Storyline Podcast S1 E43: After Hours Edition with Austin Mau

Austin is a Brainerd resident and runs one of the most popular summer bass tournament trails in the region. Just like many communities across the nation where week-night derbies are the norm, Brainerd’s Thursday Night Bassin’ is a competitive and exciting weekly derby that Austin manages. The two discuss many issues around the state of the industry, how to keep up with a weekly bass tournament series and more. Austin has a great story, and lots of valuable insight in case you’re looking to start your own wildcat derby on your home waters. This is a fun conversation you won’t want to miss.

Truncated transcript: 

00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:29.820: You're listening to Storyline, North America's top voice in multi-species freshwater angling. Here is your host, Thomas Allen. Hey, welcome to the LL Bean Studios. We are perched atop the palatial Twin In-Fisherman Towers overlooking beautiful downtown Brainerd.

00:00:29.820 --> 00:00:46.940: And we've got an after-hours, but this is kind of a, you know, we like to pack the stands at after hours. We like to have a lot of opinions. And kind of toss around discussion on state of the industry, but we're going to do a one-on-one. This is a private, intimate conversation with my friend Austin Mau. Austin?

00:00:46.940 --> 00:01:25.039: Thanks for having me. I'm glad you're here. Austin is one of my favorite people. For a lot of reasons, and that's probably a bit of a stretch, but I don't want to go to your head. Austin runs a grassroots bass tournament organization here in Brainerd known as Thursday Night Bassing, and it's something that's very important to me, something my son and I get to do weekly during our summer months. He does a tremendous job taking care of it. But, you know, kind of as a result, you get to hang out with a lot of, I guess, fast, crazy people. I'm interested in your insight on some things. And so we're going to jump right in.

00:01:25.039 --> 00:01:52.180: Let's talk about how today on the lakes Courtesy is a dwindling thing. Something you know I'm passionate about. Oh, yeah. What is, I mean, we're in a very busy part of the Minnesota Brainerd Lakes area. There are 400 lakes within an hour of here A bunch of tournaments, you got multi-species, you have walleye, you have bass. But I mean, since you've been doing this, certainly things have gotten busier.

00:01:52.180 --> 00:02:36.519: Oh, yeah. Yeah, people. Well, you can just see by the number of houses that keep getting built. And you can see boat sales during COVID just skyrocketed The whole fishing industry just skyrocketed, so it skyrocketed and then it like took a nosedive, which I feel like was a predictable thing, wasn't it? Right, you should have known nobody was working, so yeah. Tackle sales were through the roof, everything was going on, but then all of a sudden people went back to work and Right. So no, you see all those people that did do that during COVID, bought that stuff is they're still out there and whether they're fishing leagues or just out there casually having fun. Well, that's not just fishing, right?

00:02:36.599 --> 00:03:06.400: It's the wake boats and I just, I don't know. I've always had this theory, and I could be wrong, but we're in traditionally more walleye country, right? Like, this is what put Brainerd on the map? Mille Lacs and Leech Lake and everything in between. Walleyes is going to be the pursuit of the traveling angler. And I think that culture has been to lash the boats together and fish for the same school of fish. Right. And I almost feel like I know there have been bass tournaments in Minnesota for decades.

00:03:06.480 --> 00:03:28.080: I'm not going to take away from that. But the walleye culture still seems to be the accepted method of fishing. And I don't mean walleye fishing, but you're sharing spots. And in the bass fishing culture, that is taboo. Now. If it's a mile-long weed line, that's a different story, right? Yeah. But if it's a rock pile, it's the size of three boats tied together, that's not something you share. Right...

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