Entry 184-4

Denny Brauer On What’s New

Part 4: The Premier Plus 3/16-oz. Spinnerbait

Editor’s note: Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Missouri, longtime, avid bass angler, has fished professional bass tournaments for over 20 years. This week, Brauer will tell us about the new lures at Strike King, and how he uses them to catch tournament-winning bass.

Denny Brauer with Strike King Premier Plus 3/16-oz. SpinnerbaitQuestion: What makes the new Strike King spinner bait new and better?

Brauer: Much of the water across the nations is getting a lot of fishing pressure, especially in clear-water lakes. Therefore, on these lakes, downsizing your baits to smaller baits with smaller profiles will naturally get more strikes. But the smaller baits have to cast well, and that’s one of the big advantages of this new Strike King spinner bait. Because this bait is smaller than a 1/2-ounce spinner bait, it will appeal to smaller bass than the bigger bait does. But it’s not just a little bass bait. If you’re fishing on a lake that just has had a shad hatch, so there’s a large number of small shad, this size bait will probably catch more bass for you than a bigger bait will.

Question: How and where will you fish it?

Denny Brauer with Strike King Premier Plus 3/16-oz. SpinnerbaitBrauer: I’ll probably fish it in many of the same places where I’ll normally fish other spinner baits, but this bait will give the bass a different look. The size of the bait and the amount of vibration this bait gives will give the bass something else to look at that they’ve never seen before.

Question: If you’re going down the bank with Kevin VanDam fishing in front of you with a big spinner bait, will you fish behind him with this little spinner bait?

Brauer: If Kevin VanDam’s fishing the bank in front of me, I’ll get out of that spot and find me another bank to fish. Kevin isn’t the guy I want to fish behind with a spinner bait, if he’s fishing a spinner bait. I will fish behind him with a different technique, but Kevin’s such a good spinner bait fisherman, I won’t fish behind him. This lure gives you a different option.If Kevin’s fishing with a big spinner bait, you may can come behind him with a smaller bait and catch a few more than him. But fishing behind Kevin VanDam isn’t a scenario I want to fish.

Strike King Premier Plus 3/16-oz. SpinnerbaitQuestion: What pound-test line will you fish with this small spinner bait?

Brauer: Probably 10- to 14-pound-test line, unless I’m in a situation where I’ve found some big fish and I think I have to fish 20-pound test at the time. But remember, when you move up in line size, you won’t be able to cast that bait nearly as far as when you’re fishing with smaller-sized line.