Kings of Bass S4E3 | "The Main Goal" - Kevin VanDam

foreign the thing that's come to mind for me that's a harsh reality is that each Lake that we visit this season it's going to be my last tournament on that body of water and it's tough I mean that part of me I'm a competitor that part of me I burn to win [Music] now we're at Lake Murray this is a place that I've fished a lot of times and I've never won here how special would it be to be able to make that happen that's my main number one goal is to have a good season you want to contend for angler of the year I want to qualify for Heavy Hitters in red crest for next year but I really want to win one on this last season [Music] the sense of urgency is a lot greater all season long each tournament I'm putting more and more pressure on myself to do that you know I mean in practice I'm there at the crack of light when we're allowed to be on the water and out till the end of the day every day I'm putting in the work you know I'm just doing everything that I can I'm doing it in tackle prep I'm doing it in preparation between tournaments doing it in research you know I am putting in more work and more energy than I ever have because that sense of urgency is real foreign [Music] [Applause] Bassmaster winner recently announced this will be his last year of competitive fishing from Kalamazoo Michigan KVD Kevin damn the goat the greatest of all time a seven-time Bassmaster angler of the Year four-time classic champion and multi-time Major League Fishing Cup champion well let's give it up for Kevin I can run but I I know I can't keep [Music] [Music] feelings that I know [Music] so far the season has I mean it has flown by you know it's my final Pro season on tour I'm just trying to relish all the moments and it's going so fast that I kind of want to hit rewind or I want to hit the the slow button to pause just kind of enjoy it you know and it's weeks like this you know too that are going to be really special that's the things that when I'm not on tour anymore are going to be hard you're not going to be around all your friends that you've known your whole life on tour all season long it's going to be so important for me to just take it all in you know to slow down you smell the roses so to speak cash it's just it's been emotional it's gone so fast so far already but I just you know I want to take it all in that right there never gets old that's some things that I look forward to and all these different lakes over the years so many different sunrises and sunsets that's the things you appreciate in your final season first morning to practice here at Lake Murray for stage three of the Bass Pro Tour and what a morning it is [Music] we got to get it you know figured out again a place that got a lot of history looking forward to it trees are starting to Green up it's fairly good warm conditions a lot of fish should be spawning there's also a blue by carrying Lake where it's got that to worry about if the Herring starts to spawn so you can see school and fish it's been taking really good weights here all spring long this is a fantastic fishery so look forward to getting back on the water here [Music] you know a big thing early on in practice is just trying to see exactly what stage the fish are in you know the water's 60.8 degrees here you can see the trees are butting out and you know it's prime time when you know there's going to be a lot of fish should be spawning but the other big thing here is this lake is a blue back Herring Lake and these fish really focus and get on that and the Herring spawn shortly thereafter the bass do so it happens in April every year we might be a little bit early but just based on the conditions that we've got you know you've got you've got to keep it honest or keep an eye out for it so so I kind of picked this area of the lake here where it's real calm you know sometimes you can see them they'll come up busting and chasing those Herring like that just to see if it's happening so whether they're pre-spawn spawning or the Herring or spawning I mean these fish are definitely always focused on them and always looking for them so just trying to get a good feel of what's going on but my gut tells me that this is going to be a lot of shallow fishing basically sight fishing you know fishing docks and things like that for bass Center in some phase of the spawn themselves and if you can get lucky enough to find an area where there's some bass chasing Herring as well that's just a bonus so far this season has not really started off the way that I'd hoped for my final season got on track on the final hour of the first tournament in Florida at Kissimmee and just missed the cut had a tough red Crest you know it was on the right kind of fish and couldn't make it happen Douglas and Cherokee same thing we had a good event there ended up three ounces from the top ten there missed the top ten cut but you know we're heading in the right direction so I'm hoping that the history that I have here from the past and understanding you know this Lake during this time of the year during the bass spawn and the Herring spawn especially will pay off for me [Music] not what you want here but you know the thing is he's up here super shallow chasing baits so they're going to be bass doing it someplace there's a good one right there two pounder right there another one on this one behind that block right there good one right there a big one they must be really locked on pretty good where they're not chasing a bait around much it's hard to see today but there's five in that pocket right there there's one right there that's a good one too damn you know I just went into this kind of calm pocket it's cloudy you know there's like five right in there and I marked two two that are big ones you know on bed so there's obviously a lot of them like I expected a lot of them spawning you know with these conditions it's not easy to to find that but I know the section of the lake and just from the history that I've had here that you know we'll try to find some more so look around for that but I'm going to try to find some other patterns too so when they're up spawning like this one of my favorite baits is a caffeine Shad but here on this lake with all the Blue Back Herring and you want to have something that kind of imitates that too so this Carolina Chrome I mean is really made for this region of the country but this is just a good thing to to pitch around and fish in these some of these shallow areas and on these points as well where they're at foreign [Music] the first day of practice for me was was pretty darn slow again fishing a lot of places that I know that the Herring get trying to keep that honest and just didn't see a lot of school and activity and man the stripers just striper after striper they seem to be a lot more prolific than before the herringer there I mean I'm seeing the Herring the birds are up there the stripers are up there they're following my baits and there's just not a lot of bass but you know it's cloudy it's windy it's really hard to see normally what I want to do when during that Heron spawn is I'm just going to drive up there on these shallow clay points and just you see the bass they just sitting there waiting for those Herring to come they don't roam around and chase them they sit there on those points and wait for the Herring to come to them cutting that's a bass good one to do right on that corner with so much current there I bet you there's a whole slew of them stack there every time every bridge is going to be good covered a ton of water today from the upper end of the lower end the best thing that I saw was a lot of spawning fish a lot of a lot of fish moving shallow caught a lot of stripers seeing that the the Herring air off just haven't connected completely caught a few little ones offshore so got one more day of practice to figure it out [Music] you know so after practice you got to do your tackle prep and this is a time when I kind of go through my game plan and what you want based on the weather conditions and tie the baits on that you think you're going to do well and it may not seem like it when you're watching from the outside but these Blue Back Herring Lakes they're tricky and during the spawn the Herring spawn especially God these fish are they get real smart and you have to throw the right color and the right speed and action so I'm just rigging up a lot of different stuff you know from swim baits to caffeine sheds to a jerk bait I've caught a lot of fish and this is a Elite Series this is one that basically I designed this color to be like a smelt but it's very much like a herring it's got kind of a blue glimmer side with that kind of greenish green pumpkin back and that's what those Herring really look like and you just cast this out there and instead of jerking it I basically just reel it and stop it reel it and stop it I was hearing swim in a pretty straight line and just reeling a jerk bait is a good tool [Music] without a doubt one of my number one baits is going to be a Strike King red eye Shad so I'm mixing it up between the silent and the tungsten 2 tap it seems like they like not a lot of sound those Herring are real subtle the way they move through the water and this silent red eye Shad it's a killer down here it's kind of a secret on any of these these local lakes the guys figured it out that you know when we came out with that silent red eye Shad just how effective it was in these Lakes so I caught a lot of good fish on that foreign it's all about the conditions you know today with it being fairly calm as long as you've got a ripple or a breeze on there you can get them to bite a moving bait but if you don't you know I'm going to rig a Carolina rig and a Shaky Head and a wacky worm because I know right where they're sitting so it's just a it's a matter of throwing a whole gamut of stuff through there and trying to get one to bite and there'll be a bunch of them there and most cases you're going to get a couple of bites and then it's like when you catch one you pull the whole school off they follow them out and it's over you've gotta you gotta maybe you can come back in an hour and if you happen to hit one of those places right when the Herring pull up there it can be deadly so this is another bait that I've caught some fish on it's a it's a Strike King King Shad it's basically out of production now so we have that in a wake shad and just burning one of these across those points is really good too I'm going to have a lot of rods out and be running through a lot of different stuff just trying to get one bait that they react to that's what you're hoping for foreign [Music] beautiful morning this morning you know it's the first day of the tournament for me I'm in in group b and you know Jonathan had a great day yesterday he's actually leading his group so you know that gives me a lot of confidence because he knows this hearing type deal as well too so looking forward to having a great day we just launched the boat you know I'm staying here right on the water so it makes it really really nice we're gonna ride down to to take off pick up our official and get the day going [Music] Lake Maurice really showing out it's perfect time right now we've had great conditions this morning it's going to be cloudy kind of windy I feel real confident after my practice that I'm going to have a good day you know I mean I found a lot of fish I know I understand this Herring spawn how it kind of works but you've just got to be in the right rotation these Fish can be super super fickle they get a lot of pressure so your timing is is real important so you got to fish the conditions so I've got a good setup to do that good game plan hopefully we have a great day coming into this event in he sits 25th in bellybed angler of the Year points representing Strike King lose give it up for a multi-time Cup winner Kevin Infinity [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so today was you know a solid start but you know I'm pretty disappointed based on my practice that I didn't catch any you know big ones you know when you get a chance to separate yourself especially in the qualifying around like this you need to do that you know I mean the weights are really really really close I just don't think that I can go again and not get a couple of big bites you know because so many times today I'd be reeling in a two and a half pounder or a three pounder and there'd be a five or six pounder trying to take the bait out of his mouth you know so he just got it to it first and that's just part of the deal when you're fishing for fish that are grouped up like this so you know I've got a great pattern I know there's a lot of fish you know I only ran about half of my water today you know just trying to be efficient got to get back out there on the second day for qualifying and just make the knockout round it then it's all about focusing on the spots that I have the most confidence in in where the big bites are at so hopefully we can make that happen so just all in all though a good solid day [Music] good [Music] so another beautiful morning here at Lake Murray I mean today it's going to be hot you know upper 80s for temperatures we're going to have a little bit of wind though the other day we didn't have that and that's a big plus so you know I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people out on the water today fishing everybody's kind of watching the live stream seeing what's going on but it's it's my second day you know the lake is getting more and more pressured I know where there's a lot of fish at and I got a ton of confidence right now I'm sitting in 11th the goal today just make sure to have a solid day and get in The Knockout round if you know if I can get off to a good start and catch a good bag then you know the rest of the day I'd like to just spend my time looking for more looking for more places where they're sitting so you know the Herring spawn is so different than any other kind of thing you have to deal with and that's where you know that history in the past hopefully will pay off for me today in the end I know I'm going to be around them I feel like I'm going to get the opportunities I just got to capitalize when I can you've got to catch those big ones if you get an opportunity at a six seven eight pounder gosh that's the one you have to have it just goes so far each day if you can catch a fish you know over five pounds because there's going to be a lot of big weights he finished 11th at stage number two from Kalamazoo Michigan representing Bass Pro Shops Nitro and Strike King known as one of the greatest of all time Kevin [Music] that'll make a difference right there four pounds 13 ounces [Music] so today was an absolute grind you know I went through the whole first period and really only had one roll on my swim bait and never had any other bites other than a non-scoreable and I mean they just were totally gone from a lot of the points that they were on the other day chasing those Herring I never seen one blow up I'd never seen any Herring so I really struggled trying to make that work I've seen a few finally just you know a few bass up there but it just really wasn't happening changed up my game plan and you know started throwing a wacky worm on a Shaky Head and a baby Z2 on an ed rig and just kind of sight fishing you know just using my eyes out there just looking for any dark spot light spot stump Rock anything like that and cast into it and looking for fish on bed so you know I ended up catching a few off beds and the rest of them were just kind of you know blind casting around like that and finally in the afternoon I saw a big one just outside of a bed with a small male and it was really focused on it and took a little while but got that baby Z2 I threw a Shaky Head I threw Wacky Worm through all the drop shot all that and it just would not do it but the way that baby Z2 stands up on that net head it could handle it and I caught it I think it was a 415 and that's the one that put me in the cut and made The Knockout round I've been looking at the weather forecast all week just waiting for these couple days you know that Moon's full and I was really excited about it but after today you know I know that I'm going to have to change things up but if we get good conditions I'm confident those fish are going to move back up I mean if the Herring move up the bass are going to move up with them and that's the way to catch a big sack right now [Music] laughs [Music] knockout round today so you know I'm definitely not going to fish like I did yesterday you can see we we got some clouds today wind's already blowing a little bit I'm pretty excited for it you know this is a great opportunity to have a top finish here after practice I thought I'd have a good shot to potentially even win with what was going on we got a full moon a lot of the bass are spawning a lot of the Herring and Shad are spawning as well right now so it just creates a lot of different opportunities I'm sure when this thing's over it'll be really cool to see all the different techniques and patterns that the guys use to you know get to the top but I know what I'm going to do I'm going to go out there and fish my strengths and try to make the dang top 10 you know and today you want to catch everything you can so if we get a window to make some magic I'm gonna you know burn the place down so we'll see what we can put together he finished 17th of the group b Anglers all the way from Kalamazoo Michigan Bass Pro Shops Nitro striking and lose a multi-time angler of the Year get it up for kbd Kevin man damn [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Applause] man not the the day I was hoping to have today it was just real tough you know the weather conditions we didn't get the wind that they forecasted you know I had the opportunities and and kind of got on a little flurry when we got the wind going and then it just filtered out and at the end again I kind of got on some some of those uh Herring points that the fish were on and just didn't get the right bites caught a jillion stripers today and was one quality fish shy of of making that cut and that's that's the way that it goes you know I had a couple of big ones bite and you know you just you're going to lose some like that so it just happens to be that so it's pretty disappointing I like this Lake a lot you know so I fished it many times I really understand what's going on I found a you know a handful of places I feel like I'd have a pretty good chance to have a big day tomorrow again but unfortunately that's not the case so you know we'll just have to move on Heavy Hitters is next that'll be a fun event you know no points or anything it's all about trying to catch those big ones there in Louisiana at Caney and and Bussy break so we looking forward to get going back there as well and I want to you know finish strong and you know I had a decent finish here it's frustrating you know it hurts there's no doubt I mean it's my last season trying so hard to make it happen trying to be patient during the day to allow things to materialize and it's part efficient I've done this for 33 years and I still learn every single day [Music]

Channel: Kings of Bass TV

Views: 33,532

Keywords: KVD, Kings of Bass, Lake Murray, Spawn, Pre Spawn, Post Spawn, Signature Series Rods, MLF, BPT, Bass Pro Tour, Major League Fishing, Kevin VanDam, KVD Rods, KVD Reels, Skip N Buzz, Caffeine Shad, Carolina Chrome, KVD 1.5, Squarebill, Sexy Dawg, Tungsten Casting Jig, Red Eyed Shad, Hybrid Hunter, Filler Worm, Baby Z Too, Bass Fishing, Largemouth Bass, Bass, Striper

Id: 2TgiVSzRof0

Length: 24min 25sec (1465 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 30 2023