Breakdown to Success
Not Just Big Snapper Wins
 Editor’s
Note: Brian Bracknell of Mobile, Alabama, has fished
out of Orange Beach for most of his life. Two years
ago, Bracknell got a new boat, the “Crowd Pleezer,”
and decided to make charter fishing his primary business.
One of Bracknell’s unique characteristics is that
he’s learned how to snatch victory out of defeat.
In the 2006 Red Snapper World Championship, Bracknell’s
never-say-die attitude earned him over $5,000 and enabled
one of his anglers to catch the red snapper of a lifetime.
“What’s important to remember about the
Red Snapper World Championship is that the red snapper
isn’t the only fish that pays money in the tournament,”
Bracknell emphasizes. “You can win money with
triggerfish, beeliners (vermilion snapper), amberjack
and grouper. Once we find a reef that’s holding
fish other than snapper, I make a note in my log book
of what type of fish that reef’s holding. Then
after we catch our snapper, we can go to
the reef and put those additional fish in our cooler
to increase our odds of winning more money. We always
try to catch a variety of fish, including triggerfish,
beeliners and usually a few grouper and scamp. Our big
beeliners will weigh about 4- or 5-pounds each. These
are good eating-size fish, and they’re fun to
catch. When we’re fishing for big snapper however,
I always like to use live bait. My favorite live bait
is croakers or pinfish. But these baits are hard to
come by. Usually, we have to catch these baits, or we
can buy them from bait men. The state of Alabama has
a newly-adopted law that allows a live-bait boat to
have a permanent place of business like a barge anchored-up
at a certain area. The live-bait fishermen go out and
catch the live bait and bring it back to the barge.
The charter boats can get their bait from the bait man
before they go out to fish. The bait boat will usually
have pogeys, croakers, live shrimp and other baitfish.
On an average charter, buying live bait will usually
cost the captain $20 or $30.
“At the 2006 Red Snapper World Championship,
I knew I was going to have to be lucky to catch another
money-winning red snapper. Remember, here at Orange
Beach, you’ve got some of the best snapper fisherman
in the world. These captains fish all day and every
day during the season. They build reefs and they know
snapper, snapper fishing and snapper fishermen. Anytime
a captain and his boat places in the top 20 of this
tournament, he should feel really good about himself
because he’s competing against the best of the
best. I’ve often been asked, ‘How long do
you think you’ll be able to catch those big red
snapper like fishermen have for the past 3 years of
the Red Snapper World Championship?’ I think we
can continue to catch big snapper indefinitely because
all the entry fees go back to the fishery in the form
of building reefs and
lobbying for favorable snapper-fishing legislation.
Every year the tournament monies build 200 more reefs,
and the captains still are building some for themselves.
As long as we provide more habitat for the snapper every
year than they’ve had the year before, I don’t
see any reason why we can’t continue to catch
the big snapper.”
To fish with Captain Brian Bracknell, you can contact
him at (251) 471-2868, or (251) 379-8099. You also can
write him at Captain Brian Bracknell, 2405 South Vaughan
Drive, Mobile, Alabama 36605, email him at brackimk@aol.com
or visit his website, www.crowdpleezer.com. To learn
more about the Red Snapper World Championship, check
out www.orangebeachsnapper.com.
For more information on the Orange Beach area, go to
www.orangebeach.com
or call the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitor’s
Bureau at (800) 745-7263.
Tomorrow: Catching Amberjack
with Little Brother
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