Entry 72-1

Denny Brauer

From Brick Laying To Bass Fishing

Editor's Note: Denny Brauer, of Camdenton, Missouri, has had has 64-top-10 finishes and 14 career wins in BASS, with the most recent being the Southern Open at Wheeler Lake. Brauer, the 1998 Bassmaster Classic champion and the 1987 BASS Angler of the Year has fished in 17 Classics and has earned over $1.7 million on the BASS circuit alone. Brauer, the first angler to be on the Wheaties Breakfast of Champions cereal box, is one of the most well-recognized and best-known bass fishermen in the nation.

Question: Denny, what were you doing before you became a professional tournament fisherman?

Brauer: I was a topless dancer. (Grin) No, seriously, I was a bricklayer. When I got out of college I went right into being a bricklayer.

Question: When you were a bricklayer, did you ever dream that one day you would be making millions of dollars as a bass fisherman?

Brauer: Absolutely not. I didn’t know that anyone ever got paid for going fishing. But I started reading “Bassmasters Magazine” back then, and I got an urge to start competitively fishing. So I started fishing in some club tournaments and regional tournaments. I won a couple of state tournaments. Next, I qualified for a couple of National Bass Federation tournaments, and then I began to wonder if I could take it to the next level.

Question: How did you make the step from being a brickmason to being a full-time bass fisherman?

Brauer: When I finished in the top 20 in the first BASS tournament I entered, I thought I might have a chance to make it as a pro. I was extremely fortunate with my job, because I had a boss who believed in me and allowed me to take off time to fish some tournaments. I kept fishing tournaments and laying bricks for about two years. Then I decided if I wanted to take my fishing to the next level, that I needed to move to Missouri where I could fish and guide year-round to get enough time on the water to learn to fish better. In 1982 to 1988, I guided on Lake of the Ozarks in-between tournaments. I could make enough money to feed my family and take care of my bills and pay my expenses to tournaments by guiding. And, of course, by guiding I was also learning more about fishing for bass.

Question: How did your family handle your decision to move to Missouri, become a fishing guide, give up a steady job as a bricklayer and hope to become a tournament bass fisherman? You had a secure job, a regular payday and a stable life. Now you were going to move into one of the most uncertain businesses that a fellow can pursue.

Brauer: We were really fortunate because at that time we were a little ignorant as to what we were doing. I had these big dreams of being a professional fisherman, and my wife believed in me and my dream. We really weren’t gambling a whole lot. We didn’t have a big nest egg built up, and we were struggling just to make a living. We knew we could always go back to that same lifestyle, if we didn’t succeed in the fishing business. As a bricklayer, I was probably making from $12,000 to $15,000 a year.




 

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