Entry 35-5

When Strike King Saved the Day for Kevin VanDam

VanDam's Favorite Bait Flipping Bait

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: What is your favorite Strike King bait?

VanDam: One of my favorite lures for pitching and flipping is a Strike King Wild Thing. It helped me win the BASS Masters Classic in 2001. It is a real versatile creature-type bait. I like to modify the bait a little bit. This tube-style bait has wings and flappers on it. It works great as a swimming presentation with those legs on there. I like to cut those front two wings off to make its head into a long 5-inch bulky tube.

It has that real dirty fall when you put it with a heavy sinker. I'll put a 3/8-ounce sinker on the head of it with a big hook. I'll put it on a flipping stick with 20- or 25-pound-test line and pitch it out there with that heavy sinker. It has that real quick fall. Even in real shallow water, the bass just can't stand it. They have to react to it.

Question: You used this tactic at the Classic?

VanDam: That is exactly what I did to win the 2001 BASS Master Classic.

Question: You had fished it with all the flappers on it and everything first didn't you?

VanDam: I tried it, and I just felt like I needed to make the profile a little bit smaller or make the bait a little bit more erratic so the fish would react to it. In the Classic, the bass were around clumps of grass and isolated targets. I would pitch it out behind the target, pull it up to it real quickly and then let it fall right next to where I thought the bass were. That way, it just had that real quick erratic drop to it. The bass just reacted to it and put it in their mouths. They didn't even think about it.




 

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