Kevin VanDam

KVD TALKS ABOUT THE COMPETITION

September 06, 2009 – by Pete Robbins

Kalamazoo, Mich. — In most sports, the participants come together for the actual competition, then go their own separate ways upon the conclusion of the competition day. Professional bass fishermen, on the other hand, spread out during the tournament day but tend to travel in packs once the scales are closed.
“It’s unique how well you know your competition,” said Kevin VanDam, the defending BASS Angler of the Year. “The relationships that we have off the water make it different, but we can still be competitive on the water.”

He added that despite the fact that they think they know each others’ tricks, strengths and weaknesses, the fact of the matter is that once they spread out over the massive expanses of a particular waterway, they have no idea what most of the others are doing. That gives rise to the occasional surprise.

Take Chad Griffin’s Oneida victory, for instance. “No one expected him to do well,” VanDam stated. “He wasn’t on anybody’s fantasy team. What that shows about the Elite Series is that someone else can win everywhere we go.”

There are rivalries, to be sure, some of them friendly, some more heated, but VanDam says that his on-the-water battles over the years against the likes of Rick Clunn, Denny Brauer, Mike Iaconelli, and, most recently, Skeet Reese, have helped him to improve his own game.

“There has always been somebody who has pushed me, ever since I started,” he said. “That’s what competition does. It gets you to be better. Look at golf – Tiger Woods brought everybody’s game up. You see that in all sports. It pushes you to dig deeper and work harder if you have the passion and desire to win.”

Make no mistake about it – VanDam still has that passion and desire. He knows that his competition does, too, and while they may think that he’s only concerned with his own next bite, he’s more observant of his foes than you might think. With only 11 of them left at this point in the season, the following is his take on the men who want to prevent him from repeating as AOY:

Skeet Reese
“He’s definitely motivated to win. He wants to beat me as bad or worse than anybody. That motivates me, too. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses. His strength is that he’s really versatile.”

Alton Jones
“Alton’s style is a little different than mine. That’s one of the really neat things about our sport. Everyone has different styles and strengths. They’re different but everyone makes them work wherever we go. He’s a very precise fisherman, very structure-oriented. He likes to fish a worm or a jig or a Carolina rig and get on one small spot and pick it apart.”
Kelly Jordon
“I’ve spent a lot of time with him and I know that he’s got very, very good instincts. Sometimes it seems like he’s kind of scatterbrained. It may look that way, but actually he’s very precise and he catches them. He’ll find the most obscure things, not just patterns but big fish patterns. Guiding on Lake Fork helped him a lot. He learned to fish for big fish and he learned to fish where there was a lot of pressure, but it’s almost like he has a sixth sense.”

Todd Faircloth
“There’s probably not anybody with a better work ethic than Todd Faircloth. He’s extremely versatile. He’s not phased by anything, whether he has to fish a one and a half ounce weight in the grass or throw a dropshot on 6-pound test. Todd is pretty quiet but he’s very confident.”

Randy Howell
“I’m sure he’s pretty excited about the postseason. I know he’s spent a considerable amount of time fishing for Coosa River spots. He’s very good in that situation. He’s had a solid year – he hasn’t won but he’s been steady all along.”

Gary Klein
“I’ve known Gary since the beginning of my career. He’s very intellectual, not afraid to do anything. He’s very good with a spinning rod but he’s also comfortable flipping. He works as hard as anybody out there.”

Tommy Biffle
“Tommy is one of those guys who definitely knows his strengths and weaknesses. You’re not going to see his with a dropshot rod sitting out in 30 feet of water fishing for suspended spotted bass. He knows what it takes to win and you know he’s going to be out there with flipping rods, probably one with a jig and one with a beaver. He’s a wild card. He’ll either do exceptionally well or have a tough time.”

Mark Menendez
“I’ve known Mark for quite a few years, especially the past few years as Strike King teammates. What a lot of people don’t know about him is how versatile he is. All of these guys are open minded. For a long time I had certain techniques that I really liked and it was the same thing for Mark. It becomes hard to narrow it down. One thing that he does better than me is that when he gets dialed in he can go to a snail’s pace.

Cliff Pace
“Cliff is probably the one guy in the group I know less than the others. I know that he’s extremely versatile and intellectual – he and Gary (Klein) are good friends. He proved his versatility at Lake Hartwell in the Classic there. He already has a couple of wins. He’s just trying to break the big one.”

Mike Iaconelli
“He’s extremely intense as everybody knows and he has a work ethic that’ll compare to the best of them. He’s realized that his emotion can get the best or worst of him at times and in the past few years he’s done a good job at channeling it.”

Gerald Swindle
“There’s probably not anybody with more to prove than Gerald. I know he’s excited about it being in Alabama. He’s won the Angler of the Year before and he finished the season real strong, so I know that gave him a lot of confidence.”

story from Basszone.com

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