By BassFan Staff
Hot streaks always come to an end, but victory droughts can be permanent. Kevin VanDam's wasn't.
The winningest angler in the annals of professional bass fishing notched his first triumph in more than 5 years on Sunday as he closed out a wire-to-wire run at the Toledo Bend Reservoir Bassmaster Elite Series. He caught the biggest bag of the derby on day 1 and kept everyone else in his wake the rest of the way.
"I've been doing this a long time, and you don't ever know when a win will be your last one," he said. "This one really means a lot. Every win is special, but the last one is the most special."
He caught a final-day bag that weighed 21-06 for a total of 96-02. He'd hoped to crack the 100-pound mark for the first time in his career, but "I was one big fish short."
Chris Lane, who collected more than his share of the trophies and six-figure checks that VanDam left on the table during his drought, ended up 2nd with 88-07 after catching 19-07 Sunday. Ish Monroe boxed 17-07 on day 4 to finish 3rd with 83-04.
Keith Combs, who's dominated events in his home state of Texas for the last several years (Toledo Bend sits on the border that the Lone Star State shares with Louisiana), sacked 24-13 Sunday for a 4th-place total of 82-11. Former B.A.S.S. Nation champion and Classic runner-up Paul Mueller completed the Top 5 with a 22-02 final-day bag for an 81-12 aggregate.
Here's how the remainder of the Top 12 stacked up:
6. Hank Cherry: 81-02
7. Brett Hite: 79-14
8. Andy Montgomery: 78-11
9. Tommy Biffle: 75-09
10. Edwin Evers: 71-01
11. Stephen Browning: 67-14
12. Morizo Shimizu: 65-13
The regular season is now past its halfway point, with five of the nine events in the books. The circuit will take a 3-week hiatus before resuming at Oklahoma's Lake Texoma for BASSFest June 8-12.
VanDam did his best work far from Toledo Bend's banks.
Toyota Tundra B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year (AOY) leader Greg Hackney finished 43rd in the derby, but actually stretched his advantage by 2 points as his three closest pursuers (Takahiro Omori, Randall Tharp and Justin Lucas) all missed the Top-50 cut on Friday. Gerald Swindle, the 2005 AOY, is now in the No. 2 slot, 28 points back.
Long Wait Over for KVD
> Day 4: 5, 21-06 (20, 96-02)
VanDam hadn't held up a trophy since winning the 2011 Bassmaster Classic at the Louisiana Delta. His twin sons, Jackson and Nicholas, were in their first year of junior high back then, and now they're preparing for their high school graduation in a couple of weeks.
"It feels about like you'd imagine it does – it'd been a long time," he said. "I didn't think I was done (winning) in my own mind, but some other people thought I was.
"This is very special. The outpouring that's come already from family, friends, fans and sponsors means a lot."
He did most of his best work offshore with big Strike King crankbaits – the 6XD, 8XD and 10XD.
"I probably caught 75 percent of the fish I weighed in on the 10XD and I never lost a fish that hurt me all week," he said.
Runner-up Chris Lane caught a lot of nice fish throughout the event, but no true giants.
The win was his 21st in B.A.S.S. competition, which is an all-time record. His career earnings total with the organization now stands at $5.9 million – far and away the most money compiled by any angler. When combined with his FLW Tour earnings, he's made well over $6 million on the water.
Full details of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published this week.
2nd: Lane Lacked Bruisers
> Day 4: 5, 19-07 (20, 88-07)
Lane caught a lot of nice bass during the week, but none of the real giants that were boated by VanDam and others.
"The biggest thing I was lacking was really big fish – the 8- and 9-pounders," he said. "I caught a lot in the 4 to 6 range.
"All I can say is I left it all on the water. I don't like to lose, but congrats to KVD – he did a fantastic job this week."
In contrast to VanDam, Lane stayed shallow all week and threw two topwater baits – a Whopper Plopper and a Zara Spook. He'd been having and off year, but the high finish moved him up to No. 41 in the points – right around where the Classic cutoff will eventually fall.
"I missed some opportunities, but the way I was fishing, you're going to miss fish. They might've helped me by 2 or 3 pounds (throughout the event), so in the end it didn't really matter."
3rd: Nice Rebound for Monroe
> Day 4: 5, 17-07 (20, 83-04)
Monroe needed a good outing in the wake of his 98th-place bomb at Wheeler Lake 2 weeks earlier. The placement was his highest since he won at Lake Okeechobee in 2012.
"Anytime you have a finish in the 90s or close to it, you need a Top-12 to offset it," he said. "This gives me some of the cushion back (in the points race) and it gives me confidence going into the (Toyota Texas Bass Classic this week)."
Ish Monroe's 3rd-place finish was his best since 2012.
His final-day bag included a 5-pounder and a quartet of 3s.
"I mostly fished in the same area where I'd been catching the better fish all week. The flipping bite was best when the sun was high, and we didn't have the sun today. We had a lot of it on the days I caught the 24- and 22-pound bags."
4th: Combs Finishes Strong
> Day 4: 5, 24-13 (20, 82-11)
Combs had a tremendous final day and picked up a lot of momentum for the TTBC, which he's won three times.
"It's been a good week," he said. "I found a lot of fish during practice, but it was very hard to sample their quality because I always had boats around me. I had to figure it out as I went."
His bag was topped by two 5 3/4-pounders. He caught 30 keepers for the day, which was his lowest number for any day of the event.
"Today I had intentions of fishing 10 (offshore) places, but I ended up only fishing two. I caught a 5-13 and a 5-12 at my first stop, which was where I caught my biggest one yesterday, and I had another place close by where I'd caught two 5s. I went back and forth between those places all day."
5th: Mueller Found New Spot
> Day 4: 5, 22-02 (20, 81-12)
Mueller's first-ever visit to Toledo Bend was a fruitful one, as he was able to put some large fish in his livewell each day.
"The areas that had gotten me through the first 3 days were pretty much depleted today," he said. "The spot where I got almost all my weight today was one I found on my Garmin just riding the lake."
His day-4 bag had an odd make-up – three largemouths that each weighed between 6 1/4 and 7 pounds and two miniscule spotted bass.
"The potential was there for a 30-pound bag, but I got there at the tail end of when they were biting. I caught those three and then the wind died and the sun came out, and the bait started to move deeper and the (bass) pulled off that area.
"I visited it a few more times hoping they'd be around or I could figure where they went, but I never could."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 12 limits.
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 20, 96-02 -- 110 -- $100,500
Day 1: 5, 29-05 -- Day 2: 5, 20-11 -- Day 3: 5, 24-12 -- Day 4: 5, 21-06
2. Chris Lane -- Guntersville, AL -- 20, 88-07 -- 109 -- $27,000
Day 1: 5, 23-14 -- Day 2: 5, 23-15 -- Day 3: 5, 21-03 -- Day 4: 5, 19-07
3. Ish Monroe -- Hughson, CA -- 20, 83-04 -- 108 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 18-15 -- Day 2: 5, 24-10 -- Day 3: 5, 22-04 -- Day 4: 5, 17-07
4. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 20, 82-11 -- 107 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 21-03 -- Day 2: 5, 16-04 -- Day 3: 5, 20-07 -- Day 4: 5, 24-13
5. Paul Mueller -- Naugatuck, CT -- 20, 81-12 -- 106 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 17-13 -- Day 2: 5, 22-12 -- Day 3: 5, 19-01 -- Day 4: 5, 22-02
6. Hank Cherry Jr -- Maiden, NC -- 20, 81-02 -- 105 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 24-07 -- Day 2: 5, 19-15 -- Day 3: 5, 18-12 -- Day 4: 5, 18-00
7. Brett Hite -- Phoenix, AZ -- 20, 79-14 -- 104 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 19-00 -- Day 2: 5, 18-03 -- Day 3: 5, 17-04 -- Day 4: 5, 25-07
8. Andy Montgomery -- Blacksburg, SC -- 20, 78-11 -- 103 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 17-11 -- Day 2: 5, 23-04 -- Day 3: 5, 16-09 -- Day 4: 5, 21-03
9. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, OK -- 20, 75-09 -- 102 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 18-07 -- Day 2: 5, 21-01 -- Day 3: 5, 18-02 -- Day 4: 5, 17-15
10. Edwin Evers -- Talala, OK -- 20, 71-01 -- 101 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 22-11 -- Day 2: 5, 16-05 -- Day 3: 5, 17-12 -- Day 4: 5, 14-05
11. Stephen Browning -- Hot Springs, AR -- 20, 67-14 -- 100 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 20-10 -- Day 2: 5, 22-06 -- Day 3: 5, 14-01 -- Day 4: 5, 10-13
12. Morizo Shimizu -- Osaka, Japan -- 20, 65-13 -- 99 -- $10,500
Day 1: 5, 18-09 -- Day 2: 5, 20-07 -- Day 3: 5, 16-13 -- Day 4: 5, 10-00
