VanDam Still Leads, But Jordon Pulls Closer

Kevin VanDam stayed on track today for his second wire-to-wire win at Kentucky Lake in 3 years, but the lead he began the day with was cut in half by a guy who's extremely dangerous on this impoundment.

VanDam weighed a 21-11 sack that gave him a 70-13 total with 1 day to go at the second-to-last Bassmaster Elite Series event of the regular season. It was his lightest bag of the tournament and provided an opportunity for Kelly Jordon to whittle away at the deficit margin, and the Texan accomplished that with a 24-pound stringer that brought his total to 67-02.

No one comes close to VanDam's record since the Elite Series first came here in 2006 – the Michigander has a 1st-, a 2nd- and a 3rd-place finish on the books. But Jordon has assured himself of his fourth straight finish of 15th or higher on the Kentucky-Tennessee border and he's around big fish – he brought a 10-pounder to the scale on day 2 and had a 6 and a 7 today.

Edwin Evers, who's No. 2 in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year (AOY) race, caught 23-12 today and moved up one spot to 3rd with 65-06. It's his third Top-12 here in four tries.

Jason Quinn fell one spot to 4th with a 21-00 bag for a 62-14 total. Rookie Matt Greenblatt climbed eight places to 5th with a 19-01 bag and a 57-10 aggregate.

Here are the anglers who'll fish the final day, with red numbers in parentheses indicating deficit margin from leader:

1. Kevin VanDam: 70-13
2. Kelly Jordon: 67-02 (3-11)
3. Edwin Evers: 65-06 (5-07)
4. Jason Quinn: 62-14 (7-15)
5. Matt Greenblatt: 57-10 (13-03)
6. John Crews: 57-08 (13-05)
7. Terry Butcher: 57-03 (13-10)
8. Brian Snowden: 56-12 (14-01)
9. Derek Remitz: 56-11 (14-02)
10. Matt Herren: 56-02 (14-11)
11. Keith Poche: 55-14 (14-14)
12. Scott Rook: 54-02 (16-11)

John Crews made the day's biggest move (33rd to 6th) with a day-best 25-pound sack. In addition to him and Greenblatt, others who slid into the Top 12 were Terry Butcher (16th to 7th with 19-10 today), Brian Snowden (27th to 8th, 22-01), Derek Remitz (26th to 9th, 21-15), Matt Herren (14th to 10th, 18-01) and Scott Rook (17th to 12th, 16-11).

Going the other direction were Kota Kiriyama (6th to 35th, 6-04), Russ Lane (7th to 15th, 11-11), Tim Horton (8th to 29th, 8-09), Brent Chapman (9th to 27th, 9-05), Rick Morris (10th to 18th, 12-13), Takahiro Omori (11th to 31st, 9-12) and 2006 Kentucky Lake winner Morizo Shimizu (12th to 24th, 12-01).

The last time VanDam took a lead into the final day at Kentucky Lake (2008), he was overrun by spectator boats and caught less than 16 pounds, which was just enough to hold off a big rally by Tim Horton. Crowds will undoubtedly be a big factor again, and a lot of spots could be taken up by competitors in local events before the Elite anglers get on the water.

Jordon has boated more than 50 pounds over the last 2 days, so KVD might need to hit his tournament average (23 1/2) to close this one out. Evers could also make some noise if he gets the type of bite Jordon got on day 2.

Tomorrow's weather forecast for the Paris, Tenn. area again calls for isolated thunderstorms and a southwest wind to 12 mph. The predicted high temperature is 93 degrees.

The winner will be crowned following the weigh-in based on highest 4-day weight.

VanDam will Wait and See

VanDam said he won't formulate a final-day gameplan until he gets on the water – he'll need to see the size and make-up of his entourage before he decides where to fish.

"I know the lake's going to be crowded, so I'll have to play it by ear," he said. "I have no idea what to expect and I know there's a lot of (local) tournaments going out, but I've dealt with this every single time on the final day here. We take off late compared to other tournaments that'll be going out at first light, so I'll have to see what's out there when I get there. This lake and Guntersville are about the toughest places in the country when it comes to that.

"I'm going to give it my best shot, but there's a lot of big fish here and anybody could bust a big sack. Having the lead is a good thing, though."

He revealed today that his primary tactic is cranking shellbeds, but he's also throwing other baits. He has no fresh water to run tomorrow, but thinks he has enough locales to catch another strong bag if his timing is on.

Today's bag included a trio of fish in the 5-pound range.

“I’m throwing everything at them that I can. Today I threw more variety than I have in the past 2 days. It’s definitely not easy out there.”

Regardless of what occurs tomorrow, he's already achieved a major goal here – he's inside the 12-angler cutoff for the postseason.

"The thing I'm glad about is that each day I lead, I get those (5) bonus points. Even if I finish 2nd tomorrow, I'll still get more points than the winner."

2nd: Jordon Coming and Going

Jordon had a tougher time getting bites today than on any day so far, but two that he did get exceeded 6 pounds each.

"It was really slow this morning and I never got on a spot where I really caught them," he said. "I bounced around and caught one here and one there.

"I've got several spots and I'm just trying to hit them as many times as I can. Some are far apart and I can only get to them twice a day – coming and going. I've got quite a few deals, but on some of them the fish have deserted me and on some others they've moved."

He's spent the entire tournament in the southern end of the lake, focused exclusively on big bites. He's throwing a 10-inch worm and a crankbait.

He could use another really big one tomorrow.

"If I can get enough bites I might have a chance (to win) and another 10-plus would really help. Today it was a grind just to get the bites."

3rd: Extended Practice for Evers

Evers came into the tournament without any of his waypoints from past events here – they disappeared from his GPS unit somehow. He's made do, and then some.

"I've just gone fishing, the same thing I did in practice," he said. "I keep idling around and I found another group of fish today. I'm basically just practicing every day."

He caught between 20 and 30 keepers today and his bag was topped by a 6-pounder. His best action doesn't start until the latter part of the day.

"I really don't have anything hidden – I'll just go looking again and see what I can find and hopefully I'll stumble into some. Anything's possible – (VanDam) could catch 20 pounds and I might catch 26."

5th: Thrill for Greenblatt

Greenblatt had finished no better than 73rd in any of the last four events, so he was pumped about making his first Top 12.

"It feels awesome," he said. "I figured I was going to get one sooner or later, and it happened sooner than I thought. I'm really happy."

He's on a spoon bite that he sort of stumbled into. He was struggling on the last day of practice when he came across a rod that still had a jig tied on that he'd used in California, so he decided to throw it out. He caught a decent fish and decided to try something even bigger – hence the spoon.

"Three or four casts later I caught a 5-pounder and thought, hey, I might be onto something here. I've been throwing that most of the time, along with a 10-inch worm and a crankbait."

He caught eight or nine keepers today and no short fish, and he has no company on his best stuff.

"When I get one hooked up, 9 1/2 times out of 10 it's a good keeper. And the nice thing about it is I can go into a community hole where I've seen eight or 10 guys whacking on the little ones, and I can go in there and catch quality."

6th: Happy Birthday for Crews

Crews' bags have increased substantially each day – from 14 1/2 pounds to 18 to 25. Today was his 32nd birthday and it was a pleasant occasion indeed.

"Today was one of those days when I couldn't do anything wrong," he said. "It was pretty awesome. I finally started putting everything in the boat."

He reached the quarter-century mark without a massive bite – his fish ranged from 4 1/2 pounds to 5 3/4. He had steady action throughout the day and ended up catching about 15 keepers.

"I'm pretty much throwing a bait I know very well. I had all of my weight by about 12:00 and then I started running new water and looking for new places, but I didn't really find a whole lot.

"I'll go out with the same general plan tomorrow and see what happens – I'll just go out and have fun and roll with it."

35th: Just Two Keepers for Kiriyama

Kota Kiriyama started the day in 6th place, but tumbled 29 spots as he weighed just two fish for 6-04.

"I was fishing shallow humps with shell beds, and when I got there today there was a shell-diver's boat already there," he said. "The engine was going and the water was already muddy, so I couldn't fish that area."

He moved around to other places and caught a bunch of short fish, the only the two that exceeded the 15-inch minimum-length requirement.

"I thought I could (eventually) get some good bites, but I never did."

He fished throughout the week with a Jackall I-Shad and a prototype soft-plastic produced by the same company.

Notable

> Day 3 stats – 47 anglers, 42 limits, 1 four, 3 threes, 1 two.

> Greenblatt said he'd be higher in the standings if he had landed all of his good bites. "I lost a 7-pounder yesterday and one that was maybe a little bit bigger than that this morning, but such is the spoon bite. I'm around big fish and I just need to put it together and make it happen."

> Todd Faircloth started the day in 35th place, but caught 22-04 and missed the 12-cut by a single ounce.

Weather Forecast

Here's the weather forecast for the final day of the tournament.

> Sat., June 12 – Isolated T-Storms - 93°/74°
- Wind: From the SW at 12 mph

Day 3 Standings

1. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, MI -- 15, 70-13 -- 315
Day 1: 5, 25-00 -- Day 2: 5, 24-02 -- Day 3: 5, 21-11

2. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, TX -- 15, 67-02 -- 295
Day 1: 5, 16-06 -- Day 2: 5, 26-12 -- Day 3: 5, 24-00

3. Edwin Evers -- Talala, OK -- 15, 65-06 -- 290
Day 1: 5, 19-14 -- Day 2: 5, 21-12 -- Day 3: 5, 23-12

4. Jason Quinn -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 15, 62-14 -- 285
Day 1: 5, 20-13 -- Day 2: 5, 21-01 -- Day 3: 5, 21-00

5. Matt Greenblatt -- Palm Beach Gardens, FL -- 15, 57-10 -- 280
Day 1: 5, 20-00 -- Day 2: 5, 18-09 -- Day 3: 5, 19-01

6. John Crews -- Salem, VA -- 15, 57-08 -- 276
Day 1: 5, 14-08 -- Day 2: 5, 18-00 -- Day 3: 5, 25-00

7. Terry Butcher -- Talala, OK -- 15, 57-03 -- 272
Day 1: 5, 15-15 -- Day 2: 5, 21-10 -- Day 3: 5, 19-10

8. Brian Snowden -- Reeds Spring, MO -- 15, 56-12 -- 268
Day 1: 5, 15-01 -- Day 2: 5, 19-10 -- Day 3: 5, 22-01

9. Derek Remitz -- Grant, AL -- 15, 56-11 -- 264
Day 1: 5, 18-11 -- Day 2: 5, 16-01 -- Day 3: 5, 21-15

10. Matt Herren -- Trussville, AL -- 15, 56-02 -- 260
Day 1: 5, 18-13 -- Day 2: 5, 19-04 -- Day 3: 5, 18-01

11. Keith Poche -- Troy, AL -- 15, 55-14 -- 257
Day 1: 5, 20-01 -- Day 2: 5, 21-07 -- Day 3: 5, 14-06

12. Scott Rook -- Little Rock, AR -- 15, 54-02 -- 254
Day 1: 5, 15-02 -- Day 2: 5, 22-05 -- Day 3: 5, 16-11

The following anglers did not make the cut and will not fish on day 4.

13. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, TX -- 15, 54-01 -- 251 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-14 -- Day 2: 5, 14-15 -- Day 3: 5, 22-04

14. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, KY -- 15, 53-12 -- 248 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-05 -- Day 2: 5, 17-09 -- Day 3: 5, 16-14

15. Russ Lane -- Prattville, AL -- 15, 52-13 -- 245 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-15 -- Day 2: 5, 26-03 -- Day 3: 5, 11-11

16. Britt Myers -- Lake Wylie, SC -- 15, 52-13 -- 243 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-15 -- Day 2: 5, 17-05 -- Day 3: 5, 15-09

17. Shaw E Grigsby -- Gainesville, FL -- 15, 52-12 -- 241 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-13 -- Day 2: 5, 19-07 -- Day 3: 5, 18-08

18. Rick Morris -- Virginia Beach, VA -- 15, 52-12 -- 239 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 24-15 -- Day 2: 5, 15-00 -- Day 3: 5, 12-13

19. Boyd Duckett -- Demopolis, AL -- 15, 52-05 -- 237 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-04 -- Day 2: 5, 21-10 -- Day 3: 5, 14-07

20. Gerald Swindle -- Warrior, AL -- 15, 52-03 -- 235 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-15 -- Day 3: 5, 21-08

21. Greg Vinson -- Wetumpka, AL -- 15, 51-13 -- 233 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-14 -- Day 2: 5, 17-10 -- Day 3: 5, 15-05

22. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, AL -- 15, 51-08 -- 231 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-06 -- Day 2: 5, 16-08 -- Day 3: 5, 15-10

23. Jason Williamson -- Aiken, SC -- 15, 51-08 -- 229 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-06 -- Day 2: 5, 17-00 -- Day 3: 5, 16-02

24. Morizo Shimizu -- Osaka JAPAN -- 15, 51-00 -- 227 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-04 -- Day 2: 5, 19-11 -- Day 3: 5, 12-01

25. Bradley Hallman -- Norman, OK -- 15, 50-13 -- 225 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 20-15 -- Day 2: 5, 15-13 -- Day 3: 5, 14-01

26. Bill Lowen -- North Bend, OH -- 15, 50-12 -- 223 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 20-02 -- Day 2: 5, 14-14 -- Day 3: 5, 15-12

27. Brent Chapman -- Lake Quivira, KS -- 14, 50-04 -- 221 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 18-12 -- Day 2: 5, 22-03 -- Day 3: 4, 09-05

28. Terry Scroggins -- San Mateo, FL -- 15, 49-15 -- 219 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-02 -- Day 2: 5, 18-08 -- Day 3: 5, 17-05

29. Timmy Horton -- Muscle Shoals, AL -- 13, 49-09 -- 217 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 23-12 -- Day 2: 5, 17-04 -- Day 3: 3, 08-09

30. Cliff Pace -- Petal, MS -- 15, 49-07 -- 215 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-14 -- Day 2: 5, 16-07 -- Day 3: 5, 18-02

31. Takahiro Omori -- Emory, TX -- 15, 49-06 -- 213 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-09 -- Day 2: 5, 20-01 -- Day 3: 5, 09-12

32. Jami Fralick -- Martin, SD -- 15, 48-12 -- 211 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 14-03 -- Day 2: 5, 19-11 -- Day 3: 5, 14-14

33. Pete Ponds -- Madison, MS -- 15, 47-15 -- 209 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 19-07 -- Day 2: 5, 17-13 -- Day 3: 5, 10-11

34. Jeremy Starks -- Charleston, WV -- 15, 47-13 -- 207 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 21-03 -- Day 2: 5, 11-03 -- Day 3: 5, 15-07

35. Kotaro Kiriyama -- Moody, AL -- 12, 47-07 -- 205 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-10 -- Day 2: 5, 18-09 -- Day 3: 2, 06-04

36. Mike McClelland -- Bella Vista, AR -- 14, 46-04 -- 203 -- $10,000
Day 1: 4, 10-07 -- Day 2: 5, 19-15 -- Day 3: 5, 15-14

37. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, LA -- 15, 46-03 -- 201 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-09 -- Day 2: 5, 17-04 -- Day 3: 5, 12-06

38. Marty Robinson -- Lyman, SC -- 15, 46-00 -- 199 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-00 -- Day 2: 5, 18-05 -- Day 3: 5, 14-11

39. Chad Griffin -- Cresson, TX -- 14, 45-10 -- 197 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 22-00 -- Day 2: 4, 08-11 -- Day 3: 5, 14-15

40. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, TX -- 15, 45-02 -- 195 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-05 -- Day 3: 5, 15-01

41. Yusuke Miyazaki -- Forney, TX -- 15, 44-05 -- 193 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-02 -- Day 2: 5, 13-02 -- Day 3: 5, 14-01

42. Casey Ashley -- Donalds, SC -- 15, 44-02 -- 191 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 15-12 -- Day 2: 5, 18-12 -- Day 3: 5, 09-10

43. Jeff Connella -- Bentley, LA -- 15, 43-03 -- 189 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-01 -- Day 2: 5, 18-05 -- Day 3: 5, 11-13

44. Mark Tucker -- Saint Louis, MO -- 15, 43-00 -- 187 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 17-09 -- Day 2: 5, 12-11 -- Day 3: 5, 12-12

45. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, OK -- 15, 41-13 -- 185 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 16-09 -- Day 2: 5, 14-10 -- Day 3: 5, 10-10

46. Bradley Roy -- Lancaster, KY -- 13, 39-05 -- 183 -- $10,000
Day 1: 5, 13-08 -- Day 2: 5, 16-14 -- Day 3: 3, 08-15

47. Marty Stone -- Fayetteville, NC -- 13, 37-15 -- 181 -- $5,000
Day 1: 5, 12-15 -- Day 2: 5, 18-10 -- Day 3: 3, 06-06