Last Friday, Kevin VanDam mentioned on stage how he’s just not wired to fish like some of his competitors when fish are on beds.
“I just can’t sit there with a Senko for an hour and shake it in front of one fish,” he said. “That’s not me.”
Instead, he opted for a square-bill crankbait and a bladed jig around vegetation and a creature bait when he did slow down to flip tules. The result was a 3-day total of 54-01 and a 13th-place finish at the Sacramento River Elite Series as the seven-time Angler of the Year continued his solid start to the season. He’s 18th in points after three events, just 17 points out of the Top 10.
He said having a condensed day of fishing with long runs to and from the Delta put a premium on decision-making as far as what part of the Delta to start in. He opted for areas where he could run to multiple spots in a short window.
“The place is so big it’s hard to break down areas,” he said. “I had fished out here a couple of times so I know general areas, but going out of Sacramento and making that long run, it made it a real challenge for everybody. You needed every bit of time here especially when figuring out the tides.
“I like to power-fish and be able to cover water, especially here if I can. I felt like I’d have a better chance to be in the right area at the right time with the tide instead of slowing down.”
He concentrated on banks that would transition from flat to steep and clumps of tules or hydrilla that was near those junction areas.
“I was trying to fish where the tide was running into those areas,” he said. “I’d be up current section if the tide was going out and if it was coming in it’d be the other way.”
He threw the bladed jig around thicker vegetation and a Strike King 2.5 square-bill crankbait (Chili craw) where it was more scattered.
“All of my big bites came on the crankbait,” he noted. “The fish I was catching were primarily post-spawn. I caught some big ones that were super skinny. I know a lot of guys that were sight-fishing were catching fresh fish. I caught one on day 1 that would’ve been a 10-pounder, but it was 7. That’s just my comfort range in the way I like to fish.”
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.
