By Jonathan LePera
Special to BassFan
Once deer season ends, Jonathon VanDam patiently waits for Michigan’s northern lakes to thaw to chase after monster smallmouths through the spring and rest of the year when he isn’t on the Bassmaster Elite tour.
As their wintering patterns dissipate, the colder water will get smallmouths thinking about food until the warm water gets them incessant on spawning. One of the best ways to pick off smallmouths is by fishing a tube jig. Ask any pro, and they’ll admit the while the technique lacks excitement, it more than compensates with big smallmouths in the livewell.
Ready for Battle
VanDam’s weapon of choice is a 7-foot, 3-inch medium-action G. Loomis NRX spinning rod for making extremely long casts. He’ll pair it with a Shimano Stella 3000 spinning reel, 10-pound PowerPro Super 8 Slick braided line with a 10- to 12-foot leader of 8-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon joined by a double unit knot, and a 3 ½-inch Strike King Coffee Tube in KVD Kick and Dark Melon Goby patterns. VanDam doesn’t believe in keeping boxes of colors in his boat – if the bait looks realistic, it’s going to get bit.
Anglers have long debated whether tube jigs should descend quickly or slowly. JVD opts for both. He’ll rig a 3/8-ounce Strike King tube head primarily, but he has lighter weights should conditions warrant them.
“When it’s slick calm and typically clear, or later in the spring during the mayfly hatch, once an 1/8-ounce tube hits the water, fish will see the shadow of the ripple then watch that bait spiral slowly and illicit a strike,” he said.
Should the wind blow, he’s also ready with 1/2- and 3/4-ounce Bite Me Heads.
Where to Find Them
Once water temps hover around the 50 degrees, he’ll scope out areas in 25 to 35 feet of water. As the water warms to 50 to 60 degrees, males will fan beds while females hold in 4 to 15 feet of water waiting to move up. VanDam suggests anglers look both above and below the break to see where the fish are positioned.
How to Work It
“Typically in colder water, I’ll drag it,” VanDam says, “but as it warms up I’ll start to snap it on slack line to get it to dart and hop. I’m really not moving that bait more than a foot as it’s jumping back and forth. I probably move my rod tip from 3 o’clock to noon, but I’m not actually hitting my line until I get to 2 o’clock. I’ll hit my bait real quick then drop back down and give it more slack.”
He’ll drag the bait to the side, take up slack and repeat while trying to emulate gobies and crawfish scooting along the bottom.
Familiar Haunts
VanDam searches for deeper sand flats with some scattered rock on them.
“I’m using my Humminbird Onyx units with side and down imaging to see 100 feet out both sides,” VanDam said.
Typically, he’ll find smallmouths stuck to the bottom so he’ll look for structure that gobies and crawfish will be around. He’ll use his Humminbird 360 imaging to seek out any rocks in front of him or if a break makes a turn that you might not be shown on the mapping.
“I would like to find those needle in a haystack places,” he said. “While they are tougher to find, they can pay off big time.”
Even though smallmouth might be relating to a point where it goes from rock to sand, he seeks out isolated structure instead of three miles of rock and a mile of sand. The better fish will always gravitate to the most unique structure.
