Entry 237-4

Kevin VanDam’s 18th Bassmaster Classic

Part 4: Only One Competitor to Beat at the Bassmaster’s Classic

Question: Kevin, based on what you know and expect that’s happening with the fish right now at Lake Hartwell, like weather and water conditions, who do you think will be your top competitors to beat? Why do you think these competitors will fish strongly in the Classic?

VanDam: There are a handful of competitors who have a lot of experience on Lake Hartwell. These guys know the lake, the patterns for this time of year and the areas where they’ve been successful previously. All that information will help them do well. Whether or not all that information helps them to win is yet to be determined. In the history of the Classic, very-few local anglers have performed well on their home lake. One of the exceptions was last year’s winner Boyd Duckett, who won on Lay Lake, which is in his home state. But Duckett was the exception rather than the rule.

This year, there are also some young guys who’ve been quite successful on the circuit who will be fishing the Classic. Derek Remitz of Madison, Ala., who just goes out, does his own thing and catches a lot of fish. Derek loves to fish a jig. He won one of the western tournaments on a Football-Head jig, and he could do really well in this tournament. However, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the other competitors, how they’ll fish, and what they might do in this tournament. There’s absolutely nothing I can do about how the other competitors fish, and spending a lot of time thinking about them and their game plans is extremely counter-productive. I have to catch more and bigger bass than anyone else catches. However, I can’t worry about what the other fishermen are catching, because I need to concentrate on the bass I need to catch.

I’m really not fishing against any other competitor in the tournament. For me, the Classic is Kevin VanDam vs. the bass on Lake Hartwell. Although the Bassmaster Classic appears to be a competition between the best bass fishermen in the nation, it really isn’t. The competition is who can fool, find, outthink and out-fish for the biggest bass.

Regardless of what any of the competitors do in the tournament, the angler who outthinks the bass and executes his game plan the best each day will win the tournament, regardless of what any other fisherman does. The real secret of tournament fishing and competition in general is that competition isn’t really about what other competitors; it’s only about what you do with the knowledge, the skill and the decision-making abilities you have on the day the contest is held.

Question: So, you’re not really competing against any of the other anglers in the tournament, right?

VanDam: That’s the absolute truth. When I’m out on the water, it’s just me, the elements and the bass. Nothing else and no one else exists, and if you don’t fish with this mindset, you can’t consistently be successful.

Question: Kevin, you have an extremely-high bite-to-hookup ratio when it comes to hooking and landing bass. You lose very few fish that attack your lures. Why?

VanDam: I spend a lot of time with the lures I fish to maximize their hook-setting ability. I want to be certain I have the right rod, reel, line and hook combination to allow the lure to hook every fish that bites the bait. I also want to make sure the lure has the best-possible action it can have with all these combinations of tackle. In addition, I want to make certain that once the fish takes the lure, my tackle will drastically increase my ability to land that fish.

Question: Can you give me an example of what you mean?

VanDam: The Red Eye Shad is the classic example, and it’s one of my favorite lures to fish. However, lipless crankbaits are known as fish-losing baits. Sure, you can get bass to bite them, but many times the bass will throw the lure because a lipless crankbait has two treble hooks that are somewhat heavy and allow the bass to throw the lure when it comes out of the water and shakes its head. Therefore, I spend a lot of time experimenting with rods, reels, lines and hooks to try to eliminate the bass’ ability to throw the Red Eye Shad once I get it hooked. When I test different lines, rods and styles of hooks, I want to learn what combination will allow the lure to have the most action; I want to know what combination will give me the best chance of hooking the fish; and finally, I want to determine which combination will give me the best chance of actually landing that fish.

Question: Okay, Kevin, what rod, reel line and hook combination have you decided is the very best that you could use to fish the Red Eye Shad the most efficiently?

VanDam: I use a composite crankbait rod with a soft action. I match that rod with fluorocarbon line, and I use two, No. 2 Mustad Oversize Extra Short Shank Triple Grip Treble Hooks on the Red Eye Shad. To me, this action rod with low-stretch fluorocarbon line with the larger triple grip treble hooks gives me the best strike-to-land ratio with this particular lure.

Question: Why do you like a soft-action rod?

VanDam: A soft-action rod allows the bass to get the bait a little deeper in its mouth than a heavier-action rod does, especially on the hookset. I’m also using a 5:1 gear-ratio reel. Other fishermen may use a faster gear-ratio reel, but when I’m fishing a lipless crankbait, I want to take my time and play the fish down before I bring it to the boat. I don’t want to get the bass on top of the water and water ski it to the side of the boat, giving the bass more opportunity to throw the lure.

Next: One or Two Decisions Will Win or Lose the Bassmaster Classic

Contents:

• Part 1: Use the Lures That Work
• Part 2: Competitive Fishing’s About Focus
• Part 3: How VanDam Makes Instant Decisions
• Part 4: Only One Competitor to Beat at the Bassmaster’s Classic
• Part 5: One or Two Decisions Will Win or Lose the Bassmaster Classic