A few pictures from the 2012 Detroit Lions Kevin VanDam charity fishing event

[djkimmel]

You can go to the GreatLakesBass.com Gallery and click slideshow at this picture gallery - http://www.greatlakesbass.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;cat=9 to see a few of the pictures of all the fun from the June 12, 2012 Detroit Lions Kevin VanDam charity fishing tournament.

More pictures coming along with some video. It was a great event on a nice day. Lots of money raised for the Detroit Lions community charities. Great to see a bunch of GreatLakesBass.com members fishing and participating in the event. Tons of food and prizes. All the fishing and football celebrities were mixing with the fans and visitors. GreatLakesBass.com member fishstick (now dubbed 'Coach Jedi' by one of his Detroit Lions teammates) led the winning team to a 5-bass limit weighing over 14 pounds!


(sorry taken from my camera phone but some of cameraguy's good stuff is loaded with more coming)

If you want to view a slideshow of the pictures loaded so far, click the following link and then click on the picture thumbnail image you would like to start from once it loads:
http://www.greatlakesbass.com/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=slideshow;id=233

This will be an annual event that everyone who was there is already talking about for next year! Check 'em out!

[Mike S.]

My question is, who caught more fish , Don or KVD?  Looked like an awesome time.

[djkimmel]

KVD's team weighed in 4 pounds 4 ounces. I can't remember what LGMOUTH's team weighed? I think it was more than 4 pounds. Most or all of the tournament anglers let their Lions players and other guests catch the fish. A few of them had experience but many of them don't fish much or even had this day be their first time fishing.

That affected the catching a little. Lots of stories of bass being missed and lost. The important part was so many of them had fun! And a pretty good amount of money was raised for the Detroit Lions charities.

I did congratulate Kevin on letting everyone else shine for the day! He doesn't like to lose!!! Funny, Kevin and older brother Randy's teams tied at 4-4 each!

[cameraguy]

Everybody I talked to had a great time. The group started to gather at around 9:30am. A buffet breakfast was provided but I don't know what was served as I didn't partake. It was a good time to do interviews. A boxed lunch was also provided for each person.

The tournament started at 12:00. The anglers fished for four hours. By the way, if anyone reading this was a participant and notices an error, please feel free to make a correction. GreatLakesBass.com member, LGMOUTH, was supposed to be a pro boater and was hooked up with Detroit Lion, Jeff Backus, but was left without an angler when Jeff was moved to another boat. Don (LGMOUTH) then graciously agreed to be a media boat and hauled four members of the media, including me, around Kent Lake taking video and pictures.

Some of the Detroit Lions that fished are; Coach Jim Schwartz, Jason Hanson, Kyle Vanden Bosch, Nick Fairley, Willie Young, Shaun Hill, Nate Burleson, rookie Riley Reiff, and the afore mentioned Jeff Backus.

The bass pro guides/captains included; Kevin VanDam, Kim Stricker, Mark Zona, Tim Horton who drove 20 hours to get to the tournament on time, Bryan Plenzer, Greg Mangus, and Randy VanDam. The captains were allowed to fish but their catch did not count towards each boat's five fish limit.

I will add pictures a few at a time and will also post more info as time permits. There will be a video posted here at some point, hopefully sooner than later.

There were quite a few members who fished the event. It would be nice to hear from them about their experience. Anybody up to it?

[cameraguy]

Maybe everybody knew this except me, but...if you go to the Gallery and click on a picture you will get a description and more info about the tournament. I have been posting more pix today and will add more as time permits.

[fishstick]

Was an awesome event and I think it surpassed everyones expectations, can't wait to see what it will be like next year. DK did try to jinx me right at the very end (unintentionally...well maybe?) and also picked up on that "coach jedi" thing but I still had a blast! This is kind of cheating since I'm copying and pasting from my blog but here's a small piece of my experience from the event. I apologize if any of it doesn't make sense.

Next up was something I had been anticipating for quite some time, the KVD/ Detroit Lions Charity event on Kent Lake. I'm extremely grateful for the people that got me involved and even though they told me it would be pretty cool it surpassed all expectations. I even got a personal phone call from KVD before the tournament explaining how the tournament worked.

Lions coach Jim Schwartz and many Detroit Lions were there but so was KVD and other tour pros like Tim Horton, Jonathon VanDam, and Michael Simonton. BASS owner Jerry McKinnis, BASS emcee Dave Mercer, Hook and Look host Kim Stricker, and all around Mr. Personality Mark Zona were there too, not to mention many top sticks from around the state (too many names to list them all).

It's pretty cool that all these people took the time out of their schedules to help raise money for charity. Tim Horton even drove all the way up here from making the cut at the Toledo Bend Elite Series event and arrived right before blast off.

I wasn't actually fishing in this event just guiding and hopefully showing my team a good time. We were served breakfast and had lunches packed to take on the boat. Players began to filter in and I was paired with Lions wide receiver Titus Young, safety John Wendling, and wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson.

John and Shawn both fish but neither do for bass so I was hoping they would adapt, and I'm pretty sure this was Titus's first time fishing. I didn't have any time to brief the guys on what the plan was so my part of coaching began at our first spot. I hadn't had a chance to practice so I didn't know what to expect but we were boat number 3 so we would at least have our pick of where to start.

Shawn picked up a small keeper pretty quickly on a Nemesis Upskirt jig and not soon after Titus caught a nice one on a 4" Nemesis sicko. That area cooled down after that and we headed to the next place. It was pretty obvious after arriving that the amount of weeds was going to make it tough to fish, so after trying for a bit we packed it up and went to another area. Within 10 minutes of arriving there John put two nice fish in the boat and we were in good shape.

The team lost/missed a couple after that and at this point I had them all throwing sickos. Finally Titus put our limit fish in the boat which was just a 2lber but we were happy nonetheless. We had three good ones, one little one and a 2lber. The only problem was the 2lber was hooked deep and I was worried about it.

We missed the next couple opportunities and then Shawn put another 2lber in the boat. I decided I didn't want to take a chance on that 2lber dying and be stuck with it so I pitched it back instead of the little one. Plus I was confident in my guys that they were going to cull it out anyway and it was obvious some good ones were there.

Time was starting to wind down and you could tell Shawn was dead set on winning and was focusing as hard as he could to catch that last fish. He said he was going to get it done and he didn't disappoint, as he was getting ready to set the hook I was watching his line get tight and was already going for the net. Shawn got a solid hookset and got the fish coming out of the weeds, it went airborne and everyone in the boat was freaking out. After the brief fight I scooped up the 3-7 and some yelling and high fives were in order.

I knew we had a good bag and headed back a few minutes early just to make sure nothing happened. Even though this wasn't football these guys were competitors and wanted to win...well Titus was fishing while laying down for awhile but we will let that slide. I didn't think the scales would settle at 14-9 when we weighed our fish but it was a great surprise.

I always round down to the next half pound or pound when I'm in tournaments so I don't get comfortable mentally and my bag doesn't shrink when I weigh it in. Getting to walk across the stage and talk with Dan Miller and Dave Mercer was pretty cool as well as seeing all the cameras around. I thought there was a chance we might pull it out but it seemed like forever before the weigh in was over.

In the end my team ended up winning by a pound and a half! We got to go back up on stage and were awarded some awesome trophies from KVD and Coach Schwartz. I'm pretty proud of those guys for their effort and they should be pretty pumped up about jacking 14-9 in 4 hours in the middle of the day on Kent Lake. We had a lot of laughs throughout the day out there and it was tons of fun watching these guys catch nice fish.

I even got to eat a sandwich while I was out there so it was pretty relaxing for me. I didn't realize how much press would be there and how much it would be publicized the next day. It has been pretty cool to see the pictures, videos, and articles that have come from it. I've also gotten a bunch of phone calls, texts, and support on facebook. It was a pretty special day for me and all of that support means a ton! The only thing that would have made it any better is if that deer wouldn't have run out in front of my truck on the way home from the event. Truck is in the body shop and the boat and I are ok so I'm thankful for that.

[cameraguy]

Nice post and congrats on winning!

[djkimmel]

I did almost jinx you. I'm out of practice at weigh in observations obviously. It was not intentional.

I have never received a personal call about anything from KVD. I think he once checked how much weight I had in my bag of bass at a federation tournament maybe 25 years ago but that could have been my imagination...

I thought it was a really cool event. Looking forward to next year a little already.

Sorry you had a wildlife encounter on the way home fishstick. Glad it didn't knock the shine off the whole day for you (Coach Jedi).

[Mojo]

Well, I finally was able to add a few pictures to share. Brian will have to provide the storyline on how we attacked the lake ... mainly because he caught most of the fish. I can share some pics:



WE can say we were on the Bass Masters stage with Kevin Van Dam !   



Willie Young is quite a character - He and Mark Zona put on quite a verbal show for the cameras !!



Kustom Kicker provided specialty jigs, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits to all the boat captains for the event. Coach Schwartz himself recognized the gifts personally !!



And the final board tells the story... Congrats FishStick on the victory !!

[djkimmel]

So. You had fun?

I do recall the coach mentioning KustomKicker.

[McCarter]

oh boy this event was incredible.  i didnt have the time i would have liked to prepare for this tournament, but i was able to get out for about 2 hours a couple nights before hand, which was used primarily to eliminate water and techniques.

The morning of the event was crazy.  i pulled into the park and realized i had no idea where i was supposed to go or what i was supposed to do, so i just parked the rig and called Mojo.  He let me know he was almost there so i used the time to prep the boat and do some last minute rigging.  While i was doing that, i noticed Detroit Free Press columnist, Eric Sharp, walking past my boat.  I had met Eric about 6 years ago down some backroads in Kalkaska, MI.  We were looking for a different launch on Lk Margarethe and ended up a little lost.  A truck pulled up to ask if we were ok and all the while im thinking to myself, i know this guy!  who is this guy?  Excuse me, arent you Eric Sharp???  What a great dude.  And, to my surprise,  after only a brief 10 minute conversation that took place over half a decade ago, he remembered my name that morning and recalled in precise detail the day we had met.  We chatted for a bit, shook hands, and he went on about his business, notebook and pencil in hand.

By now, Mojo had arrived and was in typical Mojo fashion.  He was doing 10 things at once and before long, i noticed my head was spinning and i was somewhat out of breathe.  That boy will get you going.  If your short on energy, dont fret, he brings enough for both of you.

We talked breifly about the plans for the day, which basically were we were just going fishing.  I know the lake well, but other  than a brief look around a couple nights earlier, had not been on the lake since March.  With the funky weather patterns we had been experiencing this spring and early summer, i wasnt quite sure what to expect.  Mojo seemed good with the game plan, or lack thereof, so we focused our attention on getting registered, finding the breakfast buffet, and i had to drop off some last minute bait packages to a few participants.

Soon it was time for the tournament meeting.  Thats when the butterflies started kicking in.  To my left stood one of my favorite anglers of all time, Timmy Horton.  To my right, was RVD, JVD, and the man himself, Mr Marcus Decimus Zona.  It took a minute to comprehend that i was actually standing there, this wasnt an episiode of Bassmasters or ZAFS.  It was surreal.  Now, im not much for knowing the Detroit Lions by face.  Dont get me wrong, i like me some football, but i dont get much free time to watch TV so I wasnt very good at looking at one of them and knowing who they were, but make no mistake when you are in the presence of a professional football player, you know it!  If the shear size of them doesnt give it away, the oozing of confidence and personality certainly will.  I was also pleasantly surprised at how friendly and gracious they were.  I guess i had a preconceived notion that they might have felt a bit put out by having to be there.  this was not the case.  every single one of them were ready to get out on that water and FISH.

Things happened fast after the meeting.  Our 3rd guy still had not arrived, and we were ready to dump the boat in.  But soon after he pulled in and we were ready to go.  After a quick introduction and briefing, our partner and sponsor, Peter Boyer of Earth 2 Earth was ready to catch some fish.  As we idled towards the livewell check area, boat 21 of 28, i remembered a little deal that was killer late morning last year, and thought that would be a good way to start being that it was already after noon.   as we apprached the spot, i noticed about 6 boats in the area.  I guess that will have to wait til later.  Im not much for fishing in crowds.  My focus quickly shifted to another area, but there were two boats there.  So, we just went to a deeper flat that had no boats. 

This spot sets up real good for crankin, so out came my trusty Strike King Series 5.  On my 3rd cast, my bait litereally stopped and shot about 20 feet to the left.   I pulled back and immediatly knew it was a decent fish.  I call for the net as the fish came up for its first jump.  This was better than decent, it was about a 3.25 lb largemouth.  Mojo stood at my side, net in hand, and we watched in horror as the fish made its second jump and tossed my crankbaits back at me.  That was a tough pill to swallow first thing.  But it was a good sign that the crankbait bite might be on.  and sure enough, two casts later, another taker.  This time a nice keeper smallie about 1.75 lbs.  this one came to the boat with no trouble.  We worked that area a bit longer and didnt get any bites. 

Next we moved to a deep channel swing.  This is where that little mid day deal came into play.  Its basically a drop shot, with this little minnow bait, a knock off of a shad shape worm, but poured softer and more bouyant, and of course in a super secret color.  Sure enough, shortly after the bait hits bottom, my rod loads up.  And up comes a good 2.5 lb smallmouth.  And with him, about a 5 lb largemouth.  We are definatly on the right size fish to win this event.  Seeing that big one was motivation enough to give that spot a little more time.  But after about 35 minutes, we had only caught a couple shorts.  I decide to back off and throw the bama rig, just to see what happens.  Nothing happens.  But we have 2 in the boat, and we still have about 2.5 hours.

I idle to boat to another channel swing on the main lake.  this area is swarming with boats, but i figure they probably do not know the sweet spots, so its worth a look.  It was a good decision, because i quickly hooked up with our biggest fish of the day, a 3.31 lbs largemouth.  again, on the drop shot minnow.  Now we are all pretty jacked.  Peter is now ready to see what the drop shot is all about.  I should mention, Peter is not a fishermen.  He is a business man.  He had never even been bass fishing before.  But, luckily for me, he was a natural.  About 2 minutes after we handed him a dropshot, he is bringing in our #4 fish.  A healthy 2 lb largemouth.  4 in the box now, if we can get one more quick, we might spend the rest of the day going after that big one i saw earlier.  We continued along the channel to another nook, weaving between boats and we go.  As soon as we pulled up to the spot, i hook a just short largie.  But about 3 casts later, i put our limit fish in the boat in that crazy little drop shot bait.  this one isnt big, but its #5.  Now we can concetrate on upgrading.

we then head back to the swing where big momma was last sighted.  We worked the area thouroughly with Bama rig, jigs, drop shot, bullet craws, and sickos.  but we could only muster up a few short fish, and even a couple big bluegill.  Time was winding down quick.  This was only a 4 hour event.  I decide to head back to the area we started.  Out comes the crankbait and i quickly hook into a decent fish.  This one culls out one of our smaller 1.5 lb fish.  I couldnt help but think at that moment about the 3 plus i lost first thing.  i had a feeling that was going to bite us, but im hoping it didnt cost us a W.  this area produced no more fish and with about 15 minutes left, i made a desperate move back to the area of the big girl.  Time ticked away and we never got the good bite we needed.

At weigh in, i was hearing some good weights.  I figured there were gonna be a lot of 12-13 lbs bags and knew we had about 11.5.  oh well, it was fun none the less and i was extremely greatful to be a part of it.  But after we weigh in, Jeff Elliot informs me that we were in 4th, one ounce behind 3rd, and about 1.5 lbs behind 2nd.  Holy crap.  We actually placed?  cool!  they had some great prizes, all in all about $500 worth of stuff for each of us.  on top of that, an unbelieveable spread of food, and a lengthy meet and greet with the anglers, players, and coaching staff.  I talked a while with Coach Jim Shwartz.  He is about one of the coolest guys i have ever met.  Best part of it had to be the auction tho.  They raised some serious cash for various childrens charities and it was a riot watching Zona and some woman outbidding each other.

Huge thanks to Peter from Earth 2 Earth screen printing for buying us in and for an early invite for next seasons event.

Huge thanks to Mojo who suggested me to Peter.  Love you like a step brother, brother!

Huge thanks to KVD and company for putting it together.

Huge thanks to The Detroit Lions for participating.

Congrats to Jeff Elliot for crushing it.  Rumor has it they caught all there fish on some baits that i made   that makes me happy happy happy

McCarter himself

[2k JIGS]

I love Coach!!!!! He's the Man!!! And Mojo what can I say.... I love you!!!!

[djkimmel]

Must be the Summer of Love.

[cameraguy]

 Posted a few more pix yesterday. Still more to come plus video eventually.

Nice post McCarter himself.

[djkimmel]

I like this one! Looks like Detroit Lions defensive end Willie Young is telling the Z-Train they'll catch more bass over there!

[fishstick]

Thanks guys, and those rumors are true Nemesis sickos were responsible for every fish they brought to the scales. Got the truck back from my wildlife encounter today and it is good as new. The dealership even had a coupon for 100 dollars off your deductible which is what my deductible was...so other than an inconvenience and a scare it didn't cost me anything extra!

Nice work McCarter and Mojo, and nice coverage of the event DK and Cameraguy!

[Mojo]

I like this one! Looks like Detroit Lions defensive end Willie Young is telling the Z-Train they'll catch more bass over there!

Actually thats him pointing at us when he saw Mc Carter pull an Alabama rig out. The pic of of Willie asking "What is that ?" !!!   

[djkimmel]

You sure he wasn't saying something like, 'those guys are crazy!' ?!?

[Mojo]

You sure he wasn't saying something like, 'those guys are crazy!' ?!?

They saw us boat a fish near them so I think he is saying: " I want to be like them " !!

[cameraguy]

I think I might have overheard him say that you guys caught his fish and he was going to beat the daylights out of you.

More pix posted. Doing my best to get them on the site. Check out the gallery which can be accessed by clicking the little thingy above.