MY FIVE FAVORITE OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER PATTERNS WITH
KEVIN VANDAM
Double Down With a Swimming Jig in the Fall
Editor’s Note: Longtime, nationally-known bass-fishing
pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has proved
to everyone in the bass-fishing world that he can catch
bass year-round. VanDam's many wins and his title of
Bassmasters Classic Champion attest to his ability to
catch fish. VanDam says that during October and November,
bass are keying in on baitfish, and in the South, bass
are primarily feeding on shad. In the North in October
and November, bass may be feeding on shad, perch or
LYs. Because VanDam understands this, he fishes with
baitfish-imitating lures these months. This week VanDam
shares with us his five-favorite October and November
bass patterns.
I like to swim a jig quite a bit when I'm fishing in
the
fall, but I modify my jig to make it look like a bigger
bait than it is by using a Strike King Denny Brauer
3X Plastic Chunk on the back of my jig. Water clarity
determines the color of the jig and the chunk that I
use. In clear water, I like to fish watermelon colors,
a green/pumpkin jig with a green/pumpkin trailer or
a watermelon-colored jig with a watermelon-colored trailer.
I also like black-and-blue-colored jigs and trailers
and also white jigs and trailers. When I'm fishing the
white jig, I like the Bleeding Bait jig with a red weed
guard and some red in the skirt.
Another technique I use when I'm fishing the white
jig, especially the white Bleeding Bait, is instead
of using the Denny Brauer 3X Chunk, I'll use a bleeding
tube as a trailer. I believe the tube on the jig, instead
of the chunk, makes the bleeding-bait jig look more
like a baitfish. In October and early November, I'm
still fishing the jig on my pitching rod with 20- to
25-pound-test line, depending on the cover I'm fishing.
I like to swim the tube around trees laying in the water
and around docks.
If you're fishing a lake that has a number of docks
on it, this swimming-jig technique can be extremely
deadly. I fish it around floating docks that have pontoons
or Styrofoam to keep the dock above the water. I fish
the swimming jig fairly quick. I like a 1/4-ounce or
a 3/8-ounce jig, depending on the depth of the water
that I'm fishing. In shallow water, I use the lighter
jig, and in deep water, I'll use the heavier jig. When
I cast the jig out, I'll start a steady retrieve. Then
about every 6 inches that the jig moves through the
water, I twitch the bait. I'm trying to swim that bait
right along the edge of the dock just under the water
or right along the edge of the tree. I fish the swimming
jig the same way I fish a spinner bait, but the difference
is the jig is a more-subtle presentation because it
doesn't have flashing blades. Although most people call
this style of fishing
swimming a jig, I call this tactic spinner-baiting a
jig, because I'm fishing the jig exactly like I will
a spinner bait in the same places where I'll fish a
spinner bait.
Although most of the time I'm swimming the jig in water
from 0- to 5-feet deep, when I'm swimming the jig around
docks, those floating docks may be in 20 feet of water.
But the secret here is to swim that jig not more than
2 or 3 feet below the surface. Remember, even in deep
water, the bass are looking up in that top 0 to 3 feet
of water to see baitfish swimming. And those bass will
come up from 20-feet deep around a dock to take the
swimming jig that's passing through that top 0- to 3-foot
depth. The jig is imitating a baitfish. So, when you're
using the swimming-jig tactic, you want the lures to
move through the depth of water that a baitfish normally
holds in at this time of the year around cover.
TOMORROW: BET ON THE TOP-WATER BITE
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