Entry 105-2
Five Critical Keys For Making The Classic by Kevin VanDam
Alabama's Lake Eufaula Was Good To Me
Editor's Note: Kevin VanDam, another of those Strike King Pros who consistently finds a way to earn a berth in the Bassmaster's Classic, looks back on this past year this week. The top point earner in the Elite 50 anglers for 2004, VanDam will tell us about the five defining moments in tournaments that have helped him earn the right to compete in the biggest fishing tournament of the season, the Bassmaster's Classic.
VanDam: When the tour left Guntersville, the next tournament was on Lake Eufaula in Eufaula, Alabama. This lake was perfect for someone like me who liked to cover a lot of water and find a lot of fish.
The bass were just at the end of the spawn when I went to Eufaula, and there were still a few bass on the bed. I decided on the first day that I was going to force myself to fish for those spawning bass. This technique wasn't one I enjoyed fishing, but I decided that if I was going to stay in the hunt for the Classic, I'd have to start flipping the beds.
I went into the area where I had found a number of females spawning earlier, and I caught a good solid limit there. Although most of the big females had already left, once I had that limit in my livewell, I knew I could go look for some bigger flipping fish up the river.
When I went up the river, I was flipping a Strike King KVD tube and was able to cull every fish I'd caught earlier in the morning. I used the KVD black-neon tubes when I was bed fishing in this clear water, because bedding bass seemed to like smaller tubes. I also added a rattle to the KVD tube, I just really believe the rattle helps when you are flipping bedding bass. When the bass are spawning, tubes are a really good bait to fish because they have a real erratic fall.
Then when I went upriver and started flipping, I flipped with the Denny Brauer flipping tubes, a bigger tube. In the area I was flipping, the water was stained so I needed a bigger tube to displace more water and to give the bass an easier target to attack.
The next day I followed the same pattern and finished the tournament in 20th place. These two finishes put me in a good, solid position to have a shot at the Classic, and I knew when we headed to Santee Cooper that unless I stubbed my toe really bad, I should be able to make the Classic.
Contents:
- Part 1: Lake Guntersville
- Part 2: Alabama's Lake Eufaula Was Good To Me
- Part 3: I Almost Lost the Classic at Santee Cooper
- Part 4: One of the Worst Tournaments I've Ever Fished
- Part 5: Don't Push the Panic Button
