See Also:

• 06/30/08–KVD Helps You Choose a Fishing Rod
• 06/17/08–KVD Q&A from the Bluegrass Brawl
• 06/10/08–KVD Q&A from the Southern Challenge
• 04/24/08–KVD’s Red Eye Shad secrets
• 02/21/08–Kevin VanDams 18th Bassmaster Classic
• 12/12/07–KVD’s Best and Worst of the ‘07 Season
• 08/31/07–Power (finesse) fishing
• 08/24/07–Learning new Techniques
• 08/20/07–Finding your own fishing style
• 06/30/07–How Sooner Run was won
• 04/28/07–Kevinvandam.com Launches the KVD Online Store
• 03/29/07–KVD announces Bassmaster Classic contest winners!

The VanDams stay all business during the off season

February 21, 2007 – by Sherry Vandam

The season never ends for a pro fisherman and his family, but it was great having a long break after the 2007 tournament season. The new BASS format gave us a much needed break between September and February and we made the most of it.

Of course, the season never really ends for Kevin. He was busy filming commercials, television shows and fulfilling sponsor obligations. Professional fishing has become a big business and there’s more to it than simply casting lures and catching fish.

We were busy working out sponsor contracts, getting a new boat rigged and wrapped with sponsor logos and preparing a booth for the Bassmaster Classic. I say “we” because Kevin and I are a team. I’m not out there making the casts or catching the fish, but Kevin relies heavily upon me to handle the paperwork and organization that is required of any successful angler. That can be said of most pro fishermen wives. Our work behind-the-scenes enables our husbands to stay focused on the business at hand – catching fish!

We also restructured his “tackle room” in our home. The tackle room is where he stores hundreds of lures, spools of line, rods and terminal tackle. I devised a system in which he knows where everything is and how to find it.

The time off and mild weather allowed Kevin to do more fall fishing than he has in the past. Not only did he enjoy fishing with some of his old friends, but he refined some techniques and experimented with new lures he plans to use on tour this season. He also got to enjoy deer hunting on land we purchased near our home recently. Kevin was disappointed he didn’t get his “trophy” buck, but he’s excited about the prospects of taking our twin boys, Jackson and Nicholas, hunting there in the future. The boys just turned 10 and have acquired their father’s love of the outdoors.

Best of all, we enjoyed many activities as a family unit, something that is important to us.

One of the highlights was when we joined 14 other couples and their children on a mini-vacation over the New Year’s holiday. We rented a huge home on Traverse Bay that had 16 bedrooms and large game rooms. It was a fabulous place where the kids had plenty of things to do and we could all be together and have fun without leaving the building.

We love Michigan’s change of seasons, so we spent a lot of free time sledding, snowmobiling and ice fishing with the kids in our neighborhood before Kevin left for the Classic.

We’re pretty excited about the new opportunities that lie ahead in 2007 and I have a good feeling that Kevin will have a great year. It’s going to be a special year for other reasons – we will celebrate our 15th anniversary with a trip to Hawaii and Kevin turns 40 this summer.

Wouldn’t it be nice to top it all off with another Angler of the Year title?