Entry 144-5

Kevin VanDam and his Confidence Baits

The Next Tournament

Editor's Note: Thirty-three-year-old Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, likes to fish with Strike King lures. He has had many tournament wins, including the 2001 Bassmasters Classic in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Angler of the Year in 1991, 1996 and 1999. VanDam also enjoys being with his family and hunting deer.

Question: Kevin, how do you get up mentally for the next tournament?

VanDam: I don’t have any problem getting ready for another tournament. I love to fish, and getting ready for a tournament is as much recreation as it is work to me.

Question: What do you do before you go to practice on a lake?

VanDam: I get a late nap, and then I go out on the lake, look at it and try to determine water clarity. I attempt to learn as much general information as I can about the lake, and I watch the Weather Channel on TV to see what the weather will be like when I’m fishing. Next, I try to make guesses as to what may be happening on the lake in terms of the time of year, weather conditions, the spawn and the cycle of the bass. I’m just looking for a starting point to try and begin to look for bass.

Question: The next lake you’re fishing will be in Minnesota, and it’s going to be a lake that you’ve never fished before. How much are you going to rely on your GPS?

VanDam: This is a small lake, so I won’t rely on it as much as I usually do. I use my GPS a lot when I’m fishing offshore structure to find places where I’ve located bass in the past. I also use my GPS receiver to get an overview of the lake and where I am in relation to the lake and where creeks come into the main river.

Question: How do you know what you’re going to do and how to begin on this lake you’ve never fished before?

VanDam: I’ll study my maps, listen to the weather radio, watch the Weather Channel on TV and decide where the bass probably will be. Then I run my boat on the river and get a good idea of where the bass are, based on my data. I won’t really know where to fish until I get on the lake and start pre-fishing.

Question: If you only can take five lures to this next tournament, which five Strike King Lures will you carry?

VanDam: I’ll take a Strike King spinner bait, a Spit-N- King, lots of tubes, jigs and a buzzbait. The time’s still early in the summer, and the fish in Wisconsin probably are spawning or coming off the spawn. So, they’ll shallow top-water baits like the Spit-N-King, and the Strike King buzzbait will be highly productive. I understand that this lake will be shallow with a lot of vegetation in it. Probably the bass will be taking my tubes and spinner baits. So, these five lures are the ones I’ll take for my arsenal, and more than likely will be the lures I depend on in the tournament.

 

Contents:

• Part 1: Confidence Baits
• Part 2: Fun Fishing vs. Money Fishing
• Part 3: You’ve Got to Play the Mental Game to Win
• Part 4: From the Dumps to the Mountaintop
• Part 5: The Next Tournament