Entry 90-1
Chad Brauer's Life As A Bass Fisherman
Behind the Glamour of Being a Pro Fisherman
Editor's Note: Although Chad Brauer is only 31 years old, he has been tournament fishing for eight years. Married with two children, Brauer will tell us this week about the life of a tournament fisherman as seen through the eyes of an up-and-coming star.
Question: Tournament fishing and being on the road most of the year can be extremely stressful on the family of a fisherman, as well as the fisherman himself. With most of the home and child responsibilities falling on your wife, how do you and Nicky deal with your job?
Brauer: To be a husband, a daddy and a tournament fisherman puts a lot of pressure on anyone. I have to prioritize what is most important in my life and keep my on-the-road time to as much of a minimum as I possibly can. When my youngsters were small, they could travel with me, but now that they're becoming school age, they have to stay at home. So, that means that I need to be at home as much as I can to be with them.
They can still travel with me during the summer, and I can usually take them on a couple of trips during the school year. But I've have had to cut back on my tournament schedule to be at home more with my family. I don't fish as many tournaments as I probably can because I realize the importance of being at home with my family. I probably don't do some of the promotional work that I can do because I'm trying to give my family more of my time.
The benefit of this schedule is that when I'm at home, I'm off work, and I can totally focus on the needs of my family. I don't have another job to go to or other responsibilities that require my time when I'm at home. If I have three weeks off, I'll have 21 days at home to give my family my undivided attention. But at other times, I may be on the road for three consecutive weeks without ever getting to come home, which puts stress on my family and me. When I have to have those long stretches on the road as a tournament fisherman, that's when I really appreciate the value of having an understanding wife.
Because my children have grown up with my tournament-fishing schedule, when I'm gone for extended periods of time, they don't really have a problem with my absence. The life of a tournament fisherman isn't that unusual. Military families have to deal with prolonged absences of one or the other parent. Traveling salesmen's families often have the same problem. Although my family has become accustomed to my schedule, my wife and I both have to really work on keeping balance in our family.
