Viking’s Robison love of fishing inspires tournament

Brian Robison of the Minnesota Vikings just played the biggest game of his career.

Although his team couldn’t conquer the Philadelphia Eagles on their home turf, their road to the NFC championship was a valiant one with victory on top of victory.

Football was a natural for a boy who grew up in Splendora, TX and went on to play at University of Texas en route to the NFL but there has always been another passion his life.

Fishing.

“I grew up fishing in the pond behind my house and in the creek down my road. For my whole life if I had a chance to fish, especially for bass I did,” Robison said.

Robison purchased his first bass boat in 2012 and its debut was made on a windy, drizzly day on Lake Fork.

“As you can imagine the fishing wasn’t that great but I was hooked,” he said.

And he wasn’t just hooked on catching fish but also the competitive possibilities of high level bass fishing.

“Other players have gotten in the boat with me and thought it would just be a relaxing fishing trip but that’s not really how it is with me,” he said containing laughter.

Robison likes to put his angling skills to the test so in the off-season he fishes local tournaments and for regional organizations like Bass Champs and the Texas Team Trail.

March 29-31 his love for fishing and competition will come together for a good cause on Sam Rayburn reservoir.

Robison and his wife Jayme are founders of the “Reel ‘Em In” Foundation (501 c3) and they will host an auction and tournament to raise money for K9s4COPS-an organization that helps police departments purchase K9s.

“We saw a demonstration and were blown away and since my dad was a Houston cop for 29 years it was a perfect fit for an organization to help out,” he said

These highly trained dogs can make a big difference in the fight against crime and save law enforcement lives but they are very expensive hence the need to help out.

“How we do this is the first evening will be our auction night where we have many pieces of memorabilia and other items up for live and silent auctions. Our live auction includes an opportunity to bid to fish in our exclusive VIP tournament. We invite professional fishermen along with NFL football players and other notable ‘celebrities’ to our event,” Robison said.

“We then pair them by boats and auction them off and whoever wins that bid gets to fish with those two the following day Friday March 30. Last year we had names like Kevin VanDam, Brandon Palaniuk, Gerald Swindle and Jordan Lee paired with guys like Adrian Peterson, Terence Newman, Linval Joseph and of course myself.”

“The final day Saturday March 31 will be our open tournament in which last year we had 139 boats and are hoping to push that number over 200 this year.”

Despite the extreme sports competition and passionate fundraising Robison finds himself involved in these days, he goes back to a childhood favorite when things get tough fishing.

When asked if he could only fish with one lure the lifelong Texan said, “Something I can flip like a Texas Rig.”

This was the first rig he learned as a youngster and is still a go-to when things get tough on his favorite lakes like Fayette County and Sam Rayburn.

Robison hopes others can tap into their love of fishing and support he and his wife’s foundation during their upcoming event.

“It’s all for a very good cause and there’s no better way to celebrate that than bass fishing on Sam Rayburn.”

For more information on the auction and tournament click here.

Chester Moore, Jr.