Entry 251-3

Fishing Lake Amistad with Denny Brauer

Part 3: Proud to Be a Jig Man

Question: Denny, your first day of competition was cancelled because of weather. So even though this was day 3 of the tournament, it was counted and fished as though it was day 2, and you had to make the 12-cut to get the fish on the last day. So what did you do?

Brauer: I realized pretty early in the second day, that the high-pressure system that had moved onto the lake had more or less turned off the big-fish bite. I still caught and released 50 bass on this second day of the tournament, but I had really struggled to try and catch bass until the afternoon. I only had one really quality fish. So with 20 minutes left of fishing time on the second day of competition, I moved to a spot where I caught a really-big bass during practice, and I caught a 4 pounder and a 3 pounder there to upgrade my string. Because of those last two fish, I was able to make the 12-cut.

Question: Did you fish the jig the entire tournament?

Brauer: No. I fished the Shadalicious some to try and generate a big bite. When I’d get to a tree that looked promising or the edge of a break where I thought a big bass might be holding, I’d fish that Shadalicious. However, I was never able to get the swim bite going. So every fish I weighed-in was caught on a Football Head Jig.

Question: Denny, you’re known as a jig fisherman. Are you ever concerned that being a one-lure type of angler may hurt your fishing and prevent you from being as good and versatile of a fisherman as you could be?

Brauer: Well…when I look at the fact that my bank account is in pretty good shape…. no, I don’t really mind being known as a one-lure fisherman. I’ve been extremely successful throughout my entire career, and I do fish other lures, but my money lure is the Strike King jig.

Question: So, what place were you sitting at in the second day of competition?

Brauer: I had dropped from 7th place to a tie for 11th place.

Question: What were your thinking after the second day of competition and looking forward to the last day?

Brauer: I knew that there were plenty of big bass in the area I had chosen to fish. I was just hoping that on the final day of competition, I could convince those big fish to bite. One of those 2 pounders that I reeled in on the second day of competition had two giant bass following him, trying to eat him, but I never could trigger a strike from those big bass. I was hoping on that last day of competition that I could find a pod of those big bass, and somehow activate them into feeding. I knew I had dug myself a pretty-deep hole by not doing better on the second day, but I also knew that if I could find one of those schools of giant bass and convince them to bite, I still might have a shot at a win.

I knew that as a tie for 11th place, points wise, I could do nothing but move up. I was not going to fish conservatively since I was going for broke on the last day, I fished a lot of new water. I even went to my honey hole I was saving for my last day, and although I caught a lot of fish, I didn’t catch the really-big fish. I finished the day weighing in five, 4 pounders and didn’t have a single kicker fish. Anywhere else, 4 or 5 pounders would be a great day of fishing, but it wasn’t enough to win the tournament at Lake Amistad.

Next: Fish Magic Trees with the Shadalicious

Contents:

• Part 1: Try the Ledges and Drop-Offs
• Part 2: Let it Fall
• Part 3: Proud to Be a Jig Man
• Part 4: Fish Magic Trees with the Shadalicious
• Part 5: What I Learned at Lake Amistad