Found this quote today from KVD. Awesome!

After getting my fanny handed to me last week by some East Texas bass, it hits me right where I live. My mental attitude was in the tank by mid-afternoon.

Think I may print this out, waterproof it, and carry it with me.

Here's the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/fishingtips/news/story?page=b_KVD_Edge_Part1

And here's the KVD quote:

"There's no such thing as luck � good or bad. And, there's no such thing as a hot streak or a slump. Every day � really every cast � is a new experience. Success or failure in the past has nothing to do with the future.

"Luck, slumps and that sort of nonsense are excuses, not reasons. Bass don't know who you are or what you did yesterday. Go out and catch them and win the tournament."

And another KVD gem...

"Always fish all day. Don't get discouraged and slow down or quit by 2 p.m. That's silly. I've caught good keepers on my last few casts more than once. Dwelling on 'bad luck' or a 'slump' is a lot of bunk. Think about your next cast, not your last one."

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/fishingtips/news/story?page=b_KVD_Edge_Part2

Some good advice IMO

KVD Greatness right there!

Its all about the mental game

Yea that all sounds good until you see a 6 year old with a snoopy pole catch a 9.5 lber off the bank at the Marina then at 3:00 PM all the tournament angler's come in that day and the biggest bass of the tournament is 6.61-lbs...lol There is luck involved in Fishing as well as skill.

100% agree! To many GREAT fishermen/women out there that have never caught a double digit while others catch them on thier first trip to the lake. If that aint luck I dont know what is!

KVD is completely wrong on that one. Of course,it is less luck for him,he can pay for the best lake information.

Been there!!!Came up and ate a bream the kid caught...He never hooked it!!! Well said my brotha, very true!

Positive mental attitude is a good thing ..... but when it's 2:30 and you haven't caught a keeper then it's time to face reality!!!

guess he not paying the right people this year because he has been getting he [censored] kicked lol

Really...the dude just won his THIRD Classic in February?

And that was after winning BACK-2-BACK AOY titles in 2008-09?

Guy is really stinking it up these days ain't he?!?

Guess Skeet is paying the big bucks for all that info this year...

I think that what VanDam is saying is that you make your own luck by being totally prepared, executing your game plan efficiently, making good adjustments, and never giving up, not even down to the last cast.

I doubt that it's just him that feels that way either.

I seem to remember that Ike caught a pretty famous bass on his last cast in Venice to win the 2003 Classic. And this year, I think it was John Crews that beat Skeet by one ounce on a 5-lb. bass he caught on the last cast.

So how does a kid catch a 9.5 lb. bass off a dock? Right place, right time. Bass are reactionary creatures and they'll hit a lure, even on a Snoopy rod, if it comes into their wheel house and pulls their trigger.

We've all been there and had it happen to us. And we have all had it go the other way too.

I think that is a great quote. KVD is great because he works hard. Luck has not created his success; his hard work has created his success. A 6 year old catching a 10 lb bass on a Snoopy pole might be luck. Catching a 10 lb bass might be luck, even to the most season angler, but catching five 7 lb bass isn't. Winning three Bassmaster Classics and countless other events isn't luck. KVD has worked hard and that is why he is successful.