Entry 325-2
Jonathon VanDam Who’s Just 21-Years Old Wins $26,000 Plus Fishing Strike King Lures
Editor’s Note: A member of the new generation of VanDams is making his presence known in the world of professional fishing. Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, the nephew of Angler-of-the-Year and Bassmaster Classic Champion Kevin VanDam, has begun to come out from under his famous uncle’s shadow. He’s a fast-rising star in his own right as a tournament pro. But this young VanDam is more than a collegiate bass fisherman trying to break into the world of professional fishing. He’s blazing a new trail not only for young bass fishermen, but for those youngsters whose moms and dads say, “You have to get your college education first, and then you can become a professional bass fisherman.” VanDam is pursuing his college education – he’s a junior - while becoming a national touring pro and showing others how to do both at the same time, using that same strong work ethic that Uncle Kevin has used to become one of the nation’s top pros. This week, we’ll let Jonathon VanDam tell his own story.
Part 2: Day One of the Tournament
Question: Jonathon, what were the weather conditions on the first day of competition?
VanDam: The wind was blowing, and the day was overcast. I had a rough ride to reach my fishing site. The wind was blowing out of the northeast, which was bad for me because I was running to the east. The waves were blowing into the area where I wanted to fish. I had a hard time holding my boat to get in the right position to fish my rock piles.
The wind was blowing so hard that I couldn’t throw a crankbait, so I caught all the bass I weighed in on a dropshot using the 4-inch Strike King finesse worm. I only caught five keepers, because the wind was blowing so hard I had a difficult time keeping my boat on my fishing spot. Four of my bass weighed between 4 and 5 pounds. The other bass only was a 14 incher.
Question: Were you holding right on the spot trying to catch those bass vertically with a dropshot?
VanDam: No, I held just off the site, cast to it and tried to work the finesse worm on top of the humps. I used 8-pound-test fluorocarbon line with a Quantum Energy 30 series reel and a Quantum Superlite 7-foot medium-action rod.
Question: How did the bass take the bait?
VanDam: The bass were really finicky. When they’d take the worm, the strike would be so light that it felt like gobies were hitting the worm. I’d get only subtle ticks on the line. In that high wind and rough waves, feeling the strike was really difficult. But when I set the hook on those 4- and 5-pound smallmouth, my rod would double over. In this tournament, BASS allowed us to use a dip net, so landing the smallmouth wasn’t nearly as difficult as it would have been if we’d had to lip them.
Question: How big were the bass you weighed-in?
VanDam: Four of the bass were from 4-1/2- to 5-1/2-pounds. I had 20 pounds and 8 ounces total for the day and finished in 8th place on the first day.
Question: At this point, did you think you had a chance to win?
VanDam: I really did think I had a chance to win, because I constantly watched the weather map and figured one day of the tournament would be canceled because of rough water. The wind took a dramatic change, just like I thought, shifted and started coming out of the south. In practice, when I’d found and caught a good number of bass, I’d had the south wind. Most of the contestants ahead of me in the standings were catching their bass off the north shore on the first day. 
So, I knew with a south wind, they’d have a tough time reaching their bass, much less catching them. But I was still nervous.
I thought I’d catch more big bass than I did on the first day. Too, because I caught so few bass the first day of the tournament, I was afraid I might have caught all the bass holding on those rock piles. Although I could see more fish on my depth finder, I didn’t know if they were bass or drum.
Editor’s Note: You can contact Jonathon VanDam on Facebook. He gets a number of messages on Facebook and tries to respond as often as possible.
