By Vance McCullough – AC Insider

Today’s Fishin’ Tip is tailored to those who want to pursue our sport at the highest level as a professional angler. It’s based on my experience as a veteran writer/photographer who has worked with all the greatest names in the game along with some disappointing ‘wannabes’.

The job of a professional angler extends well beyond the water.

Sure, you need to catch fish, but the real value of a tournament pro is the interaction with fans and the media on behalf of their sponsors – the face they put on that company.

A lot of folks understand this, so why bring it up? Because, trust me, there are anglers out there who still don’t get it. At the highest levels of our sport, these guys would be the exception though. Most successful pros have figured out how to remain relevant even when they aren’t sacking winning bags of bass.

Among the greatest examples of this:

I was covering a Bassmaster Classic years ago. It was Media Day, our equivalent of speed dating wherein we make the rounds and talk with anglers prior to Day 1 of actual competition. I had generated more content than I could use. In fact, I was the 4^th-to-last person exiting the building, security guards creeping ever closer, giving me the side eye. The remaining three people? A Japanese reporter, his interpreter and one Mike Iaconelli.

Ike gets it.

The man deserves every good thing he gets from the fishing industry, off the water, and the fishing gods, on the water.

As this story predates the MLF/B.A.S.S. split, all the greatest pros were assembled at this Media Day, and most had done their usual stellar job of fielding questions and posing for pictures. Most were ready to go rig up some tackle and get some much-needed rest. We all felt it.

But there was Ike, full of energy and intently focused on his interviewer, giving deep, well thought out answers, helping people across the Pacific Ocean catch more bass.

This is the true value of a professional.

Even if a pro wins a big tournament, next week it’s somebody else’s turn in the spotlight. Now what does he bring to the party? What value has he? A wise angler invests in the community of anglers, worldwide, as much as he does in himself.

Ike has won the Bassmaster Classic. He has won B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year. Yet, there are spectacular anglers, great teachers, who have maintained a profitable stable of sponsors for decades without ever taking first place in a major bass tournament.

Those guys understand the assignment. And they execute. They engage with the fishing public. They help people catch more fish, often by enjoying their sponsors’ products designed to help them do so.

More recently I covered a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament. I watched these anglers prepare for each day and then launch their boats. On the final morning, as the Top 10 prepared to launch, I was shocked at how unprepared one of them was. The guy hasn’t been on the Elite Series for very long. And according to the current AOY standings, he may not be for much longer. Long story short, his lack of preparation the night before led to him making himself unavailable for even a short interview on the most important morning of the week – one of the biggest weeks of his young career.

Contrast that with the work ethic of the aforementioned Mike Iaconelli who cut a check that week but missed the final cut. The morning before the final day he had rolled up, backed his boat down, opened the door, saw me standing beside the ramp and volunteered, “hey, man! Do you need me to knock out a quick video?”

Ike looked fresh, ready to take on the day. Before his butt left his truck seat, he filmed two perfect, concise videos to welcome viewers to Day 3 and give a polite nod to his sponsors by mentioning how a particular product or two might come into play under the changing weather conditions.

If you want to succeed as a professional angler, yes, practice the craft of fishing. Then get ready to really get to work. It’s not hard to do. It’s just a mindset. Share your love of fishing with fans in-person as well as through the camera lenses of the media who will take it to all of those who would love to be there but can’t be.