Glowing Skirts

Every angler wonders what secrets the pros keep for themselves. The real secrets, ones they absolutely don't want revealed. Well, here's one Kevin VanDam decided to share with BassFans: glow-in-the-dark skirts.

Glow-in-the-dark? It has to be a gimmick, right?

No, says VanDam. And when this master of spinnerbaiting says something works, anglers should listen.

Truth is, though, VanDam doesn't like to talk about Strike King's Pro-Glo skirts -- because they work so well. In fact, he was a little peeved when Strike King came out with them.

Anglers Don't Get It

But it seems like a combination of his silence and anglers smelling a gimmick (though VanDam swears he won't endorse something that he doesn't feel strongly about) have combined to limit Pro-Glo skirt sales to the point where VanDam says, "I don't know how much longer Strike King will continue to sell them." (Strike King says there have been no discussions about dropping the skirts.)

Part of the problem might be that when people think glow-in-the-dark, the color that comes to mind is that "Martian green" that has permeated everything from Frisbees and prizes in bubble gum machines to -- yes -- fishing lures.

In fact, VanDam says that when he challenged Mike Shelton of Z-man years ago to make a glowing skirt, the first ones "were that old glow-in-the-dark color." Still, VanDam "caught a lot of bass with them."

But he wanted something more subtle: "just a soft iridescent glow, like light passing through small bluegill or shad," And Shelton was up to the challenge.

"He figured out a way to make normal colors glow, even black-and-blue and brown," VanDam says. "Put them in a low-light situation and you get a soft, subtle glow."

That's what VanDam wanted, and now Strike King has exclusive rights to the Pro- Glo skirts, which the company includes with Pro-Glo jigs and spinnerbaits and also sells separately. Right now the silicone skirts come in 10 colors.

"They look like standard colors except they have that glow to them. They don't look bright green," VanDam says.

When and When Not

VanDam says he uses the skirts almost whenever he has an excuse to use them. That's how much confidence he has in their fish-catching ability. "For me it's all-year-round, on jigs, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits," he says.

"Sure they're good at night. But I use them during the day. They add that soft iridescence to the skirt during low-light situations. That's when I like them best."

Low-light conditions can be caused by more than just clouds or low sun, he notes. They also occur with wave action, stained or dirty water, or merely shade, like the shady side of a log.

He's also "had really good success flipping matted vegetation with glow skirts on jigs," he says.

The only time he doesn't use a Pro-Glo skirt is when he thinks a different color is needed for a situation.

Not a Gimmick

"I use them a ton," Van Dam says. "They just have that look to them. But most fishermen just don't understand the value and benefit of them."

Just in case you don't learn from this revelation and Strike King is forced to stop selling the skirts, VanDam says he isn't worried. He's been stocking up on them.