Entry 188-1

How I’ll Fish the 2007 Classic with Denny Brauer

Part 1: What About February Bassing in Bama?

Question: Denny, what are your thoughts on fishing the Classic at Lay Lake in Alabama during February?

Brauer: I can’t say I’ve ever fished in Alabama during February in my life, with the exception of fishing Lake Guntersville. Yes, I do remember fishing a B.A.S.S. tournament on Lake Guntersville when George Cochran won the event with the jerkbait. I’m pretty sure that tournament was in February, but it could have been in early March. I don’t think it’s any secret that weather will play the biggest factor on where, how and when we fish. What makes weather so important is that none of the contestants have a clue if we’ll be fishing in 70-degree weather or 9-degree weather. We can have weather come in that will make the roads so bad we can’t even reach the lake. Without question, this will be one of the most-unpredictable Classics we’ve ever had.

On the first day of January, Alabama had an 11-degree wind chill factor. As a general rule, February’s colder than January. However, not every day in February is cold. You can have a week of 70-degree weather with 20-degree weather on each side of that 70-degree week. Who knows what the weather will be like when we get to Birmingham to fish the Classic. The bites may be few and far between, or we may get one of those nice, warm weeks with 65- or 70-degree days and have the bass moving into the banks. The real critical factor will be what the nighttime lows will be before and during the Classic. If the nighttime lows are 40 degrees or warmer, there will be plenty of bass caught. But if the nighttime lows are 35 or below, fishing may be brutal.

Question: Did you fish Lay Lake before the cut off date for the Classic?

Brauer: No, I didn’t. I fished Lay Lake when George Cochran won the Classic there in 1996. I also fished Lay Lake for the Mark’s Outdoors, a sporting goods store in Birmingham, Tournament and the tournament for Strike King. I’ve been on the lake 10 days in my life.

Question: Why didn’t you go to Lay Lake during the practice days?

Brauer: For several reasons. First, I didn’t think I’d gain any information that would help me in this year’s Classic. I would have had to go to the lake in November, and I doubted that the bass in February would be in the same spots as they were in November. I didn’t want to put any preconceived ideas in my mind before the Classic about how to fish Lay Lake in February. If you go to a lake a long time before you’ll have a tournament there, and you catch bass in several different areas during tournament months, later you’ll want to return to these same regions where you’ve found fish rather than fishing the lake with an open mind and looking for the fish, depending on the conditions you find at the lake, on that day. The memories of the fish you’ve caught will pull you back to the places where you’ve caught fish previously. If you don’t have those memories, you can fish with a much freer mind and make much-better decisions.

I actually thought about leaving all my rods at home, taking my boat to Lay Lake and just riding the lake to become more familiar with it again. But my life’s pretty hectic, and I don’t get a lot of free time. November’s in the middle of deer season, and I really enjoy getting away from fishing and doing some deer hunting. So, that’s what I did instead of going to Lay Lake and riding up and down the lake in my boat. I really didn’t know of anything I might have gained by going to Lay Lake. For me, riding that lake in a boat will be much like a writer rewriting a story he’s already written. I feel comfortable going to Lay Lake for the Classic, even though I haven’t pre-fished it, or put any time on that Lake before the Classic.

Next: What I’ll do in Bad Weather

Contents:

• Part 1: What About February Bassing in Bama?
• Part 2: What I’ll do in Bad Weather
• Part 3: Bring Out the Suntan Lotion
• Part 4: What Weather I’ll Pray For
• Part 5: Top Two Lures for the Classic