SPINNER-BAIT TRICKS AND TACTICS OF THE PROS

Spinner Bait Versatility and Denny Brauer

EDITOR'S NOTE: According to professional bass angler Larry Nixon of Bee Branch, Arkansas, the spinner bait has won more national bass tournaments and more big-bass awards than any other lure in all the anglers' tackle boxes. "More professional anglers fish the spinner bait than any other big-bass bait on the tournament circuit."

The spinner bait is more versatile than most other lures in a tackle box. The spinner bait ...
* works in extremely hot weather and in very cold weather.
* catches big bass in shallow and in deep water.
* fishes effectively in muddy water and in clear water.
* produces bass when fished just under the surface, in mid-water and when crawled along the bottom.
* looks realistic in thick brush cover or when free-falled down a sheer rock bluff.
* catches largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass indiscriminately.

To learn some of the newest and best techniques for taking bass on one of the deadliest of all lures, I've interviewed some of the nation's most-outstanding professional anglers.

DENNY BRAUER:
Denny Brauer, 54, of Camdenton, Missouri, has fished in 17 BASS Masters Classic and won the 1998 Classic and the Angler-of-the-Year title on the FLW tour that same year.

In dirty water during the fall, Denny Brauer will use a spinner bait with either a big Colorado or an Indiana blade. "Those big blades will disturb a lot of water, and you can fish them slowly. When the temperature starts to cool down to the 50- to 60-degree range in the fall, you can't beat the effectiveness of the spinner bait, especially in off-color water. When I spot baitfish schooling on the surface in the fall, I'll downsize the blades on my bait. I'll reel the spinner bait really fast until it reaches the baitfish. Then I'll kill it, letting it free-fall through the schools of baitfish.

"In the early spring when the water warms up, I'll fish a spinner bait fast. If I'm fishing around grass, I'll use a 3/4-ounce Strike King spinner bait with a single No. 5 willow-leaf blade to come across the grass. I'll pause the bait and let it fall through the holes in the grass to the bass."

TOMORROW: GEORGE COCHRAN AND CHRIS DAVES