Kevin VanDam

Tight tournament predicted

June 25, 2008
(bassmaster.com, June 25, 2008)

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — One Bassmaster Elite Series angler summed up the fishing conditions at Old Hickory Lake this way: “You might catch 40 fish and zero.”

That’s “zero” as in not catch one that meets the minimum 14-inch length limit on largemouth bass at this 22,500-acre Cumberland River impoundment.

And that seemed to be the concensus before the Bassmaster Elite Series Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn begins Thursday.

“Twelve pounds a day will win here any time of the year,” said Kevin VanDam, who moved into the lead in Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points after his victory June 15 at Kentucky Lake. “Somebody might find something a little better, but I’d be shocked.

“If you have 30 pounds after three days, you’re probably going to be in the top 12 (for Sunday’s final).”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-built lock-and-dam that forms Old Hickory Lake is located about 25 miles from Nashville, so this reservoir gets lots of fishing pressure. That pressure doesn’t seem to have affected the number of bass in Old Hickory as much as it has the number of big bass.

“There’s a ton of fish in here,” VanDam said. “But there aren’t many 14-inchers. You can catch a jillion 12-inchers.”

And the fact that you can catch them both shallow and deep has made this tournament as wide open to any of the 107 Elite Series anglers as any tournament this year. It’s hard to figure out who has an advantage going into this four-day event that pays $100,000 to the winner.

“I have never seen as many fish shallow as there are deep,” said Timmy Horton, who finished second to VanDam by 17 ounces at Kentucky Lake. “Usually it’s mostly one way or the other.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/elite/news/story?id=3461052

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