Entry 97-3
Denny Brauer - Back On Top Again - The Heart Of A Champion
Lake Eufaula Tournament - Day 2
Editor's Note: Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Missouri, never fishes for second place. He always competes to win. Brauer has developed a strategy that has made him one of America's top professional-bass fisherman. In one year, Brauer earned $1 million in competitive bass fishing and endorsement money, made appearances on television and became the first professional angler featured on the Wheaties - Breakfast of Champions - cereal box. But in 1999, Brauer sustained a back injury that many believed would destroy his career.
From then until 2002, Brauer had several operations and many months of rehab that most thought would signal the end of his bass-fishing career. But Denny Brauer and his family never gave up. Brauer always has been determined not only to win bass tournaments but also to win at life. He stands today as an example of just how far a man can go when he won't quit. In March 2004, Denny Brauer won the Bassmaster Tour Tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama, and took home $100,000 in prize money.
Brauer: I returned to this same area I'd fished on day 1 of the tournament on day 2, and the fish held up. The big bass were on isolated alligator grass and little small stick-ups that no one ever would take the time to fish. I couldn't believe the size and the number of big bass I was catching.
I've found that when you fish little cover in skinny water (shallow water) where most anglers won't fish you often can discover and take the really-big bass that other anglers never will catch. You can win a bass tournament in two ways. You can figure out the bait and the pattern that will produce the most big bass in the shortest time. Then stick with that pattern throughout the tournament. Or, you can fish overlooked water where no other angler will fish and realize you'll probably get very few bites that day.
However, you may stumble across some really big bass that haven't been harassed by the other anglers in the tournament. This overlooked water pattern requires much more patience, and you have to spend more time maneuvering your boat to get into a position to fish than you spend fishing. Many tournament anglers believe that the more casts they make, the better their odds are for catching more and bigger bass. However, I've learned that when I'm fishing overlooked water that making precise casts to areas where no one else fishes may produce fewer strikes but often bigger bass. This strategy is exactly what I did on the first two days of the Lake Eufaula tournament. At the end of the second day, I was in first place.
Contents:
- Part 1: Practice Days
- Part 2: Tournament Day 1
- Part 3: Lake Eufaula Tournament - Day 2
- Part 4: Day 3 - Lake Eufaula Tournament - Strategy Change
- Part 5: Last Day of the Lake Eufaula Tournament
