21 Quotes by Kevin VanDam

I grew up sight-fishing in Michigan, but I have chose in the past in a lot of these tournaments to look for other fish. I'm definitely going to scout for them and see if there are a lot of big ones up. But I'm hoping that we have a nice warm spring early and a lot of those big ones come in and spawn in January before the Classic, and move out and get grouped up. That's the kind of fish that I like to fish for.

I won FLW Angler of the Year, and BASS Angler of the year three times, but there is no comparison to winning a Classic. It is kind of sad, because winning Angler of the Year is harder than winning a Classic. But it is just like football; the Super Bowl is the deal.

We are like a second family; we spend so much time in the same places. It helps to have friends out there to accomplish anything from things as simple as going out to dinner and picking up laundry to telling each other where the best ramps are or even where to get a fishing license. That's when you look to your team: for those non-fishing-related things.

As a group, we spend a lot of time at functions, and we are pretty tight from that standpoint. But in the events, you see smaller groups of guys who work together and try to help each other out. Stacey and I are really good friends, and he is one of the few anglers on tour that I share information with. We don't go out of the way, but I stop if I see him on the water. We help each other with patterns and stuff like that.

All of my sponsors want to capitalize on that (Classic) win. And I had a really busy schedule before all this happened.

It's a very exciting experience to take center court with the likes of Shaq right before tip-off. It was great to be a part of the festivities and it is a real honor for our sport.

It's great to see their enthusiasm. The learning curve's a lot steeper for them, being out there with a pro. It means so much to the kids, but it's really exciting for all of us.

I love what I do and you have to, to compete at this level.

I fully expected to have a sack full of big ones. My goal was to have a minimum of 20 pounds.