Over the course of BASS history, the Angler of the Year (AOY) title was decided either by total weight across the regular season, or total points across the regular season. Even when BASS introduced the Elite 50s and then replaced them with the Majors, those events didn't affect the AOY race.
But BASS wanted to instill final-day drama into its Toyota Trucks AOY race and dreamed up the new post-season format. There was certainly final-day drama last
year at the inaugural Toyota Trucks BASS Championship week. This year, BASS returned to the same venues with the same format, and after day 1 of the second leg at the Alabama River in Montgomery, Ala., the same two anglers are fighting it out for the AOY title once again.
Kevin VanDam, who at one point this season had actually fallen out of the Top 36 in the points, fought back to make the 2011 Bassmaster Classic and the post-season. And his 3rd-place finish at the Jordan leg last week moved him up another seven spots in the AOY race to 3rd.
VanDam took no prisoners today and slapped 15 1/2 pounds on the scales to take the day-1 lead at the Alabama River. With that monumental bag, he moved up to a temporary 2nd in the AOY race – just 2 points behind leader Skeet Reese.
Reese stumbled at Jordan with a 10th, but hung tough today with 12-04 and is currently 2nd at the Alabama River.
Meanwhile, Aaron Martens, who almost won Jordan if not for some fish-care mishaps, could still win the title. A 12-02 bag today puts Martens at 3rd in both the tournament and the race. He'd need some help from both VanDam and Reese tomorrow in order to clinch, but the Alabama River can be merciless, which could play to his favor.
And Russ Lane, who barely squeaked into the post-season then won the Jordan leg and moved up to 2nd in the AOY race, crumbled today on his home water with an 8-01 bag. That temporarily moved him back to 5th in the race. He'd likely need a monster catch tomorrow to have any shot at the title.
And Edwin Evers is perceivably still alive. He caught 11-06 today and improved one spot in the AOY race to 4th, where he temporarily trails Reese by just 12 points.
Here's a look at how the AOY race would shake out if the tournament ended today.
1. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif. -- 277
2. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich. -- 275
3. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, Ala. -- 262
4. Edwin Evers -- Talala, Okla. -- 256
5. Russ Lane -- Prattville, Ala. -- 252
6. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, La. -- 245
7. Cliff Pace -- Petal, Miss -- 240
8. Terry Butcher -- Talala, Okla. -- 234
9. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 219
10. John Crews -- Salem, Va. -- 216
11. Derek Remitz -- Grant, Ala. -- 215.5
12. Tommy Biffle -- Waggoner, Okla. -- 209.5
Reese, as the pre-tournament leader, controls his own destiny. If he wins this leg he wins the title. Or, if he beats VanDam by at least two places, he wins.
Conversely, VanDam could clinch the title if he wins tomorrow and Reese finishes no better than 3rd.
On the final day at the Alabama River last year, VanDam won and clinched the title while Reese finished 6th and 2nd in the points.
And Martens could clinch the title tomorrow if he wins, VanDam finishes 2nd and Reese 3rd. In such a case, Martens and Reese would tie, but Martens would get the edge based on total weight caught in the post-season.
River's Fishing Tough
Last year, BASS hosted the post-season in mid-September. This time around, the late-July timeframe has daytime highs pushing 100 degrees.
It's scorching the fishing is as much a physical-endurance test as it is a measure of skill.
Adding to the misery today was a serious bout of lightning.
Additionally, the water levels are dropping and some of the areas pros fished in practice are now high and dry.
Skeet Reese got stuck with a small dead fish today.
The catching didn't start in earnest today until the current began to rip in the afternoon. That triggers quality fish to bite, so there's every possibility the event, and the title itself, could come down to the final few minutes tomorrow.
VanDam Boats Kicker
The Alabama River seems to surrender an incredible amount of dinks and small keepers. There are plenty of quality fish, but as noted, they like to bite in current.
The difference for many today was the presence of a big bite. Some lost theirs – Martens, for example, lost the biggest fish he ever hooked at the Alabama River. But VanDam boated a 4-10, which made all the difference.
"I was real fortunate today to get those couple of big bites," VanDam said. "Hopefully I can go out tomorrow and do the same thing. I'll tell you, this river is fishing tough right now. I'm thrilled to have the day I had. You really have to perform here in this format. Last week I kind of left it a little bit short."
VanDam, the two-time defending AOY, could clinch his sixth title tomorrow. He's second only to nine-time AOY Roland Martin in the title tally.
"I've got to go out here and try to win this thing," VanDam added, in reference to the tight points race. "I knew that going in. That's what I tried to do last week and that's been the gameplan all along. But I'll tell you, all these guys are unbelievable fishermen. We all want this so bad. We're all putting our heart and soul into it and fishing our tail off trying to make it happen. It's going to be a shootout. It's really exciting. We'll see what tomorrow brings."
Reese Stuck With Small One
With water temperatures above 90 degrees it's surprising there aren't more fish-care penalties. Skeet Reese had a fish-care issue today that didn't stem from water temps – he skewered a dink that died in the well, and because BASS prohibits the culling of dead fish, he was stuck with that little one all day long.
"I think what happened was that Trokar (hook) brained that little guy and he didn't like it too much," Reese said. "But I'm looking forward to getting out there tomorrow – to getting on the river. There are a lot of good fish out there. It's unfortunate (the water temps) are in the 90s. Fishing's tough. And they're selling a lot of water to somebody up north – they're draining this river quick.
"That'll change it up quite a bit. The good thing is we're going to have a battle like everybody wanted tomorrow."
And with the possibility that he could lose the title after leading the regular season for the second year in row, Reese commented: "It is what it is. I'm still leading the points and I just have to go wrap it up Saturday. I've processed it and no one can take away what I did in the regular season. I've only got one more step to go."
Notable
> Aaron Martens told the crowd tonight: "I caught a lot of fish – 20 or 25 keepers – and I caught a lot of small ones. I kept moving, moving – I wouldn't stay in one area more than 5 or 10 minutes."
> Russ Lane told his hometown crowd: "The big thing this time of year on the Alabama River is getting a big bite. That's all I was missing. I had a few good keepers. I just need to catch a big one tomorrow. I may get lucky and catch three big ones."
Day 1 Standings
1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich. -- 5, 15-07
Day 1: 5, 15-07
2. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif. -- 5, 12-04
Day 1: 5, 12-04
3. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, Ala. -- 5, 12-02
Day 1: 5, 12-02
4. Edwin Evers -- Talala, Okla. -- 5, 11-06
Day 1: 5, 11-06
5. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, La. -- 5, 11-01
Day 1: 5, 11-01
6. Cliff Pace -- Petal, Miss. -- 5, 9-10
Day 1: 5, 9-10
7. Russ Lane -- Prattville, Ala. -- 5, 8-01
Day 1: 5, 8-01
8. Terry Butcher -- Talala, Okla. -- 5, 7-15
Day 1: 5, 7-15
9. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 5, 7-12
Day 1: 5, 7-12
9. Derek Remitz -- Grant, Ala. -- 5, 7-12
Day 1: 5, 7-12
11. John Crews -- Salem, Va. -- 5, 6-00
Day 1: 5, 6-00
12. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 2, 2-02
Day 1: 2, 2-02
