Entry 303-3
Kevin VanDam’s Shaky Heads $100,000
Editor’s Note: When Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, looks at a lake where he’ll be competing, he figures out the obvious pattern on that lake for the tournament. VanDam predicts where most fishermen will fish and then develops a pattern and a strategy using the Strike King lures that most fishermen don’t use. With his most-recent win at Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Virginia, VanDam now has 15 victories on the BASS Elite Series and is approaching $3.5 million in bass career earnings. After his victory, VanDam said, “This was just one of those magic weeks where everything fell into place. I’m just really proud of the decisions and the adjustments I made.” Let’s look at the strategy and the lures VanDam used in this tournament that may help us learn how to find and catch bass better each time we go to the lake.
Part 3: Catching and Cruising
Question: Kevin, what was your game plan for the second day of competition?
VanDam: I’d caught most of the better-quality bass I’d seen on the first day of competition. When I realized I could find and catch smallmouth, I decided to run the same type of pattern I fished on the first day, but go to new water that I’d never fished before. When I’d find a smallmouth, I’d try to catch it. By 11:00 am, I had a limit with three, 3-pound smallmouths. So, I kept looking for better-quality bass to upgrade my limit.
Too, I saw a number of bass cruising the bank, looking for a place to spawn. I caught two big largemouths by looking on flat points on the main lake. I stayed well away from the bass and made long casts. I have to give credit to my Oakley sunglasses for allowing me to see those bass whether they were cruising or lying on the beds.
Question: How did you catch the cruising bass?
VanDam: I’d make a cast in front of the bass, so that my lure would land 15 to 20 feet in front of the bass swimming down the bank. When the bass got close to the worm, I’d twist my rod tip and shake the dirt-colored Strike King Finesse Worm. Some of the bass would run away from the worm, but I was able to trick two, 4-pound bass into eating it. So, I ended the second day with 17 pounds and 2 ounces. I caught all the bass I planned to weigh-in by 1:00 pm. I had a really-good limit of bass and knew I’d have a difficult time catching bigger bass.
So, I started running my trolling motor down the bank and searching for bass for the next day of fishing. 
When I saw a bass either cruising or holding on the bed, I’d mark the spot with my GPS receiver, to return there the next day. I found about 12 or 15 bass that were 2-1/2- to 3-1/2-pounds each on the bed and marked their locations to try to catch them in the last few hours of the third day. I didn’t see any big bass while I was cruising that I could catch and use to cull one of the bass I had in my live well.
Question: In what place were you at the end of the second day?
VanDam: I was in first place.
Contents:
- Part 1: Developing a $100,000 Fishing Game Plan
- Part 2: Deciding to Not Fish Where Everyone Else Was Fishing and Going Smallmouth Instead of Largemouth
- Part 3: Catching and Cruising
- Part 4: The Shad Spawn Was the Key to Big Bass
- Part 5: Fish the Bass Coming to You and Not the Bass Moving Away from You
