Kevin VanDam's 11th B.A.S.S. Tournament Victory
Day One of the B.A.S.S. Elite Tournament
 Editor’s
Note: On the last weekend in April, 2007, even with
one day cancelled due to bad weather at the B.A.S.S.
Elite Series Tournament at Lake Guntersville in Alabama,
Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, pulled off a win,
earning $100,000. This year’s win was VanDam’s
11th B.A.S.S. Tournament victory and his 67th, top-10
career finish. This week, we’ll look at how VanDam
found and caught the bass, lost the fish and relocated
them to win the tournament. You’ll see the strategy
that’s required to win a big-league bass tournament,
and how to apply techniques to win like a pro.
Question: Kevin, what happened on the first day of the
tournament? 
VanDam: When I arrived at the first two or three places
I’d planned to fish, I learned that a lot of other
fishermen had also located those areas. I didn’t
get any bites at the first two spots I’d planned
to fish, so I went to my obscure fishing sites much
earlier than I’d planned. When I made the decision
to go to my out-of-the-way, hidden regions, I caught
three or four bass fairly quickly. So, I continued working
that spot until I got a limit of keeper-sized bass.
I caught a total of 17 pounds fishing my spinner bait
and ripping my crankbait through the grass. I felt pretty
good about having caught my limit, but I knew that simply
having a limit wouldn’t win that tournament. I
needed to catch big bass. I started running some of
the small spots I’d programmed into my GPS on
my depth finder. I caught a couple of good bass on one
of those spots and finished the first day with 21 pounds
of bass, placing me in third place.
 Question:
Kevin, how do you feel mentally when you go to places
you’ve planned to fish on the first day, and you
see other anglers sitting there?
VanDam: In a bass tournament, you always have to adjust.
I’m fishing against the best anglers in the world,
and I know that most of them won’t miss the subtle
spots other fishermen will miss. However, the real secret
is to know where the best spot on the site is, or even
better, know the pattern on the pattern. Most of the
guys at Guntersville were fishing a large hump or a
big point and fishing all the way around that area.
But as I went down the lake on the first day, I could
see that many of the contestants were dialed-in on the
subtle places I’d found. This year was completely
different from last year, when very few fishermen dialed-in
to the shad spawn. This year, every angler knew what
to look for and where to fish. I knew that when I found
bass, I’d have to bear down and fish hard to catch
every bass I could at each site I’d located on
my GPS. I’ve learned on Lake Guntersville that
when I work
through an area and finally get a bass to bite, I usually
can catch three or four lunkers at that same spot. So,
I methodically worked those key places. The bass in
this lake move a lot. One day, there may be current
through the lake, and the next day, there may be no
current. This current affects where the bass will hold
and whether or not they’ll bite. The bass roam
up and down the ledges. Once I locate them, I make the
most of each opportunity. I knew I needed to catch three
or four large bass quickly on each spot I hit. I knew
I wouldn’t get many bites at the place I was fishing,
but that the bites I got would be from quality bass.
Question: How many of your key spots had other anglers
on them the first day?
VanDam: I didn’t keep a running tally, but two
other boats pulled up on the first site I’d planned
to start fishing. But this was a textbook spot, so I
knew there would probably be a few men fishing there.
The first day, I decided to catch a few bites off the
area I called “community spots.” Fishing
those community spots didn’t work out for me,
so I had to move to more-subtle areas.
Tomorrow: Day Two of the B.A.S.S.
Elite Tournament
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