Kevin Van Dam

KVD charges up to 2nd place

March 30, 2009 – basszone.com

Coming from third place, and just over five pounds back, Kevin VanDam knew that everything had to go just right. Unfortunately, along with the cold weather and draw down, he had some mechanical problems that cost him precious fishing time. “I had to troll for about a quarter-mile to get where I wanted to go, so it could’ve been a lot worse,” he pointed out.

“I was able to catch a few big ones right after that, so it worked out okay.

As for the lost Day 3, VanDam explained that, while we’ll never know for sure, it’s likely that he could have pressed for lead even harder. “Mark would’ve caught a real good bag on Saturday too, but I also feel like I would have as well,” he said.

“I knew that being five pounds back, it would’ve been a lot to make up in only one day. Mark had a large area all to himself, and I was sharing water with a lot of other guys.”

While the water temperature plummeted during the day off, VanDam explained that he’d practiced for the pending cold front – but couldn’t combat the fallen water. “Looking at the forecast for the week, I practiced for the conditions in areas where I thought they would go to,” he said.

“It worked out exactly like I’d planned, but I just had too much ground to make up. That’s just the way it goes.”

“All the fish here are really in areas where they eventually wind up spawning, so I wound up having to go into another area,” VanDam added. “By noon I had things going the right way because the sunshine was warming it up fast.”

In review, VanDam explained that by trying to manage his fish Thursday, he most likely cost himself in the end. “I had a pretty good tournament, but just had too much ground to make up today,” he said.

“It’s never any fun to lose, and probably I messed up the first day by trying not to mess up too many fish. Against these guys, I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that you need to bust them every day.”

Bait of Choice: ¼- and 3/8-ounce Strike King Swimming Jig in blue gill (Day 1); weightless Strike King Caffeine Shad jerk bait in green pumpkin (Day 2 & 4); Strike King KVD Rodent in green pumpkin (Day 4)

Menendez Drives home a win

March 29, 2009 – bassmaster.com

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Old-school fishing fans are rejoicing as Mark Menendez of Paducah, Ky., laughed in the face of modernization, simplifying his approach by using an aluminum boat-rig with minimal trappings to accumulate 55 pounds, 7 ounces on his way to victory at the Toyota Trucks Diamond Drive on Lake Dardanelle.

Four-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam threatened Menendez with his tally of 53 pounds, 4 ounces, but Menendez’s old-school approach in the end earned him his third BASS victory.

For the first time in nearly 15 years — BASS legend Roland Martin scored victory out of an aluminum rig on the Connecticut River in 1994 — Menendez scored victory at a top-level BASS event with aluminum, piloting a 17-foot G3 armed with a 90-horsepower Yamaha engine across Dardanelle for three days of the weather-shortened tournament.

With the victory, Menendez earns $100,000 and valuable points in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings, which awards the top 36 anglers qualifying berths in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic. Two years running, Menendez, who is seventh in the AOY standings in 2009, has been the first angler out of the Classic cut and is seeking redemption this season after lost opportunities and doses of misfortune.

“This goes to show that sometimes you don’t need the most modern equipment to perform at the highest level,” said Menendez, 44. “This is the purest form of fishing, absolutely old school. But at the end of the day, it’s just a method of transportation and you have to catch the fish to win. Thankfully, I did.”

Weather, day off leave anglers wondering what will happen

March 29, 2009 – bassmaster.com

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Day Four dawned cloudless and chilly for the 12 remaining anglers fishing the Toyota Trucks Diamond Drive on Lake Dardanelle. Changing conditions and a day off Saturday due to the cancellation of Day Three left the Elite Series pros with more questions than answers.

The biggest question is whether the hole that offered up three 20-plus-pound stringers on Day Two will hold up after a massive cold front dropped in overnight.

“There is a huge school of fish using that area,” Elite Series rookie Greg Vinson said. “I don’t think any of us know what those fish are going to do. We might have to change the way we are fishing.”

Vinson, along with Kevin VanDam, Fred Roumbanis, and second-place Cliff Pace are all in the same close quarters. Being so close to Pace had Vinson questioning how he needed to approach the area.

“I didn’t even realize he was back there when I pulled up on the morning of Day Two,” Vinson said. “I don’t want to cut Cliff’s throat because he has a better shot at winning — I’m much father back. The only way I think I could win is to visit another area that I have and catch a couple of better fish.”

Vinson planned to start in the productive hole and then expand out from there if it wasn’t paying off. Another angler that expected to have to expand was Matt Herren. Changing water levels and lower water temperatures had him questioning what time of day the fish would start biting.

“I know my stuff isn’t going to fire until noon,” Herren said. “They dropped the river 8 inches overnight and it has been much colder so I am going to let it sit as long as I can because these fish are spawning. In the meantime, I hope I can find some prespawn fish that might have moved up.”

Herren has a high-level tournament win on Lake Dardanelle and is very comfortable on any river system, so with the tough changing conditions, he likes his chances for a comeback on the final day.

“This is what I like about fishing rivers,” Herren said. “Sometimes you can overthink things and take yourself out of contention and sometimes you make a small adjustment that makes a huge difference.”

Another angler prepared to make a big adjustment is Florida’s Chris Lane, making his first top-12 cut of the year after struggling in 2008 and just missing out on qualifying for the 2009 Bassmaster Classic.

Gone With The Wind

March 28, 2009 – bassmaster.com

Pro angler Pat Golden found a 4-pound bass hanging around a stump on Day Two of the Toyota Trucks Diamond Drive. He cast to it, watched as it chased his bait — and then watched it bang its head on a cedar twig. He left the spooked fish for an hour, then cast to it again; the fish hit his bait, but missed the hook.

He told his observer then that he’d be back for her on Day Three. He didn’t know at the time that the third day of the tournament, Saturday, would be scrapped on account of high winds on Lake Dardanelle. Golden finished the tournament in 19th place, 1 pound and 11 ounces outside the cut of the top 12 anglers who will fish Sunday, the new Day Three.

“I wish I’d have stayed and caught that fish, because I’d have made the cut if I would have caught her,” Golden said. “I felt like I had a shot. The main reason was, I was all alone. I knew where a lot of the other guys were fishing, and they’d taken a lot of weight out of there.

“I figured out exactly where they were,” he continued. “I had a lot of confidence.” Then he laughed. “That’s how it goes, tournament fishing.”

The all-day wind advisory that prompted BASS officials to cancel Saturday’s fishing came during a rough week of weather in central Arkansas. After a fog delay crimped three hours off of Day One of the Diamond Drive, the 100 Bassmaster Elite Series pros wanted every moment of fishing they could get.

Naturally, with an extra three hours on the water on Day Two, several made substantial moves. Greg Vinson vaulted improved from a 9 pound, 1 ounce bag to a 21-14 limit on Day Two, pushing himself to ninth overall. Bradley Hallman also snuck into the top 12, with an 18-4 encore to a mere 10-10 on Day One.

Then you have guys like Tim Horton, who corrected his single-fish 2-6 sack of Day One with a 20-3 sequel. He was still only in 40th place — but ahead of him, Golden, Mike McClelland, Randy Howell, Guy Eaker, Kevin Short, Terry Scroggins and Casey Ashley all improved by more than 5 pounds apiece over their Day One showings. They were on the move.

Then came Saturday morning, and suddenly the 50-cut after Day Two had become a 12-cut.

Naturally, those outside the top 12 would have preferred to wet a line. Instead, they were left to contemplate next week’s event, on Alabama’s Lake Wheeler.

RIGHT ON THE MARK AT DARDANELLE

March 27, 2009 – basszone.com

Friday, many anglers reported that the fishing was better – though all agreed that the weekend’s weather was going to be difficult at best. Change, as they say, is in the wind.

Hovering at just under a 20-pound-per-day average is Mark Menendez, with a combined weight of 39 pounds, 4 ounces after weighing a 21-pound, 8-limit Friday to jump a spot in to first place. Cliff Pace, starting the day in 6th place, ended the second day in second place with a two-day combined limit going 38 pounds, 7 ounces after placing five keepers onto the scales weighing 21 pounds, 12 ounces.

“This week is really taking me back to my roots, and I’m just having a blast. I’m fishing in a little area that has males and females moving up and they’re really eating,” said Menendez. ” I’m looking forward to going back in there again tomorrow with another Strike King bait and doing it again.”

Kevin VanDam, who started the morning in 11th place ended Friday in third after placing 18 pounds, 6 ounces on the scales, with a two-day weight of 33 pounds and 12 ounces. Matt Herren, starting the day in 4th place, ended it the same way after weighing five bass that went 15 pounds and 7 ounces giving him 32 pounds, 8 ounces overall.

Alton Jones fell two spots to fifth after weighing a five-bass limit of 14 pounds, 14 ounces, pushing his combined weight to 32 pounds and 3 ounces. Rounding out the Super Six was Freddy “Boom Boom” Roumbanis, with a combined weight of 32 pounds and 1 ounce, who weighed in a limit going 15 pounds and 5 ounces Friday.

The proverbial last man standing in 50th place was Pete Ponds, with a two-day total weight of 20 pounds, 15 ounces after weighing four fish that went 7 pounds and 9 ounces.

KVD Climbs To 3rd

March 27, 2009 – bassfan.com

Despite having company that wasn’t around on day 1, Mark Menendez and Cliff Pace both cleared the 21-pound threshold today at the Dardanelle Bassmaster Elite Series in Arkansas. Their big bags – which were among the three best of the day – allowed them to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the field.

Menendez, who’s fishing out of an aluminum boat to access a hard-to-reach backwater locale, sacked 21-08 today for a 2-day total of 39-04 that led the cut to the Top 50 at the midway point. With nasty weather in the forecast, he anticipates some difficulty making the long run to the spot in his tin rig tomorrow, but said he’s going no matter what.

Pace is ambushing fish on their way in and out of a spawning area, and his 21-12 stringer put him in 2nd with a 38-07 total. Like Menendez, he didn’t weigh a fish today that topped 5 pounds, but none were under 4.

After that, it’s more than a 4 1/2-pound drop down to Kevin VanDam, who caught 18-06 today to climb eight spots into 3rd. He’s fishing a community area along with numerous other anglers who made the cut and is throwing a variety of baits.

Matt Herren put together his second straight solid bag (15-07) and remained in 4th with 32-08. He’s caught all his fish from the same place and is unsure whether it has anything left to offer him tomorrow.

Alton Jones weighed 14-14 today and finished out the Top 5 with a 32-03 total. He caught another sight-fish today and spent the last 2 hours working on a 5-pound female that he couldn’t get to bite. With the big cold front coming, he doubts she’ll still be on the bed tomorrow.

Here’s a look at the current Top 12 (red numbers in parentheses indicate deficit margin from leader):

1. Mark Menendez: 39-04
2. Cliff Pace: 38-07 (0-13)
3. Kevin VanDam: 33-12 (5-08)
4. Matt Herren: 32-08 (6-12)
5. Alton Jones: 32-03 (7-01)
6. Fred Roumbanis: 32-01 (7-03)
7. Denny Brauer: 31-11 (7-09)
8. Jim Murray: 31-03 (8-01)
9. Greg Vinson: 30-15 (8-05)
10. Chris Lane: 30-06 (8-14)
11. Skeet Reese: 29-06 (9-14)
12. Bradley Hallman: 28-14 (10-06)

Conditions were about the same as on day 1 (overcast skies with a stiff breeze), but with no fog delay, weights went up significantly. It took 20-15 to make the 50-cut – a position that required less than 10 pounds after the first day.

There were just three newcomers to the Top 12. Jim Murray jumped 22 places to 8th with 19-03 today for a 31-03 total, Greg Vinson catapulted 44 spots to 9th with a tournament-best 21-14 bag that gave him a 30-15 total, and Bradley Hallman moved up 28 rungs with 18-04 today for a 28-14 total.

Moving out were day-1 leader Brent Chapman, who fell to 27th with just two fish for 5-11, along with Billy McCaghren (10th to 14th with 12-06) and Stephen Browning (12th to 23rd with 10-15).

A frigid front is on its way – the high temperature in the Russellville, Ark. area tomorrow is predicted to be 46 degrees. Rain showers are expected during the afternoon hours, with perhaps even a little snow mixed in. Wind from the west/southwest is expected to hit 16 mph.

The field will be reduced to the Top 12 after tomorrow’s weigh-in. The winner will be determined Sunday by the highest 4-day weight.

Here today, gone tomorrow

March 27, 2009 – bassmaster.com

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — They can’t say they weren’t warned.

Brent Chapman, Alton Jones, Todd Faircloth and Kevin Wirth all shared water on Day One and they finished first, third, 19th and 27th, respectively.

The same spot, Piney Bay, on Day Two of the Toyota Trucks Diamond Drive on Lake Dardanelle was not nearly as kind.

“They didn’t bite and I was stubborn,” said Chapman, who finished Friday with two fish that weighed 5 pounds, 11 ounces. “It’s hard to leave a place like that, but that’s the way this sport is.”

There were two things echoed by the majority of anglers before the start of the tournament: it was going to be crowded and it was going to be hard to find a spot that would hold up multiple days.

The lake is so crowded, Chapman said he felt like he had “a spot to myself” even though he could see four other boats.

“The key area where I caught my fish, they weren’t fishing that area,” he said. “I caught a 3 1/2 pounder at 11 a.m., so I kept thinking it would get better and it just never did.”

Faircloth, who had four fish for 7-3 on Friday, bailed halfway through the morning because he felt the spot was fully milked, but Alton Jones, who had three bass when he left there around 10 a.m., said they can come back as quickly as they leave.

“Nighttime is an interesting thing thing,” said Jones, who finished a limit that weighed 14-14 in a different spot. “Fish like to swim around, and the fish were there in the first place because there’s something they like.”

Wirth was the only angler that stuck it out in Piney Bay and had anything to show for it. He left the hole with a limit at 2:15 p.m., and actually improved from Day One (12-11) with 14-5.

“I had to really slow down today,” Wirth said. “I was fishing different from a lot of guys in that hole, but it definitely was a downgrade from Day One in terms of bites.”

Whether their day was good or bad on Friday, all four anglers made the top-50 cut and will have to decide if they’re going to give the hole another shot on Saturday. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice …

Jones said he doesn’t care — he’s going to at least give it a look.

“This is the time of year where more fish should be coming, so I’ll definitely make a pass in there tomorrow,” he said.

Wirth was undecided by the time the weigh-in was over, but described the hole as “dried up.” Faircloth said he probably won’t be back.

As for Day One leader Chapman, whom the hole had given and taken away the most, he said he’ll be back if for no other reason than a lack of options.

“It’s really all I’ve got, so I might go in there and maybe adjust a little bit tomorrow,” he said. “Randy Howell caught 17 pounds within that same vicinity today, so they’re obviously not all gone.”

Big moves

March 27, 2009 – bassmaster.com

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — At the Day Two launch of the 2009 Toyota Trucks Diamond Drive on Lake Dardanelle, word around the dock was that today would be the day to make a move up the leaderboard.

With severe thunderstorms including possibilities of large hail forecasted for this afternoon and overnight, 2009 Classic champion Skeet Reese expects to see bigger bags coming in today with tougher conditions setting in over the weekend.

“Today is movement day,” Reese said. “This will be the day to catch a big bag. I had the opportunity for a big bag yesterday, but I lost six fish including a couple in the 4-pound range.”

Reese was understandably upset with his Day One performance, but his 15-pound, 13-ounce limit still put him inside the top 10 and well within striking distance of the leader. On a day when less than half the field caught a limit, every keeper proved critical, and those that didn’t catch five fish now find themselves with a big hill to climb.

Shaw Grigsby finished with only four keepers yesterday and isn’t looking forward to the weather that is forecast for the Russellville area.

“I was sight fishing yesterday and the fish are getting picked over, so opportunities will be limited today,” Grigsby said. “These conditions make it so tough to see with the clouds and milky water. Sight fishing is all I’ve got though.”

Even for a veteran sight-fisherman like Grigsby, just finding the bass has been getting more and more difficult. On Thursday, he went to where he knew a 4-pounder was locked on a bed, but it still took him three passes to even get a glimpse of the fish.

Sight fishing does allow Grigsby to bypass smaller fish and just target larger keeper-sized bass, as evidenced by his 14-pound, 13-ounce bag. That weight put him in the top 20, but changing conditions may force him to adapt if the sight bit isn’t there today.

With the weekend expected to bring in lows in the 30-degree range, anglers talked about catching everything they could on Day Two.

“I know the cold front is coming tomorrow, so I’m going to have to catch as much as I can today,” Dean Rojas said. “All those people who caught one or two fish yesterday are behind the 8-ball. It almost mirrors this shortened season we have this year, opportunities are decreased and you have to do well at every tournament.”

Rojas has made the top-12 cut at his three previous visits to Dardanelle during BASS competition and once again is in contention after catching 14 pounds, 14 ounces.

“A lot of guys struggled yesterday with the shortened day,” Rojas said. “So while 14 pounds is a good start, I think you are going to see the cut weight go up a couple of pounds.”

The cut weight going up is just what Charlie Hartley expects to see on Day Two and he regrets laying off his fish yesterday after catching 13 pounds.

Chapman Stuns Himself With 19-07 First-Day Sack

March 26, 2009 – bassfan.com

In the wake of an extremly difficult practice period, it was no big surprise that none of the bags caught on the first day of the Dardanelle Bassmaster Elite Series topped 20 pounds. Brent Chapman, however, absolutely shocked himself by making a strong run at that mark.

“I thought I’d be real fortunate to catch five, and if they weighed 10 pounds I’d be excited,” said the Kansan, who sat atop the day-1 leaderboard with 19-07. “If you’d have told me I could’ve had that weight after 2 days I probably would’ve signed on the dotted line this morning.”

He’s 1-11 up on Kentuckian Mark Menendez – one of four competitors who ran an aluminum boat to better access the backwaters, but the only one of that quartet who landed higher than 79th place. He weighed 17-12.

Texan Alton Jones was 3rd with 17-05. Alabama’s Matt Herren claimed the 4th slot with 17-01 and Oklahoma’s Fred Roumbanis completed the Top 5 with 16-12.

Here’s a look at the current Top 12 (red numbers in parentheses indicate deficit margin from leader):

1. Brent Chapman: 19-07
2. Mark Menendez: 17-12 (1-11)
3. Alton Jones: 17-05 (2-02)
4. Matt Herren: 17-01 (2-06)
5. Fred Roumbanis: 16-12 (2-11)
6. Cliff Pace: 16-11 (2-12)
7. Denny Brauer: 16-06 (3-01)
8. Chris Lane: 15-14 (3-09)
9. Skeet Reese: 15-13 (3-10)
10. Billy McCaghren: 15-11 (3-12)
11. Kevin VanDam: 15-06 (4-01)
12. Stephen Browning: 15-05 (4-02)

The field had to wait out a fog delay of slightly more than 3 hours this morning, which cost those in the early weigh-in flight almost half of their fishing day. On the flip side, the water level was up 6 inches to a foot from where it was in practice, which brought some shoreline vegetation into play and benefited some anglers who were plying the extreme shallows.

Less than half of the 100-angler field caught a limit and the 50th-place money cutoff currently sits at less than 10 pounds. There could be a big shake-up in the standings tomorrow if everybody gets a full day, but BASS is considering shortening it on the back end due to a forecast that calls for violent weather in the afternoon.

Once the fog lifted, the dominant conditions today were overcast skies and wind. Thunderstorms were predicted to hit the Russellville, Ark. area tonight and and then return sometime after lunch tomorrow.

The field will be cut to 50 after tomorrow’s weigh-in, and then to the Top 12 for Sunday. The winner will be determined by highest 4-day weight.

Williamson’s best for last

March 16, 2009 – bassmaster.com

DEL RIO, Texas — As the weekend progressed, the temperatures on Lake Amistad warmed up and so did Jason Williamson.

The third-year BASS pro from Aiken, S.C., shoved aside consistency and posted a backbreaking total of more than 68 pounds through the final two days. It was more than enough to climb from 38th to third on Day 3 then secure his first BASS victory and the accompanying $100,000 top prize Sunday at the 2009 Bassmaster Elite Series season opener, the OPTIMA Batteries Battle on the Border.

Williamson’s four-day total of 96 pounds, 6 ounces, was enough to hold off a consistent Alton Jones of Waco, Texas, who finished second with 87 pounds, 15 ounces. Williamson was able to overtake Jones with a tremendous two-day charge, which accounted for more than 70 percent of his weight.

Williamsons’ catches Saturday and Sunday were all cultivated from one ultra-productive spot that yielded nothing for him in the first two days of competition. However, as the rain died, the clouds dissipated and the sun came out, the spot became crystal clear and an ideal area for big bass.

The area included three to four submerged trees positioned around a drainage channel and was a pathway for visiting and departing bass. Williamson mined the area with an 8-inch Osprey swimbait, which he threw to the trees in nearly 20 feet of water.

“There were so many fish in that area that I think they were in competition for my bait,” said the 28-year-old. “That’s not a bad thing when you can get that going. It was like clockwork.”

No stranger to the particulars of the area, Williamson first found his productive spot in 2007 at an Elite Series event. He primarily focused on it at a 2008 Elite event and finished fifth, his best performance in an Elite event at the time. The key to enticing the right bites this year, he said, was allowing the swimbait to sink and keeping it wet for lengths of time.

Williamson has been close to a BASS victory before, scoring two second-place finishes, but he was able to close the deal this time at Amistad with a final-day total of 34-12, the biggest bag of the tournament. His limit was buoyed by a 10-4 lunker, the largest Williamson has ever landed.

“I’m just a country boy who grew up loving to fish, so you bet this is a huge deal. The victory solidifies everything I have ever done in this sport,” Williamson said. “It’s also a shot in the arm for the rest of the season. I can fish with confidence now. The timing of this win was just perfect.”

While Jones finished second, it was more a case of Williamson seizing the day than Jones slipping. Jones, a steady veteran approaching $2 million in BASS career earnings, stuck with what put him in contention instead of going the unpredictable route and hunting for big bass.

While many others shuffled around the leaderboard throughout the tournament, Jones hung near the top, establishing a solid pattern that yielded fish in the 4- to 6-pound class.