MY FIVE FAVORITE OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER PATTERNS WITH
KEVIN VANDAM
VanDam's Favorite Fall Tube Techniques
Editor’s Note: Longtime, nationally-known bass-fishing
pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has proved
to everyone in the bass-fishing world that he can catch
bass year-round. VanDam's many wins and his title of
Bassmasters Classic Champion attest to his ability to
catch fish. VanDam says that during October and November,
bass are keying in on baitfish, and in the South, bass
are primarily feeding on shad. In the North in October
and November, bass may be feeding on shad, perch or
LYs. Because VanDam understands this, he fishes with
baitfish-imitating lures these months. This week VanDam
shares with us his five-favorite October and November
bass patterns.
Water clarity will dictate whether I'm fishing the
jig or a tube in the fall. If the water is stained,
I'll be fishing a jig. But, if the water is clear, like
it is most often in October and  early
November, I prefer to fish the tube. If the water is
slightly stained to clear, I'll fish the tube. If the
water is more heavily stained to muddy, I'll fish the
jig.
The reason I like the Strike King Denny Brauer Tube
Bait is because of the erratic fall this lure has when
it hits the water. Once again, I like the new Bleeding
Bait colors in the tubes. The new black-blue bleeding
bait tube is one of my favorite colors to fish. It has
the flash of a shad with the red color of a wounded
shad. I prefer this color when the water is slightly
stained. In more-clear water, I like to fish a white
tube, particularly the Denny Brauer Bleeding Bait Series
of white tubes.
I Texas-rig my tubes, and I prefer a 5/16-ounce slip
sinker in front of the tube, and a No. 4/0 Mustad tube
bait hook. I'll be fish ing
the tube on 20-pound-test Fluorocarbon line. I like
to flip the tube at targets like stumps, trees laying
in the water, brush and any type wood or rock target
I can find. The tube also is a good grass bait at this
time of the year. Docks and the backs of creeks are
also very-productive spots to flip a tube. The big sinker
makes the tube fall really fast, and once it hits the
bottom, I pop the tube up off the bottom fairly aggressively
and let it fall back.
In the fall, the bass aren't feeding on the bottom.
They're feeding up off the bottom where the baitfish
are swimming. Therefore, to keep the tube in the bass'
strike zone longer, once it hits the bottom, I give
it a big hop up off the bottom so that it can fall into
the bass' strike zone again. I get a lot of reaction
strikes fishing the tube this way.
 Let's
say I'm fishing a stump. I'll usually flip past the
stump and let the bait fall to the bottom. Then I'll
jerk the bait up off the bottom and allow it to fall
right beside the stump. If it hits the bottom again,
I'll jerk it up once more and let it fall right on the
edge or just past the stump. Then I'll give it one more
hop away from the stump before I reel it in. Now, I
may make four or five flips to that same stump before
I leave it, but I don't waste my time by hopping the
tube all the way back to the boat. I'm only fishing
about 3 feet behind the stump, right beside the stump
or about 3 feet out in front of the stump each time
I flip. You have to remember that the bass are going
to be related to that cover whether that cover is a
stump, a rock, a patch of grass or a treetop. So, there's
no point in continuing your retrieve past the point
where the bass are going to attack.
TOMORROW: DOUBLE DOWN WITH A SWIMMING JIG IN THE FALL
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