The Kid Does It Again

Friday, September 16, 2005
by Ray Scott

Television audiences across the country and capacity crowds in the Mellon Arena watched the Kalamazoo Kid prevail in the toughest Classic in history and post a remarkable third consecutive BASS tournament victory. They saw him add a second Classic crown in the last 5 years to go along with three BASS Angler of the Year titles, 10 BASS wins, 16 consecutive Classic appearances and an incredible record 131 of 166 check-cashing performances.

At 37 years old, we are witnessing the dominance of perhaps the next Greatest Angler Debate winner.

I have enjoyed a tremendous position from which to watch KVD since he joined my tournament trail at the age of 22. I watch these boys. I watch all of them.

Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors Ray Scott has always watched "The Kid" – both on and off the water.

I've watched KVD constantly mature — and he came to our sport pretty darn mature for 22 years old. I always had an eye on him and watched how he performed not only as an angler, but how he got along with other people. Frankly, I don't know of anybody that I have seen enjoy more respect across the board than KVD.

Kevin is a brilliant, versatile guy who stays at the top of his game all of the time. He's cool and he's never locked into any one technique. If you watch him, he changes baits often. Changes techniques, changes pace, changes rods, reels, line, etc. He is constantly sampling the attitude of the bass as if he is presenting a menu to a hungry soldier. He's just got that knack. He is a high-energy guy, but he has a pace to him. He's never frenzied. There's nothing frantic about KVD.

I have to compliment him for his composure and his style and his quality. I've watched him out of the corner of my eye for all of the years he's been on my trail. And he's always exhibited the maturity, pleasantry and the total awareness of all that happens about him — whether it be a change in the bass' attitude or even the relationships with other competitors. I've never known him to have a problem with anybody.

He is the total package. It's hard to imagine a more deserving champion. Roland Martin won three consecutive BASS Invitationals in 1980-81, but in my association with BASS, we have never had anybody win three consecutive tour-level events.

I'll tell you something else: Kevin is passionate about everything that he does. I watched him as a hunter. I went with him and his brother Randy hunting up in the North Country. I saw that Kevin is a very avid deer hunter — as passionate about it as he is his fishing.

"Most people probably know that I love to deer hunt," he said. "But I'm a very serious trophy deer hunter to the point to where it drives my wife about crazy. About mid-November in the peak of the rut, my neck swells up. I start banging into trees and things like that. I get hard to be around."

When it comes to fishing, KVD has this God-given ability to assimilate not only what's happening, but also what has happened to him in the past. He pulls all of it together in a cool, calm manner. I think that's evident with his record (particularly in recent years).

Watch him enough and you will soon realize an advantage he enjoys over most of his competitors — he keeps his lure in the water longer than most people. When it comes in, he'll pick that bait up and before it even drips, it's on the way to the next target. When he's retrieving, he's already calculating the next spot. He's like a machine — whip, boom, whip boom!

If he can get in two times more casts than the next fisherman, then he's fishing twice as long. That is part of the secret to his success.

Kevin's versatility also sets him apart from the crowd. That was certainly on display at the recent Classic in Pittsburgh.

The fishing was so tough that many of the Classic contenders went to spinning — more than I had ever seen, frankly. It seems like I see a few more guys becoming spinning converts at every tournament. And the top Classic finishers realized that light spinning gear and relatively light line was the key to getting a lot of bites in the Three Rivers area.

Of course, Kevin VanDam has always had that in his back pocket. And he simply pulled the spinning/lighter line trick out when he needed it most.

KVD went to it because he wanted to get more performance out of his baits. I know that's the reason. It's not because he's fishing for small fish. It's because he's getting more action and more performance out of the lures he's using.

Most people know I am a proponent of light tackle and 4-pound-test line fishing. I certainly have no quarrel with heavy line for certain baits. I throw 12- and 14-pound line if I'm throwing a 1/2-ounce or bigger buzzbait, for example. But when I'm fishing for fun and I want to catch fish of all sizes, I go to spinning tackle.

KVD has harnessed the word "versatility." He's capable of reading the circumstances and adapting his tackle to the attitude of the bass. I don't think that ability can be more classically illustrated than in his Classic performance at Pittsburgh.

That's a compliment to him. He has always had that knack. I've been watching him since he jumped into big-league bass tournaments. I call him The Kid.

In Pittsburgh, The Kid did it again.