Entry 156-3

Chad Brauer and How to Catch Bass at the End of December

Slow-Rolling Spinner Baits

Editor’s Note: Chad Brauer of Osage Beach, Missouri one of the hottest young fishermen on the bass-fishing circuit, has been fishing almost since he’s been walking and has been taught fishing by his father, Denny Brauer. Although Chad has had the good fortune of being under the tutelage of the one of the greatest bass fishermen in our day, he has developed his own style and techniques to compete against some of the other best bass anglers in the world. This week let’s learn how Brauer catches bass at the end of December.

Question: If you’re not catching bass on the Wild Shiner or the Pro Model jig, what’s another tactic you use?

Brauer: At this time of year, the weather and the water color dictate what baits and tactics will produce bass best. Often during December, we have freak warm fronts, and on those days, I slow roll my spinner bait. Also at this time of year, I believe bass are feeding on two types of bait, crawfish and dying shad. I believe the preferred bait is dying shad. I fish deep banks, bluff points or water that’s located over the edges of a deep grass line on some of the southern lakes. I like either a 3/4- or a 1-ounce Strike King spinner bait, usually with a white skirt. Often, I scale down the size of blades I’m using and only fish a No. 5 single-willow-leaf blade, because that blade will allow me to get down to the depths I want to fish faster and easier.

If I’m fishing a steep, rocky bank, I let the spinner bait flutter down, following the contour of the bank. If I’m fishing southern lakes with deep grass, I want the spinner bait to kick the top of the grass. If a cold front comes in, and I’ve been catching bass using the spinner bait and fishing the types of areas I’ve described, I’ll change the blade size and use a larger Colorado blade. Then the spinner will fall slower and give off a bump, bump, bump as I slow roll it. If I encounter stained water, I use that big Colorado blade. The bigger blades allow me to reel in the spinner bait slower, and it gives off a much-better-defined thump, than the smaller blades do.

I’ve also noticed that when I slow roll a spinner bait at this time of year, I catch some really-big bass. One of the reasons I like a single-spin spinner bait when I’m fishing in December is because I believe you can control a single-spin spinner bait better when you’re working it slow, than if you use a double-bladed spinner bait. Too, if you’re using a tandem-blade spinner bait and moving it really slowly, the front blade of the spinner bait isn’t turning very well and may have some dead gaps in its rotation.

Question: What color spinner baits do you fish at this time of year?

Brauer: Usually I fish either a white or a white-and-chartreuse spinner bait when I’m slow rolling during December. Most of the time I fish clear water, so the plain white skirt seems to work the best in this condition. I think the new skirts that Strike King has come out with this year have a little extra skirt behind the main skirt, which will prove really effective.

Chad Brauer and How to Catch Bass at the End of December

Slow-Rolling Spinner Baits

Next: Cold-Front Fishing

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