Entry 32-5

When Strike King Saved the Day and Other Pertinent Fishing Information with Denny Brauer

Fishing In The Rain

Editor's Note: Fifty-three year-old Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Missouri, has competed in bass tournaments professionally for 23 years. He won the BASS Masters Classic in 1998 and has had 61 top-10 finishes. An avid angler of Strike King Lures, Brauer has helped Strike King design some of their most-popular products.

Question: What if you have a blue-bird day and a big rainstorm blows up and you have to keep fishing?

Brauer: For a lot of fishermen, this situation is a negative because they don't like getting wet and fishing in storm conditions. But from a fish's standpoint, this is a positive. The fishing should get better due to a drop in the barometer, causing the fish to feed more actively.

Obviously, you'll have more lures to choose from when fishing in the rain than when you're fishing with a blue-bird sky. I like bright skies because they eliminate many fishing tactics. Some of my favorite techniques work best when fish are tight to cover on those bright days. But when the clouds come in, the fish get looser (move away from the cover), and their strike zone becomes bigger.

People who aren't as good at presenting baits accurately to cover have greater odds of catching more bass when the strike zone gets bigger. The intensity of the rain and the water clarity determine where the fish will hold. In pouring rain when the water starts to get muddy, I look for stained water coming into the backs of pockets and coves. The bigger fish usually move quickly to run-off areas like this for better feeding opportunities.

Spinner baits are a good option in the rain. So is the buzzbait, if the rain is not too intense. The heaviness of the rain determines what I use. I prefer a top-water bait in light rain, but I don't like a top-water bait in heavy rain. In heavy rain, I fish below the surface and prefer a spinner bait.
 

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