VanDam's Toho Practice, Strategy Explained

(Editor's note: This is part 1 of a 2-part story that covers Kevin VanDam's winning Toho Elite Series pattern. Part 1 discusses his practice and competition. Part 2 will cover his gear and techniques.)

It's pretty easy to look at Kevin VanDam from afar and think there's some secret liquid coursing through his veins.

He's the No. 1 ranked angler in the world. He's a two-time Bassmaster Classic champ, three-time Angler of the Year, and his win 4 days ago at the Toho Bassmaster Elite Series was the 12th of his career, and his third within the past year.

Not every one of his wins comes down to something "secret." Many times he just outfishes the crowd. But what was especially notable about Toho was that he did have a secret going. A few of them actually. And no, they weren't coursing through his veins.

One was tied to the end of his line, the other was in a box on his deck.

In the following story, VanDam explains for the first time in detail what exactly is so different about the Strike King RedEye Shad, and why it triggered bites at Toho even when the fishing turned brutally tough. And alongside that, he reveals an electronics technique he used in the final hours of the last day to trigger the winning fish to bite.

First, though, a look at his practice.

Practice

BASS has visited Toho extensively the past several years. VanDam finished 12th there in 2005, 5th a year later at the 2006 Classic, then 19th last September. About this visit, he said: "Every year you come here it's different – the grass and things like that. Because we were here in the fall (last season), I had a clearer picture of it this time than any time before.

"In my mind, I knew that there were several patterns that might pan out and have the potential to win," he added. "The offshore hydrilla is always great, but because there's so much of it, that makes it hard to pinpoint the fish. But if you can find them out here, you can do real well."

The two other patterns he anticipated (and which did factor heavily in the event) were bed-fishing and topwater (mainly toads and frogs) in the Kissimmee grass and on the banks.

Based on his experience at the Harris Chain the week before (where he finished 31st), he felt the majority of the fish in Toho and throughout the Kissimmee Chain would be post-spawn. So he spent his first day of practice in Toho exploring the offshore hydrilla.

"It was tough," he noted. "I found one spot where I caught a 4-pounder, then made another cast right there again with the RedEye Shad and hooked another fish. I tried to shake it off and when I did, another fish immediately bit it. So I knew there was a pretty good school on that spot. And they felt like good fish."

That was all he found on day 1 of practice, except for some sporadic bites here and there.

The second day he went and explored Kissimmee and Hatchineha. He focused on the toad bite and caught a handful of fish. The problem with that road, he said, was quality. "The biggest one wasn't 2 pounds, and I saw a ton of empty beds. So it seemed to me that the fish were very much post-spawn, and with that in mind, I knew I couldn't win with anything like that."

He returned to Toho for the final day of practice to "look for more of the same" – meaning, schools parked along offshore hydrilla.

"I went out in the same general area in the center of Toho and found another spot that I caught a good fish on, then had another bite on the very next cast," he noted. "Then I saw a little schooling going on with a few fish on top, and I knew from history that when the fish are out there, they'll be 'exactly there' – not located 10 feet to the right or left."

He marked several other areas where he caught consecutive fish. But he knew their position was temporary, and once the event began, he'd need to pinpoint them again, then discover the right combination of boat position, casting angle, and bait action to catch them.

And even though some fish did finally move into the spawning areas late on the final day of practice, he decided to stick with his offshore bite, plus one other area he had closer to shore that he could hit on his way through the locks.

Days 1 & 2

> Day 1: 5, 18-00 (8th)
> Day 2: 5, 17-11 (3rd)

Day 1 for VanDam "wasn't easy." When he pulled up to his spot, at least five boats were within 200 yards of him – Mark Davis, Aaron Martens, Matt Sphar, Russ Lane and others.

Conditions were slick-calm, and he didn't get a bite in the first hour. He eventually caught a decent fish, but the fish didn't get active until the afternoon.

He caught 15 pounds off his starting spot, and later culled up to 18 from his other hydrilla spots.

He started day 2 on the same spot where he started day 1, but didn't catch a fish. "The spots are so small, and fish move around a lot out there," he noted. "One reason I think is because there was water flowing through the chain for the first time in a while. It started that week, and when you get the wind blowing in different directions, that gets the current moving too and the fish move around with it.

"Basically, there's a 7- to 10-foot flat with hydrilla that runs all across the whole middle of the lake," he added. "There are areas where it's real thick with no holes, then areas where it's real patchy and clumpy with holes, which are shell-beds where the grass won't grow. That's what the fish relate to – those holes, pockets, and irregularities in the edges.

"It's a real trick," he added. "There's a lot of stuff to follow, but once you catch a fish on a spot, a lot of times there's multiples."

After he blanked on his starting spot the morning of day 2, be began working through his run of practice waypoints. He fished every spot where he caught two fish on consecutive casts in practice.

"It was slick like glass again and they weren't real active," he said. "But shortly after (I moved), I caught a 9-pounder. When you catch a big fish like that, it gives you a lot of confidence to know you can go around and catch them."

He ended the day with 17-11 and improved to 3rd.

Days 3 & 4

> Day 3: 5, 13-06 (1st)
> Day 4: 5, 10-06
> Total = 20, 59-07

Day 3 was when everything took a giant nosedive. Winds of 20 to 25 mph roiled the lake. For some – mainly those fishing shallow – the wind destroyed their water clarity. For VanDam, he just plain couldn't stay on his stuff.

"It was blowing so hard, it made it hard to position the boat," he said. "I went right out and started in the same area where I caught the 9-pounder (on day 2) and pretty quick caught one almost 7 pounds. So again it was a good start, but I was only able to fish there for an hour and a half."

He caught a few more crankbait fish in that hour and a half, then bailed and went to Cypress and Hatchineha.

"I made a move, went down to another area and started catching fish on a Strike King King Shad. It was a spot where I could just stop on the way through (to the lock)."

About his King Shad area, he said: "The water had more color in it – the grass only grew out to about 5 feet. It was a similar hydrilla flat to the one in Toho – the grass topped out about 2 feet from the surface – and I was just swimming that King Shad over the top of it.

"It was the same type of stuff – real clumpy, scattered hydrilla, and I was looking for irregularities."

Everyone, from fans to pundits to pros, thought the final day would be smokin'. The wind had somewhat subsided, there was nice cloud cover, and it was hot.

"I thought it would be a fantastic fishing day," VanDam said. "I went right back out to the area where I was catching big fish, and on the third cast with my RedEye, I caught a 3 1/2-pounder. I thought, 'Oh my gosh, it's going to be on.'

"But I never got another bite in that spot. I wasn't going to just die out there, so I ran to Cypress, ran my two best spots, and never got a bite."

At that point, the wind had died down, so he decided to go back up into Toho. Once there, he went back to his offshore hydrilla and somewhat frantically ran through his 15 or 20 waypoints with the RedEye.

When he pulled up to his first spot, the fish "immediately started schooling" and he caught two. He had an hour and a half left to fish and continued working from spot to spot "trying to get the fish to bust."

He ended the day with a modest 10-06 bag, but the rest of the Top 12 struggled too, and it was enough to fend off 2nd-place finisher Ray Sedgwick by 1-11.

There's much more to the story than just smart fishing, though. VanDam said he used an electronics trick that last hour and a half, which was the key to his win. He said he could actually encourage the fish to school. Also, there was generally one retrieve that would catch fish, and the only bait that can do it, he said, is the RedEye Shad.

Those two angles, plus the breakdowns on all his gear, will be revealed in part 2 of this story.

Notable

> The RedEye that VanDam threw was a new color that's a combination of blue chrome and his custom sexy shad. It should be available next week. Bass Pro Shops will gets its shipment first, VanDam said, so BassFans interested in the bait should keep an eye on this RedEye order page.

– End of part 1 (of 2) –