The final day of competition at the Alabama River for Toyota Trucks BASS Championship Week couldn't have been any tighter. Kevin VanDam followed his tournament-best 14-03 with a relatively massive 16-03 limit. He blew the field away and won the leg by 7 1/2 pounds.
Skeet Reese still controlled his own destiny though. To clinch the BASS Angler of the Year (AOY) title, Reese needed to finish 4th or better. He started the day in 4th, went to the only thing he had after a mediocre practice – the far upriver reaches of the pool at the Bouldin Dam – but mustered a meager 10-02.
The bite on the river was much better today, so Reese opened the door for others in the field to improve their finish. Tommy Biffle caught them shallow and finished 2nd. Kelly Jordon rallied after a disastrous Jordan event and
finished 3rd in this leg. Mike Iaconelli finished 4th and Randy Howell 5th.
Reese needed just once decent cull to clinch the title but never got it.
Instead, VanDam – the the No. 1-ranked angler in the world – continued his dominance of the sport. This marks VanDam's sixth AOY title (fifth with BASS), and second in as many years.
He's only the third pro in BASS history to win back-to-back titles. Roland Martin and Guido Hibdon preceded him.
The $200,000 title award also pushed him over the $4 million mark in career earnings.
VanDam Pumped, Feels For Reese
After the scales settled to put Reese in 6th, VanDam performed his trademark fist-pump. He first addressed the huge crowd that showed for both the weigh-in and the Zac Brown Band concert to follow. Then he headed backstage to address the press.
"I'm overwhelmed," VanDam said. "I really didn't expect this. I'm really excited, but I also feel for Skeet. I didn't think I had a chance. I opened the door last week. (Skeet's) a great fisherman – a great competitor. Things usually don't work out for me like that.
"I was extremely surprised," he added. "Yesterday I had a good day, and I felt confident I could go out and do it again. I've never been in the position where I have to count on other guys to catch them for you to win. This was nail-biting. It's a really intense format, without a doubt."
VanDam is one of only three pros to win back-to-back BASS Angler of the Year titles and now claims over $4 million in career winnings.
About what this particular title means to him, when held against the others, VanDam said: "You can do a lot of things in this sport, but the AOY title, to fishermen, is the toughest, most prestigious one to win. I've had a lot of people ask me what this one would mean, and I'll tell you that with every one – I appreciate it more and more.
"It's what you work for all year long. Just to have the opportunity to be in contention at the end of the year is really saying something. To be able to win it back to back – I've had some ups and downs, but it's amazing."
He said he found his winning spot the first day of practice, which was a sandbar in the main river. He fished sandbars exclusively, and that winning spot didn't produce as well yesterday, but it was on fire today.
He primarily cranked Strike King baits – specifically a Series 1 XS on shallower sandbars and a Series 6 on the deeper ones. He also threw a Strike King Caffeine Shad (soft jerkbait) and Shadalicious swimbait.
A full Q&A with VanDam about the title, and his whole week, will be published soon.
Reese Disappointed
"Second sucks," Reese said under a dark and rain-soaked media tent just yards from the Alabama River. "I'm disappointed without a doubt. But I don't know, I'll probably have a different feeling tonight or tomorrow. I'll feel just moments of calm, there'll be moments where I'm pissed off. I'll go through the whole emotional roller-coaster.
"Second is never fun. It's never a good place to finish. I have to look back – I had a great season. I wanted to have a spectacular season. I didn't."
Skeet Reese anticipates a range of emotions over the coming days.
His light weight today, and 6th-place finish, was the result of a mediocre practice, he added. He never got on a pattern he could run, and stayed in a single area by the dam. The title-clinching fish were there, but some he couldn't stick, and another never made it into the boat.
"I prefished the first day of the tournament looking for a flip bite," he said. "It wasn't there. Then I fished on the outside sandbars and ledges. Then I ran upriver and found a few bites. That was the only area I had, and (I worked it) for every ounce I could get out of it. I had some great opportunities. There were some monster spots up there. Unfortunately I didn't get them in the boat.
"Yesterday I had the opportunity for a 13- or 14-pound bag – same as today. That's just the way it is. I literally watched a 4-pounder try to eat my bait twice this morning. I won't even mention the other 3-pounder that swirled on my bait. I keep having flashbacks of that big one trying to choke the bait."
Yesterday he caught all his fish on a Lucky Craft Gunfish 95. Today he caught one on a Lucky Craft G-Splash 80, one on a Heddon Zara Spook, and others flipping a Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger craw.
Ike Happy
Iaconelli was the only other pro with an outside shot at the title today.
He caught most of his weight first thing this morning when he pulled a short distance off the boat ramp and started fishing.
"I'm really happy with it and really proud of myself," he said. "The biggest thing I did this week was I fished real loose and adjusted, which is hard to do a lot of the time in the heat of the tournament.
"I moved up a few spots in the AOY race, and I'm just pretty happy. We've talked about this before – I haven't really won anything big this year, but I think I'm fishing better than I ever have in my life. I'm real proud of that."
Notable
> BASS didn't provide official attendance figures, but several thousand fans were in attendance.
Final 2009 Angler of the Year Standings (Top 12)
1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich. -- 283
2. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif. -- 277
3. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 265
4. Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, NJ -- 261
5. Randy Howell -- Springville, Ala. -- 248
6. Alton Jones -- Waco, Texas -- 233
7. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, Texas -- 232
8. Cliff Pace -- Petal, Miss. -- 224
9. Gerald Swindle -- Warrior, Ala. -- 219
10. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 217
11. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, Ky. -- 215
12. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, Texas -- 212
Final Alabama River Standings
Note: Money in standings reflects Angler of the Year prize money.
1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich. -- 10, 30-06 -- 0, $200,000
Day 1: 5, 14-03 -- Day 2: 5, 16-03
2. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 10, 22-11 -- 0, $40,000
Day 1: 5, 8-09 -- Day 2: 5, 14-02
3. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, Texas -- 10, 21-15 -- 0, $20,000
Day 1: 5, 10-15 -- Day 2: 5, 11-00
4. Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, N.J. -- 10, 21-12 -- 0, $35,000
Day 1: 5, 10-05 -- Day 2: 5, 11-07
5. Randy Howell -- Springville, Ala. -- 10, 20-11 -- 0, $25,000
Day 1: 5, 8-10 -- Day 2: 5, 12-01
6. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif. -- 10, 20-07 -- 0, $75,000
Day 1: 5, 10-05 -- Day 2: 5, 10-02
7. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 10, 20-01 -- 0, $17,000
Day 1: 5, 8-15 -- Day 2: 5, 11-02
8. Cliff Pace -- Petal, Miss. -- 10, 17-11 -- 0, $19,000
Day 1: 5, 8-05 -- Day 2: 5, 9-06
9. Alton Jones -- Waco, Texas -- 10, 17-11 -- 0, $22,500
Day 1: 5, 9-00 -- Day 2: 5, 8-11
10. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, Ky. -- 10, 17-03 -- 0, $15,000
Day 1: 5, 8-11 -- Day 2: 5, 8-08
11. Gerald Swindle -- Warrior, Ala. -- 10, 17-01 -- 0, $18,000
Day 1: 5, 9-04 -- Day 2: 5, 7-13
12. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, Texas -- 10, 12-02 -- 0, $14,000
Day 1: 5, 6-10 -- Day 2: 5, 5-08
Big Bass
> Day 2 -- Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 4-08
> Day 1 -- Randy Howell -- Springville, Ala. -- 3-08
