A lil shorter one this time too, still ketchin' up...can't get on plane...drain plugs out...you know the deal sometimes! Lotta info in this one tho, hope you enjoy it and ketch 'em this weekend!
If you're a-waitin' to hear back from me on something, apologies. Will gitcha back soon!
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Kevin VanDam's Chickamauga winning baits.
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Well, well, well looks like Kevin DOES know how to catch 'em after all...bahahahaha c'mom man! How many guys can you name where you're surprised they DON'T win 1 a year? This is KEVIN VANDAM we're talkin' 'bout mang!
> "I caught 95% of all bass I weighed on a crankbait. That's what I have confidence in, and it's great tool to find 'em and trigger them to bite."
> "...whole plethora of Strike King crankbaits, a couple rigged with different sizes of line just to make sure I had the right combination for the exact depth of the spot I was fishing. The Series 5, 5XD and 6XD – the 5 and 5XD were my best...between 5' and 14' is where I did most of my damage.
> "...blue gizzard and green gizzard shad colors are pretty natural – even in that stained water, that's what the real ones look like and they don't have any problem eating those. ...I didn't have a lot of success throwing bright colors – chartreuse and stuff like that – in practice. They didn't want to bite it compared to something natural."
> "The BB1 Pro has a bigger spool...for 17-lb fluoro you can fill it up and make super-long cast and not lose many inches per turn...doesn't hurt your [retrieve] ratio."
> "I change the hooks out to Mustad KVDs – upsize them. ...the standard one, the original one...extra-short, super wide gap. If a bait comes with 4s from the factory, you can put 2s on there...can upsize."
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> "Mornings [no water pulled/current] and it was cloudy and rainy some. I kind of just fished around, hoping to run into 1 here and there. They were real scattered, still chasing shad...weren't set up on the classic structure, they were out on a flat roaming around. They definitely move around when there's no current.
> "...different every day...fish either across the current or with the current.... A lot of times I had to change angles, even 180 degrees, to get them to react. A school I ran into on the last day, the last period – I saw fish on the Mega 360...could not get them to bite from one angle, so I switched to the other side and caught them every dang cast."
Electronics
> "In practice I spent lots of time Side Imaging...Lakemaster mapping and Side Imaging were a big deal in practice.
> "I focused a lot on trying to find shallower ledges. But those fish don't allow you to graph 'em. I found a really good school in practice, in 10' of water. I tried to Side Image them...and they were gone. I tried to go over the top of them [same].
> "They're so pressured there. If they're pulling water or the fish are 20' deep, yes absolutely [you can graph 'em]. But those shallow ones will scatter and not let you do that.
> "During competition it was all about the Mega 360. This was the first tournament I've fished on the TN Rirver system with it and you can see everything...can follow the ledges and stay well off them. It's really a big deal.
> "Without a doubt the Lakemaster mapping always has been and still is the most important tool I use. It shows how everything lays out...shows you every corner, turn, ditch mouth, even a lot of subtle stuff is on there. ...gives you the big picture – what surrounds you, understanding how fish migrate in and out of places and to the ledges. It's just an unbelievable tool.
> "I run my HydroWave all the time ledge-fishing with the Offshore Schooling pattern on a 1-minute delay. It helps get the school triggered and helps keep 'em fired longer too. That sound of other bass feeding keeps them going."
Shoutouts
> "When I was around an area, [locals/spectators] let me do my thing, especially into the tournament when I got a little bit of a lead. I saw a lot of top-notch sportsmanship. I didn't have anyone fishing around me during competition hours. That's not normal [and he appreciated it]."
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1. How did you learn all this stuff about bass? Do you or do you not have a giant fish tank in your house?
> "No it's just many, many years being a student of the sport, and a lot of experience. I think this is my 31st year on tour – I've got a lot to pull from."
2. Did hurt not to win with baits named KVD? 😁
> "[Those crankbaits] are my designs even though those particular cranks don't have my name on them. They're Phil Marks' and my designs, so it's pretty special to think about it with everything we've been through this past year – after he passed away to be able to win like that. That's how how he loved to fish too [crankin']. We developed the Pro Models and XDs together."
3. Did you trash-talk Jacob Wheeler and would you say so if you did?
> "[Laughs] I did not. That dude is probably the guy that I figured...would be the one everyone was chasing for the win there. You don't poke the bear."
[Hahaha but KVD has been known to trash-talk in the moment!]
4. Is it harder to win won of these or a 5-fisher?
> "I think it's harder to win one of these because there's multiple elimination days where you go back to zero [and] you have to catch big ones and a lot [of feesh] every round. I've competed in every format...no doubt in my mind it's harder."
5. Would Live sonar have helped or not in this deal?
> "I don't think there's any doubt it would've been a benefit, especially with Mega 360. I've been using Mega 360 basically a year and a half now – it's amazing. It has changed every aspect of the way I fish, what I do, and what I see. It's a big deal. If you asked me if I could have Live or that, even thought I've never used Live I'd probably tell you Mega 360. But if you put those 2 together...."
[He's getting Mega Live this week but has been heavily involved in the testing. He said, "What they have is good and it's going to continually get better."]
Bonus 'electronics talkin's
This part of our convo went on for a while cuz Kevin likes to talk fishin' and I like to ask Qs:
> "I think a lot of people try to look too far with Side Imaging and Mega 360 [like] if some [distance] is good, farther is better. [But] you lose too much detail. I'd rather see intimate detail and know exactly where I'm at. I run mine at 50'...far enough away where I'm not spooking them, but close enough to get [great detail].
> "Against today's competition, every advantage you can get is great. For a while one of the big advantages I had was Lakemaster mapping. I won Toledo Bend 100% because of it, and Grand Lake primarily because of of it too. I've won a lot of money and won a lot of tournaments because of Lakemaster. [But you have to be able to] understand it, what to look for.
> "I have 5 units on this boat now. If you told me at the beginning of my career I'd need 5 graphs on my boat, I'd have told you you're crazy. But it's hard to compete without it."
One big takeaway for me from our convo is that Kevin can now see and is looking for things he couldn't see before. Kinda like:
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Fish should be scared man....
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It's actually just 2nd and 5th since Jason Lambert is fishing the Potomac now and I can't seem to get ahold of Michael Neal. Hopefully will have 'em both in next week:
2nd: Jacob Wheeler
> "As the current got stronger the fish stopped suspending and got closer to the bottom and that's when the reaction baits started to become better."
> "If they wouldn't bite that I could switch up to a scrounger type bait and get them to go on that." 3/4-oz Scrounger head, Fluke-style bait (shad), 14-lb Sufix Advance Fluoro, signature Duckett Paradigm Reel (6.8), 7' 6" H Duckett Black Ice Rod.
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5th: Brent Ehrler
> "Ledge-fished 8-20' deep. Garmin was the true champion for me. Found them graphing with mapping, 2D and Side Vu. Caught them using Panoptix [LiveScope]. Without it, I wouldn't have caught a bass. No joke, I had to see them 80' out in clusters and land on them to get them to bite."
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Just some of the stuff I ran into there and some thinkin's:
Competition
> Heard more bizarre fish getting off stories than I ever have, including baits coming back perfectly rigged after a hookset, sooooo many fish coming off single-hook flip rigs (some of the best anglers in the world!), you name it. Matt Arey for sure wasn't the only guy who lost Classic-winning fish so hope he doesn't feel too bad!
> Anyone also think that when lightning hits, shallow fish get lockjaw? Several guys thought that's what went down day 2.
Lil Classic collage
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Top row, L to R:
1. Brandon Card had the messiest boat on media day. Said he was the kinda guy who has to take everything out before putting it back neat. I was like, "Well you're half right!" lol!
2. Trip is good! Praise God man.
Middle row, L to R:
4. 100% for real: JO couldn't get his camera to work tryin' to take a pic of me 'n Jeff Gustafson. Cracked me up! Guess it was JO's 1st day lol!
5. Do not go see the Hardcore 7+ in person unless you're cool with walkin' away with half a dozen. They look good!
6. 3 cool dudes 'n me:
- Pat Renwick of Stray Casts and also the "will we ever see it" alleged "coming soon" show with Seth Feider and On Em Robertson. So far there's more evidence of aliens than that deal...a lot more....
- B-Rad Hallman who's got all the ingredients to be a vid stah EXCEPT for ketchin' em – 🤣 Hallman!
- 2-time NPFL winner John Soukup who said he'd never BBQd donuts (lol too cool) and is the founder (co-founder) of The Bass Tank which I need to learn more about.
Bottom row, L to R:
7. If you know these guys, you know they're anything but harmless. If you don't know who they are, I never said anything and disavow any knowledge of said peeps.
8. Mr Feider was 1 pair short of glasses but was makin' do....
9. Meet Brett Jolley and his mom Ashley. An impressive young man raised right, headed to bass-fish at East TX Baptist U. Reminds me: I left the weekend thinkin' I want to learn a lot more about these college bassin' programs. Startin' to think they're real important...bet I'm late to that party....
New baits 'n gear
1. MaxScent Chigger Craws – Do I have to say anything else?? Believe this is Berkley's best-selling soft-plastic shape – and one of Jordan Lee's fave baits of all time – now in the ultra-potent purple package. Unofficial word is it has a slightly different/more action than the regular Powerbait Chigger Craw even tho it's the exact same shape. Guessing that's cuz MaxScent is different material than regular Powerbait. I think new colors too:
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2. Berkley Jigs with Powerbait silicone skirts – First thing I did was smell the skirt and it does smell like Powerbait! Word is it was tricky to get the Powerbait to fuse (or whatever) with the silicone but they eventually got 'er done. Not sure how many styles of jigs yet, but I think they were all co-designed by flipmaster/jigmaster Gary Klein and at least some seem not to be "typical." For ex, the football jig ain't really football-shaped.
3. Humminbird Mega Live – The 'Bird-sponsored Classic competitors had it on their boats. Heard it worked and looks good but still needs a few tweaks. Not real sure what that means but I took it to mean that as complex as the 'lectronics are now, probably needs some software tweaks to get it 100% dialed. Kevin VanDam did not have it on his boat for the MLF Bass Pro Tour win. Couple deals:
> No black box. Sounds like that processing is incorporated into the units and/or the transducer:
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> Sounds like Garmin and Lowrance took 1 fork of the Live sonar road, and Humminbird took the other fork. If I got that right, it's innerestin'.
4. Bull Shad is expandin' and will have (does have?) lotsa custom colors. I talked Mike Bucca there and was like, "Mike is this really bull shad?" He said, "Yes." And I was like, "So you're saying that this is all bull shad? All of it?" And he's like, "Yes?" HAHAHAHA love it! Had a great talk with him and his new painter Jennifer Kravassi, then walked away with $500+ of swimbaits hand-picked by Mike that I will GIVE AWAY soon!
5. Buddy Gross showed me a couple new hard-bodied Scottsboro swimbaits (1 might not have been Scottsboro). I'm no expert on any kinda swimbait but he said they're thinner than Bull Shads, which he also likes. Props to Buddy for toughin' it out on that ankle. Said he couldn't use a butt seat cuz he couldn't relax enough to use it fishing a Classic. I bet!
Peeps
Can't remember all of it but:
1. Bassmaster Team Championship qualifier Jordan Wiggins is the bro of ex-Elite/now BPTer Jesse Wiggins. They look like twins but Jordan's younger, which you can tell from what he said when I asked if his bro gave him any Classic advice. It was (for real): "Don't suck." 😂 Jordan said, "We're pretty harsh on each other." Nah, just how bros roll man!
2. Tyler McKinney – Classic college qualifier, talked to him a bit. A mature young man, meaning spiritually mature, the rarest type of maturity. Loved this – he said it in our convo:
> "Some of my highest moments, some of my closest moments with God, have been on the water."
Yep! Also said he thinks God really likes fishermen. For sure man – some dudes from Galilee come to mind.
3. Taku Ito literally spelled out every piece of his gear to me when I couldn't understand his accent. How great is that!
4. Another "foreigner" (we're all bass-heads) I observed a couple times from afar is Carl Jocumsen. Dude's a legit bassin' stah in the makin'. Good!
5. B.A.S.S. conservation guru Gene Gilliland was so nervous about losing even a single fish before this thing started it actually was a little shocking to me how personally he took it. Props to him, the Nation guys and the TPWD for the fish care 'n the format, which if you didn't know was: weigh 'em all at the lake the first 2 days but bring back 2 each for the show, then the last day weigh 'em at all the coliseum.
6. B.A.S.S.'s Mike Suchan is actually kinda funny off cam – sometimes intentionally. 😂
7. Sen. Ted Cruz ate dinner in the Classic hotel Friday night. Lots of folks got pics with him, and even tho I knew my kids would dig it I couldn't make myself do it – I'd rather get a pic with ANY ol' bass fisherman, for real! But cool he was there. I do think he was scared of Gussy....
8. Fat Cat Newton – Shout-out to Fat Cat for finding out that a family named all their pigs Bobby. Every...single...one. If you don't know what that means, you might be better off. 😆 Looks to me like Fat Cat's star is rising – some peeps on the biz side might want to notice that. Fat Cat also had THE BEST hat by far:
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9. Glad to see 2 bassin' media legends – Louie Stout and Steve Price – still taking notes and kickin' pro tails. Also, B.A.S.S.'s Steve "Ain't" Wright is still one of the funniest dudes in bassin'. Why him and JO don't have a podcast is beyond me. It would likely be the best one, dead serious.
10. Shoutout to Mark Jeffreys of Bass Talk Live. He had a scary deal a little while back and amazingly seems fine. Amazing. Thanks for the prayers, and please keep praying hard for Aaron Martens.
The rest
1. After making flake maybe look a little old-school, is Vexus Boats now bringing it back...maybe in a new way? 🧐
2. All the cowboy hats there – anyone else reminded of Ray and Forrest? Bass fishing does have a stetson legacy. Maybe Keith Daffron – head man at Vexus and Forrest's grandson – will decide to rock one. Believe Keith knows something about cattle too....
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3. Heard a rumor (lil better than a rumor) that a $100K guaranteed for 1st place team tourney is coming, possibly on Rayburn.
4. A private company (I think in AL?) is using the latest 'n greatest genetic techniques to raise giant bass and the next world record. Supposedly waaaaay beyond what TX does. Also heard James Hall might have the deets in a forthcoming Bassmaster Mag...🤔
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> The new Storm 360GT Searchbait Shad lure features a wide, exaggerated thumping tail action with a slight body shimmy. In comparison, original Storm 360GT Minnows feature a tight-tail action with a quick-rolling body.
10 colors, 2 sizes: 3.5" for an 1/8-oz jighead, and 4.5" inches for a 3/8-oz.
Vote on your fave ^, don't complain later!
100% success story, should be reauthorized AND non anglers/hunters should pay too!
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Looked at this pic like 100 times wonderin' if I should pull the trigger and get Lab #2:
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Should I?? I mean, it's pretty easy to take 1 dog to places, but 2? 🤔 YETI posts some great Lab and regular dog 😁 pics.
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On BassBlaster.rocks right now...
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More effective for any weight-biters? Two-fer? More acceptable for rig haters??
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Btw this IS how we fish for flounder offshore here in NJ: Jig with a trailing "fly"-type deal, both have Berkley Gulp! on 'em....
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"Fishermen get in their heads that certain lures only work at certain times."
> "...a lot of people think a spinnerbait is an early spring pre-spawn lure. For me, it's been by far a better post-spawn bait, especially for catching big, hungry female bass."
You hear that Christie? 😁
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Might have seen this pic on my social – possibly my fave pic from the deal. Love Matt, genuine dude and couple of his as-genuine hometown peeps gave me a ride one day, great fellers:
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Would love to see some of the grant proposals scientists write man.... We need to come up with one!
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Jay Kumar's BassBlaster is a daily-ish roundup of the best and funniest (sometimes worst) stuff in bassin', picked by me – Jay Kumar. I started BassFan.com, co-hosted Loudmouth Bass with Zona, was a B.A.S.S. senior writer and a bunch more in bassin'. The Blaster is the #2 daily read on any given day in the wide world o' bass so thanks for readin'!
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