Entry 75-4

Life With Kevin VanDam

What’s In The Future?

Editor's Note: Thirty-five-year-old Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has had a whirlwind career and has made over $1,173,000 on just the BASS Circuit. VanDam has fished in 13 Bassmasters Classics and won the 2001 Bassmaster Classic. This three-time BASS Angler-of-the-Year has had seven first-place finishes, four second-place finishes and 45 top-10 finishes. VanDam is very intense and very focused on being a tournament bass fisherman. But this week, we’ll look at the man behind the machine, and learn who Kevin VanDam really is.

VanDam: There’s still a lot I hope to achieve before I lay down my rod as a tournament fisherman. There is nothing on earth better than winning and that feeling of accomplishment you get when you’ve won a major bass-fishing tournament. After you have won a tournament, there’s a driving force that makes you unsatisfied until you win another one. I’m always thinking about getting ready for and trying to win the next tournament. I once was much more consistent in my bass fishing, and my highs and lows weren’t so far apart. But now, every tournament I go to, I’m like the batter who swings for the fence, trying to hit the homerun. For me, the only place that counts in a tournament is first place. Every other place is a disappointment. But, I’ve fished enough to know that I won’t win every tournament I enter, because there are hundreds of other talented fishermen in the tournament trying to do the same thing.

I’ve been asked, “What gives you the courage to swing for the fence in every tournament?” My standard answer is, “Once you’ve been to the mountaintop, stopping short of the peak just isn’t as satisfying. Once you’ve won and had that feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, you get a tremendous desire to have that feeling that only a winner knows again.” I coach myself at every tournament. I formulate a game plan based on the weather report, the water conditions, the wind conditions, the amount of fishing pressure I’ll encounter, the seasonal migration pattern of the bass and the lures that the bass should hit the day I’m fishing. When all those factors come together the way I’ve predicted they will, then I know I have a great chance to win.

When I’m on a winning pattern, the weather is stable, and I’m ranked in the top 10, then facing pouring-down rain the next morning is tough. That’s when I really have to depend on my gear. I’ve always got a Bass Pro Shop’s Gore-Tex rain suit with me. The rain comes down on all the competitors the same way at the same time, but the competitors who have the best raingear are the least affected by the rain and have the best chance to win. Fishing in a driving rain is no fun, but if I can stay warm, dry and comfortable, I can deal with the rain much better and still concentrate on my fishing. In the rain, sleet, snow and wind, I mentally slow my fishing down and fish every piece of cover more thoroughly than I do on a good day. The more diverse situations you experience, the easier they are to handle. I’ve had to fish in some really-nasty weather. So, I know how to fish and have confidence in my ability to fish when the conditions are really bad.




 

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