FutureBass.com

Brant’s Banner Year

By: Glenn Walker

Published Date: 1/6/2010

Having heard of the prestigious Minnesota Silverado Pro-Am Bass Tour, what were your thoughts going into your rookie season? “I was a little nervous and intimidated, but excited to fish against some of the best fishermen in MN. My ultimate goal was to make the TOC and maybe cash a check along the way.”

Ryan not only made the Tournament of Champions and cashed a few checks, but he won the coveted Angler of the Year title by one mere point over well known Minnesota pro Scott Bonnema. Not too bad for a rookie fishing against 48 of the top bass fisherman in the state of Minnesota!

Ryan is 26 year old construction worker, “who got some much appreciated time off this summer to do this” noted Ryan. This angler grew up in Pine City, MN and was introduced to the outdoors at an early age by my father Randy and his late Grandpa, Eldon. “I come from an extremely supportive family. It’s nice to have them and my better half at the weigh-ins!”

Because of work, Ryan moved to Forest Lake just over 2 years ago and joined Gopher Bass and has now been in the BASS Federation for five years now. “I learned so much through the federation and I slowly got into the tourney fishing scene a few more every year. Last year was really my debut into the pro side of a circuit.”

Making such a big jump to fish the Silverado as a boater, one would think that Ryan was a local or had a lot of knowledge of the tournament lakes. But as Ryan told me, the only lake he had a significant amount of knowledge on was Minnetonka. Besides that he had been to Green Lake for a club event, the Alex Chain as an amateur in the BASS Weekend Series last year and he had never been to Minnewaska before.

With not having any previous experience, the preparation and practice for event was crucial to Ryan’s success. Ryan said, “I spent every available weekend plus a little time off work prior to each tourney practicing. I a lot of online research (tourney archives, the quality of fish I needed to be looking for, how the lake fished, etc). You would be surprised by how much you can learn online!”

Of the four venues that the Silverado went to in 2009, what was your favorite and least favorite event? “My favorite tourney was Green Lake, by far. There are so many quality fish in that lake and it was a whack fest. My least favorite was the Alex Chain. There are so many small fish in that lake it was hard for me to stay focused during practice.”

The frustration of the Alex Chain could be seen with Ryan’s worst finish of the season with a 18^th place finish there; this is still a great finish especially on a body of water that frustrates even the best of sticks! Ryan’s best finish of the season was at Minnewaska where he took 3^rd.

Fishing such a big tournament circuit usually means that there are numerous surprises along the way, but as Ryan commented that “nothing really surprised me. I guess this was my first year with the Silverado so I really didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised with how poor the weather was the first few tourneys.”

In a year filled with so many successful memories, it might be hard to peg down a greatest accomplishment, but Ryan said that cashing a check in the first event at Green Lake definitely sticks out in his mind because it have him a boost of confidence heading into the rest of the year. “My most frustrating memory would be the TOC. It couldn’t have ended any better than fishing it with my brother. We had a great practice, we were so excited to fish, and it was perfect. The tourney, not so perfect, the worst we fished all year. I left so many fish in the lake. We got the bites; we just didn’t fish clean at all. It was a quiet boat that day. That’s fishing I guess.”

The online preparation and hard work he put in for practice put Ryan in the position to be successful and he was able to adapt and change to each of the lakes and how they fished. Ryan wasn’t able to ride any one technique throughout the summer; instead he relied on jigs, Texas-rigs, jig worms, Mojo rigs and drop shots. An ideal day of fishing for Ryan would have him fishing a jig around shallow cover.

A successful game plan key to being successful and Ryan followed the same strategy each time. “I practiced with every one of my co-anglers prior to each tourney to pretty much get acquainted and to make sure we were on the same page so come race day there were no surprises. I tried to arm myself with as much knowledge as I could about the lake before each event. During the event we fished as hard and thorough as we could.”

Ryan also competes in the Okoboji Open, half of the Denny’s Super 30 Tourneys, the Minnetonka Classic & the Celebration Church Tourney on Marion. He is a proud member of the Federation Nation and I fishes for Gopher Bass. “The Silverado is an extremely well run circuit, Billy and his staff are very professional. I would recommend it to anyone, Pro or AM.”

Not just one Brant was successful in 2009 in the Silverado Pro-Am, his brother Corey was the top point’s earner on the amateur side. I asked him what kind of relationship he had with his brother during the year, “I fish a ton with my brother. He helped me with a lot of my practice last year. He can catch ‘em, his pros will attest to that! It was really awesome winning the AOY with him. Him and by good buddy Josh Douglas, we are a close knit team. We had a great time camping and practicing together this past year. Hopefully next year will be the same!”

Despite having a banner year Ryan is keeping his feet grounded, by realizing that one good year is that one good year, “we’ll see how next year goes,” said Ryan.

Talking with Ryan was a pleasure and he had the following comment on what he would’ve done differently and I think it is a great piece of advice that all tournament anglers should take note of. “The only thing I hope to do different for next year is to not put so much pressure on myself. A little less sleepless night’s maybe. It’s you versus the fish, if you do your homework and fish hard; it will work out in the end.”

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