Entry 126-4
Kevin VanDam on Strike King’s New Products
How Does a Tube Bleed?
Editor's Note: This fall Strike King has introduced a boat load of new products. However, the Strike King Pros have had the opportunity to fish these new products during this past summer before their introductions. This week Kevin VanDam will tell us what exciting new Strike King products he's fished and what he likes about them.
VanDam: The real secret to the Bleeding Tube is the way the lures are poured. These tubes are dipped in the red color first and then the other color is dipped over the top of the red, which makes the tube give flashes of red rather than being a solid red color. I think that flash is what attracts the bass and causes them to attack the tube.
Most other tubes that have red tails on them are just dipped in some type of dye after the tubes have been poured, which is a much-easier way of adding the red color to a tube. However, I don't believe that this method is as effective for attracting bass as the double-dip method that Strike King uses. I really think that the internal flash of red in the tube better attracts bass than a solid red-colored tail does.
I think once you take a look at the design and the color of this tube on Strike King's Website, you'll really be able to see the difference in this tube from other tubes. Too, you'll better be able to understand why I'm so excited about this tube. I've pretty much decided to use all Bleeding Bait Tails on my tubes this year because I really believe that I can see the difference in the number of bass I catch with the Bleeding Bait tubes as compared to the number of fish I was catching when I wasn't using the Bleeding Bait tubes.
For me, the performance of the bait under various fishing conditions dictates the lures with which I fish. If a lure looks good in the package, but doesn't produce for me when I need it to, then that lure isn't the effective tool I need to find and take more bass. So, my test is on the water where the lure has to do its job to stay in my tackle box.
My favorite colors are watermelon and chartreuse because they look so much like a sunfish or a perch. Black Neon, which is black with red metal flake with a red tail, is my number-one choice when I'm fishing in stained water. In clear water, green pumpkin is the color of tube I choose. There are two colors in the green pumpkin line - one with red and green metal flake in it and the other one just plain. When I'm fishing water that's between stained and clear, my favorite is the watermelon-copper craw or the dark melon perch.
If I'm flipping the jigs, I'll be using the No. 4/0 Mustad tube bait hooks. But if I'm fishing them with jig heads, I'll use the Mustad red hooks and pour my own jig heads. Red jig hooks are so new that very few companies have incorporated them into their new jigs. So, to get the style of jig heads that I want and to have a wide variety of different jig heads, I'm pouring my own jig heads. Strike King has red flipping jig hooks, but right now we don't have red tube jig hooks yet. But, I feel certain we will have them very soon.
Contents:
- Part 1: Six New Colors in the Bleeding Wild Shiner
- Part 2: Fired-Up About the Bleeding Premiere Elite Spinner Bait
- Part 3: Why I'm Hot on Chunks
- Part 4: How Does a Tube Bleed?
- Part 5: Diamond Shad: My Confidence Bait
