By Terry Brown

 

For someone to be placed in hero status in my book takes some work. My dad is my hero. He was always around, went to every game I ever played in, loved my mother and took care of her until her death, she had ALS, and was the first guy to take me fishing. That alone puts him in Hall of Fame status.

 

Abraham Lincoln is another hero of mine. He was different and many times went against the grain to do what was right, even if it cost him votes or popularity. Lincoln could sell rocks to a quarry and even though he played the "country bumpkin" he was smart as a whip and knew how to get people to side with him. He too is worthy of hero status.

 

Another hero of mine is Denny Brauer. Denny has been a very close friend for many years and has never wavered once from that friendship. He is the consumate professional, highly respected, and still is at the top of his game. I owe a lot of where I am today to Denny. He recommended me for ESPN's Greatest Angler Debate. He has served as a reference for me in my current position at Wired2Fish.

 

Denny is a great example of a true family man. He is devoted to his wife Shirley, an angel herself, his son Chad, also a noted professional and class act and Chad's wife and children. He has a picture of his grandchildren on his cell phone always. He shows it to anyone that will look.  He is a great grandpa!

 

Denny is also one heck of a fisherman. Although we have known each other for years this past week was the first time we ever spent any time in the boat together. He, even at 60, 4 back operations  a new knee, and 20 plus years of heated competition never misses anything and he fishes today like he did when he was twenty. He doesn't take it easy, doesn't use a butt seat and still hits it as hard as the young bucks in both practice and in competition. He lives for the competition. I asked him if he was ever going to retire and in typical Denny fashion he said "I'll retire when the politics become overwhelming or when I am no longer competitive." Competitive to Denny Brauer means he thinks he can still win and do it regularly.

 

Kevin VanDam, arguably the best angler in the world, said that Denny Brauer taught him how to win. When told about that Denny said laughingly to me "Sometimes I am not too smart. Look what kind of a monster I created."

 

Endemic companies clamor to hear what Mr. B has to say and those that have him on their staffs not only have a developer, consultant, and loyal angler but they have one of the most respected anglers in the eyes of the fan's out there. He is a crowd favorite wherever he goes.

 

Tuesday, Denny, Tom Branch Jr and I spent a day on the water at Lake Amistad in southern Texas. I cannot remember laughing anymore than we did that afternoon. We discussed country music, we discussed politics, we discussed the industry, and of course we discussed technique and baits. I have no hesitation to tell you that had I had the recorder running that day I could have sold tapes to the angling masses.

 

The little things he does in the boat is amazing.  His boat is always neat and organized and everything has its place. He lays his rods on the deck mthodically. He puts them back in the box the exact same say. They are color coded with rod sleeves and each has a sticker on them with weight of line and type of line. Black and blue sleeves are priority, other colors for cranks and spinnerbaits, others for drop shots, yes he drop shots, and yet others for traps and topwaters. He never misses a step or skips a beat on the water.

 

Denny Brauer is my hero and the day on the water solidified him to the top tier of the Terry Brown Hall of Fame. Thanks Denny!