Entry 97-4

Denny Brauer - Back On Top Again - The Heart Of A Champion

Day 3 - Lake Eufaula Tournament - Strategy Change

Editor's Note: Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Missouri, never fishes for second place. He always competes to win. Brauer has developed a strategy that has made him one of America's top professional-bass fisherman. In one year, Brauer earned $1 million in competitive bass fishing and endorsement money, made appearances on television and became the first professional angler featured on the Wheaties - Breakfast of Champions - cereal box. But in 1999, Brauer sustained a back injury that many believed would destroy his career.

From then until 2002, Brauer had several operations and many months of rehab that most thought would signal the end of his bass-fishing career. But Denny Brauer and his family never gave up. Brauer always has been determined not only to win bass tournaments but also to win at life. He stands today as an example of just how far a man can go when he won't quit. In March 2004, Denny Brauer won the Bassmaster Tour Tournament on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama, and took home $100,000 in prize money.

Brauer: On the third day of the Lake Eufaula tournament in March, 2004, I had so much spectator pressure and boat traffic on me that the even the ugly-water pattern wasn't paying off for me. I only caught one good bass and six more keeper bass that day. But I believe something I did was crucial to my winning the Lake Eufaula tournament. I pulled out of the area where I'd caught all the big bass and began to look for other ugly water and various sections of the lake. This kept all the spectators and the boat traffic out of my primary fishing site. Even though I only caught 11 pounds of bass on the third day of the tournament, I rested my primary fishing region so I could return to it and fish it on the fourth day of the tournament.

I really like the style of fishing ugly water because it allows me to fish my strength - which is jig fishing. The Strike King Pro Model jig, which I believe is one of the best bass lures in the nation, has won many tournaments for me and helped me place high in many more tournaments. It's one of my confidence baits. And with the new Denny Brauer 3X chunk, this bait will fall slowly and is the prefect silhouette of a crawfish. So, I was looking forward to using this lure in my best area for bass on the last day of the tournament.
 

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