How They Started - KVD ICAST 2014

I have always been fascinated by KVD’s career – starting from his Federation days through his first year on tour. The reason for that is I spent my summers in Michigan from 1986 through roughly 1990. Around the 1988 timeframe I went back for my annual summer visit and as soon as I got off the plane, my buddy Dave told me there was some kid cleaning everyone’s clock in the state. That kid was Kevin VanDam.

After returning home to California, Dave would keep me posted about this VanDam kid. All he talked about was Kevin.

Then in the 1990/91 season VanDam won the Bassmaster Invitational point’s race and followed that up with AOY in 1992. I finally realized why Dave kept harping on him.

Since then I’ve interviewed VanDam a number of times for BassFan, the PAA and other magazines. But I’ve never had an opportunity to talk to him about how he got to where he is. That’s what this video is, a snapshot of how KVD started.