There are a lot of great fishermen on the tour but one person consistently finishes in the top tier. That person is Kevin VanDam. This year’s Classic win is KVD’s third of his career, and it does not look like he is going to be slowing down any time soon.
Lay Lake in Alabama was the site of this year’s tournament as well as 2007’s Classic. Kevin won the tournament in Beeswax Creek, a spot he found during the 2007 tournament. His secret? Coontails in the backs of creeks and pockets. He found lots of fish that were feeding on gizzard shad so Kevin matched the food source. His secret was to knock his crankbait against the cover and let it fall back down. Most of his strikes came on the fall. Of course, he always had his wife’s homemade cookies on board for luck too!
VanDam’s total for three days was 51-6 followed by Jeff Kriet with 46-6 then Todd Faircloth with 44-3.
The thing I like most about Kevin is that he is a class act. Other fishermen have their gimmicks…yelling when a fish is caught; wearing hoop earrings inside the earlobe, etc. KVD’s gimmick is that he is simply an awesome fisherman. What’s more impressive is that it does not go to his head. He works hard, fishes hard and can accept loss gracefully…as well as winning.
Look for VanDam to be in the top tier in 2010!
ForTheFisherman 