There are many things or hobbies in life that we enjoy, and for me that would be tournament bass fishing. But like many other hobbies, fishing bass tournaments is expensive and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t justify the cost! For myself, with over 30 years of tournament experience, here’s how this works.

I don’t care what level you’re fishing, whether club tournaments, pro-am, weekend warrior or professionally, it’s hard to break even. Now some guys will boast that they have been making money for years with tournaments. Liars! They just hope their wives don’t figure out how much money they are spending on fishing!

They want you to think they’re making money because they’re not looking at the whole picture and, in most cases, don’t want to! It’s a sport that has so many hidden costs that anglers forget by choice.

Very few anglers sit down and truly put a pencil to how much money it costs to fish any tournament trail. If you’re really honest with yourself and include everything, the numbers just don’t add up.

First, there are entry fees which can range from $150 to $300 per event for lower-level events like the BFL’s and team tournament trails. On the high-level circuits and the professional side, entry fees can range from $1,700 up to $5,000 per tournament.