Entry 105-5
Five Critical Keys For Making The Classic by Kevin VanDam
Don't Push the Panic Button
Editor's Note: Kevin VanDam, another of those Strike King Pros who consistently finds a way to earn a berth in the Bassmaster's Classic, looks back on this past year this week. The top point earner in the Elite 50 anglers for 2004, VanDam will tell us about the five defining moments in tournaments that have helped him earn the right to compete in the biggest fishing tournament of the season, the Bassmaster's Classic.
VanDam: The one consistent factor that helped me get to the Classic as I looked back over this past season was my ability to get control of my emotions and not panic when I was doing poorly in a tournament. I had several good days fishing the circuit this year, but I had a lot more bad days. And I think the one factor that helped me more than anything was my ability to stay calm when I was doing poorly and not panic and run all over the lake when I wasn't finding or catching bass.
If you know your lures, you know how to read the weather and the water, you know where the bass should be and what they should be biting, then many times not panicking when the fish aren't biting and staying with your game plan is the difference in winning and losing. I believe this year I kept my composure and stayed with my plan better than I have in other years.
Another factor that helped me this year was my ability to quickly read weather changes, decide how the bass were reacting to those weather changes and then adjust my fishing pattern so that I would be fishing in the places where the bass were coming to, instead of fishing the places where the bass had been. I have learned that bass fishing is a thinking-man's sport.
Yes, you have to be intuitive and know when to hold them, and when to fold them, but you also have to be patient and be willing to put in the time with the lures that you believe in to catch the bass. I feel really good about how I fished this past year. I think I could have done better, I think I could have adapted to changes quicker, but that's just fishing.
Contents:
- Part 1: Lake Guntersville
- Part 2: Alabama's Lake Eufaula Was Good To Me
- Part 3: I Almost Lost the Classic at Santee Cooper
- Part 4: One of the Worst Tournaments I've Ever Fished
- Part 5: Don't Push the Panic Button
