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Top Bass Fisherman Denny Brauer Tells How He Picks the Lures He Fishes Year-Round

How to Choose a Big Worm for Bassing with Denny Brauer

Click to enlargeEditor’s Note: Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Missouri, one of the most-successful tournament bass fishermen in the world today, has earned over $2 million in tournament winnings from fishing BASS and other tournament circuits. Although there are many great flippers on the BASS circuit, Brauer is known as one of the all-time best. “I flip because I want to fish spots most bass fishermen won’t fish,” Brauer says. “I fish to win every tournament I enter, and fishing thick cover with big baits gives me the greatest odds to catch big bass and win tournaments.” But Brauer also flips tubes, creature baits and many other types of lures to catch bass. To become a better flipper, we asked Brauer to tell us how Click to enlargehe decides when and what lures to flip.

Question: Denny, last year Strike King came out with two big worms including the Rage Anaconda, which is a big fat worm with a lot of action. Strike King announced the Anaconda as the big worm to catch big bass. This year, they introduced another big plastic worm, the Rage Thumper Worm. Again, this is a big worm with a lot of action. So, why and how should I pick one of these worms over the other, and why does Strike King need two big worms in its product line?
Brauer: These two worms each give-off a different vibration pattern in the water. For instance, the Rage Anaconda is what I call a slither worm. It offers a big profile in the water, but it more or less slides through the water without giving off a lot of pressure waves. This makes the Rage Anaconda a great clear-water worm and a deadly summertime worm. I live in Missouri, an area of the country that’s ideal for fishing big worms. So, a 10-inch worm, like the Rage Anaconda or the Rage Thumper Worm, really appeals to me and a number of other Midwestern fishermen. I fish Truman Reservoir, as well as the Lake of the Ozarks, and that’s where the Rage Anaconda really shines. To me, the Thumper Worm is a better dirty-water worm than the Anaconda. If I’m flipping tree tops in stained water, the vibrations produced by the Thumper Worm makes it easier for the bass to find this worm in dirty water than the Anaconda. Also, if you’re fishing a body of water that receives a lot of fishing pressure, any time you can offer the bass a bait they’re not accustomed to seeing or haven’t seen before, you need to do it. Anytime I can use a worm I think the bass haven’t seen before or that gives off pressure waves the bass haven’t felt before, I’ll use that worm. Because the Thumper Worm is new, the bass-fishing waters in the United States have not been saturated with these worms. So, that gives anyone who uses a Thumper Worm an advantage.Click to enlarge

Too, most manufacturers make their lures so that they only should be fished at a particular size. But the Thumper Worm is segmented, so if you want to use a Thumper Worm as an 8-inch worm instead of a 10-inch worm, you simply cut off the first 2 inches of that 10-inch worm. Then you have a Thumper Worm that will perform just as well at 8 inches as it did at 10 inches. If you want a 5-inch flipping worm, that’s one of the best flipping worms you can fish. Cut the Thumper Worm in half, and fish with the bottom end of the worm that has the goofy-looking tail. This worm was designed so at whatever length you cut it, you still get the action the Thumper Worm has been designed to deliver. Both the ThumperClick to enlarge Worm and the Anaconda are tools for fishing, and when I go fishing, I don’t carry one of them and not the other. I take both styles of 10-inch worms. Even though you may think the place you’re fishing is best suited for the Anaconda because the water’s clear and warm, the bass may decide they want the Thumper Worm that day instead of the Anaconda. I know this because as I’ve told you on Monday, I have this device that lets me talk to the bass and lets them talk back to me. Some days those bass will say, “Denny, we don’t care what you think, or what lure you think we’re supposed to eat, today, we’ll eat this type of lure.” So, for this reason, I make sure I have any type of lure the bass may want to order that day. Another reason for carrying two big worms is bass don’t have big brains, but they are able to become educated. If you catch two or three bass out of a school of bass on the Anaconda, and the bass stop biting the Anaconda, then pitch the Thumper Worm to the bass. You’re presenting a totally-different looking worm with a different action. Many times you can get the bass to begin biting again and catch a few more bass in that school that may cause you to win a tournament.

Question: If you only can take two colors of plastic worms with you in your boat to fish anytime and anywhere, what two colors would you take?
Brauer: Green pumpkin and plum.


Check back each day this week for more about "Top Bass Fisherman Denny Brauer Tells How He Picks the Lures He Fishes Year-Round"

Day 1: What Denny Brauer Flips and Pitches Every Season of the Year for Bass and Why
Day 2: Denny Brauer Tells How He Chooses Which Crankbaits to Fish for Bass
Day 3: Finesse Fishing – A Style Denny Brauer Doesn’t Enjoy
Day 4: What Denny Brauer Considers When He Picks a Spinner Bait for Bassing
Day 5: How to Choose a Big Worm for Bassing with Denny Brauer

 

Entry 560, Day 5