BAD WEATHER FISHING TACTICS

VanDam's Secret Weapon

EDITOR'S NOTE: Our special guest today is Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, the 1999 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and 2001 BASSMaster's Classic champion.

QUESTION: Kevin, what's your other secret bad-weather, bass-fishing weapon?
ANSWER: My other secret weapon for bad-weather fishing the day after a front hits is a spinner bait. I like a ½-ounce Strike King spinner bait with a No. 3 ½-ounce Colorado blade on the front of the shaft and a No. 5 willow leaf blade on the rear of the shaft. I'll fish this bait much the same way I will a finesse worm, by letting it fall to a blown-down tree or down on a rocky point. Then I'll slow-roll the bait down through the tree or along the rocks to attempt to trigger a strike. I try and move the bait just fast enough to keep the blades turning.

I don't use a pork or a plastic trailer, but I do like a short-shank trailer hook made by Strike King even when I'm fishing the spinner bait down through the trees. I know I'll catch more bass because of that trailer hook than I will without it. As long as I speed up my retrieve when my spinner bait hits brush or rocks, then the bait won't turn over sideways and cause the trailer hook to get hung. To catch bass in bad weather, dress appropriately, and don't lose your confidence in your ability to catch bass. Since the bass isn't uncomfortable, you don't need to be uncomfortable to catch it. Although the bass's strike zone may be smaller in bad weather, it will feed at some time during that day. All you have to do to catch that bass is to put a lure that it will eat in that strike zone.

TOMORROW: THE DEADLIEST TACTIC OF ALL