Denny Brauer – Preparing the Tournament
How Will You Find the Big Bass?
Editor’s
Note: If Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Missouri, was a
chess master, he’d be one of the best in the world.
Tournament bass fishing is much like a game of chess
in that you have to lay out a battle strategy first
with plenty of options, so that you can react and move
properly, depending on your opponent’s plan. Over
the years, Brauer has proved he knows how to play the
game. In mid-July 2006, Denny Brauer passed the $2 million
mark in earnings for tournament fishing on the Bassmaster’s
tournament circuit. The only other angler to achieve
this goal is Kevin VanDam, who’s also a Strike
King pro. No one ever can doubt that these two anglers
know how to find and catch bass anywhere in the country,
under any water and weather conditions and against the
toughest competition in the nation. As most athletic
coaches know, preparation is the key to winning. This
week, we’ll talk with Brauer about how he prepares
to fish the Lake Champlain tournament, and what he does
to win.
Question: Denny, what baits will you use to locate
those concentrations of largemouth bass on Lake Champlain?
Brauer: I know that the largemouth bass will be relating
to heavy cover. On a lake like Champlain at this time
of year, they’ll be holding in vegetation. The
smallmouth bass will be holding on the outer edges of
vegetation and on points. The bigger largemouths will
be holding deep in the vegetation. I believe that any
type of flipping presentation will be better than fishing
moving bait. Therefore, my No. 1 choice of lures will
be the 1/2-ounce Strike King Flip-N-Jig. My second choice
will be the Strike King Flip-N-Tube. I plan to rotate
between those two lures and flip a lot of vegetation.
I’ll also be flipping willow trees and matted,
chewed-up vegetation that gets blown into any type of
area that collects vegetation. I love to fish under
shallow grass mats because
they can be good places to locate good largemouth bass.
If I find stained water, I may be able to catch some
bass on a spinner bait by fishing it through the milfoil.
I also can catch bass on top-water lures like the Strike
King Frog and the Spit-N-King.
Question: Denny, what type of water are you expecting
to find on Lake Champlain – clear or stained?
Brauer: In some places, the water’s so clear,
you can see down 15 feet. In other areas, you may only
be able to see down 1 or 2 feet. I know that there’s
been plenty of rain in this region before the tournament.
I also know that some of the creeks are running with
extremely-muddy water that’s so dirty it’s
not fishable. Today was our first practice day, and
the lake was windy. The wind was sweeping around a lot
of clay points, which dirtied-up many regions. Fishing
up here is a day-to-day game of strategy. If I were
to fish for smallmouth bass, I’d stay out on the
big lake where the water’s clear.
Tomorrow: What Type of Lures Will You Use to Catch
Largemouths and Smallmouths?
|