Entry 254-4

Tournament Fishing at Lake Murray with Kevin VanDam and the New Strike King Shadalicious

Part 4: Day Three of the Tournament

Question: Okay, Kevin, you made the 50-cut by moving up 20 places from 47th to 27th place on the second day. What were you thinking on the morning of the third day of the tournament?

VanDam: I knew I’d need a really-good day of bass fishing to make the 12-cut for the final day of the tournament. The weather forecast was for a cloudless sky and no wind. That’s the toughest conditions you could have when you fish a herring spawn. There wasn’t even a ripple on the water when we started fishing that day. I fished my first spot and didn’t get a bite. I fished my second spot and didn’t get a bite there either. Finally, I caught a 3 pounder on my third place, and that was the only bass I caught that morning.

I knew I’d have a tough day catching bass to make that 12-cut. After that, I started finesse fishing and caught a 1-pound keeper on the Strike King Finesse Worm fished on the Shaky Head jig. By 9:30 am, I had two bass. I realized I’d have to fish a different pattern to get these fish to bite. I changed to the Strike King Zero on a spinning rod with 8-pound-test line. I rigged the Zero Texas style, cast it out almost to the bank and swam it back to the boat. I made the bait dart back and forth on the surface to resemble a baitfish.

When I switched to the Zero, I caught a 3 pounder, and on the next cast, I caught a 4 pounder. I thought to myself, “Kevin, you’ve got the fish figured out now. It’s 12:00 pm, you have four fish in the live well, and three of those four bass are good ones.” So, I fished the Zero for another 2 hours and didn’t get another bite on it. Then, I told myself, “Kevin, maybe you don’t have these fish figured out.”

I saw a number of bass and had them following the Zero, but I couldn’t get the bass to take the bait. I noticed that occasionally, there would be a gust of wind, which would put a small ripple on one of these points. So, every time I saw a ripple, I’d run to it and cast the Zero and the Shadalicious to try and get a bite. Finally, I caught a 4 pounder on the Shadalicious off one of those points with a little ripple on it. That was my fifth bass, and it came late in the day. I had only one more bite that day.

I saw a 5 pounder cruising down the bank and threw the Finesse Worm with a jighead. The bass swam over to the Strike King Finesse Worm and ate the bait. I set the hook, but the bass came off the lure. If I could have brought in that 5 pounder, I could have culled that 12-inch bass and had a pretty-good stringer. But, I finished the day with a 16-pound limit and moved up to 11th place. I squeaked under the wire to make the 12-cut and be able to fish the final day.

Next: The Final Day of the Tournament

Contents:

• Part 1: What I learned in Practice
• Part 2: The First Day of the Tournament
• Part 3: The Second Day of the Tournament
• Part 4: Day Three of the Tournament
• Part 5: The Final Day of the Tournament