Camdenton, Mo. -- Denny Brauer says that the fact that he won the 1998 Bassmaster Classic hasn’t allowed him to rest on his laurels over the ensuing decade. He has the same goal in the upcoming Classic, his twentieth overall, as he had in his first shot at bass fishing’s biggest prize – nothing less than a victory lap around the coliseum will satisfy him.
“I truly fish to win,” he says. “Everyone says they approach it that way, but not everyone does. I’ve been last. I don’t like it but it comes with the territory.”
Photos
by Mark Jeffreys & Matt Pangrac
Last year’s Classic venue, the shallow backwaters of Louisiana’s Red River, would seem to have been a perfect opportunity for a second Classic victory, but Brauer didn’t get a shot to win there. He missed the big dance for the second straight year, for the fourth time in five years and for the seventh time in nine. That’s not typical for a superstar who fished eight consecutive Classics in the 80s (1982-1989) and had two four-tournament streaks in the nineties (missing only 1990 and 1995). Any opportunity is a welcome one, but it would seem that Lay Lake would be a mixed blessing at best. It was the site of his two worst Classic finishes – 34th in 1996 and 47th in 2007 (he did not qualify to fish the 2002 Classic on Lay.” Nevertheless, he approaches the tournament with nothing but positive thoughts.
“I like Lay,” he said. “I like the way the lake sets up. It has a lot of shallow cover like weeds, boat docks and rocks. A lot depends on the weather.”
Classic Shifts
While Brauer fished eight Classics in a row from 1982 to 1989, his results once he got there were lackluster at best. He notched only one top ten finish in his first nine Classics, a 4th in 1984, with the eight others all between 17th and 25th. Not horrendous, but forgettable nonetheless.
Over his next nine Classics, he turned the tide, including three straight top tens from 1992 through 1994 and seven top tens overall. The crown jewel of those finishes was of course his win in 1998, which came after near wins in 1992 (2nd), 1994 (3rd), 1997 (5th). He also had a chance for back-to-back wins, ultimately finishing second to Davy Hite on the Louisiana Delta in 1999.
“I think the Classic for a lot of my career had been a frustration point,” he recalled. “I couldn’t get it done. It was a monkey on my back. Even today, I’m not sure in my mind if I needed it to validate my career. I still go into every event hungry. It’s like a job to me and I try to keep myself on an even keel. After a bad event, I try not to get too down and after a good event I don’t dwell on it. I just bust my butt to try and win the next one.”
He recalled his first Classic, the 1982 tournament won by Paul Elias on the Alabama River, as a critical point in his career: “I was just trying to figure out whether financially I could keep doing this for a living.” With that question answered less than a decade later, he was able to focus more directly on winning the big event, and that’s when he started to achieve the better Classic finishes.
“I look back at a couple of those early Classics and maybe I was just happy to be there,” he said. “But as my career went on and I came close a few times, you begin to analyze why you didn’t win. Anyone can luck into the right bunch of fish, but to consistently do well you have to learn to manage your time and deal with the pressures. I look forward to that pressure now. In the early years I was kind of frustrated that I couldn’t go off and be by myself.”
Every Classic is an Opportunity
Brauer will celebrate his 60th birthday just over two weeks before he blasts off at the Classic, and while it seems that no one likes missing a Classic less than him, he’s come to accept that making it is a privilege that depends on a certain amount of good fortune.
“I qualified this year, but I didn’t have a great year in any way shape or form,” he said. He’s not one to make excuses, but nevertheless noted that the times he’s missed qualifying have typically corresponded with those times when he’s had medical issues that prevented him from competing at one hundred percent. Those include five separate back surgeries and a knee replacement prior to the 2008 season. “When I’d miss one (for those reasons), it was not as great a disappointment because I knew what I’d been through.”
At the same time, he admitted that he’s anxious to win another Classic before he ends his career and “(Y)ou can’t win the thing unless you’re there.”
“I hope to be in the next ten,” he added, perhaps answering the unasked question about potential retirement plans.
Location, Location, Location
As noted above, Lay Lake has not been kind to Brauer as a Bassmaster Classic venue, and he admitted that “whether you want to admit it or not, you look forward to particular lakes more than others.”
“At the Red River, I felt like I would have had a good opportunity to win,” he continued. “And once I saw the way the fish were caught, it hurt even more. Even in regular season tournament schedules, there are certain lakes that you anticipate more. Still, you don’t want to dread going there.”
One Classic in particular that he regrets not getting the opportunity to compete in was the 2005 tournament on Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers. The tough conditions led to low weights, but that just lowered the bar for a seasoned competitor like Brauer. As Kevin VanDam showed, a few keys bites made a huge difference.
Of the 16 BASS events he’s won, “some came in places I never ever dreamt I’d win,” he said. “A tournament is a tournament. It doesn’t matter if you win with 30 pounds or 90 pounds.”
Will this be the stingy Lay Lake that George Cochran tamed in 1996 with a mere 31-14 or will it be the won that Boyd Duckett dominated in 2007 to the tune of 48-10? That’s a difference between 11 pound limits and 16 pound limits.
Brauer said that in the event that Cochran won, a summertime tournament, he knew from his practice that he wasn’t likely to do well, but in 2007 he “had some things working.”
“I didn’t make the right moves,” he said. “I ended up having a horrible tournament.” He weighed in only 13-13 over two days and was the lowest-finishing Elite Series qualifier. That’s not on his mind, however. Brauer said that at this point in his career 47th place is fundamentally no different than 27th or even 7th. It’s all about getting another win, and if the weather leads the lake’s Florida-strain largemouths to pull up and start to bite, there aren’t many anglers alive who can do more damage in a shorter time than the 1998 Classic champ.
