life. At any level, fishing requires a certain amount of skill and concentration that prevents you from spending a lot of time thinking about other things. It frees the mind and the spirit, allowing us to connect with nature.

Then there are those of us who take it one step further … eating, sleeping, and breathing bass fishing! This is where true passion for the sport begins to consume every aspect of your life and the idea of becoming a professional angler begins to take shape. This competitive level of bass fishing is the driving force that differentiates the passionate angler from the mediocre angler.

For the average person, it’s difficult to perceive professional angling as a career or “job”. It’s true that without sponsorship or significant financial backing, relatively few are actually able to begin and/or sustain a professional angling career as a source of income. There are also many requirements associated with obtaining and keeping big-name sponsors … promotion of the sponsor’s products and/or services at boat shows and other events, frequent, sustained success in tournaments exhibiting the skills worthy of sponsorship, and more … that require a lot more of the angler’s time outside of the actual fishing events.

This being said, it’s practically impossible to prevent someone with true passion from trying to reach their goals. The vast majority of “professional anglers” I know hold full-time jobs, fishing as many events as weekends and accrued vacation time will allow. Others hold part-time jobs, using every bit of their income and spare time fishing tournaments. Still others wait until they have retired to begin a professional angling career, fishing only weekend events until that time.

Achieving goals and making dreams happen are directly associated with how much time and effort we’re willing to put into them. It’s important to assess our circumstances and modify where needed, but success is only limited by how passionate we are. How strong is your passion?