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Angler Profile |
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This article
made possible by:
Brad’s family has a long history of bass
fishing in
In the early 80’s Brad met a gentleman who was
a partner with Ron and Al Linder and they became good friends.
Brad started to travel with the In-Fisherman and within a
period of 4-5 years he was fishing multi-species.
He feels he learned a tremendous amount of knowledge from the
In-Fisherman. Brad’s
friend retired and moved to The beginning of 2006 he was not having a good
season, although he typically he does very well.
This summer he was struggling, fishing hard, and fishing the
same way he usually does but this time it wasn’t coming together.
What he’d like to tell new fisherman and older tournament
anglers is if you just keep at it, keep poking your nose in there,
good things will happen. That’s what happened to him at Patoka was a new lake to him so he went down
there a month earlier and fished as a non-boater in a divisional
tournament to get a feel for the lake and what kind of fishery it was.
He saw the trees and all the milfoil and had some ideas from a
past experience he had fishing Redman tournaments.
The lake reminded him of Truman only it was smaller.
In the fall bass have a tendency to suspend so his thoughts
leaned towards crank baits and spinner baits.
During practice he used a DT3 flat Rapala, this was a new
shallow running crank bait that you can throw around trees and it
deflects very well with the square bill.
The pattern held up well. The
first day of the tournament he caught three fish, for thirteen pounds,
the second day he caught two fish for nine pounds and the third day he
had three fish for eleven pounds.
Basically his pattern was that you run into these coves off the
river channels and you look for wood or milfoil, for the structure in
the middle of the cove, not necessarily on the bank.
You run the bait into the milfoil and rip it for a reaction
strike. Brad had a chance to pre-fish for Nationals on
Guntersville. He says he’s not a rich man but like a farmer you
reinvest in the farm, so after the check he cashed at regional he went
to Guntersville over Thanksgiving week. He spent much of his time just
driving around the lake; it was extremely cold for Guntersville’s is a real great place.
He feels so fortunate when he is there. For someone that is so
passionate about bass fishing, he feels like he is in heaven because
there is so much history there. That’s
where BASS first started. You’re
putting your boat in where someone like Roland Martin, Rick Clunn or
Larry Nixon has been. He
feels just kind of giddy when he is fishing there, even if he isn’t
catching them. He had some
good days and some bad days and is very excited about returning.
He is looking forward for the opportunity to fish for the
$100,000.00 and a spot in the Bass Masters Classic.
He says if you can’t get excited about that, you can’t get
excited, because for a tournament angler that is the ultimate.
Minnesotans dominated at their regional.
Out of the top eight, five are from He feels Guntersville will favor Brad has a good job with Honeywell and is getting
close to retirement. He
has a very stringent workout routine, he works out five days a week,
trying to stay healthy to fish full time when he retires.
But he reminds us, you don’t quit your day job because when
you do, the fish will stop biting.
He does see himself fishing at a national level.
His favorite way to cover water during
tournaments is with crank baits. He
has won three major tournaments with this method.
Two back to back Shelbys and the Bass Master weekend Series
Regional. Totals in these
events equal over $150,000.00. Whether its lipless crank baits or deep diving crank baits, it suits his style of fishing. If it becomes a finesse tournament he says he will get his butt kicked because he says he is not a very good finesse fisherman. He doesn’t like doing it, it is his weakest link but he still practices. You practice your weakness and fish your strengths. He feels his strongest strength is power fishing. Brad would like to point out the new Rapala flat
sided DT3 is an awesome lure. The
DT3 is coffin billed, coffin shaped and it really jumps when it hits
wood or weeds. If there is
a new bait to try this year, the DT3 is the one. Brad thinks fishermen are good at finding other
fishermen and have a tendency to fish where other anglers fish.
He thinks the biggest mistake anglers make is to fish for other
fishermen rather than fish. “It
may sound like a broken record and we have all heard it before but do
your own thing’. He
would like to point out he has been there, he has hired guides and
tried other peoples techniques, but you have find a pattern that works
for you. When you do,
it’s like having the lake to yourself, there is not a better
feeling. Brad feels it’s important for family to know
where your heart is at and you have to be honest with yourself before
you can honest with other people.
If they can’t accept that, you will have change something,
you have to be true to yourself. It
can be very difficult; Brad sees a lot of people try to juggle family,
work and fishing and feels you have to take control of your life to
become the angler you want to become. You have to take care of
business at home before you can go to the lake. He feels one of the biggest things we need for
the Future of bass angling in The biggest tip he can give to anyone is to fish
for your own fish, practice your weaknesses and at tournament time,
fish your strengths. Please take the time to
visit some of Brad's sponsors: He’s also involved with numerous charity
fishing events over the years. Other Fishing Accomplishments: |
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Brad
feels in some of his pre tournament rituals he is a little over
organized.