Entry 35-4

When Strike King Saved the Day for Kevin VanDam

VanDam's Spinner Bait Secrets

Editor's Note: Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, is one of the most dominant anglers on the bass-fishing circuit. VanDam, a thinking man's fisherman, likes to fish with Strike King lures and particularly Strike King's Wild Thing, a creature bait that he used to win the 2001 BASS Masters Classic in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chosen Angler of the Year on the B.A.S.S. circuit in 1991, 1996 and 1999, VanDam also enjoys spending time with his family and hunting deer.

Question: Tell us some of your spinner bait secrets.

VanDam: I love to throw a big crankbait in summertime tournaments. A Strike King Series 6 is my favorite deep-diving bait. I catch a tremendous amount of bass with it. So often, after I stop getting bites at a point or in a piece of cover, I have a little secret that I like to do. I take the 1/2-ounce Strike King Premier spinner bait, which comes standard with a little No. 2 Colorado blade and a No. 5 willow blade on it. I will cut the clevis and take the front little Colorado blade off of it so I can make it into a single spin.

I'll take that big spinner bait and cast it on the end of that point where I've gotten a bite but haven't had any more fish to bite that spinner bait or crankbait. I'll throw the Series 6 out there and let it flutter down with tension on the line. I always let it drop with tension. When it hits the bottom, I like to rip it up. I'll put it on a long 7-foot rod. I'll rip it up real hard like I'm setting the hook and then follow it back down. It will flutter back down like a wounded or a dying shad to the bass. Bass that won't hit a Carolina rig or a jig or that crankbait down there can't turn down the fluttering action of that spinner bait.

I filmed a show in Mexico where I caught a 10-pound bass, a 9-pound bass, an 8-pound and a bunch of 5-, 6-, and 7-pound bass. I have five bass that made up a stringer of almost 40 pounds that I caught with a Series 6 I'd made into a single spin. It is just a deadly technique with this little modification that I make with our big 1/2-ounce spinner bait.

 

 




 

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