Fishing any fishing tournament series can be taxing on an adult’s time. For a teenager, it gets even worse. Juggling school schedules, social calendars and everyday life has its challenges. Add committing to fishing a set number of tournaments and it gets down right tough.
“My schools have been pretty good as far as working with me when I had to be absent for big tournaments like the national championships,” said Braxton Wall. “Everything seems to work out for the best, but it can be difficult some times.”
Though Braxton Wall usually qualifies for and often wins any adult/youth division in Crappie Masters or Crappie USA tournaments, his father, Rod Wall, said that fishing with Braxton is far from a disadvantage when fishing in the adult leagues.
“He’s been essential in the boat with me,” Rod Wall said. “Sometimes I get hung up on doing the same thing in every situation. He’s very open-minded, and I think that’s an advantage of fishing with youth period. Braxton was always very good about switching colors to find a preferred bait, and he’s going to be changing something every 10 minutes if we’re not getting the bites or the size of the fish we’re looking for. Even if we’re on fish, there are times when bigger fish prefer a certain color or type of bait. I think he’s been instrumental in pushing me forward to keep me from being so hard-headed.”
Rod Wall relates that once Braxton was old enough to drive, they began taking two boats to most of the closer tournaments. Having partners in separate boats on practice days helps put together a better pattern in less time.
“In the last couple of years, we have definitely found it advantageous to take two boats out. You’re allowed to pre-fish with two boats up until tournament day,” said Rod Wall. “There’s a definite advantage in having another mindset like, ‘Hey, Dad, I’m hitting them at 10 foot while you’re at 14 foot.’ You’ve got that extra opinion to go with. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
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