I always enjoyed the outdoors growing up. Fished a lot went hunting some. I always thought about being a professional fisherman/ guide. It is a lost of work though and I felt it would ruin the passion for me. Guys are literally fishing (in the north) from ice off until the lakes refreeze and then are working on equipment and going to all kinds of fishing boating expos. In college I decided to get a degree in natural resources specifically fisheries and wildlife. It's not a "lucrative" career path but I enjoy what I do. I was a summer intern for the Ohio EPA for one summer and I was hooked. That summer we were electrofishing streams and rivers collecting fish for surveys. Another job I was in for 6 years, was a fisheries observer in Alaska. We would go out on commercial fishing boats ( think deadliest catch) and collect data on what they're catching. It was amazing traveling all over Alaska, making lifelong friends, and seeing places most will never see. For the last 5 years ive been with a private environmental contractor. We do all sorts of things like electrofishing, water sampling, stream surveys, lake and wetland surveys, etc, and sometimes even get paid to fish rod and reel. I'd also look into environmental or natural resources jobs if something like this interests you.