For the second consecutive year and the fifth time total, Plano pro Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, has won the prestigious Bassmaster Angler of the Year title and the $200,000 prize money that goes with it. In this tournament, VanDam has proven how his never-give-up attitude, bass-fishing skills and personal tenacity have catapulted him into being named one of the greatest bass fishermen of all time.

 

“If you’re having a drought in your area, all you have to do is have a Bassmaster tournament nearby, and you’ll get enough rain to take care of that drought,” Kevin VanDam says. “Or, that’s the way it seems.” VanDam fished two tournaments in 4 days in torrential rains in central Alabama to win his 2009 Angler-of-the-Year title. VanDam had worked earlier with Plano to develop a clear, watertight tackle box, so he’d have a place to put his cell phone, his billfold, his fishing license and all the personal items he kept with him when he fished a tournament in inclement weather. The new Plano clear, watertight tackle boxes also enabled VanDam to see through the tackle boxes and find any of these items quickly and easily. “I’ve been ecstatic about the clear, waterproof cases that Plano has developed, especially since Plano now has them in several different sizes,” VanDam explains. “In tournaments like the two I’ve just fished, having those waterproof tackle boxes with the lures I’m planning to fish on that day and in that tournament handy and where I can see them, even in a downpour, has allowed me to fish faster and more efficiently and spend less time looking for lures.” Before these two tournaments to determine Angler of the Year (AY) on the BASS circuit, VanDam had said, “To win Angler of the Year, I can’t have a bad day of fishing. I have to do well all 4 days to have a chance to win. I’ll be fishing against 11-other best bass fishermen in the world, and if I stumble, one of them will take the title.”

 

The Lake Jordan Tournament

VanDam went into the first of these two critical tournaments, held on Lake Jordan in Alabama, leading 2009 Bassmaster Classic champion Skeet Reese by only one point in the AY contest. On that first day, disaster struck. “I threw the kitchen sink at those bass. I fished everything from a drop-shot rig on the bottom to a Spit-N-King on top, but I caught the most fish on the new Strike King Series 6 XD crankbait. I was primarily catching spotted bass, and I lost a really-big bass on a crankbait first thing in the morning. Then I had several other nice bass come off the crankbait before I could get them to the boat. But I didn’t give up. I just battled back and finally put five bass in the boat that weighed a little more than 7 pounds. At the end of the day I was in 7th place.” VanDam had feared this day the most. Instead of being in the lead for AY and winning this 2-day tournament on Lake Jordan, VanDam was back in the middle of the pack with a tall hill to climb to regain his lead for the AY title.

 

On the second day of the Lake Jordan tournament, VanDam caught a 4-pound spotted bass and another small limit and moved up to 6th place in the tournament. “I dropped to second place in the AY race behind Skeet Reese,” VanDam reports. “When I calculated what I’d have to do to still have a chance to win Angler of the Year, I realized I’d have to win the next tournament on the Alabama River, and that Skeet Reese would have to drop to 4th place or lower in that tournament. However, I felt the odds of both those things happening at the same time were pretty remote. I knew that the best thing I could do was try to win the 2-day Alabama River tournament. Then my winning or losing the Angler-of-the-Year title would be up to Skeet Reese and how he performed. If I could win the Alabama River tournament, I would feel like I had done all I could do to win Angler of the Year.”

 

The Alabama River Tournament

The rain had come down off and on during both days of the Lake Jordan tournament. When VanDam looked at the long-range weather forecast for the Alabama River tournament, he realized he’d be fishing the majority of this tournament in a rain suit. “Before the Alabama River tournament, I had a chance to practice there,” VanDam mentions. “I took the lures I had fished on Lake Jordan out of my four clear, watertight Plano tackle boxes and replaced them with the crankbaits, spinner baits and Caffeine Shads that I knew I would need and use on the Alabama River tournament. I learned in the Lake Jordan tournament if I kept two of those clear Plano tackle boxes on the front casting deck with me containing the lures I planned to use that day, then those lures would stay dry. I’d have the lures with the sharpest hooks, the trimmed skirts and the lures tuned-up the way I knew they needed to be within easy reach throughout the tournament. Those clear Plano watertight tackle boxes had played a major role in my fishing this year, and now they were to playing a major role in my run for the title of Angler of the Year.”

 

On the first day of the 2-day tournament on the Alabama River, VanDam put together a pattern of fishing extremely-shallow water, often less than 1-foot deep, on a 50-mile stretch of the river.

“I had located several spots on the main river and set-up a milk run, so I could stop at each spot and try to catch big bass quickly,” VanDam explains. “I caught one keeper on the Sexy Shad spinner bait, but then I changed lures and went to the Series 1 XS, an extremely-shallow running crankbait. I also started fishing the Caffeine Shad, a soft-plastic jerkbait.” At the end of the first day, VanDam had boated five bass that weighed 14 pounds, 3 ounces and was in the lead for this 2-day tournament. Skeet Reese was tied for third place with 10 pounds, and Kelly Jordan had moved up to second place. “I was in the lead in this tournament by 4 pounds, and I felt pretty confident I could win and thereby put the pressure on Skeet,” VanDam recalls.

 

The final day of the Alabama River Tournament was sure to be pressure-packed with $200,000 and the title of 2009 Angler of the Year on the line. But fans of professional fishing knew that VanDam would be at his best when the stakes were high and the chances of winning low. “In the first hour of the last day on the Alabama River I caught the biggest stringer of the tournament, which was over 16 pounds for five bass,” VanDam says, “and I knew I had enough fish in my live well to win. I just stayed out of the other competitors’ way and hoped that the people between me and Skeet in the standings would have some really-good days of fishing.” VanDam weighed-in first with his 16-pound-plus bag of bass. He lead the tournament. Reese had to weigh-in over 12-1/2-pounds to get 4th place and win the title of Angler of the Year.

 

“When Skeet put his fish on the scales, and I saw he only had 10 pounds, I was ecstatic, and I knew I had won,” VanDam remembers. “One of the reasons I won was because I had all my tackle extremely well-organized in my Plano tackle boxes, making finding and tying-on lures much faster than if I’d had to look for lures. By being organized with Plano tackle boxes, I got in more casts and caught more fish than I would have caught, if I hadn’t been organized. I’m convinced this is the reason that Plano is the leader in creating and developing tackle-storage devices for all types of weather and all kinds of hunting and fishing situations. In these two tournaments, the night before each day of competition, I’d take lures out of my Plano 3700 Series tackle boxes and put them into those four clear, waterproof Plano tackle boxes for the next day of fishing, setting them up with the tackle I would need each day. Then I didn’t have to go into any of my storage boxes, while I was competing. Plano definitely played a major role not only in my winning the title of AY for the second consecutive year, but throughout my entire season. Because I know there’s no better tackle-storage system than Plano, I use nothing but Plano tackle boxes and tackle bags.”