VanDam Looks Back On Stellar Career

By Lynn Burkhead
OSG Senior Digital Editor

During my days of covering the first few years of Major League Fishing, I found myself sitting in a camera boat one day during the break that followed the first period of the first day in Alpena, Mich.

Next to me in a Nitro bass rig was Michigan’s favorite fishing son, the legendary Kevin VanDam, as he worked on tackle and prepared for the next period. In an event that he would win in runaway fashion, KVD had already put on a virtuoso performance in the first couple of hours that week, building a huge lead with two periods remaining.

As the break rolled on quietly, the hum of an idling engine built as one of the competitors motored in from a spot way up the lake. And with the summertime morning air as quiet and still as a church memorial service, the cathedral-like silence was shattered by the fellow MLF competitor who just couldn’t resist a little good-natured needling at the expense of his longtime friend.

“Kevin, dadgum it man, leave some for the rest of us!,” he grinned and quipped loudly as the collection of competitor and camera boats broke out into laughter. “My gosh, man, let us come up for air, why don’t you?”

KVD sheepishly grinned, went back to working on his tackle, and rolled on as he continued to construct a stellar career like no other in bass fishing history.

Now, as VanDam stands on the sport’s summit as its unquestioned GOAT and competes in his final regular-season event before retirement, he was gracious enough to give me a bit of interview time a couple of weeks ago as he and his wife Sherry paused in the Mossy Oak Fishing booth during the mid-July ICAST fishing trade show in Orlando.

Ever the steely competitor, VanDam smiled and softened a bit as he reflected on his career, his decision earlier this year to retire from the competitive side of the sport, and where it all goes from here.

“To this point, I haven’t really gotten super emotional and haven’t really thought too much about it, but it’s all really kind of sinking in right now,” KVD admitted.

I started covering tournament fishing two decades ago, being assigned by my ESPNOutdoors.com bosses to cover the 2001 Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans. That, of course, was where KVD won the first of his four Classics and continued on a meteoric rise that has propelled him to career stats that no one else has ever amassed in the history of the sport: four Classic titles, seven B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year trophies, an FLW Tour AOY title, 25 B.A.S.S. victories, one Bass Pro Tour triumph, three Major League Fishing made-for-television Cup titles, more than $7 million in career earnings, and 2018 induction into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.

Despite all of that, KVD believes that there is more he can do – with a new twist, of course.

“I think I can be a lot more effective, a lot more efficient and have a more manageable schedule,” said the 55-year-old VanDam. “One of the toughest things about being a competitive angler on any tour is that set, rigorous schedule, number of events, things like that, things you have out there that you’re locked into and there’s no flexibility in those dates.

“In my next career, I’ll have a little more flexibility,” he continued, noting that he plans to set up trips to be in the best places at the best times for fishing, filming, content production, client entertainment and the like.

“It’s kind of the same way we try to set the tournament schedule, like man, you want to be at Santee Cooper in mid-March, or you want to be at Okeechobee at the end of February, or you want to be at Lake St. Clair the first week of August. You want to pick those windows when the moon is full, or the conditions and timing are right for the shad spawn, or whatever it is. And those are the kinds of things I want to do going forward, is have a little bit of flexibility in that schedule (making).”

While VanDam is leaving the week-to-week tournament grind, it should be evident to all that he’s hardly leaving the sport, and instead is moving full-speed ahead into becoming even more of an educator, a spokesperson for the companies he endorses, and in championing the outdoors space.

As he moves in that new direction and reflects back on his career, he has few (if any) regrets.

“No, not really,” said KVD. “The biggest thing that I look back at now is that this is my 33rd season and I just can’t believe that it’s been 33 years already, you know? I think you get caught up earlier in your career, and even in it, where you’re just going through and you’re so focused on the competitive aspect that you don’t sit back and truly appreciate those things (that are happening).”

VanDam said that lately, that has changed.

“In recent years, I’ve been able to really kind of appreciate some of those (things), those key moments, and when you do win, (to) understand how special it is,” he said. “Fortunately, I’ve been able to have success throughout my whole career, but I’ve learned the importance of just reflecting a little bit more and saying ‘Hey, it isn’t easy, it doesn’t happen every day, and you need to put a smile on your face and enjoy it, you don’t have to hide it.”

While there’s-trash talking and good-natured ribbing in almost any competitive endeavor, there’s also the need for respect. KVD hopes that he’s not only earned respect, but given it as well.

“I’ve never tried to be arrogant or in anybody’s face or like ‘Hey, look at me, I’ve done this or I’ve done that,’” said VanDam. “But in the end, that’s how you’re measured, is by your record, your credentials and your stats. To look back at what I’ve been able to accomplish, in the timeframe that I’ve had against the caliber of anglers that I’ve competed against, I’m pretty proud of it.”

But VanDam also notes that he’s happy and proud for the way that he has carved out his career path.

“Not only (the numbers), but the way that I’ve done it, I feel like I’ve always done it with a lot of integrity and respect for my fellow competitors,” said KVD. “And they’ve reciprocated that as well and I’ve made a lot of great friends over the years. I really have no regrets.

“Sure, there’s lots of tournaments that I look back and say ‘Man, I wish I would have done this,’ or ‘If just this one fish wouldn’t have come off,’ or ‘If this would have happened there,’ I mean, I had a lot of opportunities that I let slip through my fingers. But I still don’t have any regrets.”

When I mentioned that I was surprised a little bit several years ago when VanDam left the Bassmaster Elite Series for the Bass Pro Tour – with the possibility of winning an unprecedented fifth career Bassmaster Classic still on the table of possibilities – he politely shook his head.

“I’ve never competed because I’m trying to break records, or the money, or anything like that,” he said. “At the time, you know, with the way that the management was, the way things were going, the angler morale, I just felt that it was a great opportunity to really further the sport of professional bass fishing for all of the leagues, right?”

VanDam then added, “Competition is a good thing. And I think that it has been (a good thing since 2019). There was a lot of turmoil, for sure, during that transition. But, you know, it’s really flattened out. I mean, the two leagues, with Major League Fishing/Bass Pro Tour and the Elite Series out there, they’ve pushed each other to be better. The coverage is better, the streaming is better, the content is better, the anglers are better, and it’s created more opportunities for young anglers coming up. The sport of fishing has never been bigger, and it’s never been a better opportunity for new anglers to be able to have a good opportunity to make a living at something that they really love, which is what I’ve been able to do.”

When VanDam began his career with a full-time commitment to the B.A.S.S. tournament trail in 1990 – his first B.A.S.S. event was the 1987 New York Invitational where he finished in 110th place and made no money – the sport was still a long ways from where it is today. But Ray Scott’s dream was gathering steam and the sport was soon rocketing to places few could have ever imagined as VanDam and other signed on for the ride.

And what a ride it has been for KVD, once dubbed the “The Kalamazoo Kid” by some writers. Just more than three decades after he started on his career journey, VanDam is leaving the competitive side of angling in a better place than he found it.

“Oh, there’s no doubt,” said KVD. “We’ve got a huge industry that surrounds it (tournament fishing). Basically, competitive bass fishing drives technology now. I mean look at all of the advancements in forward-facing sonar to fishing lines to rods and reels to boats and all of the (other) improvements out there. In the end, what we do makes it easier and a better experience for the average, everyday weekend bass fisherman to have a better time on the water.

“That’s what competition drives and it will always do that,” added VanDam. “And to be a big part of that, it’s pretty dang gratifying.”

When asked if he embraced the idea of becoming an elder statesman for bass fishing, he acknowledged that he’s been blessed with good health and a body that has never really betrayed him despite the repetitive power-fishing motions that have propelled him to fishing’s summit.

“I don’t feel old,” he said with a grin. “But I can definitely tell (that time is passing by). I’ve been around a long time and you have to be honest with yourself for sure, that’s part of the transition that I’m doing.”

In the fall of 2019, I bumped into VanDam by chance at a deer camp in western Nebraska. KVD, who loves to hunt almost as much as he loves to fish, visited with me and we talked about the subject of retirement someday down the road. He noted then that as long as he was still having fun, staying healthy and competing at a high level, he didn’t know when that time would come. The other day, he referenced that conversation and noted that those things are still true. But he also knows that it’s time to transition to another stage of his career.

“I’m still having fun and I think that I’m still very competitive out there on tour,” he said. “But again, with age comes wisdom and your mindset and things change, and I just feel like I can be more valuable to the sport that I love in this new role than just by continuing to be a tournament angler.

“And it’s different, because almost without fail, nobody ever retires from tournament fishing,” he added. “Most tournament fishermen just fish until they can’t fish anymore and that’s it. They don’t pick their time. And for me, you know, it just seems like a really good time to make this transition.

“Even as this season has gone on, and I know I’m going to miss it to some degree, I’m still very comfortable with my decision.”

VanDam noted that his remarkable career hasn’t taken place in a vacuum. Because without the love, support, and sacrifice of his family, from his mom and dad, to his siblings, to his wife Sherry, and to his sons Jackson and Nicholas, it isn’t likely that any of this would have happened. He had a lot to say about the role that they’ve played in the success of his career journey, and that’s another story for another day.

As we talked about his retirement from competition, I asked one final question: What’s your legacy in the sport and how do you want to be remembered?

After hesitating for a moment and reflecting on that, he answered.

“I really don’t get to pick that,” he smiled. “It’s pretty much (what we’ve talked about). I think the way that I competed and the person that I am and the way that I’ve treated other people, that will set that to whatever it is.

“I hope people, you know, respect what I’ve done and appreciate the integrity that I’ve had and the way that I’ve tried to go about it,” he added. “I’ve always looked at the things that I’ve done and the decisions that I’ve made and the places that I’ve been, and all of that, trying to make the sport better, try to grow the sport, try to make better opportunities for more people, for the industry as a whole, and I know I’ve made a big impact on it for sure. I just hope everybody looks on it (my career) as positive because my intention is to always try and be better and make it better for other people around me.”