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By Al McGuckin
For as long as Kevin VanDam can remember, Easter weekend has involved a huge in-store promotion at his family’s well-known D & R Sports Center retail store. Kevin met many of his fishing heroes at the store as a young man, and has since served as one of many famous pros who attend the annual event to meet with fans.
D&R won’t be having its Spring Fishing Classic due to the pandemic, but Kevin wanted to share his three categories of lures he says should work just about anywhere in America as Peter Cottontail comes hopping down the bunny trail.
“April is a time when everything heats up in the bass fishing world, even up north,” says VanDam. “And across the south, bass are totally relating to the spawn. So there’s a ton of fish shallow, and Easter weekend is just a great time to be on the water.”
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By Al McGuckin
If you think Davy Hite began his Bass Fishing Hall of Fame career in a fully-rigged fiberglass bass boat you should have been there when he was a kid growing up in a home without a telephone or central heat and air, catching catfish from an aluminum boat to sell for additional income.
Hite was raised largely by his grandparents, and while they were by no means poor, they were products of America’s Greatest Generation. They lived through the Great Depression, and his grandfather fought in World War II.
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By Al McGuckin
If you were smoking chicken wings on the grill next to Kevin VanDam, you can bet he’d do everything in his power to make sure his tasted better than yours. But he’d also fetch you a cold beverage of your choice. Yup, the Team Toyota pro is an awesome blend of fierce competitor and humble class.
So when asked how much of his $6 Million career total he’s won on these three colors of Strike King’s Red Eye Shad – at first, with humility he hesitated to say – but then stated it was for sure a million bucks – and was gracious enough to share a first-hand look into his tackle box.
“Lipless crankbaits are fish catchers year-round, but late winter and really early spring, when water temps are 45 to 55 is the ideal time to throw them. And if I had to pick three colors I’ve had the most success on, it would be Delta Craw, Chartreuse Perch and Gold Sexy Shad,” says VanDam, bass fishing’s all-time leading money winner.