John's Journal...

Kevin VanDam Adds the 2010 Bassmaster Classic Win Championship to His 2009 Angler-of-the-Year Title

Fishing the Last Day of the 2010 Bassmaster Classic

Click to enlargeEditor’s Note: Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, won the 2010 Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake near Birmingham, Alabama, on February 21, 2010. VanDam also won the 2009 BASS Angler of the Year Championship in September, 2009, earning almost $3/4-million in bass-tournament money from these two wins in less than 6 months. He also jumped to the top of the leader board for all-time tournament winnings with a total of more than $4-1/2-million. The number-one question on every bass fisherman’s mind is, “How does Kevin do that?” This week, we’ll take an in-depth look at how, why, where and with what lures VanDam won the 2010 Bassmaster Classic. You’ll learn the mental and the physical processes VanDam employs to be one of the best bass fishermen the world ever has seen.Click to enlarge

Question: Kevin, going into the last day of the 2010 Bassmaster Classic, there were only about 3 ounces of bass separating first, second and third places. You were 2 ounces behind Jeff Kriet on that final day. How in the world did you pull off the win with these two other fine fishermen having great places to fish in the same creek where you were fishing?
VanDam: I did lead the tournament on the first day of the Classic, but on the second day of the Classic, the water level dropped about a foot, which really hurt the part where Jeff, Todd and I were fishing. I dropped from first to second place. When the water level drops that quickly, usually the bass will move-out of the creeks and toward the points. When I saw that the lake had dropped on the second day, I thought that Todd and Jeff would kill me on that second day of the Classic. I thought the bass would move out of the back of the creek toward the front of the creek where they were fishing. I caught plenty of bass in the back of the creek, but my fish were smaller than theirs were. However, these two top competitors had bad days, too, and that’s the reason the weights were so close on that last day. Click to enlarge

When I went to bed on the night of the second day of the tournament, I was hoping that the water levels on the creek would rise on the last day, which I felt would give me a chance to win. I knew for sure that on the last day of the tournament, we were going to have warmer temperatures and really have a nice day on Sunday, the final day of the Classic. Too, I hoped that that warm weather would move some of the bass to the back of the creek where I was fishing, and it did.

Question: Why did you not change lures, instead of fishing the entire tournament with the two-different colors of Strike King’s Red Eye Shad – gold black back and the Gold Sexy Shad?
Click to enlargeVanDam: I have a lot of confidence in the Red Eye Shad. I’d experimented with some other baits in practice. I’d flipped a Strike King Rodent and a Denny Brauer jig on some stumps, I fished an Ocho, and I threw some flat-sided crankbaits. I did get a few bites on these lures. But when the water temperature is 40 degrees in the spring, the Red Eye Shad is a bait that the bass really react to, and I know that. Every time I fished the Red Eye Shad and caught a bass on it, my confidence level in that bait just went up even more. By the end of the tournament, I wouldn’t even have fished another bait. I was just fishing the Red Eye Shad.

Question: The Gold Sexy Shad - one of the two colors you fished to win the 2010 Classic - is a new color for Strike King, isn’t it?
VanDam: Yes, it is. I know that gold is a great color anytime you’re fishing slightly off-colored water. A Chrome Sexy Shad color is hard to beat at any time of year because it very much imitates the natural color of a shad. But in stained water, the Gold Sexy Shad has a much-more pronounced flash. I believe it’s more visible to the bass and presents a more-natural look to the bait. By coming out with the Gold Sexy Shad color, we did the same thing that I do with spinner bait blades. In very-clear water, I like silver- or nickel-colored blades on my spinner bait. But in stained water, I’ll either use a silver/gold blade combination or just gold blades, because that gold has a more-pronounced flash in stained water. So when I’m fishing that slightly-stained water, I felt like I really needed a gold-colored Red Eye Shad and a Gold Sexy Shad pattern Red Eye Shad. On the first day of the tournament, I experimented with some other colors of Red Eye Shad, including red and crawfish patterns. I leaned that the gold Red Eye Shad and the Red Eye Gold Sexy Shad were the colors that the bass wanted.

Tomorrow: No Letdown for Kevin VanDam as He Fishes the 2010 BASS Elite Tournament Circuit


Check back each day this week for more about "Kevin VanDam Adds the 2010 Bassmaster Classic Win Championship to His 2009 Angler-of-the-Year Title"

Day 1: How VanDam Felt about Winning the 2010 Bassmaster Classic
Day 2: Fishing the Red Eye Shad in #406 and the Gold Sexy Shad Colors Pays Off for Kevin VanDam in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic
Day 3: Kevin VanDam Fished a Section of Beeswax Creek on Lay Lake near Birmingham, Alabama, to Win the 2010 Bassmaster Classic
Day 4: Fishing the Last Day of the 2010 Bassmaster Classic
Day 5: No Letdown for Kevin VanDam as He Fishes the 2010 BASS Elite Tournament Circuit

 

Entry 550, Day 4