Entry 278-2

Kevin VanDam and the Creation of the Sexy Shad, the Burner and KVD Perfect Plastics

Part 2: What Puts the Sex in Sexy Shad

Question: Kevin, Strike King prides itself on having its professional fishermen, like you and the other Strike King pros, involved in designing the lures and the colors they bring to the market. Tell us about the baits you feel you’ve been the most involved in developing, improving and marketing.

VanDam: Since I started working at Strike King, one of my major responsibilities has been research and development of new lures. So, I’ve been involved in the development of many lures over the years. When I say involved, I mean helping pick colors and color patterns as well as designing bodies, heads and component parts and determining niches in fishing that needed a different lure to help solve a problem for fishermen.

However, the most involved I’ve been in any lure has been developing the Sexy Shad color and determining how to integrate that color into as many Strike King products as we can. Sexy Shad has proven to have one of the greatest impacts on bass fishing as any color that’s come to the marketplace. Sexy Shad has become a phenomenon. More anglers are fishing it, and more fish are being caught on the Sexy Shad-colored baits than any color I’ve seen in recent history.

Question: How did you come up with that color?

VanDam: First, we must realize that shad is a primary forage fish on every body of water where they appear. For years, there have been a number of different shad colors produced by various lure manufacturers. But I’m very meticulous about bait colors, and I really wanted to develop a color I felt looked more like a shad than any other color on the market. Too, I wanted to develop a color that could be used in a wide variety of lure types. My thought process was if I would be developing a color that really looks like a shad, then that color should be able to be adapted to a wide variety of lures designed to imitate shad, including crankbaits, spinner baits, spoons and other types of lures. I started with crankbaits because we use crankbaits a lot in the spring, the summer and the fall to imitate shad.

Much of our fishing is in the middle of the nation, and I wanted a shad pattern that would not only work in that region, but also would catch bass in northern waters and extreme southern waters. I wanted to develop a color with a glow in it like the shad. I experimented with this color on the Tennessee and the Coosa rivers because those bodies of water have a green tint like you’ll find in many areas of the country. When you put that bait in that color of water, it really has the look of a live shad. That was the initial Sexy Shad color.

Too, I knew there needed to be variations of that color for water that’s more stained and more clear. So, we’ve come out with three or four-different versions of the Sexy Shad color designed to match a shad’s color in varying water conditions. However, the original Sexy Shad color is probably the most-universal color you can fish anywhere, under almost any water conditions, and that’s the color that’s had such an impact on the fishing market.

Next: Take the Red Eye

Contents:

• Part 1: How the Strike King Pros Help Develop Strike King Lures
• Part 2: What Puts the Sex in Sexy Shad
• Part 3: Take the Red Eye
• Part 4: Perfect Plastic for Perfect Baits
• Part 5: The Burner and the Bottom Dweller