11-13 in competition:

http://www.kevinvandam.com/news/article/20_questions_with_kvd/

8-)

If I'm fishing new water, or if I haven't been out in a while, I'll usually start with finesse simply out of confidence.

I've got a lot more confidence in getting bit quickly with a shakey head, than a jig.  If I find some fish on something repeatable, then I'll switch to something I can fish a little faster.   Granted, I'm not the best with moving baits, I would much rather fish jigs and the like.

Having confidence in what your doing is the important part!

Most western bass fisherman will acknowledge 2 local bass fisherman who invented finesse fishing; Don Iovino and Dick Trask. Don published a book; Finesse fishing and the sonar connection and is in the fresh water hall of fame. Dick Trask however was more obscure, unless you fished western tournaments, then you knew the name. Trask is acknowledged for inventing the split shot presentation, Google; Dick Trask, WB article, it's a good read.

WRB

That was a good article. I had never heard of him until just now but apparently the man had outstanding skills, and must have been a great teacher and person.

mottfia

Smith Mountain Lake this past spring. Shaky head worm. I was there, pretty much the only thing that worked all week long.

The shaky head will get you some bites on Smith Mtn, no doubt about it.

Smith Mountain Lake this past spring. Shaky head worm. I was there, pretty much the only thing that worked all week long.

The shaky head will get you some bites on Smith Mtn, no doubt about it.

A lot of those fish were also bed fish.

Smith Mountain Lake this past spring. Shaky head worm. I was there, pretty much the only thing that worked all week long.

The shaky head will get you some bites on Smith Mtn, no doubt about it.

A lot of those fish were also bed fish.

I think almost everybody was catching spawners except for KVD. He was throwing swimbaits, shaky heads, jerkbaits, crankbaits, topwaters, you name it. He recognized that the shad spawn was on and capitalized on something that nobody else paid much attention to because of the bass spawn going on at the time. KVD was fishing for actively feeding fish while the others were plucking bucks off the beds.

That was one of the tournaments that KVD's pure fishing ability and decision making really shined through. He took the situation at hand one step further than anyone else was willing to go and he carried home the big $$.