ROCKY BRANCH — An October breeze blew more like a gale at Beaver Lake on Friday. White-caps on the rough water would’ve driven most fishermen home.

Keith Brashers of Rogers revels in it. Wind is the main ingredient in his recipe for a good day of fall bass fishing at Beaver.

Mix in a shoreline with rocks and ledges. Add a handful of spinner baits and hold on tight.

Mr. Big Bass waits under the waves.

The blades of Brasher’s lure twirled underwater like the leaves blown from shoreline sycamore trees. Waves pounded boulders on shore while Brashers reeled in his first cast last Friday morning.

Then bam! A fish hammered the spinner bait.

“Look at that! A bass on the first cast,” Brashers hollered over the wind. It wasn’t Mr. Big, but a spotted bass of 2 to 3 pounds that Brashers carefully unhooked and slid back into the lake.

We were in the Big Clifty arm of Beaver Lake, between Rocky Branch park and Beaver Dam. It’s one of Brashers’ favorite areas for bass fishing, with miles of rocky shoreline and submerged timber perfect for autumn fishing.

Spinner baits imitate threadfin shad, the main food source for all game fish at Beaver. No wonder fish bite ‘em.

The three black bass species - largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass - feed more as the water cools.

Windy days are ideal, Brashers said, because the waves break up the surface and make things darker underwater. Overcast and breezy is even better. Bass move about more than on a calm, bluebird day.

The top fishing spots are banks where the wind is blowing into the shore, he coached. Wind pushes schools of shad toward the bank and stirs things upalong the shore.

“You want wind, but maybe not this much wind,” Brashers said, firing another cast in the 20 mph blow.

WHAT A YEAR

Brashers is one of the top bass anglers at Beaver Lake. He and fishing teammate Nicky Parson of Farmington won three major bass tournaments at the lake this year.

The duo won the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce Buddy Bass Tournament in May. A few weeks ago they won the Fishermen For Christ season championship.

Last weekend, Brashers and Parson savored victory at the Water Sports Association two-day championship. They used spinner baits at least part of the day in all three tournaments. Brashers is fond of the flashy spinner baits because they put fish in the boat and bread on his table.

He owns War Eagle Custom Lures in Rogers, where War Eagle spinner baits are hand-made and sold by the thousands around the nation. The company also makes jigs, spoons and other tackle.

On this breezy and cool Friday, Brashers tied on a War Eagle Screamin’ Eagle spinner bait. It’s the size of a small, one-quarter-ounce size bait, but weighs one-half-ounce. It can be cast farther.

In the fall, Brashers flings the lure close to the bank, then reels it in fast and about a foot under the surface. The speedy retrieve got Brashers bit by a spotted bass, then a smallmouth.

“Both those fish hit pretty hard,” he said, unhooking and admiring the 14-inch smallmouth.

On Friday, Brashers was practicing for the Water Sports Association tournament he and Parson would win. He wasn’t happy with the size of the bass he was catching, but the numbers suited him until the sun climbed high. Then fishing got tough.

On sunny days like this, Brashers recommends using a shad-colored spinner bait. The greenshad color marketed byWar Eagle proved a good choice last Friday in the 64-degree water.

Cloudy days call for a bright color like white and chartreuse. Any rocky shoreline is worth a try. Be sure to cast into pockets and around boulders, Brashers advised.

The low Beaver Lake level meant that some of the boulders he likes to target were high and dry on the bank.

Most days Brashers attaches a trailer hook to his spinner bait. The second hook rests behind the first to catch short-striking fish.

“On days when they’re really biting it you don’t need one, but why take the chance?” he said.

COLOR ABOVE, BELOW

A yap dog barked at us from a house on a ridge during our bass quest. Brasher’s rod bent and he was in business again.

“Here’s a keeper spot,” he said, swinging the 13-inch spotted bass aboard.

Beaver Lake’s clear water, particularly on its northern end, give fish bold, brilliant color.

The bass was pretty, all right, just like the trees on shore. So much for an autumn that was supposed to be a bust color-wise. This fall’s a dandy.

The woods above the water and the bass Brashers coaxed from below were a scene of fishing dreams.

Outdoor, Pages 6 on 10/25/2012