Entry 257-3
Kevin VanDam on Fishing the BASS Elite at Wheeler Lake in June, 2008
Editor’s Note: Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, finished second at BASS Elite Tournament at Wheeler Lake in north Alabama in June, 2008, and won $41,000. At this writing, he’s fishing on Barkley Lake in Western Kentucky without a day of rest between finishing the BASS Tournament at Wheeler Lake on Sunday and practice-fishing Kentucky’s Lake Barkley on Monday. With his second-place finish at Wheeler Lake, Van Dam has moved up to second-place in the Angler of the Year Race. This week, we’ll get some insights on how Van Dam continues to finish in the top-10 while fishing against the best fishermen in the nation.
Part 3: The Second Day of Competition
Question: Kevin, where did you decide to go first on the second day of competition?
VanDam: On the second day, I decided to visit the second spot I fished during the first day of competition – where I’d located the school of 3-1/2-pound bass. When I reached the spot, I didn’t get a single bite off my crankbait, which was so effective on the previous day. So, I changed my bait to a Strike King Football head jig and caught two, 2-1/2-pounders. After this, I felt confident that the school of bass from the day before was holding in the same place. I began to alternate baits with the 3/4-ounce Red Eye Shad in the Premier Pro-Model spinner bait. When I went back to fishing the Series 5 crankbait, I caught another bass. The crankbait bite began to pick up again.
When I’d caught 17 pounds of bass at this place, I decided to remain here for the rest of the day to protect the spot from other anglers. I stayed until about 1:00 pm and then went to check other areas. I tried to catch a kicker fish for my stringer on one of the other sites. But I didn’t catch a fish for culling. That night I decided that on the third day of competition I’d return to this same area and fish there all day long.
Question: What place were you in at the end of the second day of competition?
VanDam: I’d moved from 5th place to 4th place.
Contents:
- Part 1: What I Knew Vs. What I Thought
- Part 2: My Plan for the First Day of Competition
- Part 3: The Second Day of Competition
- Part 4: The Third Day of Competition
- Part 5: The Last Day of the Wheeler Lake Tournament
