By Jonathan LePera
Special to BassFan

(Editor's note: This is part two of a three-part series on athletes in other professional sports who have a passion for bass fishing. To read part one about former NHL player Bryan Bickell, click here.)

Brian Robison lives strictly by this motto: Faith, family, football and fishing.

As one of the team captains of the Minnesota Vikings, Robison’s fire has long burned for keeping the other guys on their side of the field. When the game is over, that fire shifts to all things bass fishing.

“Time on the water is something you must have if you want to be great,” he said.

Both of Robison’s parents fished when he was growing up. His mom used to compete in the Bass N Gals tournaments and his dad grew up fishing as well. The Robisons had a pond in their backyard and Brian spent many afternoons after school fishing at nearby Pete Creek.

“I was just hooked on it ever since I was a young kid,” Robison said.

Now, fishing is an outlet to relax after the grind of an NFL season, but he also enjoys the competitive side of being on the water.

“I’m big into tournament fishing and I’m very competitive at it,” Robison said. “Every time I’m fishing, I find myself trying to use different techniques that might make me better.”

As a defensive end, his job is often to get to the opposing quarterback as soon as possible. On the water, though, he’s been working on slowing down.

“When the bite gets real tough, you can slow down and be able to pick up a few more bites,” he said.

Competitive Edge

When Robison launches his boat for some time on the water, it’s anything but a casual, relaxing day of fishing. It’s all about the competition, whether beating his fishing buddy that day or figuring out a pattern.

“I think it’s in our blood,” he said. “We became very competitive at a young age and that is what has gotten us to the pinnacle of our sports. Without that competitive edge, you aren’t going to have those opportunities.

“I treat (fishing) just like football. When I’m getting ready for a football game, I study film on a guy and learn his every little detail that’s going to give me an advantage against him. If a certain move isn’t working, it becomes a chess game. You’ve got to do something a little different that is going to help you be successful against that opponent.”

It’s no different when he heads to the lake.

“You have to do your pre-study before you get to that lake,” he added. “Once you get out there, it’s about going out and narrowing down certain areas that are going to give you an opportunity to catch a big fish. That might be drains or secondary points or depending on the seasonal patterns going on it could be graphing deep humps and creek channel swings.”

Some BassFans watch Major League Fishing, Bassmaster Elite Series or FLW Tour shows to see who caught what. Robison’s focuses on the little things.

“I’m trying to pick out little details like his retrieve and what kinds of spots is he casting at,” he said.

He caught his personal-best largemouth at Lake Fork, a 10.16-pound brute that fell for a Strike King 6XD crankbait. A soft-body frog helped him land another notable catch, a 9 1/2-pounder. His best smallmouth was a 6.09-pounder caught at Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota on a 3/8-oz. finesse football jig.

Deep cranking is his favorite technique as it gets him away from pressured fish up shallow, which is probably why Sam Rayburn Reservoir is starting to grow on him as one of his favorite fisheries.

“When you first get out there, it can be very overwhelming and it’s hard to narrow down a spot where you want to start,” he said. “Once you start learning what phase they’re in, and how they get from point A to point B, you can really start catching some good fish.”

It’s Just Him…and the Fish

Robison is a perfectionist on the water. Missing a fish drives him nuts as he knows it could haunt him during a tournament.

“That’s what makes the sport very competitive for me,” he said. “You don’t know what is going to happen. It’s one of those sports that can humble you in a hurry.”

Playing defense for the Vikings, he’s used to pressure, but it’s a team sport and if he blows an assignment he has 10 other teammates to pick up the slack. With fishing, he knows it’s all on him.

“When you’re by yourself, you can get in your own head and make mistakes just by overthinking things,” he said. “All those opportunities that you have, it’s all on you.”

When he comes off the water, there’s no coach there to give him advice or a playbook to study for the next time out. The solo nature of fishing is a whole different mental challenge.

“What makes fishing so great is you get to see who’s the most mentally capable of making sure they don’t get in their own head,” Robison said.

Bass Fishing Brotherhood

Recently, Robison shared a boat with four-time Bassmaster Classic champion Kevin VanDam and while he asked a few little questions, it was just another day on the water. VanDam was working a jerkbait while Robison threw a Strike King Rage Swimmer.

“It’s almost like words don’t need to be said. We have that bond,” Robison said. “It’s the same things when you go to the ramp and guys are there. If you’ve done your homework and you know what’s going on, then you understand fishing.”

He chuckles when his buddies want to get out fishing with him and he puts his trolling motor on high to cover water.

“Unless you’re in that sport and doing it every single day, you don’t understand what it entails,” he said.

That’s why it’s an endeavor Robison takes seriously at every turn. Once his football days are behind him, he may dip his toes in the bass fishing tournament world.

“This is one of those deals that I would like to do when I get done playing football,” he said. “I’ve got to decide how far I want to go with it.”

Whether it be the Bassmaster Opens or the FLW Series or Tour or a team circuit, he knows fun fishing after he retires from football just isn’t going to cut it.

“I definitely think that when I’m done with football, in some way or a fashion, the fishing industry is where I’m going to be,” he said.

For the Kids

Two years ago, Robison embarked on putting his popularity to good use by creating the Reel'em In Foundation.

“I wanted to have something that people could get to know me, but also to raise a lot of money,” he said.

After speaking with potential recipients for the proceeds, within 15 mintues of speaking with Kristi Schiller, the founder of the charity K9s4COPS, he knew he’d found a perfect fit. His father was a police officer for 29 years, which helped influenced his decision.

The result was a fishing tournament that paired a professional angler with a sports celebrity in a boat with the opportunity for the public to bid on a chance to be part of their team.

“We try and treat it like a professional tournament with digital scales and trailers with digital boards,” he said.

Afterward, a K-9 presentation leads into the heaping piles of prizes that comprise the live auction. This year’s event in Texas saw a good turnout from Bassmaster Elite Series competitors that raised between $65,000 and $75,000 that will go towards purchasing a K-9 lost in the line of duty or for a police department that can’t afford a replacement. A police dog can cost up to $15,000 by the time its training is completed.

A similar event was held in Minnesota prior to the FLW Tour event at the Mississippi River.

Robison recently re-signed with the Vikings for another year, but took a sizeable paycut in an effort to finish out his career with the team he started with. For now, football is his sole focus, but fishing isn’t far off on the horizon.

“Football is still on my mind,” he said. “It is what has made a living for me. It was my first passion. My family has been afforded so many opportunities not only now but for the rest of our lives. It’s something that I take very seriously.”