Kevin VanDam

KVD 2 away from BASS record

June 14, 2010
(bassfan.com, June 13, 2010)

Time to put a stop to all of the “What’s wrong with KVD this year?” talk. A visit to the healing waters of Kentucky has gotten him well in a hurry.

After a sub-par start to the 2010 Bassmaster Elite Series season, the five-time Angler of the Year is right back in the hunt for his sixth points crown. He nailed down his second victory in 3 years at Kentucky Lake today with a 21 1/2-pound bag that gave him a 4-day total of 92-05, and with one event remaining, he’s suddenly well within the cutoff to advance to the 12-angler postseason series at which the AOY will be determined.

His total was about 6 1/2 pounds better than that of runner-up Edwin Evers, who’s now just 62 points behind leader Skeet Reese in the AOY chase. Evers sacked 20-06 today for an 85-12 total and finished one position higher than where he started the day.

Terry Butcher, Evers’ brother-in-law who’s having the best season of his career, caught a day-best 23-01 and ended up 3rd with 80-04. Jason Quinn’s 16-01 bag and 78-01 total kept him in 4th – his best showing in a regular-season Elite tournament since 2006.

Derek Remitz, the 2007 Rookie of the Year, continued his stunning comeback season with a 5th-place finish – his third straight among the Top 12. His 21-14 sack gave him a 78-09 total.

Here are the final totals for the dozen anglers who fished today:

1. Kevin VanDam: 92-05
2. Edwin Evers: 85-12
3. Terry Butcher: 80-04
4. Jason Quinn: 78-15
5. Derek Remitz: 78-09
6. John Crews: 77-11
7. Kelly Jordon: 77-10
8. Matt Herren: 75-05
9. Brian Snowden: 71-13
10. Matt Greenblatt: 69-08
11. Scott Rook: 67-02
12. Keith Poche: 65-11

VanDam’s 17th career Bassmaster Tour victory pulled him within two of Roland Martin’s all-time record. It was also his sixth regular-season Elite triumph, which is more than double what anyone else has compiled (Mike McClelland and Reese have three each).

Of more immediate importance to him, he collected the maximum number of points with his wire-to-wire win and jumped from 26th to 8th in the AOY race.

VanDam saved two spots for the final day and one of them produced four of the five fish he weighed in.
As expected, the traffic on the lake today was a significant factor – some Elite anglers had to settle for their fourth or fifth choice in regard to starting locations. VanDam had saved two areas in anticipation of just such a scenario, and one of them produced four of his five weigh-in fish.

The regular season will conclude next week on the Arkansas River out of Muskogee, Okla., which will be a new venue for the majority of the field. The postseason will commence in late July at Lake Jordan and the Alabama River.

VanDam can barely count his tour-level trophies on every finger and toe he possesses, but he said the thrill of victory is enhanced with each succeeding triumph.

“Every one is sweeter than the last,” he said. “It’s hard with the kind of scrutiny I get to get a chance to win and I was concerned about that going into the day. There was a lot of people fishing and I had to just grind it out, and it worked out for me.

“I had a couple of places that I’d saved and one paid off big-time – nobody was fishing it. The first three or four places I went had local guys on them, but it’s a big lake and it’s public and that’s the way it goes.”

He now has two victories, a 2nd and a 3rd in his four visits since the inception of the Elite Series in 2006.

“It’s just one of those lakes that fits my style. I love the Tennessee River and I’ve had a lot of success up and down the chain. I knew I had to have a good week and it all came together, and the feeling’s pretty awesome.”

He cranked river ledges with a Strike King Series 6 XD – the same bait that brought him his runner-up finish a year ago. Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be posted soon.

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