Kevin Van Dam Forums

KVD’s Lead Turns Massive

Following are the BassFan World Rankings as updated after last week’s California Delta Bassmaster Elite Series event. Notable movement:

> Kevin VanDam, the No. 1 ranked angler in the world, and 2nd-ranked Mike “Ike” Iaconelli both fished the Delta. VanDam finished 6th his third Top 6 in a row while Ike finished 54th (his worst showing since Champlain in July of last year). That was part of what helped VanDam stretch his lead in the BassFan World Rankings presented by Tru-Tungsten from 5 points to a massive 13-point margin. Of course, Ike has to continue to fish well if he hopes to close the gap on VanDam, but he might get some help because VanDam’s very close to dropping three wins in a row from mid-2005. What happens then, of course, depends on how well VanDam’s replacement finishes are.

> Greg Hackney, a former No. 1-ranked angler, moves back up a spot to 3rd, helped by his 10th at the Delta.

> Edwin Evers, who lost his day 1 catch at the Delta under a timing penalty, falls three spots to 8th.

> Delta Winner Aaron Martens moves up seven spots to 7th. After Clear Lake, he’ll drop a disastrous 191st from the 2005 Potomac FLW Tour, and a month later, will drop a 181st from Okeechobee. That could help him, provided he continues to fish well.

> Jared Lintner, the 2006 BassFan Rookie of the Year (ROY), climbs 14 spots to 15th.

> Alton Jones (27th at the Delta) climbs five spots to 17th. His next event is this week at Clear Lake, where he won in 2003.

> Luke Clausen is helped by movement around him and improves six spots to 20th.

> Brent Chapman’s 5th at the Delta helps him move up 16 spots to 25th.

> Todd Faircloth falls out of the Top 20 with a 10-point backstep to 30th.

> BassFan ROY leader Rookie leader Derek Remitz has a mountain to climb, but nobody told him he couldn’t rent a helicopter. After a win at Amistad and a 2nd at the Delta, he moves up 60 spots to 260th.

April BassZone rankings in, KVD in 1st for 6 months running now:

The April QPT Media Poll is now posted and there is some major movement in the Top 20, both up and down.

After the West Coast swing, Kevin VanDam remains in the number one position.  The Michigan pro has held the top spot for six months.  KVD finished 6th at the Delta and 19th at Clear Lake.  Even with all the adversity VanDam experienced during the swing, KVD proved why his is the number one angler in the bass fishing world.

VanDam received 269 out of a possible 300 points.

Moving up to the number two spot is California Pro, Skeet Reese.  The man in yellow is the only pro on the Elite Series to make the final day cut in every event this year.  Throw in his second place finish at the Classic and that’s some hefty numbers.  Reese received five first place votes and a total of 258 points.  If Reese makes the final day cut at Clarks Hill and KVD slips, things could change the top spot.  Ok, wait a minute, KVD slipping?  Not going to happen. 

The record maker, Steve Kennedy, remains in third and did receive one first place vote.  Kennedy has closed the gap on KVD from 56 points to 33.  The next two stops could be pivotal in the QPT Poll race.

Aaron Martens victory at the Delta helped move A-Mart up four spots to fourth.  Martens 35th place finish at Clear Lake was disappointing but a win can cure the symptoms anytime.

Big movers in the April poll include FLW Tour pro, Dave LeFebre and sophomore Elite Series pro Jared Lintner.  LeFebre is leading the FLW Tour point standings and has made the finals in both of the 2007 FLW Tour events.  LeFebre jumped from 22nd to 5th.  Lintner made back to back final day appearances on the Elite Series and finished 13th at Lake Amistad.  No sophomore jinx for the man from California.  Linter makes his first appearance in the QPT Top 10 tied for 8th with Mike Iaconelli.

Speaking of Iaconelli.  The West Coast swing was a nightmare for the reigning Angler of the Year.  The man from New Jersey did not cash a check from the state of California.  Ike remained in the QPT Top Ten, but fell six spots.  The bass better be on “defcon 5” at Clarks Hill and Guntersville.  Ike is not going to let that happen again this year.  Mark it down!.

A big surprise after the WC swing was the fact that Dean Rojas didn’t make a trip to the bank after the Delta and Clear Lake.  After a 13th place finish at Amistad, Rojas finished 58th at the Delta and 68th at Clear Lake.  Rojas fell out of the QPT Top 20 to 18th place.  Look for the green frog to make some green money on the next two stops.  Add to the list of surprises, Edwin Evers.  The Oklahoma pro went 0 for 2 in the Golden State and dropped from 5th to 21st.

Other Movers: Mark Davis after his FLW Tour win, from 31st to 13th.  Jeff Kriet cracked the QPT Top 10 for the first time.  Fred Roumbanis makes his first appearance to the QPT Poll with three consecutive top twenty finishes on the Elite Series.  And the Elite Series Rookie sensation, Derek Remitz, makes his first QPT Top 10 statement with his amazing performance at the Delta and win at Lake Amistad.

During the 2007 tour season, the twelve bass-fishing media representatives will take into account tournament performance, quality of the field, importance of the event and other intangibles that can not be reflected in an unknown equation.

i dont think he will be for long. kennedy is right behind him

4/24/2007

VanDam No. 1, Kennedy Closing

> No. 1 ranked Kevin Vandam finished 55th at Clarks Hill, and 2nd-ranked Steve Kennedy finished 83rd ñ both uncharacteristic showings for the red-hot pros. Neither finish hurt them too bad, since the World Rankings work on a 2-year rolling cycle. Instead, the big news at the top is that Kennedy shaved even more from VanDam’s once massive lead. He’s now a point and a half behind VanDam. And it could get real exciting over the next few events, as VanDam begins to drop his three wins in a row from the 2005 season. Kennedy, on the other hand, will begin to drop some mediocre finishes. Stay tuned.

> Skeet Reese stays at 3rd, but he’s pulling close to VanDam too. Prior to Clarks Hill, he trailed VanDam by 16 1/2 points. He’s now closed that gap to just 2 1/2 points. Notable for Reese is that’s he’s finished inside the Top 12 in his last six events, dating back to the 2006 season.

> Aaron Martens moved up two spots to 4th, helped by a Top 12 at Clarks. That finish replaced a 148th-place disaster from Table Rock 2 years ago.

> Both Mike Iaconelli and Greg Hackney slid one spot to 5th and 6th, respectively. Neither made the Top 50 cut at Clarks.

> Clarks Hill winner Mike McClelland jumped a massive 14 spots to 8th.

> Dave Lefebre continues his climb inside the Top 10, and improves a spot to 9th.

> Shinichi Fukae’s in danger of dropping out of the Top 10. He slides two spots to 10th.

> Ish Monroe’s now inside the Top 20 with a nine-spot improvement to 19th. He’s made two Elite Series Top 12 cuts so far this season.

> Because Clarks Hill was an Elite Series event, most of the movement (both up and down) was seen in Elite Series pros.

> Two tournaments later this week affect the Rankings ñ the Norman FLW Tour and Guntersville Elite Series.

yea but kvd is the best so yeah

Following are the BassFan World Rankings as updated after last week’s Wal-Mart Open (Beaver FLW Tour) and Bassmaster American Major (at High Rock). Notable movement:

> Prior to this edition, Kevin VanDam held a more than 16-point lead over Steve Kennedy in the Rankings. VanDam finished 14th at the American, while Kennedy floundered and finished 47th (near-last in the 51-boat field). Single events don’t determine an angler’s ranking, but good finishes help, and VanDam widens his lead this week to approximately 24 points. That’s a huge margin.

> Skeet Reese retains his 3rd-place ranking, but cuts Kennedy’s advantage from roughly 4 points to 2.

> Beaver winner Andy Morgan skyrockets up 11 spots to 4th in the world. He’s fishing well, and his win follows a 12th at the Norman FLW Tour. He has yet to miss a check this year, and is now 2nd in the FLW Tour points.

> Both Aaron Martens and Mike McClelland slip one spot (to 5th and 6th respectively), while Mike Iaconelli and Gerald Swindle each slip two spots (to 7th and 8th).

> Greg Hackney, a former No. 1-ranked angler, continues his slide. He steps backwards from 8th to 12th. Other than a 10th at the California Delta, he has yet to finish better than 41st this season in the 108-boat Elite Series field.

> Overall, it was a big week for FLW Tour anglers. Along with Morgan’s surge, Larry Nixon improved from 14th to 10th, David Dudley from 22nd to 17th, and Matt Herren from 34th to 23rd.

> Ish Monroe moves up six spots to 15th.

> A few significant drops were: Jared Lintner (12th to 18th), Dave Lefebre (11th to 19th), and Anthony Gagliardi (16th to 28th).

> American winner Fred Roumbanis leapfrogs from 89th to 46th. He’s put a strong run together this year, with four finishes of 21st or better so far, plus the win.

KVD’s Lead The Biggest Ever

Following are the BassFan World Rankings as updated after last week’s Grand Lake Bassmaster Elite Series. Notable movement:

> Just when you thought Kevin VanDam had done it all, he sets a new benchmark in the World Rankings. Helped by a win at Grand – his second of the season – he basically left everyone with a face full of water and exhaust. He entered Grand with a lead of a little more than 11 points in the Rankings. But with Grand factored in, he now leads by an unimaginable 33-odd points. In the 6-year history of the Rankings, there’s never been a lead margin that monstrous. Is he human?

> The Top 5 remain unchanged after Grand, but Steve Kennedy has trimmed Skeet Reese’s hold on 2nd from about 8 points to about 4 1/2.

> BASS pro Mike McClelland continues to climb, and an 11th at Grand helps him move up four spots to 6th.

> Aaron Martens, who finished 15th at Grand, drops a spot to 7th. Note that he’s slowly eliminating his string of disastrous FLW Tour finishes from 2005, many of which he couldn’t practice for due to a tight two-tour schedule.

> Mike Iaconelli, who started the year ranked 2nd, is having an off-year, and it shows in the Rankings. He’s finished 18th two times in a row, and looks to be moving in the right direction, but he drops two spots to 9th.

> FLW pro David Dudley, affected by movement around him, slips one spot to 10th.

> A 3rd at Grand is one factor that helps Edwin Evers move up five spots to 11th.

> Kelly Jordon, like Evers, had a Top 5 at Grand and also climbs five spots. Jordon’s now ranked 18th.

> Oklahoma BASS pro Jeff Kriet was the runner-up at Grand, which helps him climb 14 spots to 27th. It was his second Top 12 cut of the season.

> Bass rookie Derek Remitz continues his ascension, and after a 20th at Grand, climbs 40 spots to 119th.

8/27/2007
VanDam Widens Gap Again


Following are the BassFan World Rankings presented by Tru-Tungsten as updated after the Bassmaster Legends Major at Lake Dardanelle in Arkansas. Note that this is the second-to-last edition of the Rankings for the 2007 season. The final edition will be published after the upcoming Toho Bassmaster Elite Series. Notable movement in this edition:

> Dardanelle marked yet another Top 5 for Kevin VanDam. The most dominant angler in the world finished 3rd and re-extended his Rankings lead to more than 10 points. Prior to the Legends, his lead had dwindled to approximately 5 points.

> Skeet Reese finished 18th at Dardanelle and is still ranked 2nd, but as noted, has fallen further behind VanDam.

> A 7th at Dardanelle helps Aaron Martens improve a spot to 5th.

> FLW Tour pros David Dudley and Jay Yelas are helped by movement around them and each improves a spot ñ to 8th and 9th, respectively.

> Dardanelle winner Boyd Duckett climbs a whopping 18 spots to 10th in the world. His Bassmaster Classic victory to start the year helps him big-time, but also note that he’s made five of the last seven Top 12 cuts.

> A 48th-place finish, which was near-last in the 50-boat field at Dardanelle, hurts Peter Thliveros and contributes to his three-spot slide to 11th.

> Dean Rojas, who started the year ranked 10th, has had a rocky summer. But a 4th at Dardanelle helps put him back on track and he moves up four spots to 16th.

> Mike Iaconelli’s forgettable season continues. He began the year ranked 2nd in the world, but has made just two Top 12 cuts this year. After a 31st at Dardanelle, he slips another six spots to 20th.

3/21/2008
VanDam Pulls Away

Following are the BassFan World Rankings as updated after last week’s Toho Bassmaster Elite Series. Notable movement:

> Kevin VanDam, who won last week at Toho, retains his No. 1 ranking, but more important, he spreads the lead again. In the previous edition he led 2nd-place Skeet Reese by about 4 points. The win helps him widen that gap to a massive 22 points.

> Overall there’s not much change inside the Top 10. Steve Kennedy moves up two spots to 4th, and Aaron Martens drops two spots to 6th. A variety of factors affect those movements, but for reference, Kennedy finished 17th at Toho, and Martens finished 51st.

> Mark Davis, who rejoined tour-level BASS competition this year after a 2-year FLW Tour campaign, jumps 8 spots and is back inside the Top 10 for the first time in a while. He’s a former No. 1-ranked angler, and high points for him include an FLW Tour win last year at Ft. Loudoun–Tellico, plus an 11th at the Harris Chain and 18th at Toho.

> FLW Tour pros Andy Morgan and Jay Yelas didn’t fish last week, but each drop a spot as the result of the Davis climb.

> A 2nd-place finish at Toho helps Scott Rook climb 5 spots to 12th.

> Bobby Lane, like Davis, has moved from the FLW Tour to BASS. Lane comes out of the Florida swing with a 3rd at Harris and a 7th at Toho and jumps 37 spots to 63rd.

> The next events that affect the World Rankings will be the Lewis Smith FLW Tour and Falcon Elite Series, both scheduled for April 3–6.