Denny Brauer has fished 251 Bassmaster and 36 FLW Tour events since 1980. Only on a very few occasions has everything come together as well as it did at the recent Champlain Bassmaster Elite Series.
"There'll be times when guys are on the right fish to win tournaments, but they'll have their line break or they'll have fish pull off or any number of things happen. Really, all week, everything went almost perfectly for me. It's nice when you can take advantage of an opportunity like that to do real well."
The flipping master from Camdenton, Mo. notched his 16th tour-level victory with a 4-day total of 80-03. It was nearly 8 pounds more than runner-up Brent Chapman of Kansas and included a massive 23-04 sack on day 4.
Here's how he did it.
Practice
Brauer has made his reputation (and more than $2 million) primarily by catching shallow-water fish, so there was never any doubt that he'd focus on largemouths at Champlain. Even the smallmouth experts had a tough time getting on bronzebacks last week as they seemed to be in a post-spawn funk.
The water was about 4 feet above full pool and the shallow vegetation was brimming with bucketmouths. In spite of the lake's reputation as a smallmouth mecca, it was obvious that green fish would be the ticket to the top.
He spent the first of his 3 practice days in Ticonderoga at the far southern end of the lake, where Tracy Adams won the Champlain FLW Tour last month and Dion Hibdon averaged more than 20 pounds over the first 2 days of that event. He caught a 20-pound sack, so he stayed away for the remainder of the pre-fish period.
He traveled in the opposite direction to Missisiquoi Bay on each of the next 2 days, and liked what he found there as well. He'd had success up there in the past and had a good idea of where the top-quality fish would be.
"It felt a little bit better to me up there," he said. "There weren't as many boats, and on the third (practice) day I was able to expand on what I had there.
"Practice had been almost too good. I had to try to get some of that stuff out of my mind so I could focus on just a couple of areas."
He was one of eight Top-12 finishers who ended up fishing the same square mile of reed-laden water.
Competition
> Day 1: 5, 19-05
> Day 2: 5, 18-10
> Day 3: 5, 19-00
> Day 4: 5, 23-04
> Total = 20, 80-03
Brauer began the tournament with a specific plan that he thought would allow him to weigh a strong bag each day: He'd fish until he had 18 pounds, and then spend the rest of the day expanding his water.
It worked brilliantly, despite all the company he had in his general vicinity. He stayed close to the lead over the first 3 days, then whacked a tournament-best sack on day 4 to win going away.
He had to make a slight adjustment on day 1 because a steady north wind muddied up the area he'd planned to start in. That ended up being the only day that it blew from that direction.
"I relocated about a hundred yards and whacked them over there," he said. "Then when the wind changed to the south the next day, they were back to where I thought they would be the first day.
"Apparently the wind played a major factor in how those fish were positioned."
A Strike King Premier Pro Model jig tipped with a Strike King 3X Denny Brauer Chunk was deadly on Champlain's largemouths.
He fished his day-4 area, a patch of reeds and grass about 100 yards long, off and on over the first 3 days, but saved the heaviest of the heavy cover for the final day. On a day 4 that he described as "magical," he used a 3/4-ounce Strike King Denny Brauer Premier Pro Model jig tipped with a Strike King 3X Denny Brauer Chunk to catch 4-pounders on both of his first two casts.
Over the course of the day, he added a trio of 5-pounders that went to the scales with them.
"One of the keys for me was realizing there were a lot of big fish in that one patch of reeds. I really bore down and fished it slowly and methodically, and I was able to get quite a few of the better-quality fish.
"I started to penetrate the cover farther and farther as the tournament went on, and (on day 4) I ended up dead-sticking the jig a lot of times. I'd just let it sit and wait for one of the big ones to come pick it up.
"It was exciting wrestling them out of the reeds to get them to the boat."
Winning Gear Notes
> Jig gear: 7'6" Team Daiwa flipping and pitching rod, Daiwa X-Series casting reel (6.3:1 gear ratio), 60-pound Mustad braided line, 3/4-ounce Strike King Denny Brauer Premier Pro Model jig (black/blue), Strike King 3X Denny Brauer Chunk (black/blue flake).
> He also used a 1/2-ounce jig (same model and color) for vegetation that wasn't as thick and in clearer water. He threw it on 20-pound Mustad Thor, which he said will be introduced this week at the ICAST show in Las Vegas.
Notable
> Main factor in his success – "Having so much confidence in what I was doing and where I was doing it. I was really focused and I had a very efficient tournament."
> Although he'd fished Missisiquoi Bay in previous tournaments, he'd never hit those exact spots. "I'd been as close as 300 or 400 yards, maybe a little closer than that."
> He said he never got fewer than 20 keeper bites in a day. "And they were the right type of fish, quality-wise."
