By MLF Communications Staff

Kevin VanDam promised that MLF NOW! livestream viewers would see fireworks on Lake Chickamauga Wednesday, and the man most consider the greatest competitor in the history of professional bass fishing did not disappoint. VanDam caught 25 bass weighing 70-01 to win the Bass Pro Tour event in Dayton, Tenn. and earn the top prize of $100,000.

It was a tight five-angler race to start the final 2 1/2-hour period of competition, but VanDam quickly pulled away, boating a dozen scorable bass weighing 34-02 in just 30 minutes. VanDam won by a 6-10 margin over runner-up Jacob Wheeler, who caught 24 bass totaling 63-07, good for $45,000.

“That last period – to get on a flurry like that. Man, that was incredible,” said VanDam, who pushed his career earnings to more than $6.9 million. “Anytime you can have that kind of day fishing is special, but to do it on the last day of a Bass Pro Tour event is pretty dang awesome. This (trophy) was something that I’ve really wanted since we started this, so today was a pretty special day for me.”

VanDam earned his victory on Lake Chickamauga doing what he loves to do – fishing the deep Tennessee River ledges.

“I found those fish in practice and when I hit that school, I knew that I’d really found something special,” VanDam said. “I just had to wait for that window when the current gets just right and when it happened, it was magical.

“I caught fish on a lot of different baits this week, but far and away the Strike King Series 5 (green gizzard) and Strike King 5XD (blue gizzard shad) crankbaits were my money baits all week long,” VanDam continued. “I fished them on my signature system – a Lew’s CC4 Cranking rod paired with a Lew’s BB1 Pro reel , 12-pound Bass Pro XPS fluorocarbon line, and I threw a couple of No. 2 Mustad Triple Grip (treble hooks) on there. I was fishing the bait real fast and really making the fish react to it, even when they didn’t want to bite.”

VanDam also credited his Humminbird electronics and HydroWave as being crucial to his success.

“My confidence was through the roof today,” VanDam said. “I had all of the tools that I needed. My whole system – my boat, my electronics, my rods, my reels, my hooks – it’s a whole system that I’ve developed over the past 31 years and I was really able to showcase them today.

“I finished runner-up to (Jacob) Wheeler the last time we were here, so today was really gratifying,” VanDam went on to say. “To go against the field that I did, Wheeler, Jordan (Lee), Michael Neal and Jason Lambert – two Tennessee ledge hammers, and win is just really special. I’ve won a lot of events and I promise you this – you appreciate every win more than the last because you never know when you’re going to get your next one. And you never know when it could be your last one.”

The triumph is the 26th at the tour level for VanDam and his first since a Bassmaster Elite Series event at Oklahoma's Grand Lake in 2018.

VanDam and Lambert split Wednesday’s $1,000 Berkley Big Bass Award, each weighing a 6-05 largemouth to share the prize. Matt Becker earned the $3,000 award for the largest bass of the event with his 8-12 largemouth that he weighed on Day 5 of competition.

Ott DeFoe finished the event in 17th place and did not qualify for Wednesday’s Championship Round, but his finish was still good enough to overtake Bobby Lane in the Angler of the Year standings. DeFoe’s total of 283 points gives him a 17-point lead over 2nd-place Brent Ehrler (266) with three events remaining in the season. Wheeler is 3rd with 258, followed by Brent Chapman iwith 257 and Lane with 256.



Championship Round

(Figure at far right indicates weight of angler's heaviest fish for the round)

1. Kevin VanDam -- 70-01 (25) -- 6-05

2. Jacob Wheeler -- 63-07 (24) -- 5-13

3. Jason Lambert -- 59-08 (16) -- 6-05

4. Michael Neal -- 46-01 (15) -- 4-13

5. Brent Ehrler -- 40-13 (14) -- 5-05

6. Shin Fukae -- 36-13 (15) -- 3-05

7. Stephen Browning -- 25-03 (10) -- 3-15

8. Jordan Lee -- 17-04 (6) -- 4-02

9. Casey Ashley -- 13-13 (4) -- 4-14

10. Anthony Gagliardi -- 10-11 (3) -- 4-10