Kevin VanDam

KVD charges up to 2nd place

March 31, 2009
(basszone.com, March 30, 2009)

Coming from third place, and just over five pounds back, Kevin VanDam knew that everything had to go just right. Unfortunately, along with the cold weather and draw down, he had some mechanical problems that cost him precious fishing time. “I had to troll for about a quarter-mile to get where I wanted to go, so it could’ve been a lot worse,” he pointed out.

“I was able to catch a few big ones right after that, so it worked out okay.

As for the lost Day 3, VanDam explained that, while we’ll never know for sure, it’s likely that he could have pressed for lead even harder. “Mark would’ve caught a real good bag on Saturday too, but I also feel like I would have as well,” he said.

“I knew that being five pounds back, it would’ve been a lot to make up in only one day. Mark had a large area all to himself, and I was sharing water with a lot of other guys.”

While the water temperature plummeted during the day off, VanDam explained that he’d practiced for the pending cold front – but couldn’t combat the fallen water. “Looking at the forecast for the week, I practiced for the conditions in areas where I thought they would go to,” he said.

“It worked out exactly like I’d planned, but I just had too much ground to make up. That’s just the way it goes.”

“All the fish here are really in areas where they eventually wind up spawning, so I wound up having to go into another area,” VanDam added. “By noon I had things going the right way because the sunshine was warming it up fast.”

In review, VanDam explained that by trying to manage his fish Thursday, he most likely cost himself in the end. “I had a pretty good tournament, but just had too much ground to make up today,” he said.

“It’s never any fun to lose, and probably I messed up the first day by trying not to mess up too many fish. Against these guys, I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that you need to bust them every day.”

Bait of Choice: ¼- and 3/8-ounce Strike King Swimming Jig in blue gill (Day 1); weightless Strike King Caffeine Shad jerk bait in green pumpkin (Day 2 & 4); Strike King KVD Rodent in green pumpkin (Day 4)

http://www.basszone.com/2009eliteseries/dardanelle/day4/story.htm

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