Entry 40-3

Chad Brauer's Unique Fishing Techniques

Brauer's Fall Shallow-Water Tactics

Editor's Note: Thirty-year-old Chad Brauer of Osage Beach, Missouri, doesn't know what life without bass fishing would be like. He grew up in the shadow of his father, professional bass fisherman Denny Brauer. But Chad has begun to cast his own shadow in the world of bass fishing. He is one of the most-respected young fishermen on the tournament circuit trail and is definitely part of the future of bass fishing.

Question: Do you have any more unusual tactics, such as a different retrieve, bait or color?

Brauer: Well, there is a situation that always comes up in the fall when the bass move to shallow water and follow schools of baitfish. They'll hold on the bank with a lot of lay-down logs or docks or some type of cover that is horizontal along the surface of the water. Rather than fish a buzzbait or a spinner bait like a lot of people do, I'll tie on a Strike King 4S crankbait or a Strike King Series 1 -- depending on what size fish I want. Rather than the usual traditional retrieve of just reeling it in or just reeling and stopping, I'll reel the lure extremely slow to where it just crawls along the top of the water.

Basically, I fish for bass that other people wouldn't catch on a buzzbait. These bass won't come up and bite a fast-moving bait. This tactic has worked for me in places like the Potomac River where a lot of other people fish the same banks, and the fish see the same type of lures over and over again. I'll come fish behind people and basically just crawl that crankbait along the top. It almost looks like a snake swimming across. I'll give it a slow retrieve across the top, stop it and maybe give it a couple of quick jerks to jerk it underneath the water. I give the fish something different to look at. I know of a couple of other guys who use that retrieve. This technique is something I don't use very often, but it is something that I have used and caught two or three big fish behind other people on days when the conditions were right.




 

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