Since Kevin VanDam began fishing the national tournament trails in 1990, he’s won 12 major events including 3 Bassmaster Classics, banked $3.36 million in prize money, and taken 5 Angler of the Year Awards on the world’s top circuits. He’s been ranked at the top of BassFan’s World Rankings from 2002 through 2008, except for a temporary slip in 2005.

Before VanDam’s ascendancy, Rick Clunn of Ava, Missouri, was considered bass fishing’s maestro, and was crowned by ESPN as the All-Time Greatest Bass Angler in 2004. Besides Clunn’s stellar skills as an angler, he’s also been bass angling’s metaphysician, pondering for four decades the nature of the black bass’ world and man’s approach to its capture.

Along the way, Clunn has described VanDam’s “prefishing” methods as the spur to his success. He notes that VanDam’s practice sessions are remarkably efficient, enhanced by an extraordinary awareness of what’s transpiring in the sometimes inscrutable world of bass.

After VanDam won his fourth BASS Angler of the Year award in August, I asked him to describe his fish-finding methods for In-Fisherman readers. His approach to reading water and selecting lures serves as a model for anglers everywhere, whether you’re preparing for a tournament or planning an excursion to a new lake.

Making the Most of Time on the Water

VanDam’s practice session encompasses three days. He fishes from dawn to dark on the first two and from dawn to noon on the third. He spends the remainder of the third day preparing equipment and contemplating his tactics, as well as attending mandatory meetings.

VanDam amazed me by saying he normally finds 90 percent of his fish on the first day. He spends the next days looking for secondary patterns and eliminating unproductive areas and tactics. On the BASS circuit today, a 50,000-acre lake is considered small, and he can examine an entire 50,000-acre lake or an even larger one in two and a half days. He adds that the speed and efficiency of his search for bass have increased dramatically with advances in sonar, GPS, and digital cartography, as well as innovations in boat design, outboard engines, and trolling motors.

Before traveling, he conducts basic research, classifying a reservoir as highland, hill-land, flatland, lowland, canyon, or plateau reservoir according to In-Fisherman’s system, or similarly typing a river or natural lake. He then studies how seasonal patterns affect the location and behavior of bass species in that type of waterway. He checks weather conditions for two weeks before his arrival, as well as the forecast for the seven days that encompass the official practice session and tournament. He’s discovered that a successful practice involves understanding and preparing for all weather elements that might affect fish during this period.

Before arriving and on the water, he pays particular attention to water level and clarity, and generation schedules of dams at either end of an impoundment. He sometimes talks to a friend, such as Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Missouri, a veteran pro. During these conversations, he doesn’t inquire about spots but seeks a better understanding of the lake’s nature, such as the primary forage or noteworthy seasonal trends.

He feels too much information can be detrimental so he doesn’t call tackle stores to inquire about hot lures or study the Internet for tournament reports, reasoning that local anglers don’t fish the way he does. He notes, too, that most professional tournaments are won with methods local anglers rarely employ. Instead of preconceived plans, VanDam wants the bass to enlighten him on what they’re doing. He does, however, see value in knowing the average size of the bass in a lake, based on an overview of tournament results.

When asked to compare his practice style to that of his colleagues, VanDam concludes that he practices differently, adding that most anglers fish areas more slowly and thoroughly than he does. With the short prefishing period in BASS events, he’s found it critical to properly manage every second. He’s adopted a scheme he calls his “10-minute rule,” meaning he doesn’t spend more than 10 minutes fishing the same spot with the same lure. He readily admits, however, that “If there’s a flaw in my method, it’s that I don’t learn enough about my areas and patterns.”

The reason for this limitation is that he doesn’t want other anglers to observe his approach, as well as his eagerness to investigate many locations. But once the tournament begins, he methodically dissects his primary areas and discovers all their nuances, as well as the diverse hankerings of his quarry.

Seasonal Effects

VanDam notes that key spots often are smaller during summer than in spring. At Midsouth reservoirs, for example, large groups of bass inhabit specific niches on offshore ledges in summer, while they scatter along stretches of shoreline and spawning flats in spring. At several such waters, he’s made great catches as one seasonal pattern peters out and a new one develops—after the spawn, for instance, bass gradually leave the shallows and migrate to offshore lairs.

During this transition, prime offshore spots receive new influxes of bass almost daily. At this time, many anglers continue to probe familiar shorelines, but VanDam prefers to fish offshore spots along ledges in 10 to 15 feet of water, typically with a deep-diving crankbait. Other major transitions occur as prespawn movements begin and as bass move onto beds.

When the fish are in the process of shifting seasonal locales, he tries to develop secondary and tertiary areas and patterns, and his 10-minute rule has enabled him to do this in many events, providing plenty of back-up in case changeable weather throws off predominant patterns or befouls an area.

Observation Skills

Besides his focus on seasonal patterns and transitions, VanDam burns a lot of gas, running from the dam to the upper reaches of the main river channel and checking all significant feeder creeks. He observes water clarity, water temperature, depth, submerged geological features, shoreline transitions, vegetation, and the presence or absence of baitfish. He tests various forms of cover such as stumps, submerged vegetation, boat docks, flooded willows, buckbrush, mesquite trees, or whatever else bass might inhabit, and is also watchful to discern different patterns in the morning and afternoon, to better manage his upcoming tournament days.

Whenever he gets a strike from a deep-water bass, he immediately goes to the spot where he hooked the fish and examines it thoroughly, including retrieve angle, wind direction, current, baitfish presence, bottom depth, and composition. He also marks it on his GPS.

In addition to his electronics, VanDam closely observes the environment, such as emerging insects or flocks of coots that can reveal healthy submerged vegetation that’s holding bass. He possesses a photographic memory for all things related to fishing and mentally files his observations, though he does store spots on a GPS.

Quickly examining all of the facets of a lake provides VanDam viable options if foul weather alters his primary areas and patterns. For instance, if heavy winds and torrential rains pummel a highland reservoir and disrupt his main-lake pattern, he can go to a feeder creek explored in practice and fish the freshets that run in heavy rain. From experience, he knows that in late winter and early spring, freshets draw bass in highland reservoirs, and such current may hold a few fish year-round.

Tackle Selection

Saving time is a critical part of VanDam’s practice plan, and toward this end he has 25 rods fully rigged in his boat. At times, he has 15 neatly arranged on the deck of his Nitro Z-9. Some rods sport the same lure in different hues, which saves time by avoiding retying. During some practice sessions, he suspects that such shortcuts save him 10 minutes a day.

Except at deep, clear waters like Lake Erie, he spends 90 percent of his practice time employing power tactics. Even during winter or after the arrival of a horrendous cold front, he finds his power tactics more effective than finesse methods, at least for quickly locating groups of bass.

His confidence lures include Strike King’s Series 5 and Series 6 Pro-Model Crankbaits, Premier Pro-Model Spinnerbaits, Red Eye Shad, and King Shad, a big, jointed swimbait. At times, he fishes Strike King’s Wild Shiner or other jerkbaits, as well as their Series 1 and 4S Pro-Model Crankbaits. During 2008, he won one event with a 1/2-ounce Red Eye Shad and another with the Series 5 and Series 6 crankbaits. At all but two waterways, he relied on either the King Shad or Series 5 and Series 6 cranks to catch scores of bass on his way to the BASS Angler of the Year Trophy.

Because of his 10-minute rule, it’s rarely practical for him to try a drop-shot rig, Carolina or Texas rig, wacky worm, or jig while prefishing. Lately, however, he’s added a hefty football jig to his repertoire, which he retrieves speedily across bottom. In short, he uses lures that cover acres of water quickly, knowing that his favorite lures provoke some bass to strike, even when conditions are difficult.

He fishes deep-divers with a 7-foot 10-inch Quantum TKVD7106M fiberglass-graphite-composite rod and Quantum Energy E750 PT reel with 5:1 gear ratio. He typically retrieves baits rapidly to continuously ricochet off bottom. He feels that a composite rod allows crankbaits to ricochet more slowly and seductively than a stiff graphite model would, and feels the subtlety of the resulting ricochet provokes bass to strike, calling it a finesseful way to use a quickly retrieved crankbait. Nearly 99 percent of his hook-ups on a Series 5 or 6 crankbait are on bottom. He catches suspended bass with a crankbait only in waterways where the forage is blueback herring, smelt, alewife, or cisco.

To maximize his 10-minute periods, boat speed and position are critical, he adds, along with lengthy casts. Stacey King notes that VanDam’s casts are exceptionally quick, long, and accurate, often surpassing 50 yards, and he calls him the best caster on tour.

To check extensive shallow areas such as riprap shorelines, VanDam often selects a Red Eye Shad, a rattlebait that shimmies like a Senko as it drops horizontally. To work such areas, he runs his 109-pound-thrust trolling motor at the highest speed, parallel to the bank; makes long casts; and quickly retrieves the lipless bait using a Quantum Energy E750 PT reel with a 5:1 gear ratio on a medium-action 7-foot Quantum TKVD705M fiberglass-graphite composite rod. As the Red Eye Shad traverses the rocks, he points his rod tip down to keep the lure near bottom and occasionally sweeps it to the side. The rod sweep is followed by a pause, allowing the Red Eye Shad to fall with its alluring wiggle.

To quickly get baits down he generally fishes XPS Fluorocarbon line, which sinks fast, allowing better depth control. He reports that it also enhances casting distance, has excellent knot strength, abrasion-resistance, sensitivity, and low visibility in water.

Putting It All Together

As he pieces together the piscatorial puzzle that each tournament offers, he doesn’t try to catch many bass. Instead he wants to determine the depth, position, and nature of structure the fish are using, as well as the types of cover, including species of underwater plants, boat docks, manmade attractors, buckbrush, or other options.

When fishing, he fuels his relentless energy by eating nutritiously before, during, and after each practice day, noting that the dietary habits of many of his competitors are paltry. He also sleeps soundly, and is well-known for cultivating a positive mental attitude.

By the time a tournament commences, he’s ready to completely dissect all of his primary areas and some secondary ones, as needed. Not only will he use his hallmark power-fishing tactics, but also will attempt to coax tentative bass into eating a drop-shot rig, football jig, jigging spoon, or shaky-head jigworm.

Assessing VanDam’s brilliance is similar to describing a great work of art. Most of us recognize a masterpiece upon viewing it, but it’s much more difficult to articulate why it’s great. For example, when I asked Brian Snowden, also of Reeds Spring, Missouri, why VanDam is so overpoweringly good, he could only shrug his shoulders with a look of awe.

Though Stacey King has watched VanDam work his magic for 19 years, about all King can say is that VanDam “has the intuitive and physical skills to find bass faster than any angler in the world.”

Even Rick Clunn is uncharacteristically at a loss for words, but in due course concludes VanDam has the capability to shift into an “extremely fast, efficient, and proficient gear,” one which leaves the bulk of his of competitors in his wake.

After observing, analyzing, and interviewing VanDam on and off for many years, I haven’t been able to pinpoint the essence of his greatness, either. Nonetheless, these details should provide anglers with some tools.

Field Editor Ned Kehde, Lawrence, Kansas, is a longtime contributor to In-Fisherman. His detailed accounts of the tactics of expert anglers are widely acclaimed.