Kevin Van Dam

One last chance

August 7, 2008 – bassmaster.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Ernest Hemingway, who caught a fish or two in his lifetime, once described bankruptcy as happening “gradually, then suddenly.”

Similarly, while every one of the 11 regular season tournaments counts equally during the course of the Elite Series schedule, what looked like a marathon back in March now resembles a sprint. Storylines that have been building on the Elite Series all season long are set for a sudden resolution at the Champion’s Choice Presented by Ramada Worldwide. But angling solvency means different things to different anglers.

As the 106 pros and their co-angler partners jockeyed for position along the shores of Oneida Lake this morning, for those on the various bubbles, this will be their last chance to influence the immediate future of their angling careers.

While Todd Faircloth and Kevin VanDam command many of the headlines as they slug it out for the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title, each of their peers has something else to battle for: whether it’s a berth in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, an opportunity to remain on the Elite Series trail or just personal pride.

There are 106 individual stories on the Elite Series trail and each of them will be resolved by the end of this event.

Some will go home happy, others will just go home.

For those who currently sit just inside the Classic bubble, the next few days will punctuate their season, determining whether it is remembered fondly or instead with disappointment.

“This is my whole season,” said Ish Monroe, who is currently in 30th in the overall standings. “But that will allow me to fish more relaxed than I usually do. If the cards play in my favor, they play in my favor. I’m usually stressed on the first day and end up having a bad day, so today I’m just going to see how it plays out.”

A fight to the finish

August 6, 2008 – bassmaster.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — For the past month, Todd Faircloth and Kevin VanDam have felt like the members of the two NFL Super Bowl teams during that seemingly never-ending series of press conferences leading up to the big game. They’ve been asked — over and over — every question imaginable about the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year race.

Finally, it’s time to play the game. The first quarter, uh, make that Day One of the aptly named Champion’s Choice presented by Ramada Worldwide begins on Oneida Lake at 8 a.m. ET Thursday. The four-day tournament concludes Sunday.

Both Faircloth and VanDam are ready to quit talking and start fishing.

“I’m ready to go,” said VanDam, who already owns three Angler of the Year titles, but the last one came in 1999. “I know what I need to do. It’s going to be fun.”

“I just want to fish,” Faircloth said. “And, hopefully, I’ll be able to get it done.”

With a 21-point lead over VanDam in AOY points, Faircloth would be the equivalent of a one-point Super Bowl favorite. This is only the third year for the current AOY points structure, which places a premium on high finishes.

Oneida Lake Preview — Syracuse, N.Y.

August 5, 2008 – bassmaster.com

The Bassmaster Elite Series will bring its 11th tournament of the season — the Champion’s Choice presented by Ramada Worldwide — to Oneida Lake out of Syracuse, N.Y., as the 2008 Bassmaster Elite Series season comes to a close.

As part of the celebration of crowning the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year, BASS’ outdoors expo Saturday and Sunday at the season finale will include performances by national recording artist Heartland and local musical group The Custom Taylor Band. At the conclusion of the final weigh-in Sunday night, BASS will host a fireworks display at Oneida Shores, set for approximately 8:40 p.m ET.

Along with the Angler of the Year, the Advance Auto Parts Rookie of the Year and the Junior Bassmaster World Championship winners will be crowned. In the race to qualify for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La., anglers will be looking for valuable point on Oneida to give themselves one last chance to move up in the points standings. The top 36 in the AOY standings qualify for the Classic. The top 84 in the AOY standings receive berths into the 2009 Bassmaster Elite Series.

Fishing fans can watch the on-the-water action from the Aug. 7-10 Champion’s Choice on The Bassmasters, which airs Saturday, Aug. 16, at 9 a.m. ET on ESPN2. Additionally, fans can check into Bassmaster.com for live, streaming video of the weigh-ins, real-time leaderboards, analysis, photo galleries and more.

While the pros angle for the first-place prize of $100,000 at the Champion’s Choice, the climactic Trail to the Trophy will come to a conclusion on Oneida Lake. Heading into the Champion’s Choice, Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas is leading the 2008 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points race. Others among the top pros in the heated race for the title and the $250,000 top prize include Kevin VanDam, Mike McClelland and 2007 Angler of the Year Skeet Reese.

Kiriyama’s victory makes terminally ill dad proud

August 3, 2008 – bassmaster.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. — As he stood backstage Sunday afternoon, all Kotaro Kiriyama could think about was his terminally ill father as he waited to weigh-in on the final day of the Bassmaster Elite Series Empire Chase presented by Farmer’s Insurance.

It was 18 years ago Takashi Kiriyama told his then 18-year-old son he needed to leave Japan, because Kotaro was just going to stay in trouble, should he remain in his native country.

“He told me to go to America and see what you want to do with your life,” Kiriyama recalled, after his four-day total of smallmouth bass from Lake Erie totaled 93 pounds, 6 ounces — and made him the Empire Chase champion.

“This is what I want to do.”

Kiriyama proved to be amazingly good at catching Lake Erie’s smallmouth this week. After a runner-up finish to Edwin Evers a year ago here, the 37-year-old Moody, Ala., resident came back, determined to expand on what he did last year.

And, most important, to do it before time ran out on his father. Kiriyama’s father, Takashi, now 65, is terminally ill in Narita, Japan, with stage four kidney cancer.

“This means everything,” Kiriyama said of Sunday’s victory, his first in eight years on the BASS tour, where he has recorded four second-place finishes.

Kiriyama turned what had been a close race Friday into a runaway Sunday by winning the $100,000 first-place check. On Day Two, he was fourth among five anglers bunched within 1 pound, 10 ounces at the top of the leaderboard.

He began to separate himself from the field Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds. It was the heaviest limit over the last two years of Bassmaster Elite Series competition on Lake Erie.

Kiriyama makes major statement at Lake Erie

August 3, 2008 – bassmaster.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Kotaro Kiriyama left Lake Erie last year with more than just a second-place check in the Bassmaster Elite Series Empire Chase. He proved that Saturday with a five-bass limit weighing 25 pounds. It gave him the lead going into the final day of this year’s Empire Chase presented by Farmer’s Insurance.

That 5-pound average of smallmouth bass represents the biggest bag in the seven days of Elite Series competition on Lake Erie in the last two years.

“I learned from last year,” said the 37-year-old Japanese angler, who now resides in Moody, Ala. “I tried to save some fish (for the next day) last year. This year, I’m catching everything I can.”

Friday the Empire Chase was a race, with the top five anglers grouped within 1 pound, 10 ounces of each other. Saturday the race turned into a chase, as the rest of the top 12 for Sunday’s finale will be chasing Kiriyama.

With a three-day total of 67-13, Kiriyama opened a 3-pound, 8-ounce lead over second-place Aaron Martens. Day One leader and defending champion Edwin Evers is 1 ounce back of Martens, at 64-4.

Mike Iaconelli, who held the Day Two lead, dropped to fourth place with 62-1, almost 6 pounds behind the leader. And he acknowledged Kiriyama’s margin is bigger than it appears on paper.

THE NINJA STRIKES…

August 3, 2008 – basszone.com

Buffalo, NY – The Empire Chase on Lake Erie has, for the most part, looked like a gigantic wave pool since the pros pulled into Buffalo last Monday. Saturday’s launch, however, greeted the anglers with conditions resembling a child’s wading pool. With barely a whisper of a breeze, the remaining 50 pros experienced a smooth morning run after early-morning thunderstorms swept through the area.

The calm conditions at launch was a welcomed sight for many, considering the additional fishing time most would receive through shortened run times and the likelihood of increased catches. That being said, the anglers who had prepared for wind feared that without the windy companion, their creel could suffer as a result.

For some in the field, the balance of the season largely rested on today. Both from a spot in February’s Classic and the Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year race. There’s a lot at stake beyond the $100,000 first-place prize money available and no one in the remaining field of 50 could understand this better than the two who are still battling for the TTAOY prize.

Todd Faircloth, the only remaining TTAOY contenders inside the Top 12 at Saturday’s end, has already fished well enough the first three days to have a small cushion heading into the final event of the season at Oneida. Kevin VanDam, who started the tournament as the Race leader, stumbled the first day but rebounded to finish the event in 18th.

By the time weigh-in came around, the cloudy skies had opened up and rain was once again falling. Despite the day’s weather change, Kota Kiriyama came from fourth place by boxing the heaviest limit of the week weighing 25-0 to secure the top spot in Sunday’s final round with a three-day total weight of 67-13.

Over three pounds behind in second place was Aaron Martens with 64-5 overall after weighing 21-10 Saturday. Defending Empire winner, Edwin Evers, ended the third round with a total weight of 64-4 after bringing in 21-6 Saturday to move into the third-place slot.

In fourth heading to Sunday is Day Two leader, Mike Iaconelli, who brought his lightest limit of the week to the scales weighing 17-12 to give him 62-1 over three days. Big John Murray is in the fifth-place position with a total weight of 60-11 after placing 19-3 on the scales Saturday, and Rick Morris jumped from 12th place to round out the Super Six with 59-6 overall after weighing 21-4.

Kota Brings in 25
Kotaro Kiriyama rode a single spot to second place in last year’s Empire Chase. This year, he’s leveraging the same hole and seining it for all he can. Each day is a gamble, and if the wind blows too hard he knows that he’s out of chips. “It’s the same thing every day,” he said.

“If I can get to my area, I feel sure that I can catch them. But I never know if I’ll be able to get there or not until that day.”

Ike Overtakes Reed On Day 2, KVD moves up to 14th

August 1, 2008 – bassfan.com

Lake Erie’s the type of fishery where a hot hump or reef can keep kicking fish out for 4 straight days. It’s also the type of place where it can be hard to mount a comeback if you didn’t discover that right hump or reef in practice. There’s just too much water to start over.

So it’s no surprise at all that those who caught ‘em on day 1 did so again today, under conditions that were overall calm at times and not rough until the ride back in. In fact, the water was so calm at Dunkirk, several pros pushed their fishing time down there and barely made it back when they encountered a blow halfway home.

That’s because Dunkirk’s fine in a southwest wind like the one today, but halfway to Buffalo the shoreline juts north and a southwest wind kicks things up. Aaron Martens fished Dunkirk and made it back with 6 minutes to spare. Kota Kiriyama made it back in the nick of time. Terry Butcher was 3 minutes late.

Mike Iaconelli had the best day today. He weighed 22-15 (call it 23 pounds), and moved up from 3rd yesterday to lead after 2 days with a 44-05 total.

Less than a pound behind Ike is day-1 leader Matt Reed, who followed up with 20-03 today. Reed’s not running all the way to Dunkirk – he’s likely fishing in the vicinity of Silver Creek – and his day might have been a lot better, but he was stuck with a dead 2 1/2-pounder and the culling of dead fish is against BASS rules.

Iaconelli leads top-five pack grouped within 2 pounds

August 1, 2008 – bassmaster.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Mike Iaconelli’s goal this week was simply to make the top 50 at the Bassmaster Elite Series Empire Chase presented by Farmer’s Insurance. He knew that would be enough to solidify his place among the qualifiers for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic and allow him to fish worry-free in the final event of the season next week at New York’s Oneida Lake.

Iaconelli was the last of the 106 Elite Series anglers to weigh-in Friday. When his five-bass limit of 22 pounds, 15 ounces gave him the lead in the tournament, the 36-year-old Runnemede, N.J., angler left the stage with much bigger goals than when he started the week.

“It’s going to be a race,” said Iaconelli, who has a two-day total of 44-5. “I’m excited.”

Yes, the Empire Chase is definitely going to be a race. The winds calmed somewhat Friday, but for the second straight day, Lake Erie showed why it’s considered among the best smallmouth bass fisheries in the world — wind or no wind.

Iaconelli was among a group of seven anglers who caught 20-plus pounds of smallmouth bass for the second day in a row. Five of them are bunched at the top of the leaderboard — within 1 pound, 10 ounces of the lead.

Day One leader Matt Reed is second with 43-6, 15 ounces behind Iaconelli. Defending Empire Chase champion Edwin Evers is third with 42-14, 1-7 off the lead. Defending Empire Chase runnerup Kotaro Kiriyama is fourth, only 1 ounce behind Evers. Aaron Martens is fifth with 42-11, only 3 ounces behind Evers.

“Honestly, that was my mindset coming in, to make the top 50,” Iaconelli said. “This is turning out a lot better than I expected.”

Reed’s Perfect Plan

August 1, 2008 – bassmaster.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Matt Reed executed the perfect game plan for Lake Erie’s wavy waters on Thursday’s opener of the Bassmaster Elite Series Empire Chase presented by Farmer’s Insurance.

That game plan was as follows: 1) catch five bass weighing a Berkley Heavyweight Bag of 23 pounds, 3 ounces; 2) catch only five bass, then head for “the house”; 3) include a 5-pound, 10-ounce smallmouth Purolator Big Bass in your limit.

The Madisonville, Texas, pro was able to do exactly that Thursday morning, then spent the rest of his day fishing around the NFTA Boat Harbor launch site, while the rest of the 106 Elite Series anglers took a pounding from Lake Erie’s increasingly higher swells throughout the day.

“Those were the first five I caught today,” Reed said of his tournament-leading total. “It took probably two-and-a-half or three hours. There’s a bunch of them there, but they won’t bite.”

In fact, the bite is so slow that when Reed found this school of fish on his sonar screen in practice, he was about to decide they weren’t bass. Then he landed a 5-pound smallmouth.

“It made me crazy,” Reed said. “Last year, if you found them, they’d bite like crazy.”

Reed may have had the easiest day on Lake Erie, but he’s got plenty of competition at the top of the leaderboard. Aaron Martens is second with 22-0; Michael Iaconelli is third with 21-6; defending champion Edwin Evers is fourth with 21-3 and defending runner-up Kotaro Kiriyama is fifth with 20-15.

A Wild Ride Expected This Week on the Elite Series

July 31, 2008 – basszone.com

Buffalo, NY – With the 2008 Elite Series winding down, the intensity of Angler of the Year points and Classic berths are nearing critical mass. Lake Erie plays host to The Empire Chase, the 10th regular-season tournament of the 2008 Elite Series campaign, and with only one event to go after this week, the margin of error will be slim.

As the 11th-largest freshwater lake globally, Lake Erie is big regardless of whichever stick you use to measure it. Covering nearly 10,000 square miles of surface area, the average depth at Erie is only 62 feet, thus creating treacherous running conditions in even the slightest of breezes. As such, this week will be a true test of not only the pros stamina, but also their equipment given the lake’s often punishing conditions.

Should tournament officials declare conditions on Erie as “unsafe,” which is a fairly loosely defined and somewhat relative term at Erie, the Niagara River could serve as the back-up venue so that the show may go on. The Niagara, while a possibility for back-up, isn’t a guarantee (remember back to 2007 when weather forced the loss of an entire day) as even its relatively confined area can get pretty gnarly.

The weather forces a wrinkle into the pre-tournament practice strategy. Should an angler focus on the open-water smallmouth in Erie, or spend a little time in the river looking for largemouth as a back-up plan? The weatherman says that the wind is going to blow all week, so the safe play is to find some spots close to home and avoid the long run.

However, playing it safe might be the difference between hero and zero as everyone in the field knows that this week the separation between success – or at least the ability to fish through Sunday – and failure will likely come down to ounces. The secret, as defending Empire Chase champion Edwin Evers illustrated in 2007, will be to find the right group, or groups, of four-and-a-half pounders. That’s far easier said than done.

Add to the fury that a wind-swept Erie will provide the playing field for the hotly contested Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year race, where Kevin VanDam presently maintains a narrow lead over Todd Faircloth. Less than 100 points behind Faircloth is red-hot pro Mike McClelland. Skeet Reese, the defending Tundra Angler of the Year who used Erie in 2007 to begin pulling away from VanDam, sits just 21 behind McClelland in fourth place, and only 140 points away from taking over the lead.