Fishing as a career? Please Help

[Brandon Sigurdson]

Hi everyone let me start off by telling you that I love this website and all its members. It brings me a lot of joy when I cant actually be on the water. So thank you guys! 

Okay so I am 18 years old and just moved out on my own. Im working full time and haven't been able to do what I truly love very often. My passion is fishing I absolutely love it. Growing up I really had no one in my life who was into fishing so how i got into it is beyond me but somehow i got my self obsessed. All I do in the summer months (when im free) is fish. Im talking almost every day I would wake up at 5am to be on the water. If im not actually on the water im watching YouTube videos or reading as many articles and books that I can find on the subject. 

If I had to pick a specific target it would have to be bluegill but pan fish in general are what im really into. To be honest though all fish interest me and I hope to one day catch every type of freshwater fish in america. 

So what im reaching out to you guys for is some ideas of careers based around fishing. I'm talking anything as long as it has to do with something with fishing. I want to one day do what i truly love as a career. I have thought about trying to become a guide but I'm not in the state where i want to be for that and do not have the experience yet. I also have thought about going the other route and going to school to further help my goal of having a career in fishing. Maybe a fisheries biologist? 

I am open to any ideas. College or no college it doesn't matter. I am willing to work very very hard. 

I appreciate any feedback and thank you guys so much! 

Tight lines and good luck out there! 

[JBplusThuy]

That sounds kind of like me. I've always loved computers, even before I actually got to use one :-) I started using them in middle schools, when "computer" meant "mainframe" and even midframes and minicomputers were still fairly new (and by mini, I mean something you could probably get in the back of a pickup truck :).

I've spent most of my life in IT, except for a few years where I detoured into teaching, and while I really like my work and really like my computers, I no longer fiddle with computers as a hobby. I've rid myself of nearly all of my parts trove over the past few years, as well as my multiple desktop machines and collection of Sun workstations. Today I have just a single computer, a fairly high-end laptop running Linux. The rest of the family uses Macs.

If I fished for a living, fishing would probably be just like that for me: I'd seldom if ever do it on my own time, just for fun.

That said, I don't want to discourage Brandon from pursuing an outdoors-related career. I'd probably enjoy being a game warden, fisheries biologist, etc. He sounds like he's really got his act together and knows what he wants (I should have had my act that together when I was 18), so I'd recommend getting a bacherlor's degree (or even a master's) in a field of study that would land such a job. The most stable and well-paying are probably jobs with state fish and game departments. For info on what degree would be best for that, check job postings in various states and see what academic qualifications they require. Also, try to meet some people working in that field and get their input.

[Adam Rink]

Brandon, right now I'm a student at Hocking College in Nelsonville, OH. I started out at a local college taking what were quite frankly boring general education courses until I realized I that I wanted to pursue a career in fish and wildlife, a career that I could wake up everyday and want to go to work. I'm going for a degree in Wildlife Management but Hocking offers several degrees in the Natural Resources field, including Fisheries Management and Aquaculture. The school has fairly reasonable costs, similar to a community college so you won't have to have tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt after graduation. These degrees can offer a wide range of career opportunities, and though you may not be directly fishing for a living, you could get hired with state or federal agencies dealing with fish and wildlife, or start your own business in the field, such as being a consultant that people could contract you out to design a pond or improve one for instance. Like others have said, it's not a field where you're going to likely become a millionaire, but if you really want to do the work, becoming wealthy monetarily, it shouldn't matter. If you know it's what you want, go for it. Good luck as you go forward.