Entry 135-2
Kevin VanDam - How I Make Bass Bite
Change the Retrieve to Make Spinner Bait Bass Bite
Editor's Note: Thirty-seven-year-old Kevin VanDam, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, was the 2001 BASS Master's Classic Champion and won the BASS Angler of the Year three times. VanDam's a student of what makes bass bite, and he will share the information he's learned with us this week.
Question: Kevin, I know you believe the spinner bait is one of your strongest baits, and you fish it extensively. What are you doing to cause bass to strike your spinner bait?
VanDam: One tactic is my favorite to use, especially if the water is clear to stained. The first thing I do is determine where I think the strike zone of a bass is. For instance, if I'm casting to a dock, a rock, a bush or a stump, and I believe there's a bass holding on that piece of cover, then by knowing the water, the weather conditions and the time of the year during the spawning cycle, I should know about where the bass is positioned and about how far that bass will move away from that cover to take a bait. I define the bass's strike zone as the distance the bass will move from cover to take a bait.
When I cast the spinner bait, I want to cast past the strike zone and then start swimming the spinner bait toward the cover. Once the spinner bait gets within the bass's strike zone, I start speeding the bait up or speeding up my retrieve to make the spinner bait look like a frightened baitfish. Just as the spinner bait hits beside the cover, I stop my retrieve, kill the bait, and let it fall - just for a split second - and then I start my fast retrieve again. I believe fast retrieves and quick stops and starts right by the cover trigger bass to strike.
There's also another tactic I like to use when water is stained or dirty. I'm not as interested in the bass seeing the spinner bait as I'm interested in the fish hearing the bait. So, under those water conditions, when I'm retrieving the spinner bait into the bass' strike zone, just as I hit beside the cover, instead of killing the bait, I shake my rod tip. This action makes the skirt flare and causes the blades to change their rotation, which results in the bait's clattering and shimmying. When you change the rotation of the blades, you also change the sound that the spinner bait is making as it comes through the water. Anytime I'm fishing a spinner bait in a bass's strike zone, I'm going to give the spinner bait some type of erratic action.
Always remember when you're fishing a spinner bait through a bass's strike zone to never stop the bait and let the lure fall without keeping tension on your line where you can fseel the bait as it falls. If you do, the bass can suck the spinner bait into its mouth and blow it out of its mouth before you even know you've had a strike. If I'm letting the spinner bait fall beside some type of cover, I continue to slowly turn the handle on my reel, while keeping tension on the line. Then I can stay in contact with my bait and be prepared to set the hook when the bass attacks.
When I fish a spinner bait, I'm constantly experimenting with different types of retrieves to try and determine the right action to give the bait to make the bass bite the lure. Once I learn what type of retrieve the bass want in the lake I'm fishing, I continue to use the same type of retrieve to get the bass to strike the spinner bait.
Contents:
- Part 1: Why Red Makes Bass Bite
- Part 2: Change the Retrieve to Make Spinner Bait Bass Bite
- Part 3: Make Them Bite the Crankbait
- Part 4: Make the Bass Bite the Jerkbait
- Part 5: What About Soft-Plastic Lures
