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KVD Q&A from the Bluegrass Brawl

June 17, 2008

Highlights from a Strike King Q&A session with Kevin VanDam after the Bluegrass Brawl in June, 2008. KVD finished 1st, for his second Elite Series victory of the 2008 season.

Question: When we talked last week in mid-June before the Kentucky Lake tournament and just after the Wheeler Lake tournament, you felt pretty confident about this tournament at Kentucky Lake. What were you confident about, Kevin?

VanDam: Kentucky Lake is just up the Tennessee River chain from Lake Wheeler, and fishing here is very similar to fishing Lake Wheeler. The Tennessee River is known for summertime ledge fishing, which is one of my favorite ways to fish. Also, I finished third on this same lake during the summer 2-years ago.

Question: How did you think you’d have to fish, and did you have your fishing spots chosen before arriving at the lake?

VanDam: I stored the waypoints from the tournament 2-years ago in my computer. So, I had the GPS coordinates to reach every spot where I’d caught bass during the previous tournament. I knew I could check these spots fairly quickly.

Question: how do you store your GPS coordinates?

VanDam: I download these coordinates onto a chip from my Lowrance GPS. I take the chip and download that information onto my home computer. The coordinates are arranged on my computer according to lakes. This information remains in a file at home until I load it back onto my GPS, whenever I fish that particular lake again. I’ve been using this system for a few years, and it’s been helpful.

Question: Kevin, what did you learn in practice?

VanDam: I learned that there were enough bass holding on enough spots for me to do well in the tournament. I knew I’d spend all 3 days running ledges. After 3 days of practice, I probably had a dozen good locations holding big schools of fish. You have to remember, I was making only two casts and catching two bass on each place, so I had no idea what numbers of fish those spots were holding. I felt really good about the number of locations I found concentrating bass.

Question: What lures were you using during practice, Kevin?

VanDam: Primarily, I used the Series 6 Strike King crankbait in the sexy shad and chartreuse colors, and the Football Head jig with a Rage Craw trailer. I also used the Sexy Spoon, but you’ll hear more about that later. But now’s really the time of year to use the Sexy Spoon.

Question: Kevin, what did you decide to do on the first day of the tournament?

VanDam: Since I was in the third flight, I so decided to make a long run. I ran about an hour south of Paris Landing and stopped on a ledge where I caught 15 pounds or more at the first stop. There were many local boats watching, and Tim Horton, who finished second, was fishing on a different part of the same ledge.

Question: How were you working the Series 6?

VanDam: I cast it on top of the ledge and wound back very hard, so it would dig the bottom and come off the ledge. The bass were very active, so I didn’t slow down to fish the jig. I caught all those fish on that first ledge using the Series 6 crankbait in the sexy shad color.

Question: After you left your first fishing place, what happened?

VanDam: Although I caught many bass at this place, the 4 pounder I caught was the only fish capable of upgrading my stringer. So, I left to travel to my third spot. When I reached my third place, the game was on. I was catching a 4 pounder on each cast. I culled up 20 pounds in only a few minutes. When that bite slowed down on the crankbait, I cast the Sexy Spoon. On my second cast, I caught a 6-pound bass that added a few more dollars to my check. I didn’t travel to any more spots after putting this 6 pounder in the boat on the first day. At the end of the first day, I had almost 25 pounds. I went early to the weigh-in to make sure my fish didn’t die, and so I wouldn’t receive a penalty. Also, I didn’t want to reveal my other spots to the 30 boats watching me fish. Once you fish a spot, often the locals will move in to fish the same spot.

Question: What did you do on the second morning of the tournament?

VanDam: I ran to the spot where I’d caught my largest bass and caught a 3-pound bass and 3-1/2-pound bass. Also, I lost a nice fish using the crankbait.

Then, I traveled to the second spot that I’d fished the day before, and that spot had numbers of small fish. I caught 5- and 4-pound bass on consecutive casts. I finished out my limit with the Football Head jig and had an over 20-pound stringer. I didn’t travel to any other places but practice-fished the remainder of the afternoon. I went to the weigh-in an hour early to insure that none of my bass died.

I fished all the same spots on Part 2 that I’d fished on Part 1. The bass were still there, and so were the spectators. On Part 2, I used the Football Head jig, the Series 6 crankbait in sexy shad and chartreuse-shad colors and the Sexy Spoon to catch all my fish for that day. Strike King Football Head JigI wasn’t catching many bass using the Sexy Spoon, but my three-largest bass were caught using the Sexy Spoon during this tournament. Remember, Sexy Spoon is a big-bass bait.

Question: How deep is the water where you fished the Sexy Spoon?

VanDam: The depths ranged from 10 feet on top of the ledge to 20 feet off the side. I used the Sexy Spoon to fish from 10 feet of water to 20 feet because many of the bass were suspending off the bottom. There was very-little water flow and almost no current, so the bass weren’t holding tight on the bottom. This reason is why Sexy Spoon was such a good choice. The bass would take the spoon after it was jumped off the bottom and as it fell back to the bottom.

Question: Kevin, at the end of the second day, did you think you’d be able to return to the same sites to catch bass?

VanDam: I realized these spots where I caught fish the first and second days wouldn’t hold up. I didn’t even visit these places on the third day because there were three local tournaments on the lake the third day. I knew that since so many people had seen me fish in those areas, they’d be covered-up. I decided to stay away from these spots on the third day of the tournament.

Question: Kevin, on the third day of the tournament you gave the locals three spots that had put you in the lead at the Bassmasters Elite Series on Kentucky Lake in June, 2008. Is this right?

VanDam: Yep.

Question: What was your back-up plan?

VanDam: All along, my plan was to leave two or three productive places to fish on the last day of the tournament. With three local tournaments conducted on Kentucky Lake, I knew I’d have 50 – 60 spectators watching me fish, who knew the size and numbers of bass there. I knew the local fishermen would go to these spots. The first place I went, I caught two, 4-pounders in consecutive casts using the Series 6 in the sexy shad color. Kevin VanDamI lost a good one, but caught a good one using the Sexy Spoon. Then, I caught a couple of smaller bass to fill out my limit on the first stop. I probably had 18 pounds from the first place.

Question: How did you do in your second region?

VanDam: I started catching bass immediately using Series 6 crankbait, but the bass weren’t big enough to add to my daily weight. So, I put down the Series 6 crankbait and picked up the Strike King Football Head jig. I caught two, 4-pounders consecutively, which allowed me to cull my smaller bass. I knew I had over 21 pounds, and I’d only been fishing about an hour.

Question: Did you think that the spots you fished on Part 3 would hold up during the last day of competition?

VanDam: I wasn’t sure, but I knew the spectators who followed me would be fishing those places. I had four or five schools of bass I hadn’t fished yet, that I planned to fish the last day. So, I thought I had plenty of fish to catch. However, that plan didn’t work out, and the last day of fishing was very slow. I caught a few small bass to begin with, and as I ran through the different schools on those spots I hadn’t yet fished during the tournament, I noticed that the fish previously on those places were gone. I finally came to one site holding numbers of bass. I caught a 3-pounder and a 2-1/2-pounder. Then, I jumped off 4-pound and 3-1/2-pound bass on consecutive casts.

Next, I put down the crankbait and picked up the jig. I caught one more bass for a 12- to 13-pound limit. This last day was tough for me. I couldn’t seem to hit the right place where bass were holding and hit it at the time when they had just moved to that spot. Timing is critical when bass are holding on spots like the ones I was running. If shad are on the ledges, bass will hold there. If there are no shad, the bass won’t concentrate and the spots that were hot the day before will become as dead as yesterday’s mackerel. Kevin VanDamBut I continued to run my spots, and with an hour left in the tournament, I returned to a place where bass were holding to catch 3- and 4- pounders on consecutive casts. Then I could cull my fish. I had a 15- to 16-pound stringer at the end of the day, which was enough to pull out a win before running out of time. Tim Horton had a great day of fishing, and moved into second place.

Question: Could you tell that Tim Horton was catching numbers of fish and had a good chance to take the lead?

VanDam: Tim had 22 pounds the day before where I had 23 pounds. I saw him many times and knew we were both catching lots of fish.

Question: Other than the $100,000 in prize money, what did winning this tournament mean to you?

VanDam: This tournament was a big deal, especially because it was held on Father’s Day. I’d been gone for 2 weeks and hadn’t seen my boys. I like to fish on Kentucky Lake because I believe I’m a pretty-good structure fisherman. Also, I’ve always felt like I should’ve won the tournament there 2-years ago and didn’t. Kevin VanDamI felt like I gave that last one away, and I wanted a chance to make up for it.