Entry 110-4
Guntersville's Big Boost For Chad Brauer
From Zero to a Hero
Editor's Note: To make the Bassmasters Classic field is a major accomplishment for any fisherman, and Strike King pro Chad Brauer is excited about his opportunities at the Classic at Lake Wylie. The tournament circuit is grueling. The anglers often fish in bad weather, which means they must read weather and water conditions correctly and pick up on the changes in both, sometimes even on an hourly basis. Some years, because of a quirk of fate, bad luck or just not being able to find fish, some of the best bass fishermen in the nation don't get a Classic berth. This past season has been an amazing year for Brauer, who was in the race for Angler of the Year the first part of the season. Strike King asks Brauer which five events during this past year's tournament circuit does he consider the most important for his making the 2004 Classic.
Brauer: When we fished at Lewis Smith Lake in Alabama, I still had a lot of confidence going into this tournament. However, after the first day of fishing, I went to the weigh-in stand with an empty bag. I didn't catch one fish big enough to weigh in. However, during that first day, and then all night after the weigh-in, this lake had 7 inches of rain, and there weren't many bass that came to the weigh-in stand. So I remembered how well I'd performed at Table Rock right after a big rain and decided to fish the same pattern on the second day of the Smith Lake tournament that I'd had success with at Table Rock. I started fishing the Strike King spinner bait in the backs of pockets and coves where I found run-off water coming into the lake. At the end of the second day, I'd moved from last place in the tournament up to 42nd place.
Oftentimes when weather and water conditions change drastically, you can get lost on a lake. What I define as being "lost" is you may know where you physically are on the lake, but you don't know where the bass are, what lures to use and what tactics to try. Like the bass, your whole world has changed. All the information you had from practice and the first day of fishing is now totally useless. When I get lost on a lake like this, I try to remember other times and other places when I've had these same conditions happen. Then I try the tactics and the lures that have enabled me to catch bass under these same conditions at place different from the lake where I'm now fishing.
One of the real advantages of being a tournament fisherman is that we don't get to pick the days that we go fishing. If you're at home on the weekends planning a fishing trip, and you look at the weather forecast and see it's probably going to rain all night Friday night, all day on Saturday and more than likely, all day on Sunday, many times you'll just stay at home. You'll decide not to go fishing and will wait for better weather on another weekend. However, as a tournament fisherman, I don't have that option. Tournament dates and tournament sites are usually chosen a year in advance.
When we go to a tournament to fish, we have to deal with whatever weather we find when we're there to fish that tournament and the water conditions that are present during the tournament days. We don't get to say, "Well, the weather is too bad. I won't go fishing." We fish in a lot of bad weather. On many many of the weekends when most fishermen are sitting at home watching TV, dry, warm and comfortable, we're out in the cold, blowing, nasty weather. However, because we have to fish regardless of the weather, we have to learn how to fish under some of the worst fishing conditions you can imagine.
A tournament fisherman doesn't allow himself any excuses. On the day of the tournament, our job is to go out and find bass, catch bass and bring them back to the weigh-in. All the problems that we encounter on that day of fishing is just part of the job. That the fishing conditions are poor is no excuse for not catching bass. In a field of 150 anglers, someone is going to find and catch bass regardless of fishing conditions. My job is to be that someone.
