Entry 362-5

Shut Up and Catch Bass – Kevin VanDam Learns that Silence Pays $100,000 on Kentucky Lake

Part 5: Kevin VanDam’s Last Two Days of the BASS Kentucky Lake Tournament

Question: Kevin, I bet you had a lot of boats following you on the last day.

VanDam: Yeah, I had a ton of them, and I had a much harder day of fishing than any other day of the tournament. I had to find more places to fish and run to a number of spots to catch the bass. Each day of the tournament, the bass were positioned slightly differently than the previous day. There wasn’t much current coming through the lake, so the bass were moving around a lot. On the last day of the tournament, I went to every place I’d found during practice.

With my entourage of about 30-spectator boats, I had a hard day on the water. Fishing the spots wasn’t hard, but once I left, many of the spectators would crank-up their big engines and run over the place I’d just fished. Some would mark these places on their GPS units, so they could find and fish them later, while others stayed to fish them then. From experience, I knew that when we had a tournament on Kentucky Lake, once I’d fished a site, I was through fishing it for the remainder of the tournament.

Question: Did you fish the same baits on the third day that you’d fished throughout the tournament?

VanDam: Yes, for the most part. Every place I fished, I’d fish with a Strike King Football-Head jig, a Sexy Spoon, a swimbait, a Series 6XD and a 10-inch Rage Thumper Worm. I caught bass on all these baits, but the bass I weighed-in were caught on a 6XD, a Silent Stalker 6XD or a Rage Thumper Worm.

Question: Why were the 6XD and the Silent Stalker 6XD so effective on Kentucky Lake?

VanDam: With the conditions – not much current being pulled through the lake – during this tournament, the bass weren’t active. Bass like to feed in moving water. That 6XD crankbait bouncing along the bottom will trigger bass to bite, even when the bass are inactive.

Question: So, at the end of the third day, were you still in first place?

VanDam: Yes, I was, and I had a 3-pound lead over Kelly Jordon of Mineola, Texas.

Question: Did you think your fishing places would continue to produce bass on the final day of the tournament?

VanDam: I was really worried. I’d fished all the spots I had during the previous days of the tournament, but I still had two places I’d saved. I hadn’t fished them hoping that if I made the final-day cut, I might be able to fish them and catch bass. That last day was tough. I caught small bass on three sites, and I didn’t get one good big-bass bite. So, finally, I went to one of the two areas I’d saved.

I immediately caught two, 5 pounders and then a 4 pounder. I had a pretty-good limit caught off that one region. I had four bass that would weigh from 4- to 5-pounds each, and my fifth bass weighed 2-1/2-pounds. I had a lot of time left in the day, so I ran to all the other spots I’d found and fished during the tournament. I hoped that sooner or later I could pick up a 4 or a 5 pounder. I caught one big bass but lost it trying to get it to the boat. I caught a lot more keeper bass that wouldn’t help me.

It’s always tough fishing Kentucky Lake on a Saturday because no current’s coming through the lake on that day, there usually are a number of local tournaments being held, and a lot of spectators who have watched the BASS anglers fish during the tournament will be sitting on the spots I’ve planned to fish when I get there. But I realized I wasn’t the only fisherman having a hard day; all the other competitors also would have hard times catching quality bags of bass, too.

Question: How many pounds of bass did you think you had going into the weigh-in?

VanDam: I thought I had about 20 pounds, but I actually weighed-in 21-1/2-pounds. Before the weigh-in, I felt like I had a pretty-good chance to win because I knew that 20 pounds was hard to catch on a Saturday on Kentucky Lake. I weighed-in last. When Kelly Jordon weighed-in before me and didn’t have the weight I knew would be required to win, I knew I’d won.

Question: You won $100,000 from this tournament. What does that mean to you?

VanDam: The win is important, more so than for the money. I was in 25th or 26th place in the BASS Angler-of-the-Year points race before the tournament. After I won the tournament on Kentucky Lake, I moved up to eighth place, which bought me a chance to compete at the end-of-the-year tournament for Angler of the Year. Also, I picked-up two extra bonus points for the win. Also, winning a BASS Elite Series tournament is really difficult.

When you’re fishing against the best bass fishermen in the world, and you’re fortunate enough to win, that’s a big deal. It’s an important win, and one I don’t take lightly. I’m extremely fortunate to have found the bass and been able to catch them with the Strike King lures I used. After the up and down type of year I’d had in 2010, I really appreciated this win. I started the year winning the 2010 Bassmaster Classic, and then I had some decent tournaments and some bad ones. To be able to come back and win again really made me feel good. When you consider all the spectator pressure I had, this win was even more special.

Question: How do you handle that spectator pressure?

VanDam: I don’t worry too much about it. Spectator pressure is a part of a bass-fishing tournament. I can’t worry about variables I can’t control, and I have to remember that it’s good to be wanted to be followed. The spectators are a very-important part of tournament fishing and bass fishing, and I appreciate the people who think enough of me to want to follow me and watch how I fish.

Although spectator pressure adds a different dimension to the sport of tournament bass fishing, I much prefer for the spectators to follow me than fish a lake empty of spectators because no one cares about what we’re doing or how. I’m glad to see and meet my fans, sign autographs and speak to the people who care enough to come see me fish.

Contents:

• Part 1: How Kevin VanDam Found the Bass That Produced $100,000 at Kentucky Lake
• Part 2: VanDam Explains - Have More Than One Place to Bass Fish
• Part 3: Kevin VanDam's First Competition Day on Kentucky Lake - the Strike King 6 XD Makes the Difference
• Part 4: Kevin VanDam Shut-Up and Caught More Bass with the Strike King Silent Stalker 6XD at Kentucky Lake
• Part 5: Kevin VanDam's Last Two Days of the BASS Kentucky Lake Tournament