Entry 288-4
Making Critical Decisions with Chad Brauer
Editor’s Note: Chad Brauer of Osage Beach, Missouri, longtime member of the Strike King professional bass fishermen’s team, has competed in numerous bass-fishing tournaments and been in the outdoors for most of his life. Most anglers want to catch the most bass and the biggest bass in the least amount of time, whether in a tournament, filming a TV show or just hanging out with their buddies. This week, Brauer will tell us how he makes critical decisions while bass fishing and hosting the “Academy Outdoors Show” on TV.
Part 4: Pay Attention to the Conditions
Question: There’s been a lot of big bass caught during driving winds, pouring rains, snow storms and bad weather. How do you decide to continue fishing, move to protective waters and/or leave the water?
Brauer: The situation dictates the actions. If I’m fun fishing, I don’t need to be in the weather just to prove I can fish in that type of weather. If I’m taping a TV show, and we’re not getting good footage, I’m wasting my time and the cameraman’s time by staying on the water. But if this is a tournament, and it’s the first day, I’ll have to have really-bad weather to make me leave the water. Lightning is one condition that will get me to leave pretty quickly. I’ve had lightning hit very close to me while on the water before and it’s spooked me, causing me to have a great respect for that kind of weather.
Other than lightning, I usually won’t leave the water unless I’m fishing the third day of a tournament. If I’m having a terrible tournament, and there’s no chance I can make a big run at the end to finish well, I won’t put my life or my partner’s life at risk to go out in nasty weather. If I have a chance to win, I’ll probably fight the bad weather.
You have to realistically look at your fishing possibilities for the day and determine your reasonable expectations. Decide if you’ll be able to fulfill your end-of-the-day goal in the bad weather and win the tournament, or if you’re trying to prove to yourself you can fish in bad weather. Define your weight goal for the day, and measure your success against the weather. As I’ve gotten older and have a family who depends on me, I take fewer risks with the weather than when I was single man with less to lose. When I was young, I wasn’t afraid of anything but the lightning, and I’d take any risk to compete or accomplish my goal. With age comes wisdom, so I’m a little more conscious and cautious when I look at high winds, high waves and/or rainy or snowy weather.
