Editor’s Note: Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan has won the Bassmaster’s Classic four times and has been named Angler of the Year seven times. VanDam knows how to fish for bass and catch them in bad weather.

Question: Kevin, what’s your other secret, bad-weather, bass-fishing weapon?
Answer: My other secret weapon for bad-weather bass fishing the day after a front hits is a spinner bait. I like a 1/2-ounce Strike King spinner bait (https://www.strikeking.com/) with a No. 3-1/2 ounce Colorado blade on the front of the shaft and a No. 5 willow-leaf blade on the rear of the shaft. I’ll fish this bait much the same way I will a finesse worm, by letting it fall to a blown-down tree or down on a rocky point. Then I’ll slow-roll the bait down through the tree or along the rocks to attempt to trigger a strike. I try and move the bait just fast enough to keep the blades turning.

I don’t use a pork or a plastic trailer, but I do like a short-shank trailer hook – even when I’m fishing the spinner bait down through the trees. I know I’ll catch more bass because of that trailer hook than I will without it. As long as I speed-up my retrieve when my spinner bait hits brush or rocks, then the bait won’t turn over sideways and cause the trailer hook to get hung. To catch bass in bad weather, dress appropriately, and don’t lose your confidence in your ability to catch bass. Since the bass aren’t uncomfortable in that weather, you don’t need to be uncomfortable to catch them. Although the bass’s strike zone may be smaller in bad weather, it will feed at some time during that day. All you have to do to catch that bass is to put a lure that it will eat in that strike zone.

To learn more about bass fishing, check out John E. Phillips’ book, “How to Bass Fish Like a Pro, Volume II,” at  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z9W6VC1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taud_p1_i9 for Kindle, print and Audible versions. You may have to copy and paste this click into your browser. When you click on this book, notice on the left where Amazon says you can read and hear 10% of the book for free. On right side of the page and below the offer for free Audible trial, you can click on Buy the Audible with one click.

Tomorrow: Tactic for Bad Weather Bass – Trolling