If a lure isn't tournament-ready, it doesn't go in Denny Brauer's boat – not even for practice. "Little things like keeping tackle fully prepared make you more efficient on the water without any extra effort, and that added efficiency might be just the advantage you need," he said.
For him, tournament readiness begins well in advance. "I'll go through all of my boxes during the off-season and make sure every hook is sharp, all line tags are out of the eyes, jigs skirts a trimmed, paint is punched out of jig eyes and everything else is truly tournament-ready," he said.
Such an overhaul also serves as an inventory count. "I want to make sure I have plenty of everything – down to the toothpicks I use to peg weights."
Keep It Together
Once Brauer gets all his tackle in order, he's careful in how he maintains it. "If a hook seems to have dulled at all from fishing, I'll take my lure off, put it in a container of lures that need to go back to the shop, and tie on a new one," he said.
"If I don't have enough of that color and size I might sharpen hooks on the spot, but usually I'd prefer to replace it with another lure that is absolutely tournament ready. I don't want to take chances with anything that's within my control."
Along with his quest to keep his tackle in tournament-ready condition, he's also careful to keep everything in its place. He uses utility boxes to sort lures by style and application. All boxes are labeled, and each has a place in his boat.
Likewise, his rod locker holds 12 rods, so he always keeps 12 rods ready to fish. "I rotate through about 30 different rod-and-reel combinations, each of which I use for 1 year," he said. "I load the boat with the rods I expect I'll need for each tournament."
On tournament days, he keeps three rods on each side of the front deck, with each rigged for a specific use. He's found that with six lures he can cover most situations he'll face. "More rods than that just get in the way," he said. "If you have 20 rods lying out, you probably don't have much of an idea of what you plan to do that day."
Ready To Go
On the first day of a tournament, each one of Brauer's reels will have new line on it. If he uses a rod much that day, he'll change the line again that night. No matter what, he'll re-tie the lures on every line each night.
He also makes certain his boat is set up for the type of water he'll be fishing the next day. "For example, if I'm fishing big, open water and expect wind and waves, I'll set up my trolling motor so it'll extend to its full length," he said.
Similarly, he wants his graph set up for deep or shallow water before he ever takes off in the morning. "Those types of adjustments don't take very long, but if I have a choice of spending a few minutes doing something the night before I fish or spending the same few minutes during competition, I'll always do what I'm able to while we're not on the clock."
Everything has a place in his boat, and those places have been well thought out. "My measuring board is mounted right in the center of my boat," he said. "That's so that if a fish that I'm measuring flops out of my hands, it won't end up back in the water."
He only carries five culling tags, which, of course, are always together and in the same compartment. That keeps him from ever losing count or trying to count fish in the livewell. "If I have tags left, I can keep more fish."
