In BassFan's final-day coverage of Toyota Trucks BASS Championship Week at the Alabama River, BassFans heard from Kevin VanDam, Skeet Reese and Mike Iaconelli. Here's what the rest of the field said about their Championship Week performance shortly after the conclusion of weigh-in.

Anglers appear in order of their AOY finish.



3rd: Tommy Biffle

Tommy Biffle made a critical mistake at Jordan when he mistakenly put a sixth fish in the box, then made a few flips. His penalty was the ejection of his largest fish and he finished the event in 3rd.

Turns out that he couldn't have won AOY even if he'd won Jordan and the Alabama River – he still would have finished 3 points behind VanDam.

"I feel pretty good about it," Biffle said of his week. "I only lost one fish all week – a 2-pounder, and it did hurt me. And (the penalty) last week killed me."

About his Alabama River performance, he said: "I didn't catch them as good the first day (8-09), but I didn't lose any or miss any, so my performance was real good.

"(The last day) I fished shallow. The water was back up and stayed up and got a little muddy."

5th: Randy Howell

Alabama pro Randy Howell had high expectations for a Championship Week in his home state, but got stung by a mediocre opening day at Jordan. He came back the next day with a tournament-best 15-10. The same relative thing occurred at the Alabama River, when he opened with 8-10, then followed up with 12-01.



ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito
Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito

Randy Howell never got it together on either day 1 and feels he needs to improve his approach to a 2-day practice.

"I think I fished pretty loose and pretty confident, and I was happy with the second day at both events," he said. "I fished better on the second days than the first days. Just not quite having it figured out, then figuring it out too late, if anything, reminds me what I need to do in a 2-day practice.

"I might not be that good at it yet (a 2-day practice), but overall I fished hard and didn't have anything bad happen. I was really blessed to finish where I did."

6th: Alton Jones

Alton Jones was a major factor in the points prior to the week. He trailed leader VanDam by just 7 points, but a 10th-place finish at Jordan killed his chances, and he turned in a similarly lackluster 9th at the Alabama River.

"I'm disappointed in my performance overall," Jones said. "At the same time, I think I'm fishing as well as I have my entire career, although I didn't show it this week.

"It's twice in my life now that I've been in contention for AOY coming into the Alabama River, and twice in a row I've faltered here. But I'm grateful to have been here, to have the opportunity, and to have had as good a year as I had this year. It's been a lot of fun. That said, I'm ready for the off-season too. I think we all need a break."

7th: Kelly Jordon

Kelly Jordon sat right behind Jones in the points prior to Championship Week (23 points behind VanDam). Similar to Jones, a 12th-palce finish at Lake Jordan brought the title campaign to a crashing end.

ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito
Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Seigo Saito

Alton Jones is ready to battle for Angler of the Year at a venue other than the Alabama River – it's stung him twice.

Jordon rallied at the Alabama River, where he finished 3rd, but it was too little and much too late.

"It was a good finish here (at the river), but I'd have really liked to finish better than I did in the race," Jordon noted. "It's all about getting AOY this week. I went for it and took a big risk. It didn't work out and cost me dearly. If a couple other things ran the other way, it could be a whole different situation. I'd have been right there in the thick of it.

"I would have had to have two really strong finishes to get AOY. Now I'm looking forward to next year and the Classic."

8th: Cliff Pace

Comparatively, Cliff Pace could be seen as the newbie in the field. He held his own, though, and was able to climb two spots in the AOY standings after finishes of 7th and 8th.

"I didn't feel like I fished to the potential I have," he said. "But you have certain events where things don't go your way, and I had one of those here. We prepare for all tournaments the same way – to do the best we can. This group of anglers swings for the fence every time they put their boats on the water. You have to. Nobody fishes safe anymore.

"But I had some events here where I didn't capitalize on all the opportunities. Here at the river, I lost some fish that would have helped me tremendously. That's the way it goes sometimes. I don't feel like I did anything wrong, or that it was my fault. It was one of those deals where it didn't come out the way I wanted."

9th: Gerald Swindle

It was a minor miracle that Swindle even made Championship Week – he smoked the final three events and rocked his way into the Top 12.

This week, he improved three spots in the race after finishes of 5th and 11th.

ESPN Outdoors/Gary Tramontina
Photo: ESPN Outdoors/Gary Tramontina

Kelly Jordon says he took a big risk at Jordon, but it didn't pay off.

"At Jordan I fished well," Swindle said. "I didn't really have any opportunities to do any better. I fished my strengths, stayed on the fish, but just came up a little short of a win.

"(At the river) I didn't do anything wrong the first day. I saw big ones but they didn't get it. (On day 2) it was execution. It was hard. I lost three 4s and a 2. It was so calm in those backwaters. All I can figure out is it was just the style I was fishing. It was frustrating.

"But I was in 54th coming into Kentucky Lake, so to be here was a steady, uphill battle already. I climbed a mountain and I'm looking forward to going into next year to start that all over again. And we're fishing a Lay Lake Classic."

In other words, Swindle not only gets another shot at a home-state Classic, but also some possible redemption after he was DQd at the previous Lay Classic a few years ago.

11th: Mark Menendez

Mark Menendez entered Championship Week in a tie for 5th, but finishes of 9th and 10th dropped him to 11th in the points.

He didn't attend the day-2 Jordan weigh-in because his wife suffered a mild stroke. She was okay, but it was still a scary moment.

"The first day at Jordan cost me winning that event," he said. "I had several good fish come off, but I stuck in there, got my five and got the job done. Then I came back the next day with a strong sack.

"It's been crazy with my wife – her health and her situation. But once I got on the water, I was able to focus and catch five each day. Today I probably caught 25 keepers, but I just didn't get any good ones. It's neat to be here for the inaugural post-season. It gives me a lot of incentive to be back here next year."

12th: Todd Faircloth

Last year, Todd Faircloth squared off against Kevin Vandam at the final event in the old AOY format. Faircloth failed memorably at Oneida and VanDam grabbed the title.

This time around, Faircloth was in contention again, but an 8th at Jordan mathematically eliminated him. At the Alabama River, he failed to catch more than 7 pounds either day and finished last.

Asked to judge his performance during Championship Week, Faircloth said: "Evidently, it's not very good. I had a feeling I caught them pretty decent at Jordan, but the weights were really tight and I came up just a little short the first day. But I felt like I fished pretty good.

"Here (at the river), I don't know. It was kind of like Oneida last year. I never could get that key bite to dial me in. I kept trying to change up and do different stuff, but I never could get really keyed in on what to do. I never felt confident doing any one thing. They were all the same size – just 12-inch fish.

"It's kind of frustrating. I wish I would have made a better showing here. All in all I had a great year though, and I'd take it again next year."