Entry 197-2
Inside the Mind of Kevin VanDam
Part 2: Kevin VanDam on Denny Brauer and Greg Hackney
Editor’s Note: Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, one of the hottest professional fishermen on the pro-fishing circuit, has grown-up in tournament bass fishing. He’s been fishing professionally for more years than he hasn’t. Before he was a Strike King Pro, he fished against legends of bass fishing. Since he’s been a Strike King Pro, he’s fished with them. This week, we look inside the mind of one of America’s best bass fishermen. We learn how he evaluates his competition, what he thinks about other Strike King Pros, what drives him to fish as hard and as fast as he does, and how he maintains such a high intensity of fishing and one of the highest number of casts per day of any other tournament fisherman. In this week of studying Kevin VanDam, we find out what makes him run, and I think you’ll be surprised when you learn some of the secrets of Kevin VanDam.
Question: Tell us about Denny Brauer.
VanDam: Denny’s another one of those multi-million dollar tournament-winning fishermen. He’s been a competitor for years. He’s won a Classic, been named Angler-of-the-Year and is one of the most-visible bass fishermen in pro fishing.
Question: What makes Denny so good?
VanDam: Denny’s a master at exploiting his strength. Nobody has to tell Denny Brauer that he knows how to flip, pitch or swim a jig. Nobody has to tell Denny Brauer that he knows how to fish thick cover. Denny knows himself, and he understands his fishing strengths.
When we have a tournament, the first thing Denny Brauer looks for is heavy cover to which he can flip a jig. If we go to Lake Meade, Denny will fill his boat with gas and run as far as he has to run to find thick cover. He has confidence that if he can locate thick cover, he can catch bass. A lot of people know Denny for flipping and pitching Strike King tubes and jigs, but what they don’t know is that Denny’s an excellent spinner bait fisherman. 
Too, he’s deadly-effective fishing Strike King’s shallow-water crankbaits. He’s probably one of the most-versatile shallow-water fishermen in professional bass fishing.
Question: What makes Greg Hackney so good?
VanDam: I don’t know Greg as well as I know some of the other guys. Greg’s a new addition to the Strike King Team, but by no means is he a new addition to fishing. Greg’s an excellent fisherman. Although Greg’s pretty-much known as a shallow-water fisherman, he taught me a thing or two at Table Rock Lake, when he beat me fishing deep with a shaky-head worm.
The big advantage Greg has, as with the other fishermen we’ve talked about, is not the techniques they use so much as it is their abilities to see the subtle changes in fishing conditions that influence where the fish are, how they bite, and when you need to change your tactics. For instance, if the sun goes behind a cloud, most guys will keep fishing the way they’re fishing. But the pros we’re talking about will instantly know that fishing conditions have changed, and they’ll adapt their fishing to those conditions. In my opinion, this is one of the most-important keys to consistently doing well in fishing tournaments. 
Mike Wurm, Mark Davis and all the other Strike King Pros I know have this same ability. That’s what makes them great, and more importantly, hard to beat in a tournament.
If I have to pick one thing to describe Greg Hackney, it will be that he’s a big-bass fisherman. He’s a lot like Denny Brauer in that he likes to flip a jig and catch the biggest bass in the lake. Greg Hackney will catch the biggest bass in any water he fishes. Greg doesn’t fish for limit fish. He’s only targeting big bass. This is what amazes me about Greg. If a 5-pound bass is in the lake we’re fishing, Greg will come in with a 5 pounder. He may only have two of them, but he’ll have the biggest bass in the lake.
