Entry 110-5
Guntersville's Big Boost For Chad Brauer
The Five Lures That Got Chad Brauer to the Classic
Editor's Note: To make the Bassmasters Classic field is a major accomplishment for any fisherman, and Strike King pro Chad Brauer is excited about his opportunities at the Classic at Lake Wylie. The tournament circuit is grueling. The anglers often fish in bad weather, which means they must read weather and water conditions correctly and pick up on the changes in both, sometimes even on an hourly basis. Some years, because of a quirk of fate, bad luck or just not being able to find fish, some of the best bass fishermen in the nation don't get a Classic berth. This past season has been an amazing year for Brauer, who was in the race for Angler of the Year the first part of the season. Strike King asks Brauer which five events during this past year's tournament circuit does he consider the most important for his making the 2004 Classic.
Brauer: No one would go the Classic with only five lures in his pocket. That's the real reason that most tournament fishermen carry several hundred pounds of lures on board their boats when they're fishing a tournament and have another several hundred pounds of lures in their vehicles. However, if I had to pick the five lures that I considered the most critical for me being able to make the Classic this year, I'd have a difficult job, because I fish different lures at every tournament. No one single lure consistently produces bass for me throughout the entire tournament season this past year. However, here goes.
1) The Strike King Pro Model Jig consistently produces the most bass throughout the entire season for me. I don't believe there's a single tournament where I've fished the jig during every day of the tournament and caught bass. But I probably have weighed in more bass during the entire year on the Pro Model Jig than any other lure I've used. The color of the jig I fished changed with the color of the water. In two tournaments, the chameleon frog color, a brown jig, proved to be best. In another tournament, black and blue was the best color, and in another tournament, the Texas craw color seemed to be the color that the bass preferred.
2) The flipping tube produced a good catch of bass on the Harris chain of lakes in Florida on the first day of the tournament, and I also caught bass on Lake Eufaula in Alabama using the tube.
3) The Strike King Wild Shiner helped me to finish well at the Guntersville tournament, and I fished it during the entire contest. I also fished the Wild Shiner at Table Rock and caught bass on it.
4) The Strike King Premiere Elite Spinner Bait in the
3/8-ounce size was the spinner bait I fished the most this season. This lure would consistently add bass to my catch on just about every lake where I fished it. The spinner bait was especially good when I needed a slow presentation.
5) The Series 3 crankbait in the green crawdad color was really great on Table Rock, and I used it in several other tournaments.
If I had to pick the five baits that got me to the Classic, these lures are the ones I'd choose. My best finish was at Guntersville where I fished the Wild Shiner. I finished in fourth place and weighed in more and heavier bass than I had ever weighed in at a tournament before. At Table Rock I finished 11th, and these two tournaments were the ones where I performed best throughout the entire year.
Someone asked me if I could only fish two lures next season, what two lures would I take with me. My answer was that I would have to go with my two confidence baits, and I said those would be the Strike King Pro Model Jig and the Strike King flipping tube. I have a lot of confidence in these two lures, and I like to flip and pitch. Because you have different colors and various sizes of tubes and jigs, they are very adaptable in almost any lake in any type cover you want to fish - from deep, clear water to shallow, dirty water.
