Tournament News Powered By Lake Drive Marine
Friday, October 10, 2025
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By Kevin VanDam
Kevin VanDamThe nation is in a severe drought and it’s affecting the lakes around southern Michigan.
We’ve been dealing with falling lake levels and a lack of sufficient rainfall for several weeks now. Farmers are still irrigating heavily and the bottom is falling out of the water table which also affects our lakes. The water table at my house fell 1½ feet over the past week!
In the meantime our fish are losing valuable shallow water habitat. You can still catch some fish shallow, but the bigger fish are still deeper.
Everything is getting stressed and the fish are starting to show it.
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By Kevin VanDam
Large spools enhance spinning tackle performance.I don’t have to tell Michiana anglers the importance of spinning tackle fishing for bass and panfish in our lakes and rivers.
You’ll probably find more spinning reels on the decks of area anglers’ boats than you will baitcasters. That’s not to say baitcast reels aren’t vital, but many of the techniques and line sizes used here match up better with spinning gear.
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By Kevin VanDam
Kevin VanDamAs much as I love power fishing techniques, you’ll see a drop-shot rig in my hands just about any time I’m fishing Michiana lakes during the summer.
In fact, it’s the best way to catch bass on natural lakes this time of year and one that I’ve done very well with on places like Klinger, Gull and even Grand Traverse Bay.
Bass will school and suspend just off the bottom over the deep grass flats of our lakes, so a drop-shot is ideal for catching them.