Entry 245-3

Another $100,000 Win for Kevin VanDam Using the New Sexy Shad Chrome Color

Part 3: Day 2 of the Tournament

Question: Kevin, what was your day like on day two of the competition?

VanDam: We had a little breeze blowing, just enough to create a good ripple on the water. We had clear skies and a gorgeous day to fish. So, I returned to the spot where I’d done so well on the first day. However, I didn’t get the first bite. I hung around that area for a while, and I couldn’t make the fish bite. I began moving to some of the other waypoints I’d marked on my GPS receiver in the same region. After 2 hours of fishing and catching nothing, I caught a double (two, keeper-size bass, one on each set of the treble hooks caught at the same time). Any time you catch a double, that’s pretty cool and it’s telling you that the bass really want to eat the bait you’re fishing, which in this case was the Red Eye Shad in the new Sexy Shad Chrome color.

I started working down the edge of the grass and got a big bite. I wasn’t sure what was on my line. I thought it was a catfish, because it was pulling too hard to be a bass and fighting close to the bottom. But when I got the fish up, that catfish turned out to be a 9-1/2-pound largemouth. Now, you talk about building your confidence, well that fish did. I caught a double and then several casts later, caught a 9-1/2-pounder after 2 hours of catching nothing, I was really starting to feel good. But my glory was short-lived. I just stayed in the same area and ground out the rest of the fish I needed for a limit. At the end of the day, I had almost 18 pounds, and at the weigh-in, I moved up to third place in the standings.

Question: Kevin, knowing that the heavier strings of bass caught by the leaders were caught sight fishing, why didn’t you start sight fishing instead of staying with the Sexy Shad Chrome-colored Red Eye Shad. Also, why did you stay in deep water when you knew the bigger fish were caught in shallow water?

VanDam: I did some sight fishing in practice, and I didn’t find any areas with big bass. The weather forecast called for a lot of winds and clouds on the third day of the tournament. This late in the spawn, an angler would have a difficult time finding and catching bass by sight fishing for 4-consecutive days. With the wind in Florida, you had to consistently bring in a good stringer of bass every day. I was confident about my ability to catch bass on lipless crankbaits, like the Red Eye Shad at this time of year in Florida. I knew I could make bass bite, even if they were inactive, using the Red Eye Shad. So, I decided to stick with my game plan and not change tactics and try to flip and pitch and sight fish for bass.

Question: Kevin, be honest, weren’t you tempted to sight fish for bass?

VanDam: No, sir, not at all. I believed in my fishing pattern. I was in third place, my pattern had held up, my bait was producing, and I had fished consistently for 2 days. I wasn’t about to dump the deep, open water and the Sexy Shad for a new bait and a new area.

Next: Day 3 of the Tournament

Contents:

• Part 1: What I Learned in Practice
• Part 2: Day 1 of Competition
• Part 3: Day 2 of the Tournament
• Part 4: Day 3 of the Tournament
• Part 5: The Final Day of Competition