Entry 98-4

Denny Brauer And His Jigs

The Best Tackle for Fishing the Jig

Editor's Note: Denny Brauer is a legend in bass-fishing circles and has won so many fishing titles that people are in awe of him and his fishing ability. If you had to pick one bait that defined Denny Brauer, that lure would be the Denny Brauer Strike King Pro Model Jig that he helped to develop. When times are tough, Brauer relies heavily on the jig to catch bass and win tournaments. But what makes Brauer so deadly as a jig fisherman, and what can he teach us so that we can learn to fish the jig better? We'll try to answer these questions this week.

Question: What size line and rod do you use when you're fishing the jig, and why are you using that tackle?

Brauer: When I'm flipping and pitching, I'm always using my 7-foot Daiwa Flipping and Pitching rod and a Daiwa
bait-casting reel. The line varies a little bit, because I haven't totally figured out exactly what I want to do with the line. For the last few years, I've been mainly pitching and flipping with 25-pound-test, green original Stren monofilament line. I've been very happy with that line. But last year, Stren came out with Stren Super Braid, so I started experimenting with it. Now I find myself yo-yoing back and forth between these two lines. In the BASS Lake Eufaula Tournament I won, I used the 25-pound-test Original Stren monofilament. The next week at the BASS Santee Cooper Tournament, I used only the braided line.

Question: Why do you seem to be switching line every week?

Brauer: At the Lake Eufaula Tournament, I didn't really have to get the bass out of any heavy cover, but when we went to Santee Cooper, we were fishing in cypress trees. I had to have the strength in the braided line to get the bass out of the trees when they took the line. I was really glad I changed to braided line at Santee Cooper because I caught a bass that weighed 9 pounds, 7 ounces there. I'm convinced that the stronger line helped me to get the bass in. I'm using 50-pound-test braided line, and I know that that heavy line often has enabled me to get a big fish in the boat. I don't think I would have landed that almost 10-pound bass on 25-pound-test monofilament line if I were fishing it in the cypress roots. When I'm fishing in Florida, I'll move up in line size to 65-pound-test braided line to get the bass that I hook out of those heavy grass mats. Super Braid is the first braided line I've ever felt really comfortable fishing.

Question: Why would you use a 50- or 65-pound-test line to catch a bass? That strength of line is what deep-sea fishermen use in salt water.

Brauer: What you have to remember here is that 65-pound-test Super Braid is the same diameter as 17-pound test monofilament. So you actually have a thinner-diameter line when you're fishing in heavy cover with Super Braid than if you're fishing 25-pound-test monofilament. So the smaller diameter line helps to penetrate the cover better and allows the jig to fall more free than the bigger 25-pound-test line does. But there are advantages to fishing with both monofilament and Super Braid. My suggestion is that you match the line to the type cover where you'll be fishing the jig.
 

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