Denny Brauer was the best in the 13-angler field after day 1 of the Busch Shootout at Grapevine Lake, Texas. He and the other Top 4 anglers (Ish Monroe, Kevin Wirth and Fred Roumbanis) advanced to fish day 2.
The four anglers enter a match-style format. Brauer goes head-to-head against Fred Roumbanis, with Ish Monroe vs. Kevin Wirth. The two winners of the Saturday-morning brackets fish Saturday afternoon. The angler who catches the heaviest weight wins $100,000.
Brauer said he caught his first two fish Friday morning on a Strike King buzzbait and caught the rest pitching a Strike King jig with a Strike King Denny Brauer 3X Chunk. His best fish all came from the same spot.
"I thought I had enough, so I didn't want to go back to my key area and beat it up," he said. "Then I got to thinking and said, 'This could be stupid. These guys are all good fishermen.' So I went to my area and there were three or four guys in there. (On) my second pitch, I caught a 4-pounder. Then I left, because I didn't need to be beating it up."
