Finding and Catching November Bass with Kevin VanDam
Let’s Go Slow Rolling
 Editor’s Note: One of the best guides you can have in your boat with you this year is Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan. VanDam won two of the B.A.S.S. 2007 Elite Tournaments and finished second in the point standings on the Elite Series to win the Angler-of-the-Year title. This week, VanDam will tell you where to find bass and how to catch them during November.
Question: Kevin, what’s another technique you can bet on in November?
VanDam: As most people know, I love the spinner bait, but it’s not my first choice this month. I don’t disregard it either, especially when I’m fishing river ledges like you find at Lake Guntersville in Alabama. That’s a classic example of a place you can catch bass slow rolling a spinner bait in November. I like to slow roll a spinner bait on the outside edges of those grass ledges and in the mouths of creeks. One of the biggest advantages the spinner bait gives you is that it allows you to fish from the surface all the way to the bottom. At this time of year, depending on the weather pattern, and where the shad are holding, the bass can be holding up shallow, chasing shad on the surface, suspended or crawling on their bellies on the bottom.
The spinner bait gives me the ability to fish all those water depths without having to change lures. You cast the jig out, and it sinks to the bottom pretty quickly, but the spinner bait helps me determine if the bass are holding on the outside edges of the underwater grass, close to the surfac e, somewhere in between or right on the bottom. It’s a great lure to fish grass lakes on at this time of year because it has the ability to let you know exactly where in the water column the bass are concentrating. At this time ofyear, my favorite tactic is to slow roll the spinner bait on the outside edges of grass flats. I like to fish close to the main river and cover a lot of water with my spinner bait. Like the other lures I’ve mentioned, I can catch big fish on the Strike King spinner bait.
Question: What’s your favorite color spinner bait at this time of year?
VanDam: Blue shad, white shad and chartreuse-and-white shad, depending on the water clarity are my favorite spinner bait colors or November. The clearer the water, the more natural the color I’ll choose. If the water has a little color in it, I’ll usually fish with chartreuse-and-white.
Tomorrow: Jigs – Any Where Bait
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