Entry 59-5

Kevin VanDam - Lures That Got Me To The Classic

Jigging His Way To The Classic

Editor's Note: Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, never has missed a Bassmaster Classic since beginning his professional bass-fishing career. He hopes to repeat his 2001 Classic win in New Orleans at the 2003 Classic, the 13th Classic in which he has participated. This week VanDam will tell us about the lures that have gotten him to the classic, how he’s fished them, and how they’ve helped him return to the biggest bass- fishing tournament in the world, the Bassmaster Classic.

VanDam: The Strike King Premier Elite Jig played a critical role in my earning enough points to go to the Bassmaster Classic this year when I fished with it in the San Joaquin Delta and at the last tournament of the year held in Montgomery, Alabama. I caught most of my fish in Montgomery on the jig because the river was flooded, and I had to depend on the jig to do well in the tournament. Since the Alabama River ran through Montgomery, I had to use basic river tactics to catch bass in the last tournament of the year.

Because the river was high and muddy, I was fishing a jig down the bank, around lay-downs, stumps, rocks or any other type of cover that was visible from the surface. I was catching most of my bass behind the cover or as the bait passed in front of the cover. So much current came down the river, I caught some big spotted bass holding beside and behind these visible current breaks. Under these conditions, I was fishing a 1/2-ounce Premiere Elite Jig in the black-and-blue color. I was field testing one of the new rabbit-eared 3X trailers that Strike King has developed and just brought out. This swimming-type chunk trailer didn’t even have a name yet. This trailer had a big profile, moved a lot of water and had a great swimming action.

I couldn’t leave out the Strike King Wild Shiner when talking about the lures that helped me make the Classic this year. When we were fishing Lake Hamilton in Arkansas, the Wild Shiner helped me to catch bass and build points for this year’s Classic appearance. In this tournament, the bass were on a post-spawn pattern and they were descending around the docks. I used the Wild Shiner Jerkbait down the sides of docks and on the corners of the docks to pull these suspended fish up and get them to attack my lure. Although I did catch a few fish on the Wild Shiner fishing it down the banks, most of the bass that went to the weigh-in were caught around docks. I used a black back with chrome sides and the natural shad patterns of the Wild Shiner.

This year has been extremely tough for me. All the competitors have had to fish in very bad weather conditions, and bass have been hard to catch this year. I feel like I’ve had to work harder than I’ve ever had to work in my life to qualify for this year’s Classic. We’ve faced every kind of bad fishing situation an angler can this past year. We’ve had to fish floodwaters, cold weather, windy weather, etc. Although I won the Classic in 2001 in New Orleans, which is where we’ll be fishing this year, the fishing conditions will be different in 2003 from 2001. Because we’ll be fishing in August, the water will be extremely hot. The tactics I believe that will win will be flipping to any shade you can find. The Strike King Premiere Elite Jig, the Strike King Tube and the Strike King 3X Ribbon Tail Worm are going to be my go-to baits. I think the Strike King 3X Ribbon Tail Worm will produce a lot of bass for me this year. Although no one knows what lure or what tactic will win the Classic, you can be sure I’ll be betting on Strike King to win it for me.




 

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