Entry 137-4

Bass Fishing with Chad Brauer

More on Fishing a Logjam

Editor's Note: How would you like to go fishing with one of the Strike King pros and have him coach you on how to fish different types of cover, which lures to use and which presentations to make to catch the most bass? For the next two weeks, we'll put you in the boat with Chad Brauer where he will operate the trolling motor as you stand right beside him. As we approach different types of cover, Brauer will tell you what type of lure to use and how to fish that specific kind of cover each day.

Brauer: The real secret to finding and catching bass in a logjam is learning where the bass are positioned in that logjam. If I've seen bass holding right under the sawdust (leaf debris, small sticks and limbs, bottles, jars and even pollen that create shade and cover out in front of the logjam) then once I get my jig out of the logs and right to the surface and am bringing the jig back to the boat, I don't quick-retrieve the jig. But instead I'll swim the jig just under the sawdust for the bass that may be holding under the debris instead of next to the logs.

You don't have enough information to consistently catch bass in a logjam by just knowing that you've got vertical and horizontal structure and warm water in and around that logjam. You have to know where and how the bass are positioned and relating to that logjam to consistently catch them. Many times, the bass will only hit the jig on the fall. At other times, they'll only hit the jig when you shake it on the bottom. On other days, they may only hit the jig after it comes up off the bottom and you shake it under a log in mid-water. And on another day, the bass may only attack the jig as it swims just under the sawdust on the way back to the boat.

Therefore, you have to fish every part of the logjam until you can determine how and where the bass are positioned on that day and when the bass will attack the jig, either on the drop when it's being shaken on the bottom, when you shake it in mid-water just under a log, or as it swims out of the sawdust.

Once you've established that pattern within a pattern, then you'll know where you're most likely to get a bite as you fish that logjam. I've found that once you determine where the bass are holding in the logjam and at what depth, you can go from logjam to logjam and target just that area of the logjam and consistently catch more fish. For instance, if most of your bites are coming as the jib is swimming from the log jam under the sawdust, then to catch the most bass in the shortest time, you may not even fish down through the logs.

You may cast your jig to the edge of the logjam and just swim it through the sawdust. If most of your bites are coming when you flip into a hole in the logs and the bait's falling, then you may want to flip the holes in the logjam, let the bait fall to the bottom if you don't get a bite. Then flip to the next hole. If most of your bites are coming when you shake the jig either on the bottom or just under the logs, then you'll know these areas are the most productive. Then that's where you should concentrate most of your fishing time.

You have to remember that as tournament fisherman, I'm on the clock, and I'm trying to put most of my fishing time in the areas with the techniques that will produce the most and the biggest bass during the time I have to fish. Therefore, it's important for me to spend the most time where I'm the most likely to catch the most fish in the shortest time. If you'll adopt this type of mindset when you go fishing on the weekends for fun, even though you're not fishing under the same type of time allotment that a tournament fisherman has to fish under, you can still use these tactics to increase the number of bass you catch on every weekend fishing trip.

Bass Fishing with Chad Brauer

More on Fishing a Logjam

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