Entry 143-2

Kevin VanDam's $106,000 Weekend

A Day to Remember Forever

Editor's Note: Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, one of the strongest names on the professional bass-fishing circuits for many years, has won a Classic and the title of the Angler of the Year for Bassmasters. He’s long been one of Strike King’s top national pros. In the early summer, VanDam once again proved why he’s one of the best of the best by winning one of the Top 50 Elite BASS Tournaments and going home with $106,000. The tournament was held on Lake Louisville, just outside of Dallas, Texas. To learn what making $106,000 in a week is like, we’ve asked VanDam to tell us the story of the win and the new lake record he set.

VanDam: Before the first day of the tournament, John Barnes, the president of Strike King, called and asked if I’d mind if he followed me during the tournament and watched how I fished and where I fished. I told him certainly, to come on, and that I’d meet him at the riprap at the dam because that’s where I was going to start. On my first cast, I caught a 14-inch keeper bass, and 20 minutes later a bass took the bait, and I set the hook.

I was fishing with Bass Pro’s XTS Fluorocarbon 8-pound-test line on a spinning reel. So even though I set the hook hard, I didn’t set it hard enough to break the line. The bass really fought hard, and I knew I had a good fish. I was all over the boat with the fish. I was back reeling with the spinning rod and doing everything I could to keep from losing the bass. Finally the fish jumped on the other side of the boat, and I fought that bass for at least five minutes. The bass would go down and bulldog on the bottom as I kept steady pressure and tried to handle the fish.

I never did see the fish when it jumped on the other side of the boat. The first time I saw it was when it came up to the other side of the boat, and I was ready to grab its jaw. When I saw the bass, I said to myself, “Oh my gosh, he’s a monster.” I was really excited. The bass weighed 11-pounds and 13-ounces and was a new lake record. I caught the fish with a green-pumpkin Strike King 3X finesse worm and a shaky head.

Because I had experience catching big fish, I didn’t try to horse the bass to the boat. I knew there wasn’t any timber or snags in the lake, so I played the fish until it was ready to come to the boat. I really believe that the key to catching a big fish on spinning tackle and light line is back reeling. You just can’t trust the drag on any reel. When you get a big fish close to the boat, you’ve got to be able to give up line in a hurry. When I saw the mouth of the fish coming to the boat, I knew the bass would weigh at least 10 pounds. Initially the bass looked like he weighed 12 pounds to me, so I knew he was 10 pounds or better.

One of the things that made the catch so exciting for me was that John Barnes was there to enjoy the catch with me. We were both really excited. As soon as I put the bass in the live well, I started back to fishing and began really catching bass. I caught a lot of fish that day, and more importantly I learned that by fishing really slow I could make the bass bite in the dirty water. I’m not known as a slow fisherman, but on this lake during this day, slow, steady shaking of the bait and letting it walk down the rocks was what was required to make the bass bite.

When we reached the scales, I had five bass that weighed a total of more than 24 pounds. I was leading the tournament by 7or 8 pounds on the first day. When the Bassmaster folks put the big fish on the scales at the weigh-in, all the spectators really got excited. Catching a fish like that is rare anyway, but to catch a fish that big in a tournament is unbelievable. The fish was also certified by Texas Park and Wildlife as a lake record.

All day long, every hour, I’d babied that big bass. I kept my aerators running constantly, and I used the Bass Medics products to help the bass recover from the fight. I wanted to go and weigh in early, because I didn’t want the fish to die. Luckily she didn’t. She was released back into the lake, and she’ll be there for another angler to catch. So at the end of the first day with a 7-pound lead, I was feeling pretty good.

Next: My Luck Still Held

Contents:

• Part 1: Game Plan of a Champion
• Part 2: A Day to Remember Forever
• Part 3: My Luck Still Held
• Part 4: From Hero to Zero
• Part 5: I Didn't Really Do That