Elite Hopeful Says Bass, Bulls Share Some Traits

By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor

Most people would draw few parallels between bullfighting and competitive bass fishing. Jay Brainard, who's done a considerable amount of both, says the two pursuits are actually quite similar.

"In a lot of ways, it's the same thing," he said. "One, you're trying to outsmart an animal, and two, you're traveling down the road all the time.

"The biggest difference is that I always knew where the bull was. I've got to go out and find the bass before I can fight them."

The 29-year-old resident of Enid, Okla., is attempting to complete his transition from the top level of one sport to the other via this year's Bassmaster Central Opens. He's 4th in the circuit's Angler of the Year race after a runner-up showing at Ross Barnett Reservoir in March and a 40th last week at Fort Gibson Lake.

For Elite Series qualification purposes, he's actually 2nd in the points because two of the three anglers ahead of him (Tommy Biffle and Stephen Browning) are Elite pros. He must remain among the Top 5 non-Elites in order to gain a berth for next year

One more decent finish in the finale at Table Rock Lake in 2 weeks will do it. He drove to that venue on Monday to begin practicing and will remain until the tournament has concluded, sleeping in the back of his Hummer because his RV is currently in Florida.

A Narrow Window

Brainard, the son of a longtime bull saddle-bronc rider, knew that fighting bulls was his calling even before he became a teenager. There are two facets to that discipline – cowboy protection (the traditional role of the rodeo clown) and freestyle competition. He excelled at both.

His opportunities in latter category have dried up, however, as both major freestyle bullfighting circuits have closed up shop. He knew it wasn't a long-term endeavor, anyway, due to the physical toll that's exacted from repeated contact with three-quarters of a ton (give or take a few steaks) of bovine nastiness.

Professional fishing has long been his plan B, and the time to put that into action arrived a few years ago. For the last 3 years, he focused on little other than competing in tournaments on or around Grand Lake, and he also did a bit of guiding to get more time on the water.

"I was 14 or 15 when I saw my first Bassmaster tournament (on TV), and I loved it, but I knew when I was 10 that I wanted to fight bulls," he said. "The reason I decided to do the bullfighting first is because your body can't hold up doing that forever."

One side of his face had to be completely reconstructed after a bad encounter with a bull in South Carolina. He'd gotten only a couple hours sleep after driving from another event in Texas. "That was the last time I ever fought a bull when I was really tired," he said.

One night his grandmother came to see him in action and the 5-foot-9, 147-pounder ended up getting launched over the arena fence and landing right at her feet in the front row. It was the first and last time she witnessed him perform.

His best rescue of a bullrider occurred one night in Cody, Wyo. A competitor from Hawaii had drawn a particularly rank animal, known simply as 790, and had continued to pray well after the Brainard-led pre-event invocation had concluded.

"I just told him to just go out and ride the hide off that bull and I promised I'd save him," he said. "Then when he got off, the bull turned and I didn't have time to get between them, so I jumped over (the rider) and landed on the head of the bull.

"One of the clowns said it was the best save he's seen in 30 years of rodeo."

Hard Knocks on the Water

Despite his lofty position in the Central Open points standings, Brainard has tasted disappointment in each of the two events thus far. He'd thought his 21-06 bag on the final day at Ross Barnett would carry him to victory and a berth in next year's Bassmaster Classic at Grand, but he came up just shy as Gene Bishop weighed a stringer almost as big to claim the win. At Fort Gibson, he figured he was on the fish to log another single-digit finish, but the rapidly rising water scattered them from the docks where he'd had them pinpointed.

He's okay with all that, though, because his primary goal going into the campaign was to gain some experience at the triple-A level that he could use to make a run at Elite qualification in 2016.

"Ross Barnett really built my confidence," he said. "I'd never been there before, but I was able to look at a map and determine where I thought the quality fish would be. Then I went out and confirmed that and ended up beating all the Elite guys in the field.

"That gave me the idea that I can make it this year."

He's on his maiden voyage to Table Rock as well and he'll take a slightly more conservative approach to that derby than he did the other two. He said he'll still fish to win because he badly wants to be in the field at Grand next March, but the points race will be front and center in his mind.

"If I've only got three fish on day 2 and the bigger ones aren't biting at all, I'll have to do something to make sure I come in with five," he said.

Would making the Elite Series quash all thoughts of a return to the rodeo arena? Not quite.

"The (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) has said they'll never bring bullfighting back, so I don't foresee it. But if they did bring it back, I'd go and do it for a year.

"I really want a world championship buckle."

Notable

> A YouTube video consisting of highlights from Brainard's first season of professional bullfighting in 2009 is embedded below.