re: What do I have to do to go pro?

I have worked with several plant baws that basically eat/sleep/live fishing have won a ton of tournaments boats/money etc. driving all over the country to fish tournaments some have small local sponsorship but none have yet to come close to quitting their regular job. Because that is what the Pro fishing becomes your regular day job. You have to win/sponsored enough to pay for it all and then replace your regular salary. That is no small task.

My best advice would be to just start fishing tournaments, you start winning them and you'll start making bank. Even local cookie jar tournaments will pay out around $700

I don't have any experience with the bass side of tournament fishing, I only fish redfish tournaments. On the saltwater side, all you need to be considered a "pro" is money for your entry fees. There are a few exceptions for a couple of events that are invite only, but for the most part, if you can pay the entry fee you will be fishing with the pros.

90% of the guys fishing these events are business owners and or charter captains. Pretty much all of them write off tournament expenses as business advertising expenses. These guys spend countless hours on the water scouting for tournaments. I used to fish 8-10 days straight before events. Literally taking 2 weeks off work for 1 tournament. It is very expensive. I personally don't know anyone on the redfish side that has 100% of their expenses paid for. Most guys get discounts on most of the stuff they use (boat, motor, electronics, rod, reel, lures, etc.) and a select few get some free stuff. I am fortunate to be friends with some of the best in the business on the redfish side and they will all tell u in no uncertain terms that you can't make money fishing redfish tournaments. I'm talking about guys that consistently won big tournaments like the redfish cup, flw, ht, etc. The money u spend is more than any money u ever win in the long term. And winning boats absolutely sucks because you have to sell the damn boat at a reduced price just to get rid of it.

Having said all that I still enjoy the competition of these tournaments and I know full well what I am getting myself into when i sign up.

Again I can only speak to the redfish tournament side of things... I know the bass tournaments are way more lucrative and the prize money is a lot bigger.