By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Since he debuted on the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2011, Jonathon VanDam has been a threat to notch a single-digit finish in any given tournament. However, he was just as likely in the beginning – if not more so – to end up in the bottom 20 percent of the field.
He had at least two finishes of 80th or worse in each of his first two campaigns. There haven't been any such disasters this year (although a 78th in the opener at the Sabine River was close), and to him, that's a sign that he's starting to develop some of the steadiness that's the hallmark of competitors who qualify for the Bassmaster Classic year in and year out.
He knows he still has a long way to go to reach the level where his famous uncle Kevin resides. The most important thing, though, is that he's making progress toward that goal.
"My first couple years it was all or nothing – I either made the Top 12 or finished in the 90s," he said. "It's nice to get my consistency up a little bit and I'm starting to get more comfortable with the idea that I can figure something out no matter where we go."
Homeward Bound
The 24-year-old VanDam is 39th in the Toyota Tundra B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year (AOY) race as the circuit enters the home stretch. He needs to move up a few places to secure a berth in the 2014 Classic – or he could just win an event in his home region, as he did last year.
He's confident that he'll be in the field next February when the Classic goes to Alabama's Lake Guntersville. Both of the final two derbies are on smallmouth-dominated venues, and catching bronzebacks is his specialty.
"These last two tournaments just set up well for me," he said this week as he pre-practiced for the season-ender at Lake St. Clair, which is about a 2-hour drive from his home in Kalamazoo, Mich. "I'm going to do everything I can to get inside the Classic cutoff and my chances to win another one are the best they've been all year.
"I've spent a lot of time at St. Clair over the past 2 or 3 years and I consider it more my home waters than anywhere else."
At that one, he should have the type of advantage that more-seasoned pros have used to bury him at some of the Southern stops over the past few years. At the preceding derby at the St. Lawrence River, everyone will basically be on equal footing since that'll be a brand new stop for just about everybody.
"At places like Kentucky Lake or Guntersville, a lot of these guys have been going there for years and years and they've got a whole library of waypoints. They've seen those lakes in so many stages and they know when to go where. For someone trying to figure it out for the first time, it makes it pretty tough."
Time Management the Key
When asked to pinpoint the area in which he's most improved since his arrival on the Elites, VanDam gave the nod to time management – practice time, in particular.
"I'm pretty amazed at how much water I can cover in 2 1/2 days now," he said. "Back when I was fishing the Opens I'd come and spend a week sometimes, and now I'm getting most of that accomplished in a much shorter amount of time.
"The nice thing about having a week was you could find two or three patterns that were going on. You knew what the fish should be doing and all that time helped you get dialed in. There's always the exception, though – sometimes you get thrown a curveball and the fish aren't doing anything that they should be doing."
He said he has frequent discussions with his uncle during practice, but they're on general topics such as a particular bait that one or the other might've been having success with. In terms of help, he says he's gotten a lot more from KVD regarding the off-water aspects of the game.
"He's taught me a lot about working with sponsors and designing products and all that stuff. Him and my dad (Randy, who owns a large sporting-goods operation in Kalamazoo) have really helped me on the business side.
"Fishing-wise, I want to do as much as I can on my own, but Kevin and I do bounce some ideas off each other, like if one of us is getting good ones on a (Strike King) Series 5 or that kind of thing."
He said his uncle is looking forward to the final two events as much as he is, but for a different reason. At No. 3 in the points, KVD's Classic slot is all but secured.
"I think he's still pretty mad about how the season's gone, though," he said. "He doesn't have any Top 12s and I'm guessing that's driving him crazy."
