Entry 253-5
Denny Brauer Bass Fishing on Clarks Hill Lake
Editor’s Note: Dealing with problems at tournaments, suffering with illnesses and winning even when you lose is a part of the tournament fisherman’s world. In the Bassmaster Elite Series at Clarks Hill Lake, near Augusta, Georgia, on May 1 – May 4, 2008, Denny Brauer had to overcome many obstacles to finish 10th. But in doing, Brauer of Camdenton, Missouri, earned as much money as 3rd place. Now how do you finish 10th in a tournament and win as much as the person who finished 3rd? This week you’ll learn that and plenty more from this Strike King veteran.
Part 5: The Final Day of the Clarks Hill Lake Tournament
Question: Denny, what did you think you were going to do on Day 5 to win this tournament?
Brauer: I was almost 10 pounds behind the leader, which kind of took away any hope of winning the event unless I got really lucky and caught the biggest stringer in the tournament. I really couldn’t lose very much, if I dropped down to last place. I’d only have a 12th-place finish instead of a 10th-place finish. So, I could truly gamble on this last day.
I put a big top-water walking bait on and tried to catch some big fish early. On my second cast of the last day, I caught a 3-1/2-pounder, and I said to myself, “Well, Denny, here we go. You may be able to win this thing.” Then a few minutes later I caught a pretty-good bass on the top-water bait. When the sun popped out, the water got slick, and I put the top-water bait down. I picked up the Strike King Football Head jig and ground out three more keeper-size bass. I ended the day with an 11-pound limit, which dropped me down to 10th place. I received a check for $13,500 for 10th place.
What really made the tournament for me was that I also won another $11,000 for having the biggest stringer of bass caught in the tournament and the biggest stringer caught in any one day. Therefore, I finished the tournament with $24,500, which is about what 3rd place won. So by the numbers, I finished in 10th. However, by the money I finished in 3rd place, and I felt real good about that, even though I was sicker than a dog throughout the entire tournament, and I really didn’t have one of those glory-hole spots that you usually have to have to win a tournament.
Question: Wait a minute Denny, what do you mean you were sick the whole tournament?
Brauer: When I went to the doctor, he said what apparently had happened was I had something that started out as a cold, turned into bronchitis, then got into allergies and sinus infection, and that’s what made me cough and blow my nose throughout the entire tournament and feel terrible. I really didn’t have a fun week competing in this tournament.
Question: Denny, I know you guys compete hurt and sick, but how do you fish a tournament like this when you’re dog-sick?
Brauer: You just do. You don’t have a choice when you’re competitive. If you’re going to compete on the level we compete on, there are very-few excuses for not going to a tournament. I just try and go and do the best I can with what I have. Knowing that I’m not going to be very focused or sharp mentally, I realize I’m not going to make those far casts or cast as accurately. But when you’re a competitor, you have to compete. All the tournament anglers stay as healthy as they can, but we’re still going to get sick and hurt. So, we just have to fish sick and fish hurt. I’m trying to get healed-up right now for the next tournament.
Question: Denny, how do you deal with being sick and having another tournament going on at the same time your tournament is going on, and having other fishermen fish the spots you’re trying to fish?
Brauer: Well, it’s really simple. I don’t own any place on the lake, and every site is open for anyone that wants to fish it. So, I don’t even worry about where other people are fishing. I just attempt to identify the spots where they aren’t fishing. As to being sick, I try and fish harder when I’m sick than when I’m well. I try and make up more casts due to the casts I haven’t made when I’ve been coughing or blowing my nose. You also have to accept the fact that you aren’t quite as efficient as you are when you’re well, yet there’s is nothing you can do about it.
Tournament fishermen realize many of the things that happen during a course of a day of fishing, during the course of a tournament and during the course of a season that they have no control over. When things don’t go your way, you can’t really get down on yourself because of factors that are beyond your control. You just do the best you can to work through them. Fishing is just like any other job. 
You have to realize that you will have bad days, you will have days that don’t go your way and you will have days when things break down, you get sick, or the fish just don’t bite.
But as long as you work as hard as you possibly can work and make the best decisions every day that you fish, then things will work out for you. Some tournaments will workout better than others, however, at the end of the year, it’ll all balance out, as long as your work ethic remains strong, and you have a positive attitude. If you have those two character traits, in the long run, things will work out for you on the water.
