Entry 365-3
Expected to Win at Bass Fishing with Kevin VanDam
Editor’s Note: Very-few fishermen have reached the heights in competitive fishing that Strike King’s own Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has. Rarely is as much expected of a tournament fisherman as there is of VanDam. We wondered what living in this bubble was like and talked recently with VanDam.
Part 3: Kevin VanDam’s Success with the Strike King 6XD Crankbait
Question: Kevin, you’ve really done well with the new Strike King Series 6XD this year. Why?
VanDam: I’ve contributed to the designs of a number of baits with Strike King, but there’s not a lure I’ve invested more time or input in than the Strike King Series 6XD. I wanted to make sure we had the total package in a deep-diving crankbait with this lure. I also wanted to be certain that this bait was the deepest-diving crankbait we could produce, and that it would also cast well. I also wanted to make sure that when the 6XD was retrieved, the lure didn’t pull so hard that you couldn’t feel its action or the bottom structure into which it bumped. Finally, I wanted the 6XD to have great action, so that when you reeled the bait along a 10- or a 20-foot bottom, it would perform properly.
The 6XD has all those attributes, and they all work together as a great lure. It took us a couple of years from the first prototype to finally develop the lure we could get into production to make sure it was the right size, it was weighted correctly, and it would run true. The 6XD is the only deep-diving crankbait a fisherman needs in his tackle box. 
At the tournaments in Lake Guntersville in Alabama and Kentucky Lake in Kentucky, 90% of the competitors fished a Strike King 6XD, regardless of who their sponsors were. The Strike King 6XD has taken the tournament bass-fishing world by storm.
Question: What color do you like best in the 6XD?
VanDam: I choose the color of bait I’ll fish based on the water clarity of the lake I’m fishing. To be honest, I’ll have a hard time finding a color I like better than the Sexy Shad. Every day, anywhere and any time, the Sexy Shad is my go-to color.
Contents:
- Part 1: Kevin VanDam Only Worries About the Things He Can Control
- Part 2: Kevin VanDam and His Two-Horse Race on the Bassmaster Elite Circuit
- Part 3: Kevin VanDam's Success with the Strike King 6XD Crankbait
- Part 4: Kevin VanDam Explains Why There Are So-Many Colors of the Red Eye Shad
- Part 5: Kevin VanDam Looks into His Crystal Ball at Strike King's Future
