Today every one is a pro. From race car drivers and bass fishermen to bicycle enthusiasts and musicians, people are finding ways to make a living from their hobbies. It must be great to wake up each day and your office be a fiberglass skiff plastered with tackle logos or a 2 wheeled self propelled peice of aluminum covered in logos to pedal the streets - or is it?

Why does everything have to turn into a billboard?

Do these professionals who use their talent and skills to pursue a living ruin a healthy hobby? Is going pro selling out?

There are masses of us unprofessionals obsessed with the pursuit of quality gamefish on light tackle. Our souls crave the opportunity to watch an osprey circle above a nervous school of mullet. We push the limits of how shallow or deep our boats can go in pursuit for that illusive, scaled target.

Late into the evenings we tie chicken feathers and fabrics to sharp hooks in an effort to fool wise predators,and practice double hauling in the company parking lot on our lunch hour to fool our psyche into satisfying that urge to fish. We marvel at nature's craftsmanship by staring into the tooth-rimmed

We pay attention to the small details that may or may not reveal themselves as the answer in the equation of trying to catch fish. Things like wind direction, tidal forecasts, water temperature, and moon phase momentarily become more important than friendships, family committments, and clients.

Our conversations sound foreign to those not driven by the sight of pushing bait and rolling tarpon. Others do not understand the drive to catch and often release fish by the most challenging and sporting means possible - even if the result is a big shutout.

Perhaps the average fishermen is jealous of the lucky few anglers that pay bills by wearing patches and pushing tackle based on a contract. We know we are! But we have to wonder if the professional still gets weak in the knees when a big black spot shows itself behind spartina grass with a broad tail attached to it. Do the pros still find such incredible satisfaction and pleasure from a simple day on the water? We wouldn't know.

Welcome to knotwork fishing. Read our stories, share yours. We are not professional fishermen, just 3 guys who revel in the intracoastal outdoors. Just the smell of the heavy salt air hanging over a tidal marsh helps us to forget the pressure and concerns of personal situations and office politics. We won't ruin our hobby.

To us it is simply not work.

The knotwork crew - Mark, Weston, and Douglas

Email us - thecrew@knotworkfishing.com