Many professional anglers have grown up with similar stories. They remember the first times they threw a line out at age 5 or 6, usually with their fathers. They might have used plastic fishing poles with buttons to make casting easier. They remember the joy of catching that first fish, the adrenaline rush that comes with feeling a larger-than-expected bite and the suspenseful intersection of chance and skill.

These are men who followed their childhood joys to the depths. Their livelihoods are scaly and smell like lake water. They wake before 4 a.m.; sunrises and sunsets are all in a day’s work. When they aren’t fishing for competition, they’re fishing to try out new lures and techniques, and when they aren’t practicing, they’re fishing for fun.