Entry 185-4

How I’ll Fish the Classic with Kevin VanDam

Part 4: Outfishing the Competiton

Question: Kevin, if we were just going fishing at Lay Lake in February, once you’ve determined the water and the weather conditions, I believe you can catch enough bass to win any tournament. However, the other conditions, the real unknowns that you and the rest of the fishermen will have to deal with are other competitors, the local fishermen on the lake and the spectators on the lake. At a big tournament like the Bassmaster Classic, which can make a fisherman’s career and/or result in millions of dollars worth of endorsements and promotions, how do you fish against these great fishermen? These guys are the best in the world. Most of them know the same things you know. How do you compete with them in a big tournament like this?

VanDam: In a fishing tournament, the only things you have to be concerned about are the variables that you can control. I can’t control the weather, the other fishermen or the spectators. First, you have to make sure you’re prepared, and then when you’re out on the water, you can’t make any mental mistakes. This is where experience and the number of years you’ve fished the Classic really pay off.

Many fishermen can get all caught-up in the hoopla of fishing the Classic, which will affect their decision-making ability. The real-critical decisions that have to be made will come in the first 3 or 4 hours of the Classic. Many times, if a contestant doesn’t catch a fish that will measure in his live well during that first 3 or 4 hours of the tournament, he’ll panic and start making bad decisions. The veterans will stay true to their game plan, not panic and know that if they make right decisions under that kind of pressure, they’ll still do well in the Classic. For fishermen like me, Denny Brauer and some of the other veterans, we know that when you panic, you lose. If you stay calm, deliberate and make the very best decisions you can make during every hour that you fish, you can do well in this tournament, regardless of how you start off.

Question: In every Classic, one fisherman will find a good school of bass and catch a limit out of that school. The next day another contestant who’s seen where that Classic contender has been was fishing and fish that same spot. How do you handle this situation if it happens to you?

VanDam: Fishing at the level of competition we’re fishing, we don’t usually have that kind of problem. If I have a really-good spot, I won’t get too far away from it at any time. If I have a really-good spot, that’s where I’ll head first thing the next morning.

Question: Kevin, what do you do if another angler pulls in and starts fishing behind you, or in front of you on a spot that you’ve found that’s holding bass?

VanDam: This happens because several contestants will find the same school of bass. If a contestant starts the tournament on a place I found in practice, there’s nothing I can really do to keep him from fishing that spot. You just have to share it with him. On the first day of the tournament, you may have as many as four or five guys fishing in the same area and fishing with the same lures. However, once a fisherman establishes a spot he’ll be fishing, most of the other anglers will respect that place, if he decides to fish it all day. The rule is who ever gets there first, gets the spot as long as he wants to fish it. But this is an unwritten rule and more of a code-of-conduct than a rule.

Question: How do you handle it mentally? If someone else starts fishing the water you have pretty much established as yours, how do you deal with the frustration to get your head back into the game?

VanDam: I learned many years ago that getting mad and staying mad doesn’t hurt the person you’re mad at, it just hurts you. I try not to waste energy, mental or physical, on things there’s really nothing I can do about. To fish effectively, you have to stay tuned in to what you’re doing and the things in the fishing environment that you can control.

Fishing pressure is an element of the sport, and you have to learn to deal with it mentally. In some instances, fishing pressure and your dealing with that fishing pressure poorly can cost you a Classic win. Local anglers fishing your spot, spectator boats moving in too close, and spectators’ waves bouncing your boat around are all elements of the tournament that you can’t control, just like the wind, the weather and the water conditions. The only way you can keep your head in the game and have a good chance to win is not to worry about or give too much thought to those elements you can’t control.

The things you’ve mentioned will happen in this year’s Classic, so you have to prepare for them mentally ahead of time so that when they do happen, they don’t affect you negatively. There are not many places on Lay Lake where you’ll catch big stringers of bass every day from the same spot, so when the fishing conditions, the fishing pressure, the spectators and/or the local anglers begin to influence the way you fish, you may want to look for another fishing site. To win, you’ll have to fish a large area or have multiple spots where you can fish. You want to have some water that you can save until that last day of fishing, because the last day has always been the toughest day to catch bass. Saturday and Sunday will be the two most-challenging days on Lay Lake.

Question: Kevin, you mentioned saving a spot to fish. How do you save a spot, especially if you’re struggling on the first day? If you’re struggling on that first day, will you go to the place you’ve been saving, or will you continue to struggle?

VanDam: I’ll go to the place I’ve been saving. If you won’t make it to the last day because you haven’t caught enough fish, then there’s no point in saving that spot until the last day. You have to catch big fish every day, if you’re going to win the Classic. There have been many times in plenty of tournaments when I had a special little secret place that I was planning to save for the last day, and on the first day of competition, I fished all my best spots and hadn’t caught enough bass to make the cut. If I have to, I’ll go to that last day spot on the first day.

In a perfect world, you’ll go out on the first day and catch all the bass you need to be in the top 10. On the second day, you’ll run that same route and stay in contention. On your third day, you’ll go to your honey hole, catch a good limit of big fish and win. If you can do that, you can win just about every tournament you ever enter. But I’ve found it’s really weird to have any tournament turn out like this. You know, life never seems to work out like you plan. You always have to adjust to the circumstances and the conditions that you have every day, and often, every hour of the day, especially when you’re fishing.

Next: Who Will Win the Bassmaster Classic?

Contents:

• Part 1: Warming Up Before the Classic
• Part 2: Bad Weather
• Part 3: Good Weather – Bad News
• Part 4: Outfishing the Competiton
• Part 5: Who Will Win the Bassmaster Classic?