Entry 264-3
Fishing Isn’t Just About Tournaments with Chad Brauer
Editor’s Note: Becoming a professional fisherman means many things to different people. Most believe that a professional fisherman is someone who only fishes on the BASS Elite Series or the top division of the FLW. However, there are many-more jobs in the fishing industry than just being a tournament fisherman, and Chad Brauer has found a way to still compete as a tournament pro and have another career as a different type of professional angler. Brauer is the host of Academy Outdoors TV show, which airs on Fox Sports Net (FSN) Southwest and FSN SO.
Day 3: Fly ‘Em High on the King Shad
Question: Chad, what have you learned about fishing the King Shad this year?
Brauer: The King Shad looks as much like a live gizzard shad as any bait on the market. I don’t believe there’s a lure that looks more like a threadfin or a gizzard shad than Strike King’s King Shad. Now with the new Wake Shad, we’ve got a lure that’s got all the outstanding qualities of the King Shad, yet you can fish it on the surface. When the bass are on an aggressive pre-spawn bite, and when they move up into that shallow water in the early part of the spring, all the shad they see in that shallow water are full-grown adult shad. So, that’s the size bait they’re eating.
The King Shad looks exactly like the bait they’re looking to eat at that time of year. I also like the King Shad because it’s a hard-plastic bait, and there are a number of ways you can fish it. You can burn it (reel it really fast), reel it very slowly or work it like a jerkbait. Depending on how aggressive the fish are, you can match your retrieve to the mood of the bass.
Question: What color do you usually like?
Brauer: That’s another good thing about the King Shad and the new Wake Shad. There’s enough different colors that you can match the color of the Wake Shad or the King Shad to the color of baitfish in the lake you’re fishing. If the lake I’m fishing has a lot of gizzard shad, then I’ll fish a gizzard shad color. If the water’s a little clear, I like more-translucent colors. But you can’t go wrong, regardless of what lake you’re fishing, with the Sexy Shad color pattern. The Sexy Shad color works just about anywhere I fish it.
Question: What kind of retrieve is best for the King Shad?
Brauer: I try and change-up my retrieve throughout the day and let the fish tell me what type of retrieve they prefer. But the retrieves I use the most are reeling the King Shad as fast as I can and slow rolling or slow reeling the bait, so the King Shad is only 2 or 3 inches below the water and barely wobbles as it comes to the boat. I want the King Shad to move at about the same rate a spinner bait will move if I’m slow-rolling the spinner bait close to the bottom. The third retrieve I use is to fish the King Shad like a jerkbait. 
I reel it down really quickly, stop the bait, jerk it twice and then start burning it again to make the King Shad look like a scared or wounded shad. That type of retrieve has produced more big fish for me this year than any other retrieve I’ve used.
Question: How is the Wake Shad going to change the way you fish?
Brauer: The Wake Shad will make my fishing more versatile. I’ll be able to reel the Wake Shad over the top of grass much easier than I’m reeling the King Shad over that same shallow grass. Any time the bass are holding in really-shallow water, the Wake Shad will give us an advantage. When bass are in very-shallow water, usually a quicker presentation will solicit more strikes. With the Wake Shad, you can reel it really fast, and it will still stay up on the surface in really shallow water. With the King Shad, if you reel it fast, it will dive deeper than the Wake Shad. So, the Wake Shad fits a niche to catch those shallow-water bass better than the King Shad because of the speed at which you can reel it, while still keeping the Wake Shad close to the surface.
Question: What size line do you usually fish with the King Shad, and what size line do you plan to fish with the Wake Shad?
Brauer: I’ll fish both these baits on 14- to 17-pound-test monofilament line. Both these baits work best with a line that floats a little bit and has somewhat of a stretch to it. When the bass come up to the surface or near the surface to take the bait, you need to slow down your reaction time to make sure the fish has the bait deep in its mouth before you set the hook. Therefore, because monofilament has stretch in it, it helps to slow down the force of your strike and allows the bass to take the bait more before it feels the hook.
Contents:
- Part 1: It Ain’t Just About Tournaments
- Part 2: I’m Still a Jig Man
- Part 3: Fly ‘Em High on the King Shad
- Part 4: Strike King’s Best Sleeper Bait
- Part 5: Why and How Sexy Shad Works to Produce Bass
