Gerald, I was actually going to post exactly about that next.
I haven't been active at the forge I used to go for almost two years, yesterday was the first time I went there since.
I had to wake up at 6 AM and showed up around 8, which was before they officially opened. I helped them start up everything like I used to do, a couple people even remembered me.
The drive was totally worth it. Even though I was a little rusty, I got started immediately. I started with the S-hook project, simple but when I first tried it at 14 it took me nearly 2 months to make a barely decent one. This time I made a very nice S-hook in a matter of minutes.
I was working on a nearly 300 year old forged steel 400 pound anvil, with the biggest hammer I could find, so I was quite happy.
I moved on to the next project, a chisel used to make the project after that, a decorative leaf. I made it from a 1/2 inch piece of carbon steel, very simple but I had to spend forever hand filing it to a finish (power tools aren't allowed in the basic program). I heat treated it with oil in the two stage magnet and steel bar process, I have no idea what it's called.
I ended up staying until they closed around 7:30, nearly 12 hours!
Anyway, I did ask two of the most experienced smiths for advice; I gave him my contact in case but he let me know it wasn't likely to amount to much.
Neither of them were aware of any "shops", certainly not any that were hiring employees. What I got from our conversations was that few people they knew had their own shop, none were explicitly looking for an apprentice.
These people had been active in the southern CA blacksmith community for many decades, so I suppose they come from all over to work at this forge once a week for a reason. However, the person I talked to wasn't a full time smith, just a hobbyist, although one with 30 years of experience. I'm not sure about any of the other instructors, but I believe they aren't either. They are all volunteers at that shop, so it's likely they don't concern themselves much with the commercial side of this industry. I didn't want to bother them too much either, I suppose if I did I could find out more. I'll try asking a little more when I see them next.
As far as others from the CBA go, they are state-wide but centrally located way down south and I've never had any contact with them.
If there really are hundreds of actual blacksmith shops looking for employees for entry level positions in my area, they must not be advertising. That just doesn't seem to be in accordance with what everyone involved in blacksmithing always tells me anyway.
Of course I'll keep trying to network in person as well as online. My search could take years so I have a lot of time to build up my network as well as my skills.
Thanks everyone for the help and advice.
Sorry for the long post, just had a lot to say.