Kevin VanDam's 11th B.A.S.S. Tournament Victory
Day Two 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, where did you start on the second
day of the tournament?
VanDam: I returned to some of the same places where
I’d caught bass the prev ious
day. There was current moving through the lake on the
first day, but on the second day, there was none. I
didn’t get a single bite at the first two regions
I fished. I continued running my spots until I found
a place where I could catch bass on the outside edge
of the grass. I caught a couple of bass at one place,
but I really had to work hard that day to find and catch
more bass. I ended-up catching about a total of 19 pounds
and 10 ounces. I had a pretty-good second day, but it
was much-more difficult than the first day.
One thing that really helped me on the second day was
that there was very-little wind on the water. When the
wind picked-up, I caught a couple of quality bass on
the spinner bait. One piece of equipment that really
helped me was my BioSonics unit, a device used for acoust ic
data collection that helps keep the shad active around
the area where I fish. If I could excite the shad, the
bass would also get excited. I cranked-up the volume
on my BioSonics to entice the shad away from the grass.
The unit seemed to work because I noticed shad following
my bait all day. During the practice days, I used the
BioSonics device. I learned that generally the shad
would vanish by 11:00 am, but if I ran the BioSonics,
I could keep shad in the area I was fishing after 11:00
am. Although I wasn’t in the lead, I felt confident
after the second day. After the first day weigh-in,
the leader was 5 pounds ahead of me, but I only trailed
by 2 pounds after the second day. I felt that I could
catch the leader, if I had a productive final day.
Question: Kevin, when you catch bass easily on the
first day, then return to the same spots and use the
same baits as before but don’t catch bass, how
do you feel ?
VanDam: I know I need to pinpoint a new location, look
for something different and try tactics I haven’t
used on the first day. I knew the bass would be feeding
on the shad somewhere in Lake Guntersville. I needed
to find the shad, so they could tell me where to locate
the bass. I also knew I needed to run enough water and
fish enough spots to pinpoint the shad and the bass.
I’ve learned that bass won’t travel far
and often will be on the same spots I’ve found
during practice, but they won’t be holding on
the same position. I knew the bass could be as much
as 200-yards away, holding on the ledge I’d located
previously, but not holding on the same spot I’d
found with the GPS. I decided my best tactic was to
fish down the ledge until I located the bass. When I
find a place that’s holding bass and the conditions
change, that school of bass will remain in the same
area, if I can pinpoint them. Luckily, I found them.
To learn more about BioSonics, visit www.biosonicsinc.com.
For more information on Strike King’s top-quality
lures, go to www.strikeking.com.
Tomorrow: The Final Day
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