Kevin VanDamn's Winning Baits
"A lipless bait is great in cold water. The water (this year) was in the low 40s to start, but (on day 3) it got to about 50 in there, a benefit of the grass in the area. There's lots of gizzard shad in there, but the shad kill wasn't as bad in Beeswax as it was everywhere else. So the fish were a little more active, and each day that it warmed, more fish wanted to move back. The creek has a lot of fish in it. It's the only major creek that has real good grass, and trust me, I searched the back of every break and pocket. There's only two other creeks with coontail, and I'm sure there's fish in those places too."
About bait choice, he said: "The key is to rip the bait out of the rocks and stumps, when it hits something, let that bait flutter down. The Red Eye Shad, what it does is what no other bait on the market that I've seen (does), and it was designed that way. It has a shimmy to it. When it drops in the water, it's perfectly balanced and it shimmies as it falls to bottom. That's the one thing (the bass) can't stand.
"I got 99% of my bites after it hit something, then I'd rip the bait and let it flutter down. I've won a lot of money with that bait. I have a ton of confidence in it. It's a great coldwater bait. It's the main reason for the win that I had here, without a doubt."
