Breakdown at Champlain led to his `most disappointing’ tournament
It happens to the best of them. Heading into the Wal-Mart FLW Tour regular-season finale at Lake Champlain, Kevin VanDam led the standings race by 26 points and seemed poised to take home his second consecutive trophy for Angler of the Year. But just a few variables combined to derail the reigning points champion’s chances as Jay Yelas staged a come-from-behind rally to take the number-one standings spot.
So what happened?
First of all, everybody caught a lot of bass at Champlain’s prolific fishery. That kept the leaders, who had big weights to begin with, all bunched up on the leaderboard. And that meant that every ounce counted throughout the week. When VanDam weighed in a limit worth 15 pounds, 13 ounces on day one, it was a respectable weight anywhere else besides Champlain. With so many limits coming across the scale, it was only good enough for 30th place.
Secondly, due to time constraints, VanDam professed to having very little practice at Champlain before the tournament. So when the water he was fishing muddied up on day two, he had no backup plan nor many other locations.
Thirdly, and perhaps most painfully, his trolling motor broke down on day two. That cut down his mobility and fishing time, leading to a limit of just 13 pounds, 12 ounces and a two-day weight of 29-9 – good for a career-low 44th-place finish.
Then, when Yelas finished the tournament in ninth place, the rest became history.
“There were several tournaments there where I just scraped by to make the cut,” VanDam said recently. “But the most disappointing was definitely the last one. The fishing wasn’t tough there and it was my kind of tournament. Obviously, I would have liked to win, but it didn’t work out. … As tight as that tournament was, it was a matter of ounces to make the cut, and just little mistakes made the difference. I wasn’t happy about it at the time, but I’ve had two great years on this circuit and I really love the format.”
There’s no denying VanDam’s success on the FLW Tour since he began competing on it full time in 2001. With his first-place standings finish in 2001 and second-place finish in 2002, he’s the only tournament nonwinner to place in the top 10 in earnings over the last two years.
Plus, this summer he received an ESPY award for best outdoor athlete, a title he earned by virtue of his dominant performance in 2001 when he won FLW Angler of the Year, the Bassmaster Classic and second place in B.A.S.S.’ points race. As the man who defeated VanDam for the FLW points title in 2002, Yelas repeated the FLW Angler of the Year / Bassmaster Classic champion feat this year – and VanDam says that’s no accident.
“That happens when an angler gets on a hot streak,” he said. “I’ve seen Denny Brauer do the same thing. (Brauer won FLW AOY and the Classic in 1998.) Success just seems to breed success. You have confidence, and it’s like you can’t make any mistakes.”
One of the perks of attending the ESPY awards in Los Angeles, besides mingling with brand-name sports stars like Marshall Faulk and Barry Bonds, was an invitation to the famous Playboy Mansion. However, VanDam, who went there with fellow ESPY contender Rick Clunn, said the adventure was anything but titillating.
“It was quite an experience. All of my friends were jealous,” he said. “Not to let anybody down, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was very civilized. But it was neat to go out there with Clunn because he was one of my heroes when I was coming up. He’s one of the biggest reasons that I got into this job.”
Can he win the big one?
According to last week’s opinion poll on the FLW page, second-seeded VanDam is the decisive fan favorite to win his matchup in the opening round of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Championship against 47th-seeded Marty Stone.
On the surface, that makes sense; one look at each of the anglers’ respective tour records over the past couple of years and it’s easy to see why bass fans are picking VanDam. In the last two years, VanDam has respectively finished first and second in the season standings and made four top 10s, while Stone has finished 68th and 47th in the standings and has just one top 10.
However, one person who’s not nearly as sure about VanDam’s chances is VanDam himself. While the man loves the FLW tournament format and seems custom-built to make the cuts, he knows all that means very little when he squares off mano a mano against Stone at the championship.
“The good part is that I only have to beat one guy (to make the cut),” VanDam said. “The bad part is that it’s Marty Stone. He’s a really good fisherman and a good friend. I don’t know if anybody has the advantage. He’s really versatile and is an extremely hard worker. I know this format pits one guy against another, but I’m basically going to compete against the fish.”
Another variable that might level the playing field at Cross Lake is the lake itself.
“I’ve never been there, and it’s not an easy time of year for fishing in the South,” VanDam said. “The water’s hot and shallow, and a little bit of rain could muddy it up. We’ll really have to see what the weather brings. It’s going to be a tough tournament. I’m just going to go there, assess the lake and come up with a game plan to do what I can to win. One big bite per day could win it.”
FLW Championship links:
Complete 2002 FLW Championship brackets
FLW Championship presents some compelling matchups
2002 Wal-Mart FLW Tour year in review
Kevin VanDam links:
The Tiger Woods of Bass Fishing: Kevin VanDam
A day with VanDam
Striking performance