Entry 106-5

Road To The Classic With Denny Brauer

Work Ethic - Key to the Classic

Editor's Note: In every season of tournament bass fishing, several events generally occur that either can make or break a fisherman's opportunity to participate in the biggest fishing tournament of the year, the Bassmasters Classic. This week, Strike King Pro Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Missouri, will share with us the times over this past year that he's been at the "make it or break it" point with the Classic, and what tactics he's used to ensure his place in this year's Bassmasters Classic.

Brauer:A reporter asked me why I believed I was able to consistently appear in the Classic year after year, and I had to think about the question for a minute. My answer was that I always tried to outwork the competition. I try to work really, really hard at not only being a fisherman, but at winning tournaments. I don't think that I fish smarter than a lot of the other competitors, but maybe I outwork some of the other competitors. For instance, I put in some awfully long practice days. My practice days start at first light, and I don't come off the water until dark. I notice that when I launch I rarely see any other vehicles in the parking lot. When I come in, the parking lot generally has few, if any, other vehicles in it.

During practice, I'm trying to figure out where the bass are living and what baits they will be taking during the tournament. When I go to practice, I don't have any pre-conceived ideas about the baits or the areas of the lake I'm going to fish. I let the water and weather conditions each day dictate my fishing strategy. I don't have any automatic strategy that I try to use when I go to a lake to practice. I want the fish and the weather to tell me what tactics will produce best on that lake on that day.

Someone asked me, "If you could only take five lures to the Classic with you to try to win this year, what five baits would they be, and why?" My first choice would be the Strike King Denny Brauer Pro Model Jig with the new chunk on the back. Second, I'd need a flipping tube, and third, I'd take a 1/2-ounce Elite spinnerbait. My fourth choice would be a Series 4S crankbait, and my fifth choice, a buzzbait. Then I was asked if I could only pick two of these lures to fish in the Classic, which two would I pick. My answer was a Strike King jig and a Strike King spinnerbait because both of these lures are very conducive to fishing heavy cover. The two main forages for the bass are crawfish and shad, and these two lures imitate those two forage species well.

However, I'd hate to think that I'd have to go to any tournament carrying only two lures in a brown paper bag. Going bass fishing is just like going into battle. You have to carry as much equipment as you possibly can with you to try to match the conditions you find each day and to be able to adapt and change as conditions change. Knowing when to switch locations, lures and strategies and tactics are basically the skills required to win a fishing tournament or a berth in the Classic. Above all else, being lucky and working hard have the most dramatic effects on your fishing.
 

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