Entry 135-5

Kevin VanDam - How I Make Bass Bite

What About Soft-Plastic Lures

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, of all the baits we've talked about, the one type of lure you're least known for fishing is soft-plastic lures. Of all the soft-plastic lures that you fish, which is your favorite, and how, where and when do you fish it to make bass bite?

VanDam: I fish a lot of different types of soft plastics, but the Strike King tubes are so versatile and can be fished in so many different fishing situations, I have to say that the tube is the soft-plastic bait I rely on most to make bass bite. Strike King makes many different styles and sizes of tubes including Tube Craws, the Wild Thing, Bitsy Tubes, KVD Tubes, Denny Brauer Tubes. But the one thing that's common with all tube baits is that they have a very-erratic fall. If you just crawl a tube along the bottom, the tentacles of the tube will be moving. If you jerk it and twitch it fast just under the surface, the tube looks like a fleeing bait fish. The tubecan imitate so many types of forage that the bass feed on that you can pick out a tube to fish with under almost any type of bass-fishing condition. You can rig a tube Texas style and flip it in a brush pile. Then that tube will fall so erratic that it doesn't look like any other kind of bait.

With a plastic worm, you can flip it into a brush pile, the worm will fall straight down, and the tail will wiggle as it falls. But you can flip a tube into a brush pile 10-different times, and it will never fall the same way any two of those 10 times. That's why I like the tube bait so well. The tube has an erratic fall, it can be crawled on the bottom, and it can be fished just under the surface, in mid-water, over grass flats, down through cover or anywhere you think a bass may be holding.

If I'm fishing around heavy cover, I like to Texas rig the tube and use it as a flipping bait. I use a slip sinker, a No. 4/0 heavy hook and 20-pound test line, and I can fishit in the tightest cover I can find. If I'm fishing in open water, I'll put a tube on a jig head. You get a much different fall with a jig head than you do with a slip sinker. With a jig head, when the tube falls, it seems to spiral down to the bottom as a shad does when it's dying. The real key to fishing the tube is to make sure you let the tube fall on a slack line. That slack line is what causes the tube to have that swimming action as it falls. Whether you're using a jig head or a slip sinker, let the tube fall on a slack line. Ninety percent of your strikes on a tube bait will occur as the bait's falling.

Question: Kevin, do you peg your sinker when you Texas rig the tube?

VanDam: The cover determines whether or not you need to peg your sinker. My favorite way to fish the tube when I have it rigged Texas style is to put the slip sinker up the line, a glass or plastic bead below the slip sinker and then tie the line to the hook. Then I can give the tube that clacking sound that draws bass when the lead hits against the bead. I'll also insert a rattle in my tubes so they'll create more sound. Especially when I'm fishing in a thick cover, I've found that a rattle can make a big difference in the number of strikes I get while fishing the tube. I also put a rattle in the tube when I'm fishing it on a jig head. When I use the jig on the Great Lakes, and I crawl that jig along the bottom with the jig head, that rattle seems to make more noise and attract more bass than when I fish the tube without a rattle. I always want a rattle in my jig, especially when I peg the sinker to the head of the jig.

If I'm fishing really tight cover where I have to get the tube to fall vertically, and there are a lot of other limbs around that can cause my line to tangle if the lead fell away from the hook. Then I'll peg the sinker to the head of the tube. But pegging the lead to my jig head is my last resort tactic. I find that I catch more fish and trigger more strikes when I let the tube swim free and erratic than I do when I force the tube to fall straight to the bottom. So, yes, I will peg the lead to the head of the tube if I have to, but I really hate to fish a tubethis way. Remember, the erratic fall of the tube is what makes the bass bite. When a tube falls straight from the surface to the bottom, you lose a lot of the properties that makes the tube so effective.

Another reason that tubes make bass bite is because they can look so different from any other bait, regardless of where you fish them. Many bass fishermen haven't learned how to fish the tube under every bass fishing condition. But I've learned that I can often trigger strikes and make bass bite with the tube when my other lures have failed. The tube is highly versatile. It comes in a wide variety of styles and colors, and when you have to make bass bite, the tube is the lure on which you can bet.

Kevin VanDam - How I Make Bass Bite

What About Soft-Plastic Lures

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