Entry 360-3
Professional Bass Fisherman Chad Brauer Fights for $47,000 and Wins on the Red River in 2010
Editor’s Note: Chad Brauer of Osage Beach, Missouri, recently won the Bass Pro Shops’ Bassmaster Central Open on the Red River near Shreveport, Louisiana, taking home a check for $47,000. This win was great for Brauer, who took time off from professional fishing to work on a fishing television show. But Brauer has proven that he’s back with a vengeance. This week, we’ll look at how, like most Strike King pros, Brauer has bounce-back ability.
Part 3: Chad Brauer’s Second Day of Competition on the Red River – the Rage Thumper Worm, the Rodent and the 4S Crankbait
Question: Chad, what happened on day two of the tournament?
Brauer: I was next to the last boat to leave, and I didn’t have any other place where I could catch bass. I knew I’d have an uphill fight to get into that oxbow, but if I could get in there, I’d have a chance to win. As I was running up the Red River, I could see by the water marks on the bank that the Red River had dropped about 6 inches. So, I’d have to fight my way back into that creek to get into the oxbow. When I finally reached the oxbow, I caught about 17-1/2-pounds of bass. Because I’d left in a late flight, I had plenty of time to fish the oxbow. When I ran back and started fishing Port Lake before check-in time, I caught a 4-1/2-pounder that bumped my five-fish weight up to 19 pounds. All my bass weighed about 3-1/2- to 4-pounds each.
Question: Did you still just fish the Strike King Rodent and the Strike King 4S?
Brauer: No. As soon as I reached the oxbow, I started fishing a white-colored Strike King buzzbait. When I went back to Port Lake, I caught bass on the 10-inch Rage Thumper Worm. But all the other bass were caught on the Rodent and the 4S.
Question: What was so difficult about getting in and out of that creek that led to the oxbow?
Brauer: Getting-in was the real problem. On the second day, the water in the creek was less than 2-feet deep, and I had to travel 1 mile in that skinny water. Then, I had to fight my way through a few logjams in the creek. It was more effort the second day than the first. Coming out of the creek wasn’t a problem, because I had the current pushing the boat. When I left the creek the second day, I kissed it goodbye, because if the water continued to fall out of the oxbow, I wouldn’t be able to get up that creek on the last day of competition.
But the competitor I saw in the oxbow wasn’t there the second day. I had the oxbow to myself. 
I knew that if I could get into that oxbow the third day, more than likely, I’d catch another big bag of bass. The Rodent and the 4S definitely had those bass dialed-in. Every day I’d been able to fish new water, and there were plenty of bass in that oxbow.
Question: In what place were you at the end of the second day of the tournament?
Brauer: I was in first place and had about a 5-1/2-pound lead over second place and a 10-pound lead over third place. I felt pretty good about the place I was in, but I was worried about getting back in that creek on the last day, because other than that oxbow, I didn’t have a place to fish.
Contents:
- Part 1: Chad Brauer's Secret Place on the Red River
- Part 2: The First Day of Chad Brauer's Competition on the Red River - Rodent and the 4S
- Part 3: Chad Brauer's Second Day of Competition on the Red River - the Rage Thumper Worm, the Rodent and the 4S Crankbait
- Part 4: Chad Brauer Tells About His Final Run on the Red River
- Part 5: Chad Brauer's Final Fight on the Red River's Skinny
