By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Kevin VanDam had thought his initial win on the MLF Bass Pro Tour might show up about three months before it actually did.
"I really felt like I had an incredible opportunity at (Sam Rayburn Reservoir) earlier this year," he said of the event that took place in March. "I just didn't make the right adjustments in the Knockout Round early enough and I didn't make the final day.
"Once I figured it out, it was like, 'I can't believe I did this.' That one stung."
He didn't have to wait too long for another shot at glory, though, and this time he capitalized. The angler who's done more winning than any competitor in the history of the sport topped the field at Lake Chickamauga to add a BPT triumph to his three MLF Cup wins and his 25 B.A.S.S. victories.
"I try to win every time out, but having not won on that tour yet, it's absolutely big," he said. "To me, there's not a win to be had out there that's not significant. I've fished under every format and system there's ever been and this was different than event a Cup event with 80 guys who get to practice, multiple cuts and weights that are zeroed twice.
"There's a lot of strategy that goes into it."
Hot, then Not
The final 2 1/2-hour period in the Championship Round at Chickamauga started with five competitors in contention for the win. VanDam separated himself from that pack with a furious ledge-cranking rally that saw him register 34-02 in just 30 minutes as he established a seemingly unsurmountable lead.
It wasn't over, though.
VanDam's action subsided as his beaten and battered school of bass seemed to wise up to what was occurring. Meanwhile, Jacob Wheeler, the No. 1 angler in the BassFan World Rankings who lives on the lake and won the MLF Pro Circuit event on Chickamauga 12 months ago, and Tennessee River offshore hammer began to make moves of their own.
Time eventually ran out with VanDam still on top (his total for the day was 70-01 on 25 fish. Wheeler had 63-07 on 25 scorable entries and Lambert registered 59-08 on just 16 fish.
"I knew I'd have a window at some point to really make a run at it and I did that, for sure," VanDam said. "It was the time of day when (the Tennessee Valley Authority) turned the water on.
"It happened every day, but before that I never really had that perfect flurry when I didn't get a (fish-handling) penalty or didn't catch a few non-scorables to kill the momentum or didn't lose one or two. That shuts them down."
Plugs All the Way
VanDam said he probably caught 95 percent of his fish throughout the event on crankbaits. A Strike King Series 5 and a 5XD were the main players, with a 6XD also seeing some action.
The location where he staged his winning flurry was a shell bar at the mouth of a creek. He'd discovered that general area during a Bassmaster Elite Series event seven years ago.
"I was able to find four or five little spots on that part of the ledge complex that fish were holding on," he said. "Other people were fishing around there too, but they weren't doing it the way I was doing it. Timing, angles and presentation all played big roles.
"I've fished a lot on the Tennessee River, all the lakes up and down the chain, and I've run the same program time and time again. I've got a lot of confidence in it. A lot of other guys weren't fishing that way – there were a lot of finesse baits and dragging worms and stuff like that."
He said speed was the big key to his presentation – he wound the baits rapidly and forced them to grind the bottom. He plied depths that ranged from 5 to 13 feet.
"I was making multiple casts to the zones where they were at. When you'd get one to bite, then it was a matter of locking in the exact same cast time after time to get the school fired up."
Winning Gear Notes
> 7'4" medium-action Lew's KVD Series rod, Lew's KVD (6.2:1 ratio) or Lew's BB1 Pro (6.4:1 ratio) baitcasting reel, 12- or 17-pound Bass Pro Shops XPS fluorocarbon line, Strike King Series 5, 5XD or 6XD (blue gizzard shad or green gizzard shad).
> His choice of line size was based on depth – he can get a 5XD approximately 18 inches deeper on 12-pound than he can on 17.
> He swapped out the stock hooks on his baits in favor of size 2 Mustad KVD Elite Triple Grip trebles.
> He said his HydroWave electronic feeding stimulator played a big role. "I used the offshore schooling pattern on a 60-second delay. It helps trigger them and also helps you keep them fired up. There's no doubt that it's a really good too for offshore ledge-fishing."
> He had previous knowledge of the general area, but used Humminbird LakeMaster mapping to pinpoint specific locales. He kept the range on his Mega 360 Imaging at 50 feet. "I think that's where some people make a mistake (by running it at a greater distance. I could see every piece of cover, every stump, every pod of shad ... and I could see all those bass. It's a big-time game-changer."
