JVD’s postspawn pattern for bronzebacks is a tournament-tested winner
Last summer, Jonathon VanDam found himself in a St. Lawrence River slugfest with a familiar foe. Going into the final day of Elite Series competition, VanDam trailed his uncle, Kevin, by less than 3 pounds — and they were both fishing an identical pattern.
“It’s something I’ve done up here for years and years,” the younger VanDam says. “I was finding sandy holes in the middle of rocky, shallow water and hitting them with a drop shot.”
JVD ultimately slid to a fifth-place finish on Day 4 at the St. Lawrence event, but his faith in the pattern remained strong. He used it to win the 2012 Elite Series Green Bay Challenge and to notch another Top 5 finish on the St. Lawrence in 2013. “It works all over the small mouth region,” he adds. “Up here, the big spawn is usually in the first few weeks of June, but we can see fish spawning all the way until the Fourth of July.”
