At 41, VanDam Not Feeling The Pull Of Father Time

Just how long can Kevin VanDam keep it up?

A lot of factors have combined to make the 41-year-old Michigander the greatest angler of his generation and one of the best to ever throw a lure in a competitive event. Chief among those are traits like intelligence, good instincts and a burning desire to perform to the best of his ability every time

he turns the key to start the engine on his boat.

But at least a small part of the game is physical, and in that regard, he admits he's been lucky. The reigning Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year (AOY) and BassFan World Rankings kingpin still carries about 175 pounds on his 6-foot-2 frame, just like he did when he burst onto the fishing scene nearly two decades ago. He has no debilitating aches or pains and he's never felt the need to visit an eye doctor.

He knows he's not immune to the physical decline that comes with advancing age, though, so here are the big questions: Coming off a two-win season and his fifth tour-level AOY, is he at his absolute peak right now? And will there be a dropoff in performance as Father Time takes his toll?

"I feel pretty good about where I'm at," he said. "Physically, I can fish as hard as I need to – I can cast as far and reel as fast as I ever could. But the biggest thing is that mentally, I'm more at ease with myself. I'm real comfortable with my style and I know what works for me.

"Yeah, there's a physical aspect to it, but to me, the mental aspect is bigger. You have to be able to keep that same drive, and if you can do that, it gives you the motivation to keep it up physically."

No Gym Membership Needed

VanDam, who played a variety of sports as a youth before switching almost all of his extracurricular attention to fishing and hunting as a high schooler, has never had to do anything beyond live his normal life to stay in optimum physical condition. He has a treadmill in his home, but it gets little use.

"I could always eat whatever I wanted and not gain any weight, and everybody always said, 'Wait until you're 30, or wait until you're 40 and your eyesight starts to go. I know that stuff is coming eventually – I can't eat the way I did when I was 35 even now, and I'm sure I'll start to lose some vision, too, but there are steps you can take against that. It's just a natural part of aging, but so far, so good.

"I don't have any set (conditioning) routines that I do. I have a piece of property that I manage for good deer and turkey hunting, and that gets me some exercise. I'd just rather be outside taking a walk with the kids or riding bikes. I like being outdoors."

He's confident that as long as the competitive fire still burns, there will be ways to deal with any physical shortcomings that might crop up. But if that fire dims, then it'll reflect in his finishes and it'll be time to move on to something else.

"I've seen some of that in other people that've been around a long time. You notice that they don't practice as hard, or they're not as good at keeping up their equipment as they used to be.

"You can't do less of that kind of thing and expect to maintain the same performance level."

Schedule's More Fun

When VanDam turned pro in the early 1990s, the Bassmaster circuit began its season in the fall and wrapped it up during the spring of the following year. That made for some brutal-weather events – he recalled tournaments in consecutive Novembers at Oklahoma's Grand Lake that took place under frigid conditions.

Nowadays, the Bassmaster Elite Series is set up to hit the best lakes in the country at the optimum times for whacking big sacks. That's one of the reasons that his motivation is unlikely to wane anytime soon.

He might be a Northerner, but he doesn't want to poke ice out of his rod guides anymore than an Alabamian or a Floridian does.

"We used to fish a lot more cold events, but now our only shot for a real cold one is at the Classic," he said. "It's one thing if it's 40 (degrees) and raining, but it's another if it's 15 and the wind's blowing. That's no fun.

"When you look at the lakes we're fishing now, there are none that are duds. There are no Pittsburghs (site of the ultra-low-weight 2005 Classic, which he won) on there. You look at Amistad, Falcon, Guntersville – those are places that everybody wants to fish."

Notable

> VanDam said that if his desire to compete ever diminishes, he'll walk away from the sport. "I won't think twice about it," he said. "If it's no longer fun and it becomes something I have to drag myself out to do, that'll be it."

> If he pre-practices at all for the 2009 Classic at Louisiana's Red River, it'll be a short session. "I wasn't planning on it, but it's probably been 10 years since I've been down there and I'm sure it's changed a lot. I might have to take a day just to make sure I know how to negotiate my way around."