A couple weeks ago, BassFan chatted with veteran Bassmaster Elite Series pro Denny Brauer about his season and how much longer he sees himself competing at the top level of the sport.
We covered several topics in addition to those featured in the August 17th article, including how impressed he's been by the stable of young pros that are starting to carve out a niche at the tour level and his perception of where the industry’s heading from a business sense.
Here are his thoughts on those topics:
Crop of young pros
“We have some excellent talent coming up. The learning curve, obviously, is shorter than it used to be just because of all the knowledge that’s available to the anglers – all of the new techniques and electronics. Some of them do a lot of homework ahead of time and go pre-fishing. They still have to go out and catch ‘em. It’s hard to compare different generations. Obviously the equipment is a lot better and it’s easier for any of us now than it used it to be.
“There are so many more opportunities tournament-wise. They can get started at an early age fishing youth events and then with college fishing and the Federation and on and on, it’s a neat deal for the guys coming up. I think in every sport, as it matures, the age of the individuals that really star becomes younger and younger.”
State of the industry
“I think the industry is a true reflection of what the overall economy is. We have glimmers of hope in the economy – it’ll get on a surge and the markets get on a surge and I think the buyers get a little more on a surge and our tackle industry has a little bit of a spurt.
“I don’t think we’re totally out of the woods yet and I don’t think we are economy-wise. We need to get some things behind us. Hopefully, after the election, things will stabilize a little and there’ll be a little more direction for these corporations. We have too many people out of work. When you have this many people out of work, sure it gives them more time to fish, but it also takes away the income to go buy fishing tackle, boats and motors and rods and reels.
“Our industry is a true reflection of the economy and might be one of the industries that gets hit a little harder because we are an industry that is an option for most people.”
