When You Least Expect It...
Brushing Shoulders with Greatness
By Tom Luba
The last few days I’ve been hearing the theme song to an old television show in my head.
I’m not sure who remembers the old Candid Camera show, but part of the theme song goes “Just when you least expect it…” I do think the show had a brief reprise several years ago, but I can’t remember when or where.
Author catches his share of Wisconsin bass on jigs. That’s why meeting jig expert Denny Brauer at Evinrude Edge was so exciting.
The longer you are around, the more you realize that sometimes your mind plays tricks on you. And that’s what I thought happened at the Evinrude Edge Demo Tour boat competition during the first day of the August 24-26 run out of the South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee.
After my first ride, my mind was on fishing. I was interested in an Alumacraft 205, a 20 footer powered by an Evinrude E-TEC G2 250 H.O. horse outboard. I hadn’t been in an aluminum boat in ages so I thought it would be good to see how that one worked out. Pretty good, I found out. I let my Evinrude host run the boat and discuss the features. After an introduction, I had a chance to try it out. Overall, I was pleased. Low noise, quick to plane and the iTrim feature allowed the engine to trim automatically based on the engine speed. It had everything I’d want in a power source.
When we returned to the dock, I was met by our media contacts, as well as the Vice President of Marketing for Evinrude. All three were absolutely great, definitely concerned about my experience. And their concern was real, which certainly made me feel good.
While we were talking, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. A person in a fishing cap and a wind or rain suit was standing alone. His jacket was partially open, revealing a tournament shirt with sponsor logos beneath the jacket. I felt I had seen him before, but couldn’t place it. I talked a little more with the Evinrude staff and as they moved on to speak with other riders, I stole another glance at the figure in the hat.
Then it struck me. And my first thought was “If I do what I’m thinking, it could be embarrassing. For me, that is.”
Then, that old saying about only living once crossed my mind, and I decided to walk over to the person. We both said “hello.” Then I just blurted out “Are you Denny Brauer?” I held my breath as he said “Yes, I am.”
Shocked is an understatement! Denny Brauer is probably the top jig fisherman that’s ever fished the professional bass circuit. And I really love to fish jigs. So I have been a fan for years.
We got to talk for a bit, touching on how good the professional tournaments on the Mississippi River (out of LaCrosse) have been. As we parted, he said that if I ever needed help on writing, to let him know.
Needless to say, I replayed that amazing moment over in my head all the way back home to Wolf River country.
And when I finally sat down that night, you’ll never guess what theme song was playing in my head. “When you least expect it…” So very, very true.