Brainard, Where he feels he’s supposed to be.

When 28-year-old, Elite Series Rookie Jay Brainard launched his boat on the opening day of the 2016 Elite Series, he claimed to feel no butterflies.  “Its just another tournament day, another launch. The nervous part hit later on when I caught my first fish, That’s when I started to get a little shaky.”

 

Brainard, the 2015 Central Open Points Champion was ready to go once his Crossed Industries wrapped Bass Cat Eyra finally hit the water. “For Rookies, when you find out you have qualified for the Elites, the time crunch to get everything done, sponsorships, vehicles, boat, motor, gear etc. is so tight.” “I was a nervous wreck just trying to get down here (St. Johns) for official practice.” Brainard said. “Once we launched and got going I was good. I was ready to go.”

 

From Enid, Oklahoma, the former Bull Fighter admitted to having a horrible practice. “I spent a lot of time down here prior to the cut-off and the conditions changed so much in that time that my official practice here this week was not great. When I pulled out of the campground on day one I decided I was just going fishing and do what I do best.”

 

A big fan of sight fishing, Brainard relied on a few areas he had seen some fish in practice but didn’t want to fish in the crowd. “That’s not what I wanted to do, but I pulled into an area where I had found a few and that’s when I saw that 6-1/2 pounder laying on the bed.” Excited about the opportunity at a good limit, Brainard went to work on the fish. “I made few flips to the fish with a soft plastic and then she finally bit. That’s when the nerves kicked in.”

Photo courtesy of BASS

Weighing in a limit worth 18 pounds on his first day on the job, good enough for 30th place, has Brainard excited for what today holds. “(Thursday) felt good. It felt good to be back in my office so to speak. I was able to settle down and do a few different things and it just made me more comfortable with what lies ahead.

Photo Courtesy of BASS

Brainard’s title sponsor this year is newly formed Crossed Industries. Crossed is bringing the automotive side to the fishing side to help anglers do more to their towing vehicles as well as their boats.  “it’s a really neat deal (crossed) and I am very thankful and very blessed to be associated with some of the top names in the industry, Strike King Lure Company, Bass Cat Boats, Mercury Marine, 13 Fishing, to name a few. They are like family to me.” “Working with those caliber folks and being on the Elite Series, I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.” Brainard concluded.

 

Follow along all day here on AnglersChannel.com as the Elite Series Cut day is underway on the St Johns river. The field will be cut down to the top 50 after todays weigh-in.