The Board

John has been involved in the business side of bass fishing for over 30 years, handling media relations, advertising coordination and event marketing/planning projects for major tackle companies as owner of Catalyst Marketing Services – based in South Bend, Ind., a city and area with a rich history in the sportfishing industry.

He is a member of the American Sportfishing Association, where he is the long-time chair for the trade organization’s PR/Communications committee, and is also a member of B.A.S.S., the International Game Fish Association, Muskies Inc., and the Smallmouth Bass Alliance. He was an early industry supporter of the high school/college bass fishing movement, including organizing the Shimano High School/College Bass Fishing Symposiums that brought industry executives, trade associations, bass fishing organizations, coaches and fishing club youth coordinators together to help grow the sport.

Currently president of the BFHOF Board, John has served as Board vice-president, chaired the Communications Committee, and as chair of the Nominations Committee, he worked closely with other Board members to create a more transparent process in the Hall induction process including the creation of a bass fishing expert-qualified ‘selection panel’. He is known to stop by the St. Joe River in his hometown on his way to and from the office to make a few casts for smallmouth bass – yet his favorite bass fishing experience comes late every summer at his good friend’s cabin near Sioux Narrows, Canada where somehow, he has yet to tip over his kayak in his excitement from hooking big smallmouths on topwaters!

Bruce Stanton has worked at PRADCO Fishing in Fort Smith, Ark., since 1996. He began his career there in public relations and eventually became Vice President and General Manager in 2002. The company has expanded greatly under his leadership due to several successful organic brand launches, including YUM and BOOYAH, and several acquisitions, including Lindy, Bandit, Bobby Garland, Gene Larew, War Eagle and Norman Lures. Bruce served on the American Sportfishing Association’s Board of Directors from 2007-2008 and was also the Industry Liaison for the Outdoor Writers Association of America in 1999-2000. In 2018, Bruce became a member of parent company EBSCO’s “Founders Club,” which represents a legacy of company leaders who have achieved outstanding results in sales, profits and the development of teams. He is a past Chairman of Deacons at East Side Baptist Church in Fort Smith and still serves as a deacon. Bruce has coached all three of his sons in church and school leagues over the years, including baseball, basketball and soccer. He has fished all over the world in his job, as PRADCO sells fishing products to more than 60 countries. His favorite place to fish is for bass and walleye at Broken Bow Lake in rural, southeastern Oklahoma. Bruce has been married to his wife, Wyann, for 32 years.

Clifton is a proven industry leader and executive with over 35 years of experience in numerous restaurant companies throughout the U.S. Clifton is a visionary leader with extensive experience in communications, product development, strategic oversight and planning, financial analysis, contract negotiations, franchising, key partnership development, operations management, mergers and acquisitions, human resources, and organizational restructuring. Prior to joining GameIQ, Clifton was COO at Jack’s Restaurants, President and CEO at Bojangles’s Chicken and Biscuits and COO and Senior Vice President at Whataburger Restaurants LLC, and VP of Operations at KFC.

Mr. Rutledge is also a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University and was a 4 year letterman on the Tigers Baseball Team.

Todd Hammill’s efforts in the fishing industry began in 1997, first as general manager/COO of Gemini Sport Marketing, the company who pioneered the creation of the custom tournament jerseys anglers everywhere sport today. He currently is CEO for Wired2fish, Inc., where he was involved in the creation of the Wired2fish.com website and digital media network in 2007.

Donald Howell lives in Birmingham, Alabama and is a 1990 graduate of Auburn University with a B.S. degree in Accounting.  He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and worked in public accounting for 27 years focusing on taxation, mergers and acquisitions, manufacturing, distribution, retail and healthcare.  After 27 years in public accounting, he served as Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer of a consumer brand start-up manufacturing company.  He was instrumental in launching this company from inception until assets were sold three years later.  He then became the Chief Financial Officer of Southern Sky Aviation, an aviation maintenance and charter company.  He currently serves as President and Chief Financial Officer for the company.

Donald is an avid outdoorsman. He began hunting and fishing at the early age of 5 years old.  By the age of 10, he taught his fellow Boy Scouts fly fishing at a weekend camp.  He spent many weekends with his father and grandfather on the Tensaw River in South Alabama.  He has worked with the local chapters of the National Wild Turkey Federation and Quality Deer Management Association raising funds to support the conservation and preservation efforts of these organizations.  He has served as a member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Board of Directors for over 10 years serving as President from March 2016 until the end of 2019.  He currently serves as Treasurer of the Board.  If he is not hunting deer and turkey at his club in Macon County, Alabama, he is trying to catch trophy bass in their lake.  He is very fond of Anglers Inn at Lake El Salto in Mexico.

Steve Bowman is a 30 plus year veteran of outdoor writing. Covering B.A.S.S. for over three decades. He’s a lifelong angler and avid hunter. Formerly the outdoor editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and executive editor of ESPNOutdoors.com.  He is the co-author of the Arkansas Duck Hunters Almanac and The Season: A Photographic Look at the Sport of Duck Hunting.  A 2015 Inductee into the Arkansas Outdoor Hall of Fame, a 2017 Inductee into the Arkansas Waterfowler Hall of Fame and a 2020 Inductee in the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.

He gives of his time as an Auxiliary Sheriff for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.  He’s currently the editor/manager for tournament coverage on Bassmaster.com and Manager of Anglers Relations for B.A.S.S. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2012.

Tim Carini has held key positions in the media sales and sales management side of the industry for nearly twenty years with extensive knowledge in publishing, digital marketing, television, and sponsorships.  Currently serving as Sales Director for B.A.S.S., Tim works with some of the biggest fishing and marine brands and some of the sharpest marketing minds in the industry.  Prior to B.A.S.S., Tim worked for Outdoors Sportsman Group for over thirteen years with his final positions as Sales Director-Endemic Fishing/Marine and Associate Publisher of In-Fisherman.

Most weekends Tim can be found on the lake bass fishing somewhere in the Southeast, truly his biggest passion in life.  Over the years he has competed in various local, regional, and national tournaments including the B.A.S.S. Pro Tour, B.A.S.S. Eastern Invitationals, B.A.S.S. Northern Opens and B.A.S.S. Nation.  Two of the more rewarding accomplishments were qualifying for the B.A.S.S. Pro Tour where he unsuccessfully competed against the sport’s top anglers and his childhood idols, as well as qualifying for the 2017 B.A.S.S. Nation Championship.

Tim has been a Bass Fishing Hall of Fame Board Member since 2013.

Todd Ceisner has been associate publisher of In-Fisherman since January 2020. Prior to that, he spent 8 years as editor of BassFan.com, chronicling the tournament side of the sport on a daily basis. Before working in the fishing industry, he covered high school and college sports for daily newspapers in central New York and central Pennsylvania. A resident of western New York, he has easy access to some of the best freshwater fishing in North America, including Lake Erie and the Niagara River, where he caught his personal-best 6 1/2-pound smallmouth. When he’s not fishing, he’s driving his daughter to ice hockey practice or games or helping his son on his latest gaming computer build.

Daren Cole brings more than 27 years of boating and bass fishing experience to the executive board of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.  As general manager and partner at Blue Heron Communications specializing in marketing services and media relations for a host of fishing and outdoor brands that include Ranger Boats, Benelli USA and Boone & Crockett Club, Daren builds strategic programs to grow awareness and engagement for the brands he represents. In addition to the BFHOF, Daren is active in several industry organizations helping to steer the sport alongside the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, Discover Boating®, NMMA® and Marine Marketers of America organizations. He lives in central Oklahoma.  He loves spending time with his three children and their activities, won’t pass up a chance to get on the water and recently has become somewhat of a fitness nut, avid trail runner and is semi-competitive in the obstacle course race craze. A board member since 2016.

Mark Copley is a 14-year veteran in the outdoor industry working in many different areas, including producing award winning tv shows, managing the marketing department of Strike King Lure Company, managing the Pro Staff for Rather Outdoors and now overseeing the Trade Show and Media Relations department for the company. Mark is a lifelong outdoorsman who was introduced to the outdoors by his father who was a die-hard bream fisherman. He is a passionate angler whose favorite species is anything saltwater but also enjoys chasing smallmouth as well. Mark has been married to his best friend for 24 years Julie with 3 sons who also love the outdoors. Micah 27, Wade 22, and Jacob 17.

Kathy Fennel has been a key figure on the tournament bass fishing scene since joining Operation Bass in 1982, steadily rising through the ranks to become one of the most influential people in the fishing industry. Her strength and experience were recognized by Fishing League Worldwide (FLW) in 1996 when she was promoted to operations manager. The following year she was appointed vice president of operations, and in 2004 she was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer. Fennel then became president of operations in 2010, a position she held until MLF acquired FLW in the fall of 2019.

As an executive vice president & general manager for MLF, Fennel oversees day-to-day operations for the world’s largest lineup of bass tournaments, making sure the organization continues to provide prestigious, well-organized events of which participants, fans, hosts and sponsors are proud to be a part of.

Fennel is a 2015 inductee into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and a member of the USAngling board of directors and the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) board of directors. She also serves on the Kentucky Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors and Kentucky Lake Economic Development board of directors as vice-chairman.

Fennel grew up fishing on Kentucky Lake and attended Murray State University. She enjoys spending time in the outdoors with her son Daniel, his wife Amanda, and her grandchildren, Jake and Jude.

Gene Gilliland, a widely respected bass biologist and conservation advocate spent 32 years as a bass research biologist and eventually Assistant Chief of Fisheries for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.  Now as B.A.S.S. National Conservation Director, he represents America’s bass anglers on national boards and councils involved in resource conservation.  In addition, he advises and mentors the 47 B.A.S.S. Nation state conservation directors and works to build solid relationships with state fishery management agencies.  Having authored “Keeping Bass Alive, a Guidebook for Tournament Anglers and Organizers,” he is also responsible for maintaining and improving fish care practices on each of the Bassmaster tournament circuits.

Craig Lamb’s career in the sportfishing industry spans four decades in tournament operations, digital and print editorial, marketing, communications and video production. At the age of 23, Craig began his career with Ranger Boats, being mentored by Forrest and Nina Wood. While his formal role was public relations, it was his mentors who shaped the future of his work ethic. In 1986, Craig began his lifetime career with B.A.S.S. as assistant tournament director to Dewey Kendrick. Craig edited “Keeping Bass Alive,” a first-of-its kind manual to reduce stress and mortality of tournament-caught bass, while implementing those practices at weigh-ins and that are now commonly used. He worked beside Kendrick on the first delayed mortality and tracking studies to further enhance bass survival. In his early years at B.A.S.S., Craig was mentored by Kendrick, Ray Scott, Helen Sevier, Bob Cobb and Dave Precht, who like Forrest and Nina, gave him career-changing opportunities to grow personally and professionally. Precht recognized Craig’s editorial dream and appointed him associate editor of Bassmaster and B.A.S.S. TIMES, all while Craig was in his 20s. Craig continued his role with B.A.S.S. as senior writer while at TNN: The Nashville Network, where he managed its fishing and hunting franchises. While at TNN, Craig collaborated with Cobb on elevating the program standards of “The Bassmasters,” with its weekly viewership reaching 1 million households. Craig returned to B.A.S.S., where he launched Bassmaster.com as first editor and innovated the first subscription and revenue website, B.A.S.S. Insider, while producing franchise programming for ESPN Outdoors. As B.A.S.S. Senior Editor, Craig oversees custom content for sponsors and produces tournament content. After four decades, Craig’s greatest career satisfaction is coming full circle as a mentor to young media professionals, just as he was mentored at their age by the icons of bass fishing. A passionate historian of bass fishing, he takes great pride in celebrating its past and preserving its future.

Tom Lang is the Outreach Director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Inland Fisheries Division and serves as the Director of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. At TPWD he provides leadership for statewide outreach programs, the Toyota ShareLunker Program, Angler Recognition Program, Neighborhood Fishin’ Program, Fish Art program, Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, and serves on the Inland Fisheries Division’s leadership team. He has previously served as the TPWD District Fisheries Supervisor in Wichita Falls, where he led a team to manage the fisheries resources of the District. Tom served as the statewide Fisheries Programs Specialist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks where he coordinated the Community Fisheries Assistance Program, Walk-In Fishing program, and Fish KS Angler Education program.

Tom spent his formative years in Louisville Kentucky where the majestic Ohio River and nearby Rough River Reservoir began his fascination with fishing and fisheries resources. Tom is a graduate of Purdue University where he majored in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, with minors in Communication and History and he is also a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff where he earned a Master of Science in Aquaculture/Fisheries. Tom’s research at UAPB focused on evaluating the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Family and Community Fishing Program and their Fishing Derby Program.

Tom is an accomplished author in the fisheries field having written numerous manuscripts, and contributed to multiple book projects including, most notably, developing and co-editing two American Fisheries Society books titled “Urban and Community Fisheries Programs; Development, Management, and Evaluation” and “Angler Recruitment, Retention, and Reactivation: The Future of Fisheries and Aquatic Conservation.” Tom routinely organizes symposia and delivers presentations on a host of pertinent topics in the fisheries field.

He has been tremendously active in serving the largest and oldest society of professional fisheries scientists, the
American Fisheries Society. He served on the Society’s Governing Board for five years, has served on and chaired
numerous Society level committees, is a past-President of the AFS Socioeconomics Section and a past-President of
the AFS Fish Habitat Section. Tom is also a past-President of the Aquatic Resources Education Association, has
served on the National Fish Habitat Partnership Board, and is currently Board Vice-Chair of Fishing’s Future.

Tom has been the recipient of many honors including receiving the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Employee
Recognition Award in Conservation, the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Outstanding Fisheries
Worker award in both 2017 and 2019, was recognized in 2014 for Exceptional Support of the Aquatic Resources
Education Association, two of the programs he coordinated while serving the Kansas Department of Wildlife and
Parks were recognized with Outstanding Sportfish Restoration Program awards during his tenure. Tom was
recognized as a national “Friend of Reservoirs” by the Reservoir Fish Habitat Partnership and was also recognized
with the American Fisheries Society’s Meritorious Service Award in 2022. However, Tom says that his greatest and
most rewarding accomplishments are being a good husband to his wife and a good father to his four amazing
children: Hunter, River, Fisher, and Meadow.

Amid a fishing trip on the bass-starved Ohio River in the summer of 1987, Alan McGuckin’s Dad told a then 16-year-old “Guck” — “I don’t care what you do for a living, just promise me you’ll do something you love.”

Originally from Pittsburgh, McGuckin considers himself a blue-collar kid, who has been richly blessed to live-out the best piece of advice his dad ever gave him for many years now in the Tulsa area.

After earning a degree in ecology at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he placed radio transmitters in largemouth bass to track their habitat preferences, he moved his life to Oklahoma in 1992, where he earned a Masters in Zoology and Fisheries under the direction of Gene Gilliland at the University of Oklahoma, before then embarking on what’s now a nearly three decade long career as a marketing and media veteran in the fishing industry.

His career spans 28 years of wisdom-rich marketing experience working to strengthen brands and increase sales for Lowrance, Terminator Lures, Toyota, Yamaha Outboards, Boat U.S., Carhartt, Costa, Quantum, Vexus Boats, and Zebco.

• Member of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame voting committee, as well as a Board of Directors member for Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful.
• Co-piloted the Terminator brand of premium lures from its birth to more than 10 Million pieces sold between 1997-2006.
• Has authored and published more than 800 stories on Bassmaster.com, along with several other popular bass fishing websites.
• He has generated $3 Million dollars’ worth of branded digital media since 2020, as a content creator.
• Serves as emcee for hundreds of guests at the annual Toyota Bonus Bucks Owners event.
• Avid angler, who fishes nearly every weekend when not on the road working.
• 13,000 followers on Instagram @GuckFishing.

“Guck” lives just north of Tulsa, OK at Lake Skiatook with wife Sherrie, an elementary school principal who also loves her job, and has a genuine passion for slinging a Rapala Brat crankbait on shallow points and habitat-laden flats.

Joseph Opager has worked in the professional bass fishing industry since 2011, when he was first hired as a public relations intern by Fishing League Worldwide (FLW). Following his brief internship, Opager was hired as a full-time Communications Specialist. His communications prowess and enthusiastic personality were recognized by FLW in 2014 when he was promoted to Director of Communications, a position he held until Major League Fishing (MLF) acquired FLW in October of 2019.

As Director of Communications for MLF, Opager oversees the communications and creation of all brand messaging for the organization and associated sponsors. His role is to develop, plan and execute public relations strategies to generate earned media impressions and build brand awareness.

Over the years, working with many of the most successful professional bass fishing anglers on the planet, Opager has successfully secured national media placements in Time Magazine, the New York Times, CNN, Autoweek and the Huffington Post.

Opager, who resides in Milaca, Minnesota, grew up fishing Mille Lacs Lake in Onamia, Minnesota, and graduated from St. Cloud State University, majoring in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. He enjoys spending his free time fishing, cooking, playing poker, watching MMA and rooting for his beloved Minnesota Vikings, but most of all spending time with his wife Amber, his daughters Camille, Kayla and Kendall, and his son Kyle.

Brandon Palaniuk burst onto the national bass fishing scene in 2010 by winning the B.A.S.S. Nation national championship. Ever since, he’s been a force in all facets of the sport. Now 34, he is an established star with an impressive resume that includes five Bassmaster Elite Series victories, a Bassmaster Open triumph and a Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year title (2017).

Hailing from northern Idaho, where he was a two-time state high school wrestling champion, Palaniuk always had a passion for bass fishing. He competed in local club tournaments before earning a spot on the Idaho state team in 2010. In March 2010, he won the co-angler division at the Lake Norman FLW Tour, pocketing $20,000 in the process. The following year, he finished 4th in his first Bassmaster Classic. In 2013, he took runner-up honors in the Classic. He has competed in 10 Classics.

Off the water, Palaniuk is an avid hunter and enjoys videography and photography.

Matt Pangrac  has been involved in the professional bass fishing industry since graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 2008, where he was a founding member of the Sooner Bass Anglers collegiate fishing team.
He began working with The BASS ZONE, an independent website that covers professional bass fishing, and was on-location for every Bassmaster Elite Series tournament from the 2008-2018 providing tournament coverage as The BASS ZONE’S senior writer. He started his own media company, 71 Media L.LC. and worked as a beat writer for the PAA Tournament Series and Toyota Texas Bass Classic. He also freelanced for both B.A.S.S. and FLW, served as the lead contact for professional team management for all Pure Fishing bass pros during the 2013 and 2014 seasons through Blue Heron Communications, and worked as an FLW LIVE analyst during the 2019 FLW Tour season.

Since 2011, Matt has been the co-host of Bass Talk Live, the nation’s longest running podcast covering the sport of professional bass fishing. An avid tournament angler, he qualified for back-to-back B.A.S.S. Nation Championships in 2016 and 2017, finished 3rd in the MLF Toyota Series Championship in 2019, and currently competes in the Bassmaster Opens.

Neil Paul has served as the Executive Director of Visit Anderson since 2015 and has served Anderson
County since 2010. With the development of Anderson County’s Green Pond Landing and Event Center
at Lake Hartwell, Paul has entrenched himself in the fishing industry.
Through Paul’s leadership, Lake Hartwell has hosted a significant number of local, regional, and national
fishing tournaments at Green Pond Landing and Event Center, most notably the 2022, 2018 and 2015
Bassmaster Classics, and he has been instrumental in hosting many other national level tournaments
and events. During Paul’s leadership at Visit Anderson, Anderson County has experienced their highest
ever returns on Accommodations Tax which is a direct result of the increased tournaments and events
at Lake Hartwell.
A self-proclaimed fish head, Paul is involved in the fishing industry far beyond travel and tourism. He is a
Life Member at B.A.S.S. and serves the Bassmaster Elite Series throughout each season as a Marshal and
has written for B.A.S.S. on numerous occasions. Youth fishing is his passion where he founded and co-
directs the High School Bass Class, a classroom style program designed to develop anglers and provide
opportunities for anglers after high school. In addition, he serves as a Brand Ambassador for Dynamic
Sponsorships for Toyota Bonus Bucks, Yamaha Power Pay and the Costa Compete and Conserve
Programs.
In addition to his passion for fishing, Paul serves on the Board for the South Carolina Sports Alliance and
is a member of the South Carolina Boating and Fishing Alliance. Paul has received the “Game Changer”
award for his leadership in Sports Tourism in 2018 and has been recognized locally for his leadership
efforts in the Anderson community.

Dan Quinn has worked at Rapala for over a decade and is the Director of Field Promotions and R&D which has him wearing many different hats. From managing the top anglers in the world, working with key media partners, as well as the talented Product Development teams at Rapala, Dan has a contagious passion for fishing and the outdoors. He is an avid angler and enjoys chasing anything that swims but his passion lies with bass. Being the son of Steve Quinn, Dan grew up with fishing in his blood and a rod in his hand. In 1997 he officially began his journey into the fishing industry, working with the Professional Walleye Trail. Aside from fishing, Dan enjoys bowhunting whitetail and introducing his young children to conservation and the great outdoors. Dan resides in Hudson, WI, is married to his beautiful wife Megan and has 2 great kids, son Mac and daughter Delaney.

Pete Robbins has practiced law since 1995, first for a major Washington, D.C. law firm, and subsequently in the General Counsel’s Office for a Cabinet-level agency, where he specializes in matters relating to Federal administrative law, energy and the environment.  He is also a Senior Writer for Bassmaster Magazine, a prolific blogger and has written for numerous other magazines, websites and outdoors television programs.  Furthermore, he consults for numerous companies endemic to the fishing industry and leads trips on behalf of Anglers Inn International to Mexico for largemouths and to Brazil for peacock bass. He joined the Board of the BFHOF in 2018, and currently utilizes his vast legal experience as the Chair of the Bylaws Committee. He often dreams of adding new species to his “life list” and frequently obsesses about giant trevally, bluefin tuna and golden dorado in addition to double-digit bass. Pete and his wife Hanna operate www.halfpastfirstcast.com, a website devoted to fishing travel.

Mike is a 20+ year veteran of the outdoor industry. He has been instrumental in the development of numerous brands in the fishing segment. Helping companies start from scratch in the US fishing market or existing companies grow into the fishing segment.

He and the Outdoor Brand Team have helped companies in multiple roles of sales, management, marketing and brand building at all levels. His passion from an early age has always been fishing and that continues today with a focus on a small group of preferred partners in the fishing market.

Mike currently lives in Iowa with his wife and two children.

Kevin VanDam is the standard by which all other professional bass anglers are measured. The lofty bar set by the Kalamazoo, Mich., native in terms of accolades and earnings perhaps will never be challenged. The numbers are simply staggering.

Over his 25-plus year career, VanDam has amassed seven Bassmaster Angler of the Year titles, four Bassmaster Classic victories, 25 Bassmaster wins, four Major League Fishing Cup titles, one MLF Bass Pro Tour triumph, one FLW Tour Angler of the Year title and more than $7 million in earnings between Bassmaster and FLW and MLF. When you’re that successful, it’s only fitting that fans and fellow competitors refer to you by only your initials – KVD.

Though VanDam is well versed in all fishing techniques, power fishing became his signature approach in tournaments. Since making his debut in the Bassmaster Invitationals in 1990 at the age of 22, KVD’s unique fishing style has been defined by speed, reaction and extreme efficiency. He pioneered an up-tempo, offensive strategy in competitive fishing that forced his quarry to react instinctively to fast moving lures like spinnerbaits, jerkbaits and crankbaits. Using fast-paced lures allowed him to cover much more water than his competitors.
Off the water, KVD brings a similar winning formula to the business side of his brand. His dedication and loyalty to his sponsors is the gold standard of being a true professional bass angler. The way he immerses himself to promotions, appearances, seminars and product design could only be described as tenacious. The time he spends with outdoor media is unparalleled, providing genuine, honest content backed by proven results and insight. In all, KVD’s intensive input to fishing products and information has helped thousands of people catch more bass across the globe.
At home, VanDam is also the model family man. As a husband to his wife Sherry and a father of two boys, Jackson and Nicholas, there is nothing VanDam relishes more than family time in the outdoors, taking his boys hunting and fishing. He also has worked hard in recent years to build gateways into fishing for aspiring anglers and give back to worthy organizations through his KVD Foundation, which launched in 2015, and his support of college fishing events in the Midwest.

Upon turning 50 in 2018, VanDam was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame. Now a competitor on the MLF Bass Pro Tour, VanDam has shown no signs of slowing down as he continues to add to his track record of excellence.