Entry 245-4

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

Part 4: Day 3 of the Tournament

Question: Okay, Kevin, you’re sitting in third place on day 3 of a 4-day tournament. How far out of first place were you?

VanDam: Kelly Jordon was in first place, and he had a big lead. I think he had a 9-pound lead on me. He’d caught his bass for 2 days, while sight fishing. But the forecast for day three was 20-to 30-mile per hour winds, a lot of cloud cover and the potential for afternoon rainstorms. These conditions didn’t lend themselves to highly-successful sight fishing. I didn’t believe the bad weather would affect the bass I’d found as much as it would affect the bass Kelly had located.

Question: So, what happened when you reached your first spot?

VanDam: The wind was blowing 15 to 20 mph. I returned to the same area where I’d caught the big 9-1/2-pound bass on the second day of the tournament. I started working down the grass line with my Red Eye Shad in the new Sexy Shad Chrome color, and I got a big bite. When I finally got the fish to the boat, he weighed just a little bit shy of 7 pounds. This was my first fish of the day, so I was feeling really good. When you can start a day of competition with a quality-size fish, you can fish the rest of the day with a lot of confidence.

I was able to fish that area for about 1-1/2-hours before the wind started blowing so hard that I couldn’t hold the boat and fish on the edge of the grass lines. I’d caught one other keeper, so I decided change to my backup plan and make the run to Cypress Lake. I changed baits and started fishing the King Shad and finished out my limit fishing this bait over shallow grass and in the canal. I caught one bass on the Strike King Zero, but I really struggled. I only caught about 8 keepers the entire day. I had 13 pounds, 6 ounces at the end of the day. I was pretty disappointed.

Question: Driving back to the weigh-in, you knew Kelly Jordon was 5 pounds ahead of you and you only had 13 pounds, so you felt like you had a bummer day. What were you thinking?

VanDam: I knew we all had a tough day with that wind blowing so hard. I knew that every one was having a tough time catching fish. But I was really surprised when we reached the weigh-in, and I learned that Kelly Jordon didn’t bring in one bass the entire day. Kelly dropped down to fourth place and I moved up to the lead in the tournament. My roommate Scott Rook was in second place. He was fishing down at Lake Kissimmee, casting a speed worm around shallow grass. He was in a protected area where the wind didn’t bother him. I knew Scott would be a tough competitor for the final day, and that the tournament could come down to me against him.

The forecast for the last day was 10 to 15 mph winds with warm temperatures all night, which should produce really-good fishing conditions. I felt that the bass should really be biting on the final day. I was really excited to be leading because I’d never led a tournament in Florida. I’ve had several good finishes in Florida, but I’d never won in Florida. I was feeling really good going into the final day, especially after the terrible practice I had before the competition started.

Next: The Final Day of Competition

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