It’s now retired

One of the greatest bass anglers of all time, Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Michigan, recently announced his retirement from professional fishing.

Known as KVD in the bass fishing world, VanDam is one of only seven anglers to have won more than one Bassmaster Classic title. Only VanDam and Rick Clunn have won more than two. Both won four.

VanDam also won seven Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles. This is the second after Roland Martin to win nine. VanDam also won FLW Angler of the Year.

VanDam started fishing professionally in 1990 at the age of 23 and won his first Angler of the Year title in 1992. He competed in 315 tournaments, most recently at the Redcrest Bass Fishing Championship in Charlotte, NC. He won 25 tournaments, an 8% win rate. He has finished in the top 10 112 times, in the top 20 177 times, and in the top 30 220 times. He has earned more than $7 million and earned significant sums in corporate sponsorships and entry fees.

VanDam was also one of the founders of Major League Fishing, an innovative tournament organization that redefined tournament bass fishing. It also lured away many of the top names in the Bassmaster Elite series, leading to an unfortunate rift between VanDam and the organization where he made his fame and fortune.

A radio personality close to VanDam in one of the top 5 markets told me that the angler has been away from home for about 240 days. He missed many important family milestones, which certainly influenced his decision to retire. His wife Sherry reportedly warned him not to “put a brady on her” and return for another season after announcing his retirement.

VanDam’s professional career began the same year that I began covering professional fishing in earnest, although my first tournament history was about George Cochran’s Bassmaster Classic win in 1987 on the Ohio River in Louisville.

In 1990, VanDam was a fresh face among grizzled legends like Clunn, Cochran, Larry Nixon, Denny Brauer and Guido Hibdon. Some of the original BASS founders were still fishing back then. That was back when professional anglers still wore overalls and ball caps high on their heads.

Nixon, Clunn, Cochran and the others were still at their peak at the time. Winning a regular Bassmaster event didn’t bring in much money in the 1980’s and 90’s, except for special events like the old Bassmaster Megabucks tournaments. Nixon dominated the BASS special events and made a fortune.

VanDam was a transitional figure, bridging the generations between the old guard and the new guard of the late Bryan Kerchal, Mike Iaconelli, and the late Aaron Martens. As the old guard faded, VanDam became an unstoppable force, combining the most formidable traits of Nixon and Clunn. After about 2000, he was the favorite in almost every tournament, as evidenced by his top 20 percentage.

He also spoke differently than the old guard. He was deliberate and precise. He is tall with chiseled features. The camera liked him which fitted him perfectly into the newly arriving video age that was defining professional bass fishing.

BASS recognized his potential early on and formed him into a star. He had the game to make himself a superstar at a time when ESPN was setting out to make BASS as big as NASCAR. Sponsors from outside the angling world brought millions into the sport and enabled anglers like KVD to become very rich within the angling world.

A few things stand out about KVD. In 1997, when he was still relatively young, he helped me with one of my first “Bassmaster” magazine articles. It was an article about left handed baitcasting reels. Few manufacturers made them back then, but this article brought them into the mainstream.

At the Bassmaster Elite 50 tournament at Lake Dardanelle in 2005, I saw VanDam fishing along the Arkansas 326 at a riprap. I sat on the riprap and interviewed VanDam while he was fishing. He was relaxed, open and very engaging. He told me what he threw, why he threw it, how he threw it, how he presented it and why he was fishing in that particular spot. Those few minutes gave me a lot of insight into VanDam’s mystical decision-making processes.

At the 2007 Bassmaster Classic in Birmingham, Alabama, VanDam and Skeet Reese flanked champion Boyd Duckett. Reese was incredulous that a nobody like Duckett would come out of the Bassmaster Open Series to beat the Elite Series Bluebloods. Reese thought he had that Classic in his pocket, and he couldn’t get over having that semi-pro truck magnate snatch it from him.

VanDam, a two-time Classic champion, shrugged and calmly explained how difficult it is to reach, let alone win, the Classic through the Open Series. VanDam said he considered fishing the Open Series himself but decided against it because it was “too damn hard”. He said that Duckett deserved his place and the win and expressed his deepest respect.

It was a textbook example of one champion allowing another champion to enjoy their moment. VanDam then won two more classics. Another founder of Major League Fishing, Duckett never won another.

Kevin VanDam won 25 tournaments in his career with 112 top 10 finishes, 177 top 20 finishes and 220 top 30 finishes. He earned more than $7 million in prize money, along with significant amounts in corporate sponsorships and appearance fees. (Photo from the Democrat Gazette file)