Denny Brower on Fish Tales: The Real Story Behind Pitching, Flipping, and Tournament Level Boat Control

Fish Tales with Byron Velvick is built on one simple promise: real talk, real tactics, and the stories that actually shaped modern bass fishing. In this episode, Byron sits down with longtime friend and Bassmaster Classic champion Denny Brower, a legend most anglers associate with pitching and flipping, even though his career success ran far wider than one technique.

What follows is more than a highlight reel. It is a blueprint for how high level skills get built when the weather is bad, the gear does not exist yet, and the only advantage you can create is time, repetition, and execution.

This episode of Fish Tales is brought to you by Livingston Lures.

The Evolution of Pitching and Flipping Techniques

Denny’s origin story is not glamour. Before national stages, he was laying bricks in Nebraska on big commercial jobs around Lincoln, with long winter layoffs that left him looking for a better path. When bass fishing became more than a hobby, he did what serious anglers do: he practiced until the skill became automatic.

One of the most telling details is how that practice happened.

The basement coffee can drill that built a career

Brower explains that winter forced him indoors, so he set up targets around the house, including coffee cans, and practiced short range presentations relentlessly. He made it challenging on purpose, placing targets behind obstacles to simulate real world angles and tight cover. It was not pretty. It even ruined wallpaper and irritated his wife, Shirley. But it built a repeatable skill that later separated him from the field.

Takeaway: short range accuracy is not luck. It is trained.

Why Flipping Worked First in Nebraska

Brower credits the Salt Valley chain of lakes in Nebraska. They were relatively new, loaded with timber and heavy cover, and not yet pressured the way modern fisheries are. Most anglers were still casting to targets from the outside with spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and worms. Few were penetrating the nastiest cover.

So Brower and a buddy built their own flipping sticks because you could not buy them.

No flipping rods existed, so they made them

They started with rod blanks, even saltwater style rods, and modified them into early flipping sticks. Then they did something most anglers still will not do: they drove the boat directly into the thickest cover they could find, shut the engine off, waited, and began dropping a jig into places nobody else could reach.

He caught a two pounder almost immediately, and the pattern was born.

Takeaway: innovation is often just doing what others avoid, then repeating it until it becomes reliable.

From Flipping to Pitching: The Gear Got Better, the Range Expanded

Early on, Brower describes “straight flipping,” getting extremely close to brush, laydowns, and timber, then dipping the bait into tight spots. As rods improved, pitching expanded his reach and allowed him to hit targets farther away while keeping the same precision and efficiency.

He also echoes what many anglers forget today: back then, most bass rods were short, heavy, and built with pistol grips. Anglers who wanted longer tools had to improvise.

Takeaway: technique often evolves because equipment finally catches up to what anglers already want to do.

The Transition to Professional Fishing Started With One Win

Brower did not walk into pro fishing with a pipeline and a plan. He started a bass club because his hometown did not even have one. He joined the Bass Federation, began fishing federation events, bought his first Ranger, and then won the Nebraska Federation tournament, which qualified him for a national event.

From there, he kept stacking small proof points:

1. A federation appearance at Lake Eufaula

2. Another strong finish at Grand Lake

3. A big moment at Lake of the Ozarks where he finished 20th and won $1,000

That Lake of the Ozarks result changed everything because it put him in the right place at the right time. He met Forrest L. Wood and the relationship became a major turning point.

Takeaway: careers often turn on one result, one event, one conversation, and being prepared when it happens.

Guiding Made Tournament Anglers Better

One of the strongest parts of the conversation is how blunt Brower is about guiding and why it mattered so much in that era.

He moved to the Lake of the Ozarks area so he could guide and spend far more days on the water. Nebraska froze over for months, limiting development time. Guiding solved that problem and did something else: it forced him to locate fish consistently for other people, not just himself.

Brower says many of the most successful anglers in the sport’s growth era were guides because nothing replaces time on the water. He describes stretches of being booked 30 straight days, even when he did not feel like going.

Takeaway: guiding is not just income. It is high volume reps under real accountability.

Tournament Fishing Then vs Now: Fewer Events, Smaller Payouts

Byron and Denny also touch on how different the competitive landscape was. There were fewer major events, and early purses were nowhere near what modern fans assume.

Brower notes that in the early 1980s, a regular event win might pay around $5,000 plus a boat package, and that things began rising sharply once televised coverage and bigger sponsorship involvement expanded the sport.

Takeaway: the modern tournament ecosystem is built on decades of gradual growth, not overnight fame.

Denny Brower Was Not a One Technique Angler

Velvick makes a point that matters for anyone who has ever labeled an angler by one strength. Brower was marketed as the flipping and jig guy, and it worked, but he won tournaments on multiple techniques including spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and topwater.

The lesson is simple: a signature strength helps, but versatility keeps you alive across changing venues and conditions.

Takeaway: build a foundation technique, then learn to win with other tools.

The Biggest Mistake Most Anglers Make When Pitching and Flipping

When Byron asks what anglers get wrong when trying to emulate his pitching and flipping, Brower does not start with bait choice. He starts with the part most anglers ignore.

Boat control

Brower says the average angler’s boat control “totally” fails because they are not thinking ahead about:

1. Whether they should fish into wind or current

2. When the wind should push them quietly through an area

3. Avoiding unnecessary noise and banging around

4. Setting up trolling motor and equipment for stealth

Then he adds the rest of the “total package” problems:

1. Hooksetting mistakes

2. Equipment setup mistakes

3. Not building the full system that supports the technique

Takeaway: flipping is not a lure trick. It is positioning, stealth, and execution working together.

The Lake Amistad Story: A Fish Bigger Than the Scale

The most unforgettable segment is Brower’s story about a giant bass on Lake Amistad.

He describes fishing a hydrilla flat in heavy wind, making a single cast to a small hump in the vegetation, then hooking a fish that felt bigger than the 12 pounders he had recently seen during filming on Falcon. He lands it and tries to weigh it, but both scales only read to 15 pounds and the fish bottoms them out.

He considers driving to get it weighed, but worries about killing the fish. The moment becomes personal, “between me and the fish,” and he ultimately releases it, even entertaining the idea of catching it again during the upcoming tournament.

He never sees it again.

Takeaway: the most meaningful fish stories are not always about records. They are about decisions.

What This Episode Teaches the Livingston Lures Audience

Fish Tales is sponsored by Livingston Lures, and the through line here fits perfectly with what serious anglers already know: the difference between average and elite is not constant lure switching. It is repeatable execution.

If you want more strikes, focus on triggers you can control:

1. Stealth and boat position

2. Accuracy to high percentage targets

3. A clean presentation that lands right

4. A hookset system that matches your gear

5. A confidence plan you can repeat all day

Livingston Lures exists for anglers who care about those controllable edges. In a world where bass see pressure and anglers see information overload, consistency wins. When you combine real boat control and target discipline with a lure system designed to help you trigger strikes, you stop fishing randomly and start fishing on purpose.

FAQs

What is the difference between flipping and pitching?

Flipping is a close range presentation where you use a fixed amount of line and drop the bait into targets with minimal casting. Pitching expands that concept by allowing you to send the bait farther with a controlled underhand motion while maintaining accuracy and quiet entry.

What made Denny Brower so good at pitching and flipping?

He practiced relentlessly, including indoor target practice during winter, and he fished cover other anglers were not penetrating. He also treated boat control, stealth, and setup as part of the technique, not separate concerns.

What is the biggest mistake anglers make with pitching and flipping?

Boat control and noise. Brower emphasizes positioning, fishing into the wind or current correctly, letting the wind move you quietly when appropriate, and setting up your equipment to stay stealthy.

Why did guiding help tournament anglers improve so fast?

Guiding forces you to find fish consistently and put other people on them. That creates more days on the water, more pattern reps, and real accountability.

Fish Tales with Byron Velvick featuring Denny Brower
Presented by Livingston Lures
Learn more at LivingstonLures.com