Denny Brauer – Preparing the Tournament
What Type of Lures Are You Going to Use to Catch Largemouth
and Smallmouth 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, how will you find largemouth bass?
Will you look for stained water and vegetation? Or,
will you try to catch those largemouths in clear water?
Brauer: I know that to catch largemouth, I have to locate
colored water. However, from past experience of fishing
up here in New York, I know a few clear-water areas
that tend to have largemouth bass in them. But those
regions traditionally don’t hold them. I may only
get one or two bass out of those places. The famous
areas up here for largemouth are at opposite ends of
the lake, either the far northernmost or the southernmost
spots. These two ends of the lake are where the
majority of the largemouths are found.
Question: Idealistically, you’ll be looking for
stained water with vegetation, right?
Brauer: Right. I don’t want the water to be overly
stained. I just want it to be colored. The heavier the
vegetation is, the better my odds will be for pinpointing
and catching largemouth bass.
Question: Will you still be flipping if you find the
largemouths?
Brauer: Yes, that’s the way the majority of largemouth
are caught on this lake, and that’s the tactic
I’ll be using.
Question: What color jig and tube will you be fishing?
What pound-test line will you use? How will you fish
those baits?
Brauer: My line of choice is Mustad 25-pound-test Thor
Line for my jig. When I’m fishing a tube, I’ll
be using a No. 4/0 Mustad tube hook with a 3/8-ounce
Tungsten weight up the line. I’ll be using either
a black-and-blue or a black neon Strike King Flip-N-Tube.
Question: What color jig will you use?
Brauer: The Texas Craw with a bit of chartreuse on it
makes my bait look like a bluegill or a perch, especially
when I put a green pumpkin Strike King Chunk behind
it, which is what a lot of bass feed on that hold in
the grass. I’ll be more or less trying to match
the hatch. Of course, I’ll also have a rod rigged
with my standard black-and-blue jig.
Question: If you fail to get the largemouth bass to
bite, what will you do to catch the smallmouth bass?
Brauer: The good news about the smallmouth is that you
can catch them in a variety of ways. Obviously, you
can move out to deep structure on reefs where smallmouth
concentrate. I’ll fish the Strike King KVD Pro-Model
Tube, which is smaller than the Flip-N-Tube. I’ll
fish chartreuse it on a jighead with an open hook. I’ll
be using either Mustad 8- or 10-pound-test Thor Line.
I’ll be fishing 15 to 23 feet in that clear water.
That’s one way to catch them. Another way to catch
them is with a football head jig while trying to do
the same thing. Alternatively, you can get on the rocky
points in shallow water and burn a Premier Elite spinner
bait through the water. I’d be fishing chartreuse-and-white
possibly with chartreuse blades on a spinner bait. You
also can catch those smallmouth bass using top-water
bait like the Spit-N-King if you want to fish top water.
You have to let the water and weather conditions dictate
the bait and the way you fish it each day. Right now,
in July 2006, this lake is extremely high. Therefore,
those structures and spots will have more water over
them. That high may push those smallmouths that have
been holding on structure closer to the bank.
Question: Denny, when you’re fishing that spinner
bait for smallmouths, what kind of trailer will you
use?
Brauer: I’ll be fishing the Strike King Premier
Pro-Model with the Perfect Skirt and the trailer already
attached. Remember that the Perfect Skirt has a built-in
trailer because of some of the strands of the skirt
being longer than other strands. That trailer also causes
the bait to pulsate. Therefore, my days of using a trailer
on a spinner bait are over as long as I can fish a Perfect
Skirt.
Question: Do you think the Perfect Skirt is more effective
than a trailer?
Brauer: Oh yes, the Perfect Skirt makes the bait cast
better, move through the water better and has a better
action than a spinner bait with a trailer. I know that
the Perfect Skirt and the trailer hook both allow the
fish to get hooked better.
Tomorrow: Managing Your Bass
and Dealing with the Weather
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