KVD's Crank Bite Endures, Triumphs At Toho

It seems that each time Kevin VanDam wins, it's with his head. Yes, he can physically outfish anyone else in the field. His sheer efficiency and speed are one of the sport's true wonders.

But an equal strength, and the one his peers tend to respect more, is his ability to weigh the several patterns that'll steer each tournament, eliminate those doomed to fizzle, then steer his course toward the single strategy most likely to endure through 4 days of competition.

That's exactly what he did this week at the Toho Bassmaster Elite Series. He didn't bed-fish, even though a wave of spawners had moved up. Too few fish for the field, and the threat of wind, kept him off that bite.

He didn't work the outsides

of the spawning areas where both pre- and post-spawn fish were holding. Too crowded, too unpredictable, and nearly impossible to convert all the time on the hot frog bite.

He didn't scatter his casts across the many lakes of the Kissimmee Chain like some of the locals. Too much wasted time on the big motor, and in locks.

Nope. He found a wad of crankbait fish well offshore in Toho – fish that had likely already spawned, already went through their post-spawn recuperation, and were thus subject to stay put and eat, no matter what the weather did.

He weighed a solid 18 pounds on day 1, followed up with nearly that on day 2, survived a wind-ravaged day 3 with 13-06, and rode his fish all day today for a 10-06 limit to finish with a 4-day, 20-fish total of 59-07.

It was his 13th career win, and his sixth in the past 2 1/2 years.

Ray Sedgwick made it close. He banked on the bite outside a spawning bay, but his water clarity diminished yesterday in the major winds, and when he arrived at his spot this morning, he could have dipped a straw in the water and started drinking – it was chocolate milk. He did weigh the day's best bag (11-08), but finished 1-11 behind VanDam.

Scott Rook, fishing about 50 yards inside of Sedgwick, ran out of fish and weighed just 9-07 today. That bumped him back a spot to finish 3rd.

Kenyon Hill, who began the day in 7th, thought the toad bite would be on with today's clouds and hot temperatures. It wasn't. He caught 11-02 though, and climbed three spots to finish 4th – his best outing since a runner-up finish at Clarks Hill in 2006.

Bill Lowen's area was demolished by wind overnight. He stuck with his swim-jig, weighed 8-07, and dropped one spot to finish 5th.

VanDam was the only angler in the Top 12 to ride a hardbait bite all 4 days, which shows a few things. Again, he's the best there is at factoring every element that'll potentially be in play, and two, he's a heck of a precision crankbaiter.

His fish were positioned in areas as small as his boat deck, and he faced significant wind problems the last 2 days.

So the win is a testament to both his mental and physical skill – an example of why he truly is the world's most dangerous angler.

VanDam: 'A Special Week'

"Florida's been one of those bittersweet places for me over the years," VanDam said. "I've had a few real good tournaments, and some real bad tournaments. Typically down here, these fish are so fickle you have to fish real slow. One thing I've learned over the years is I have to be comfortable with the way I'm fishing – I have to fish my strengths.

"I like to fish fast," he added. "In Florida, you can do that, but you have to have the right kind of water, so I fished on Toho. It has a lot of grass, the water's real clear, and reaction baits work real well."

He described the 4 days of competition as a "battle" – his fish were constantly moving, and he's "never had a harder time" keeping up with fish as he did this week.

About what this win means to him in particular, he said: "This really means a lot to me – to be able to come down here and be able to win. I don't think I've ever led a tournament in Florida. I've had a few 2nds, and I think a couple of Top 5s. It was just an amazing week."

He noted that one thing that made the week extra special was the fact that it marked the final assignment for hallowed BASS photographer Gerald Crawford, who's retiring. Crawford has shot an untold hundreds of events, and over 25 Bassmaster Classics – each of which will endure throughout history thanks, in great part, to his lens.

"He was out there photographing me today," VanDam said. "And Gerald was there from the very beginning of my career. The first tournament I ever did well in, I caught a 10-pounder in Texas. Gerald was there, and my dad. Gerald went out there and photographed that fish. I still have those photos.

"It's been a great ride, and it means a lot for me to win here for (Crawford's) last tournament."

What also made the week special, VanDam added, was that his mother and father winter in nearby Lakeland, and he had a sizable contingency of family and fans there each day. Plus, his nephew Steve's team won the Michigan state high-school basketball championship yesterday.

He did bring some perspective to the win though. He's "thrilled" to come out of Florida with a victory, especially after a mediocre finish last week at the Harris Chain, but it's all tempered by some tragedy around him.

"The toughest part of all this is the time away from family," he said. "We had a couple of real tragedies in our BASS family this week. James Kennedy's father passed away (last week), and Gerald (Swindle) had to leave."

Swindle's brother Tony succumbed to cancer during the event.

"I have several brothers myself, and I can't imagine what he's going through," VanDam added. "And I'll tell you, today I was out on the water. It was tough, and I was really struggling and sort of feeling sorry for myself for not catching many fish. But so many people would love to be where I am today doing what I'm doing. The troops are over in Iraq, and we couldn't do what we do without them.

"When you put that into perspective, it makes me feel pretty good about what I get to do."

He threw a Strike King Red Eye Shad lipless crank in his custom "sexy shad" color to outside hydrilla all 4 days. The full details of his winning pattern, plus pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.

2nd: Sedgwick Might Have Lost Clincher

For Sedgwick, a lost fish today will likely follow him for a while. He failed to land a 4-pounder that might have been just enough to edge him past VanDam.

About his finish, he said: "I had a good week. I really did a lot better than I expected. I could get 50 bites a day in practice, and I swear I never caught a fish over 2 pounds.

"I just started fishing real slow, and when I caught a couple big fish the first day, that slowed me down (even more).

"I just had to mix it up because the wind blew different each day," he added. "My water turned to chocolate milk, which made it a lot tougher today. And I lost one 4-pound fish that'll probably haunt me. But everybody loses fish. That's the nature of it."

About his finish, he said: "I'm tickled to death to finish where I finished. If you've got to get beat, at least I got beat by the best. My hat's off to Kevin. He's just an incredible fisherman to do it repeatedly over and over. I have to commend him for the angler that he is. He's definitely the best."

3rd: Rook Ran Dry

"Jason (Quinn) and I hammered it pretty hard for 3 days, Ray (Sedgwick) was just outside, and there was a big group of fish there – I just think I ran out of fish," Rook said. "I went in there and fished really hard today and only got five keeper bites. If Jason or I had that spot to ourselves, it was probably the winning spot.

"It was a real pleasure to fish around Jason. I just came up a little short."

This was Rook's second Top 5 in a row at Toho – he finished 5th here last September at the Elite Series finale.

"I used to hate coming down here," he noted. "Every tournament was just a struggle. But I just kind of figured out you have to slow down – be persistent and patient. I finished 5th in the event in September. I'm going to win one before we're done."

4th: Hill Surprised

The water this morning looked like it was built for toadin'. And when Hill caught a good fish pretty quickly, he figured the game was on. But it was not to be.

"I really thought, when it started out like that, it was going to get ugly," he said. "The water temperature was up like I'd wanted it to be from the very beginning. And I had a lot of bites today – they didn't hook up.

"But (with) 11 pounds, I'm not going to complain any.

"I'm surprised it was so tough," he added. "I thought it would be a blood-fest out there today."

5th: Lowen's Spot 'Trashed'

It's rare that an angler goes into a day 4 with the legitimate chance to win. Lowen had such an opportunity each of the 2 previous years he's fished the Elite Series, and he got another one today – his best yet. He was on a pile of good fish, but like others, was stunned to see his spot destroyed by wind.

"I have to be honest – I was nervous about this one this morning," he said. "I had a good area, and I knew for once I had a shot at bringing it home. When I got to my area this morning, the wind had blown all night. I didn't think Florida water could turn to chocolate milk, but my water was trashed.

"I scrapped what I had and just went fishing," he added. "When you're not familiar with the water, it's hard to do that – hard to abandon your main pattern and go looking. So I'm happy with what I got."

Additional Notes

Alton Jones (6th): "It's been a fun week. I've been getting a lot of bites throwing a Yum BuzzFrog and Zoom Horny Toad a little too. Long casts were key. The quality fish hit on the very end of long casts."

Bobby Lane (7th): "(My) best fish was the first fish I caught, at about 10:30. I struggled this morning. I just ran some new water, throwing a frog. I didn't catch my fifth fish until 3:30. It seemed like when the wind blew yesterday it was better. It was just a tough time. The fish are scattered. In another 3 or 4 weeks, this place will be outstanding."

Bryan Hudgins (8th): "Today was really bad. I got out to my spot just knowing I was going to catch them. The wind was blowing in there yesterday, and I didn't get a bite. As a mater of fact, I locked out of Toho at 2:30 with no fish (and went to) Hatchineha. This is Florida fishing. I knew it. I had a good time in Florida, but I'm ready to go to Texas and catch some big fish."

Kelly Jordon (9th): "I basically ran out of fish. My number-one tactic was bed-fishing, number two was throwing a frog. I really thought I had that down well. As a matter of fact, on day 2 I caught a 5 and a 7 on a frog after the beds. I think my mistake was to come back to Kissimmee (yesterday). I was like a chicken with its head cut off. Today I said I was all-in – going back to Toho and throwing a frog all day. It was perfect conditions but it just didn't happen for me."

Terry Scroggins (10th): "I knew I couldn't fall down – there was only one direction to move, (which was) forward. I went to try to catch some big fish today. It didn't happen. Then I went and tried to catch five. I think we're just right in-between – just a little too early, and not late enough. The fish are coming off the spawn, and haven't gotten to where they need to be. (With) another full moon, more will come up."

Jeff Reynolds (11th): "I think my problem was I was throwing a ChatterBait all week long. I stuck with it today, thinking I could catch some big ones, but I never could go back to my places and repeat. I did the best I could. I was tickled to death after my practice to make the Top 12."

Rick Morris (12th): "I went back to one area I'd been fishing all week. I'd been flipping real slow, and had some great days. The wind destroyed me yesterday, but I managed to catch 10 pounds even as the water was getting muddy. Today I fished there until noon. At 12:00 I said, 'Well, I'll go for big fish.' I went to where I almost won the (Bassmaster) Classic – all the way down the Kissimmee River throwing a swimbait. I lost an 8- to 9-pound fish. I had a good tournament overall."

Notable

> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 10 limits, 1 three, 1 one.

> VanDam is currently ranked No. 1 in the BassFan World Rankings presented by Tru-Tungsten. Updated rankings, to reflect today's event, will be published shortly.

> Lane exits Florida as the leader in the Angler of the Year race. To view the full standings, click here.

> Byron Velvick pocketed $10,000 from Berkley for weighing the heaviest bag of the event (25-00).

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 20, 59-07 -- 310 $100,000
Day 1: 5, 18-00 -- Day 2: 5, 17-11 -- Day 3: 5, 13-06 -- Day 4: 5, 10-06

2. Ray Sedgwick -- Cross, SC -- 20, 57-12 -- 295 -- $32,000
Day 1: 5, 17-02 -- Day 2: 5, 10-14 -- Day 3: 5, 18-04 -- Day 4: 5, 11-08

3. Scott Rook -- Little Rock, AR -- 20, 56-07 -- 290 -- $25,000
Day 1: 5, 19-14 -- Day 2: 5, 13-12 -- Day 3: 5, 13-06 -- Day 4: 5, 09-07

4. Kenyon Hill -- Norman, OK -- 20, 54-02 -- 285 -- $20,000
Day 1: 5, 15-10 -- Day 2: 5, 17-13 -- Day 3: 5, 09-09 -- Day 4: 5, 11-02

5. Bill Lowen -- North Bend, OH -- 20, 53-03 -- 280 -- $17,000
Day 1: 5, 16-15 -- Day 2: 5, 13-06 -- Day 3: 5, 14-07 -- Day 4: 5, 08-07

6. Alton Jones -- Waco, TX -- 20, 52-10 -- 276 -- $15,500
Day 1: 5, 15-13 -- Day 2: 5, 13-00 -- Day 3: 5, 12-12 -- Day 4: 5, 11-01

7. Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, FL -- 20, 52-09 -- 272 -- $16,000
Day 1: 5, 18-10 -- Day 2: 5, 14-13 -- Day 3: 5, 08-00 -- Day 4: 5, 11-02

8. Bryan Hudgins -- Orange Park, FL -- 18, 52-07 -- 268 -- $15,500
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 3, 05-04 -- Day 3: 5, 20-10 -- Day 4: 5, 09-00

9. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, TX -- 13, 51-07 -- 269 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 22-14 -- Day 2: 5, 21-05 -- Day 3: 0, 00-00 -- Day 4: 3, 07-04

10. Terry Scroggins -- San Mateo, FL -- 20, 49-02 -- 260 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 23-02 -- Day 2: 5, 11-11 -- Day 3: 5, 06-08 -- Day 4: 5, 07-13

11. Jeff Reynolds -- Idabel, OK -- 20, 46-08 -- 257 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 20-12 -- Day 2: 5, 08-05 -- Day 3: 5, 11-12 -- Day 4: 5, 05-11

12. Rick Morris -- Virginia Beach, VA -- 16, 44-12 -- 254 -- $12,300
Day 1: 5, 13-09 -- Day 2: 5, 19-04 -- Day 3: 5, 10-02 -- Day 4: 1, 01-13

Big Bass

> Day 4 -- Bobby Lane -- Lakeland, FL -- 04-12 -- $1,000
> Day 3 -- Ray Sedgwick -- Cross, SC -- 07-07 -- $1,000
> Day 2 -- Kenyon Hill -- Norman, OK -- 10-03 -- $1,000
> Day 1 -- Jared Lintner -- Arroyo Grande, CA -- 08-13 -- $1,000