VanDam’s Resurgence Continues At Cayuga

By BassFan Staff

A tougher day of fishing – by far, the toughest of the 4 days this week – couldn’t keep Kevin VanDam from making more history today.

With deep, clear Cayuga Lake rolling beneath sunny skies thanks to a persistent south wind on Sunday, VanDam added another chapter to his unassailable catalog of accomplishments.

Facing a 1-pound, 12-ounce deficit in third place to start the day, he got off a good start and never looked back. His 15-07 stringer was enough to move past Brett Hite and Jordan Lee to put away his second win in the past 6 weeks and effectively silence those who thought the sport’s most successful angler was past his prime.

VanDam finished the week with 71-13, giving him a 1-01 margin of victory over Lee, who led after days 2 and 3, but caught just 12-10, his smallest bag of the event, on the final day.

VanDam now has a record eight full-field Elite Series victories – nobody else has more than five – among his 22 career B.A.S.S. wins, which is another record. He also clinched a spot in the Niagara River Classic Bracket, an event that will follow a match-fishing format in late July and send the winner to next year’s Classic.

“I’m shocked right now,” VanDam said. “This is my 26th season and it never gets old. You never know when your last one is going to be, but in my mind I feel like I’ve been making pretty good decisions and been doing what I’m supposed to do. I work really hard at it out there. It just hasn’t come together the last few years.

Since missing the cut in consecutive events at Bull Shoals/Norfork and Wheeler Lake, VanDam has posted three straight finishes of 22nd or better along with an 8th-place finish at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic.

“I’ve had a couple rough events this year – a couple of the worst ones ever – but today, as tough as it was, to put it all together and come out here like that, I feel like I kind of stole this one right here. I’m just shocked.”

Hite, who caught 20-plus pounds on both Friday and Saturday, managed just 12-08 and slipped to 3rd with 69-11. It’s his third Top-7 finish of the season.

Jacob Powroznik had to abandon his sight-fishing strategy because of the wind and came in with 13-06 to close with 69-08. Koby Kreiger gained five spots today with a 15-03 stringer that saw him also end up with 69-08. Powroznik won the tiebreaker for 4th since he had the biggest single-day bag between them.

Here's how the rest of the Top 12 finished up:

6. Keith Combs: 69-06
7. Dean Rojas: 69-01
8. Drew Benton: 68-15
9. Morizo Shimizu: 68-11
10. Gerald Swindle: 67-10
11. Mike Iaconelli: 67-08
12. Matt Herren: 65-08

Most of the finalists said Saturday that they were anxious to see what the forecasted wind on the final day would do to the bite. After 2 straight days of mostly stagnant weather conditions, there was anticipation that a breeze would trigger the bigger fish to feed much like day 1. The south wind did none of that. Keith Combs’ 15-12 was the biggest stringer of the day and VanDam’s 3-12 was the biggest fish.

Despite catching plenty of fish, some competitors abandoned productive areas and patterns in the afternoon in an effort to make something happen.

While fish were caught from one end of Cayuga to the other, the north end was where the lion’s share of activity was this week as largemouth were in all three phases of their spawning cycle in and around grass, rock and docks. Power-fishing tactics prevailed early on, but gave way to finesse techniques as the event wore on.

The Top 8 finishers qualified for the Niagara River Classic Bracket, slated for July 19-22 in Buffalo, N.Y., where the winner will walk away with a berth to the 2017 Bassmaster Classic. Additional details of the format will be released soon. The first-round matchups will be:

1. Kevin VanDam vs. 8. Drew Benton
2. Jordan Lee vs. 7. Dean Rojas
3. Brett Hite vs. 6. Keith Combs
4. Jacob Powroznik vs. 5. Koby Kreiger

VanDam Feels ‘Pretty Lucky’

> Day 4: 5, 15-07 (20, 71-13)

Even on a day when the bigger fish weren’t biting, VanDam made the necessary adjustments and tried a few different things to get the job done.

“You just never know how things are going to go out here,” he said in a press release issued by B.A.S.S. “I’ve said it many times before. It’s really hard to win against these guys.

“I feel pretty lucky today, for sure. I didn’t have a great day today.”

VanDam felt like he was around winning-quality fish, but struggled to trigger them to bite consistently today. He did a bit of running around, sampling some smallmouth areas down south and also pitching to holes in the grass up north along with some sight fishing.

“Today the wind picked up a little bit, and I actually caught three on a KVD jerkbait,” he added. “But I was really surprised it didn’t help the fishing more.”

He wasn’t sure what he caught would be enough to make up ground on Hite and Lee.

“You see that a lot on Sundays in these tournaments,” he said. “The pressure of the week gets to the fisheries, but I didn’t think it was going to happen here as good as it’s been all week. With 15 pounds, I was thinking I was not going even make the Top 8.”

2nd: Lee Stuck It Out

> Day 4: 5, 12-10 (20, 70-12)

Lee knew he didn’t have much in the way of backup plans today so he stuck it out where he’d been fishing on the north end, pitching a finesse worm on a dropshot to holes in the grass, and came away with the best finish of his young Elite Series career.

“I’m a little disappointed after having the lead for a couple days,” he said. “You’re right there, but I’m happy with how I fished this week. I’ve been fishing well the last couple months. It was a great week overall. I never lost one that would help me.”

He did mix in some dock fishing at one point, but the fish he caught didn’t help his cause. He believes the south wind today may have forced some cooler water up north and that may have turned some fish off.

“It did that in practice one day and it didn’t seem like they were biting good,” he said. “I didn’t know everybody else was struggling, too, but I just felt my area was drying up.”

3rd: Hite’s Key Spot Went Cold

> Day 4: 5, 12-08 (20, 69-11)

The key spot that produced nearly all of Hite’s weight over the first 3 days finally gave out on him today, but by the time he went to his backup plan, it was too late to make up the ground he needed to make up.

“The door was left open,” he said. “I didn’t have the bites, at least not that I saw. I probably wasted a little too much time on that spot but it was hard not to. Later in the day, I started to run places where I’d caught them in practice with (a vibrating jig). I caught some decent ones so if I could’ve done that earlier, who knows.

“They didn’t bite for anybody. They bit, but only little guys. It was really weird. I don’t know if the wind blew some cooler water in, but it completely shut off.”

He lost what he felt would’ve been a good fish right off the bat in the morning while using his Evergreen Jackhammer (vibrating jig) and that sort of set the tone for the day.

After losing by 4 ounces to Britt Myers at Winyah Bay earlier this season, he was hoping to close the deal on a second career Elite Series win today.

“Losing by 4 ounces at Winyah, that hurt real bad,” he said. “This one, I could have done something different. I was convinced someone would have 18 to 20 (pounds) today.”

4th: Conditions Hampered Powroznik’s Plans

> Day 4: 5, 13-06 (20, 69-08)

Powroznik came off the water Saturday itching to get back out there this morning so he could spend some time trying to catch what he estimated to be a 6-pounder on a bed.

The conditions worked against him and he never was able to get a visual location on the fish today.

“I would’ve liked to have it calm for 1 or 2 hours first thing,” he said. “I think I would have had a chance for a pretty good bag. I couldn’t see that fish at all today. I started on her right away, but that’s one of those things.

“If it were meant to be, it would’ve been flat clam. I can’t complain. That’s fishing.”

He wishes he would’ve scrapped his sight-fishing plan earlier and targeted hard cover in shallow water.

“I should’ve adjusted,” he said. “I knew there were good ones on docks. At 11, when I had what I had, I should’ve gone to some docks. I might’ve won, but that’s part of decision-making.”

After he left the area he was sight-fishing in, he transitioned to a spot he hadn’t fished since practice.

“That was my saving grace,” he said.

He also fished out in front of Union Springs, near the ramp where he tried to locate some of the fish that had been released during the tournament.

“I could never find them and I tried a bunch of different stuff,” he said.

5th: Kreiger Came On Late

> Day 4: 5, 15-03 (20, 69-08)

Kreiger was 82nd in points prior to Cayuga and is now 72nd following his best Elite Series finish and first Top-5 showing since the Smith Lake FLW Tour in 2013.

More importantly, he qualified for the Classic Bracket, which will be his best chance of making next year’s Classic. He’s the lone qualifier not already in Classic contention via the AOY standings – the other seven are in the Top 21 in points.

“The only bad thing I can say is on day 2 I lost two big ones,” he said. “Other than that, it was a great tournament.”

One of the best sight-fisherman in the sport, he relished the opportunity to pick off bedding bass in the clear water and would’ve preferred the slick conditions to stick around through today.

Late today, he caught several upgrades off docks where the fish would show themselves by boiling on his topwater bait. He’d follow up with a wacky-rigged soft stickbait and connect with them that way.

“My Spook brought the bluegills to the surface and the bass were under them,” he said. “I’d reel back and throw a wacky-rigged (V&M Baits) Chopstick in there and most times the biggest bass would eat it. It wasn’t until the last 40 minutes of the tournament I figured that out. I wish I’d had an extra 20 to 30 minutes. There was a third dock I didn’t have time to go to.”

Notable

> Day 3 stats – 12 anglers, 12 limits

> VanDam’s 22 B.A.S.S. wins have been spread out amongst 13 different states. This is his third win in New York. He’s also won three times in Louisiana and Alabama.

Final Standings

1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 20, 71-13 -- 110 -- $101,000
Day 1: 5, 20-00 -- Day 2: 5, 18-15 -- Day 3: 5, 17-07 -- Day 4: 5, 15-07

2. Jordan Lee -- Grant, AL -- 20, 70-12 -- 109 -- $25,500
Day 1: 5, 19-01 -- Day 2: 5, 21-07 -- Day 3: 5, 17-10 -- Day 4: 5, 12-10

3. Brett Hite -- Phoenix, AZ -- 20, 69-11 -- 108 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 15-10 -- Day 2: 5, 21-03 -- Day 3: 5, 20-06 -- Day 4: 5, 12-08

4. Jacob Powroznik -- Port Haywood, VA -- 20, 69-08 -- 107 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 21-14 -- Day 2: 5, 18-05 -- Day 3: 5, 15-15 -- Day 4: 5, 13-06

5. Koby Kreiger -- Bokeelia, FL -- 20, 69-08 -- 106 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 18-14 -- Day 2: 5, 16-06 -- Day 3: 5, 19-01 -- Day 4: 5, 15-03

6. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 20, 69-06 -- 105 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 16-15 -- Day 2: 5, 19-01 -- Day 3: 5, 17-10 -- Day 4: 5, 15-12

7. Dean Rojas -- Lake Havasu City, AZ -- 20, 69-01 -- 104 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 20-09 -- Day 2: 5, 18-14 -- Day 3: 5, 16-07 -- Day 4: 5, 13-03

8. Drew Benton -- Panama City, FL -- 20, 68-15 -- 103 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 20-05 -- Day 2: 5, 19-03 -- Day 3: 5, 15-15 -- Day 4: 5, 13-08

9. Morizo Shimizu -- Suita, Osaka, Japan -- 20, 68-11 -- 102 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 23-06 -- Day 2: 5, 16-10 -- Day 3: 5, 14-07 -- Day 4: 5, 14-04

10. Gerald Swindle -- Guntersville, AL -- 20, 67-10 -- 101 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 17-00 -- Day 2: 5, 19-10 -- Day 3: 5, 17-12 -- Day 4: 5, 13-04

11. Michael Iaconelli -- Pitts Grove, NJ -- 20, 67-08 -- 100 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 21-15 -- Day 2: 5, 16-00 -- Day 3: 5, 16-07 -- Day 4: 5, 13-02

12 Matt Herren -- Ashville, AL -- 20, 65-08 -- 99 -- $10,500
Day 1: 5, 16-15 -- Day 2: 5, 17-13 -- Day 3: 5, 18-13 -- Day 4: 5, 11-15