Huddleston, VA - As 11 of the 12 anglers left to fish Sunday’s finale at Smith Mountain Lake, each of them thought back to Monday’s practice conditions. It was then, as many anglers in the field have pointed out, that the true Smith Mountain Lake presented itself.
It was but a brief glimpse, as the big fish seen that day have been camera shy ever since. That was also before the bass-fishing juggernaut known as KVD took control of the tournament, barely even glancing back over his shoulder at the 11 anglers trying to play catch-up.
The weather all week has been ripe for things to get right in the shallows, but the cool nights, and perhaps a mid-week draw down, stymied the big-bass migration. There were plenty of bucks up shallow, but as Matt Herren pointed out Saturday, you can’t win an Elite Series event with two-pound fish every day.
(Photos by Dru Smith and Matt Pangrac)
VanDam took the lead Friday by running an unconventional sight-fishing pattern that focused primarily on smallmouth. By the end of Saturday’s weigh-in, he had broadened his lead by over three pounds – a near-insurmountable chasm considering the rarity of four- and five-pound fish this week.
Given that VanDam rarely bobbles the ball when he’s in the lead, the only legitimate shot anyone had at overtaking the most dangerous man in fishing was for Monday to recreate itself on Sunday. Short of the heroic Hail Mary touchdown, it seemed that second place was the only slot that was up for grabs.
Sunday proved to be another grind, and though the leader board was once again transformed on the final day, Kevin VanDam was immovable at the top, claiming his 15th win with BASS.
VanDam brought in his lightest limit of the week, weighing 13 pounds, 14 ounces, but it was enough to edge out his closest competition, Matt Herren. The final-day limit boosted his four-day total to 61 pounds, 13 ounces, and allowed him to gain control of the Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year race.
Elite Series rookie, Matt Herren, ended the fourth event of the 2009 season in second place with a total weight of 59 pounds, 5 ounces after brining a solid 14-pound, 14-ounce limit to the scales.
Kelly Jordon, the Day One leader and owner of the heaviest limit weighed this week, closed out the tournament in third with 58 pounds, 3 ounces. Jordon was never able to recapture the momentum from the first day, though the 13-pound, 14-ounce limit he weighed Sunday was the best he’s had since Thursday.
Greg Hackney, who made a surge Saturday to fish in the Top 12 cut, finished the week with 57 pounds even and fourth-place honors. Hackney continued closing the gap Sunday by weighing the day’s heaviest bag at 15 pounds, 2 ounces, but had too much ground to cover in order to be a true threat on the final day.
Aaron Martens ended the week in fifth place with 55 pounds even, after weighing 15 pounds Sunday, and Shaw Grigsby, who brought 12 pounds, 11 ounces to the scales on the final day, ended up in sixth place with 54 pounds, 3 ounces in four days of fishing.
KVD Wins
VanDam is no stranger to the winner circle, but this week proved to be especially special for the kid from Kalamazoo. “This is a tournament I’m real proud of because of the way I fished. I made the right adjusts at the right times,’ he said.
“This week, everything just fell into place. I fished extremely hard this week and it paid off. “The entire field knew the sight-bite would be the ticket on Smith Mountain, but VanDam added his own unique twist to looking at the bass.
“This lake is a lot like what I fish at home. I like clear lakes. I looked at the timing of this event, the moon phase and the other conditions and I knew or I thought I knew this was going to be a sight fishing
tournament. I was sight fishing but not necessarily for fish on beds. The shad just getting started with their spawn and the bass were in the same areas.
The largemouths like to get back in the pockets, behind docks or around other types of cover to spawn. The smallies like to hang closer to the main lake. I was really targeting gravel bottom points either on the main lake or part way back in a cove.”
The aforementioned smallmouths played a huge role in VanDam’s 15th win. The majority of his four day creel was made up of the feisty brown fish. “I knew the lake held a pretty good population of smallmouths,” attested Kevin. “Not many other guys were doing what I was doing so I could cover a lot of water.”
What he was doing consisted staying on the points and looking for smallies on the bed or largemouths cruising around looking for shad. Staying in the exposed areas of the lake meant KVD had to deal with local boat traffic, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“The boat traffic makes it harder to see the fish but it can also help the bite. The movement of the water activates the shad which will keep the bass around. Today, the fish were really locked on beds so it was tougher to see them, but some of the best times to fish a clear lake is when there is a lot of boat traffic.”
VandDam used several different baits to put his final day limit in the boat. However, he credits one bait as the workhorse of his winning weight this week. “The key bait for me this week was a 1/8th ounce Strike King Shakey head jig with a four inch 3X finesse worm in laminated dirt color. I probably caught 75% percent all the fish this week on that bait. Today, I had to mix it up but by far the shakey head was the main bait for me this week.”
Herren Holds In
2nd
Matt Herren is a seasoned angler fishing his rookie year with the Elite Series. The hands on favorite to win the ROY title, Herren is ever aware of the importance of good finish. “Points are important and I want to qualify for the Classic,” h said about the thought of fishing the super bowl of fishing at his home body of water, Lay Lake. “With that said, when you are in second place, you have to go for the win.”
Herren, like the many of the competitors, saw the winning fish this week, but he too was unable to convince the big bass into a short boat ride and visit to the weigh-in stage. “I saw 20 pounds of fish today,” he said.
“I spent several hours on one bass and because of a little bad luck; I didn’t get her in the boat. I had her ready to bite and then the home owner’s dog decided to take a swim and she left the nest.”
The first year BASS angler used the Sweet Beaver as his primary bait all week. “I had them rigged up with different size weights for different situations and I used the black neon and the juicy colors,” he said. “I spent the entire week focused on bed fish.”
3rd goes to Jordon
A pre-tournament favorite and day one leader, Kelly Jordon held on to finish the tournament in third. “I found a lot of big fish today,” he said. “It was a shoulda, coulda or woulda day. With a couple of good breaks, I could have had 20 pounds today.”
Jordon as he primarily does this time of year spent the last four days trying to coax big females from their beds. “I saw the biggest fish today. I would get some of them close and then the male would push them away or I couldn’t get the buck bass hooked. It just didn’t go my way out there.”
KJ used a Lake Fork Tackle craw and a LFT twitch worm as his primary arsenal on Smith Mountain. “I had a couple of bad breaks this week but I probably wouldn’t change anything,” he revealed.
“I lost some key fish and couldn’t make some other ones bite and that is the difference in 3rd and 1st."
Hackney Lands in 4th
If he had is choice, Greg Hackney would have a jig in his hand and target muddy water for the wily largemouth bass. However, SML was offering up the best sight fishing event of the year and Hackney knew his best bet wasn't to go for the bedding bass.
“I went out today with the intentions of bed fishing and as usual; I started this morning flipping for them. I caught a couple of good fish early and probably wasted too much time in the dirty water. When I went looking for bed fish, they were everywhere. I saw a ton of new fish today.”
Hackney’s ability with a jig is legendary, but it was the baby Rage Craw that accounted for most of Hackney’s weight this week. “I put a 5/0 hook in it and used it on the bed fish,” he said. “For whatever reason, the bass like that smaller bait.”
In spite of his desire to flip bait to shallow cover, Hackney admitted he should have gotten out of bed earlier. “If I could do it over again, I probably would have fished more. I spent most of my practice looking at fish and not really fishing for them. When the sight bite went away earlier in the week, I needed more areas to go to.”
5th for A-Mart
Another tournament favorite held onto to post a top five finish. Aaron Martens amassed 55 pounds over the last four days and finished in his first top ten this year. “I spent too much time in the wrong spots this week,” he admitted. “It was noon today before I made a move.”
That move paid off with a 6 pound 7 ounce bass, the biggest of the day. “I spent two hours on her before getting her to bite. I caught o couple of more, but ran out of time before I could get any other big ones.”
Martens used a combination of Texas rigged Yamamoto flapping hogs and drop shot Robo Worms as his main tools this week. “Those were my two key baits,” he said. “I used some other baits to irritate the bass, but those two were my best sight fishing baits.”
Shaw Grigsby in 6th
Grigsby is a renowned sight fisherman and he anchored many a fantasy team this week. However, a couple of missed opportunities kept the Floridian out of the top spot. “It was wonderful to make the top 12 and today was a good day,” he said.
“I just didn’t execute today.”
By his own admission, Grigsby hooked and lost the winning fish over the last four days. “I left a ton of weight out in the lake this week and that was the difference. Some things you cannot control and I just had some bad luck.”
Sometimes it is the adversity that makes a challenge worthwhile. “It is a big challenge to bed fish when the bass are biting likes this. That challenge also makes it rewarding when you do have success.”
As one of the world’s best sight fisherman, Grigsby revealed the importance of bait choice. “I used a Strike King rodent and a bleeding tube bait. The tube was the real key and that bleeding pattern help excite the fish.”
“I did the things right this week.” He said. “I got the fish to bite and that is all you can ask for.”
7th Place: James Niggemeyer
Final Day thoughts – “It was a strange day. When you sight fish several weird things can happen and today it seemed liked they all happened at once.”
Key Baits: Strike King Rage Tail Lizard
Key to the week: “The two kicker fish were key for me. The four yesterday and the 6 pounder today. They made all the difference.”
Week in Review: “It just seemed like the fish were biting funny all week I had several lost fish that really shouldn’t have come off.”
8th Place: Dean Rojas
Final Day Thoughts: “I lost this tournament. It was one of the most frustrating days on the water I’ve ever had. It was just bad luck.”
Key Baits: Fighting frog from Big Bite Baits, SPRO Bronze
Eye Frog.
Key to the week: “I found the right fish to win and just didn’t get it done. The conditions really set up well and the bite held up for the entire
tournament."
9th Place: Skeet Reese
Final Day Thoughts: “I fished all new water and targeted smallmouths today. It was fun out there today. I can’t remember the last time I caught this kind of smallmouths on beds.”
Key Baits: White Berkley Grub, Osprey Swimbait
Key to the week: I fished the best I could this week. I really happy with the way the tournament turned out. I needed the wind to blow a little more too really try swinging for the fence and I won’t complain about a top 12 finish.
10th Place: Matt Sphar
Final Day Thoughts: “I had to switch to sight fishing today and I found out I’m not that good at it. I really had a hard time figuring out how to get the big females to bite.”
Key Baits: Drop Shot and Jerk Bait
Key to the week: “The finesse bite got me to the finals. It held up for three days and just went away today. I was able to target fish the other guys weren’t going after and I think they moved or I just ran out of them.”
11th Place: Byron Velvick
Final Day Thoughts: I threw a swimbait today and they just didn’t bite today. I saw the winning fish today and just couldn’t them to bite.
Key Bait: Berkley Hollow Belly and Basstrix Swimbait
Key to the Week: “I could catch 10 to 12 pounds with the swim bait, but I should have gone to the bed fishing sooner. I only lost one fish all week; I just couldn’t get the big ones to bite.”
12th Place: Jeff Connella
Final Day Thoughts: “I went for the win today and it just didn’t happen. I tried to fish in the dirtier water and I just ran out of fish.”
Key Bait: Chatter Bait and V&M Sling Blade
Key to week: “I found fish in practice and then the water muddied up. I didn’t go back to them until Friday and that was a mistake. I should have gone sooner because they settle in and started biting well.
