Entry 306-3
Top Angler Kevin VanDam Goes Soft with Strike King Lures
Editors Note: Four-time BASS Angler-of-the-Year and 2-time Bassmaster Classic winner Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has helped Strike King design its new line of soft plastics. This week, VanDam will tell us what makes the new Strike King Perfect Plastics perfect, and how they can help you catch more bass.
Part 3: The Rodent
Question: Kevin, what is the Rodent? Why is it one of the new soft-plastic lures that you’ve helped design?
VanDam: The Rodent is probably one of my favorites of all the new Perfect Plastic lures. This bait is by far the softest soft plastic of its kind. The appendages have a lot of movement and wiggling action, and they’re different from other baits in this category. Typically, I’m flipping and pitching this bait, but you also can swim it. I like to cast it out and swim it through shallow grass and around cover.
I’ve also used it as a jig trailer. With the amount of salt content the Rodent has and the ribs on its sides, the Rodent displaces a lot of water, yet it’s very heavy and compact. So, it makes a great flipping bait. I also use the Rodent as a skipping bait under docks. The flat-sided body of the Rodent allows it to hit the water and make a long skip to get under not only boat docks, but any type of structure to which you can’t cast.
Question: Kevin, when do you use the skipping tactic with the Rodent?
VanDam: I use a skipping tactic anytime I’m fishing around docks. I try to skip my lure into sections of the docks other anglers can’t reach by casting or skipping. Too, I’ll skip it under willow trees, bushes and any type of structure low to the water that may only have 2 or 3 inches of open space between the structure and the water. 
If there’s a little crack in the dock, I can skip the Rodent through that crack and put that bait where other fishermen can’t.
Remember that the Rodent has a high salt content, so it also has more weight than most soft plastics. Therefore, I don’t have to put a slip sinker against the head of the bait to cast. If I’m flipping and pitching and using a sinker with the Rodent, I prefer an extremely-light sinker, like a 1/8- or a 3/16-ounce. A 1/4-ounce sinker probably will be the biggest sinker I’ll ever use. The Rodent is a highly-productive, compact, finesse-type flipping bait, that needs to be in every angler’s arsenal of lures.
Next: The Caffeine Shad
Contents:
- Part 1: The Super-Buoyant Perfect Plastic
- Part 2: The Game Hawg
- Part 3: The Rodent
- Part 4: The Caffeine Shad
- Part 5: The Coffee Tube and the Rage Craw
