Kevin Van Dam
Kevin Van Dam is a professional bass angler.
Kevin has always had a love for fishing, but did not start fishing professionally until 1990. Kevin Van Dam may not be a household name to most people, but anyone who enjoys bass fishing has heard of him. Bass fishing is my passion and I look up to Kevin Van Dam, as he is the best in the world in this era of bass fishing. Kevin Van Dam was born on October 14, 1967 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.Growing up in Michigan gave Kevin the chance to fish a lot of different lakes and rivers for a variety of species of fish including trout, salmon, muskies, walleyes, and northern pike. “You can learn a lot by fishing different species in the diverse variety of lakes and rivers we have in Michigan,” Kevin once said when asked about fishing in his childhood. Kevin loved to fish and was in the perfect environment to hone his skills.
Although he fished for many species of fish, bass fishing was his favorite.Kevin dominated the tournament circuits, winning the Michigan Bass Anglers Sportsman Society Angler of the Year twice before going pro. Kevin graduated from Otsege High School, and married his high school sweetheart Sherry. Kevin and Sherry settled in their home town of Kalamazoo, and continue to live there today with there twin boys, Jackson and Nicholas. Kevin is a devoted dad and enjoys taking his children fishing and deer hunting. Kevin worked various jobs until deciding to become a professional bass angler at the age of twenty three.Kevin began one of the most successful bass fishing careers ever under shadows of doubt, that he was going pro too young.
He soon proved all that doubted his abilities wrong by winning the Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year, and was the youngest ever to win this prestiges title. Kevin also won the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society Angler of the Year title at age twenty five. The Bassmaster classic is the highest regarded title in professional bass fishing, to qualify for the Bassmaster classic you must go through a series of tournaments fished by the toughest anglers in the world.Van Dam has qualified for twenty consecutive Bassmaster classics since 1991, this is the longest running qualification streak in history. He has won the Bassmaster classic three times in 2001, 2005, and 2010. Kevin has fished in two hundred and twenty one Bassmaster events, he has won nineteen, finished second eleven times and finished in the top ten ninety times. Kevin Van Dam is a serious force to be reckoned with in the professional bass fishing world, and is simply nicknamed KVD.
He has become a ambassador for the sport as it has grown in public attention, and is now featured on ESPN. Van Dam was awarded the first ever ESPN Outdoor Sportsman of the Year in 2002. KVD was grateful to receive this award, since it was not about his lifetime records which are amazing, but his promotion of the sport. Kevin Van Dam in my opinion and many others is the greatest Angler to pass threw the professional world of bass fishing some may not admit it, but statistically this is true. Kevin is a true role model for young bass anglers today.
