Revealed: Kevin VanDam’s secret fall smallmouth bass technique

Long haul

Having shared a boat with VanDam over several days of fishing, I can also tell you that the legendary bass magician’s retrieves are never as they appear. It may look as though he’s simply burning the bait back quickly, but he’s also constantly imparting subtle twitches, stops, starts, shudders, flutters and jerks to his presentation.

And there’s something else about the superstar that never ceases to amaze me—no one can cast a spinnerbait as far as VanDam. When the lanky pro hauls back to cast, the fast tip on his seven-foot two-inch, medium-heavy Quantum baitcasting rod bends and practically buckles. The rod loads with so much energy that when he finally unleashes the lure, it sails out of sight. The result? He covers more water and shows the bait to more fish. And to withstand the long-distance, jaw-jacking hooksets, VanDam spools his reels with 17-pound monofilament.

Now that you know why the most successful bass angler in tournament fishing history is so sweet on spinnerbaits in the fall, what are you waiting for? It’s time to put on a clinic of your own.

Largemouth lesson

Not surprisingly, a spinnerbait is often the pros’ lure of choice for fall largemouth bass, as well, although they tend to present it somewhat slower. Early in the fall, when the bucketmouths have pulled out of the shallows and are moving toward main-lake structures and cover, most pros retrieve the lure at a moderate speed through the top third or middle portion of the water column.

When the water chills after Thanksgiving, on the other hand, slow-rolling a spinnerbait along the bottom is often the best way to catch the biggest largemouth of the year. Use a slower 5:1 retrieve-ratio reel, select a spinnerbait with a combination of Colorado and Indiana blades, and add a soft-plastic dressing to bulk up the bait. This lets you wind it back to the boat even more slowly, with the blades barely flickering, just a few inches above the bottom.