Kevin Van Dam cranks to Victory of the 2021 Bass Pro Tour on Lake Chickamauga!

MASON PRINCE • BASS PRO TOUR

With the illustrious career that Kevin VanDam owns, there aren’t very many “firsts” for him anymore. But one first that has escaped him for the last two-and-a-half years is a Bass Pro Tour victory. Put together Lake Chickamauga, ledge fishing, and a crankbait—that’s a perfect formula for getting the greatest professional angler of all time his first Bass Pro Tour win in convincing fashion.

The Michigan pro was able to hold off Jacob Wheeler and Jason Lambert in the final period, finishing with 25 bass for 70 pounds, 1 ounce. While Wheeler and Lambert were able to make it interesting in the end, there’s no doubting that this tournament belonged to KVD.

KVD’s Period 3 Run the Difference

Heading into the final period on Lake Chickamauga, KVD was in fourth place on SCORETRACKER® with 30-15 and 5-7 behind hometown hero, Michael Neal. The lead had traded hands all day long on Chick, with either Neal, Wheeler, Lambert or VanDam holding the lead at some point in the first two periods. About 30 minutes into the final frame, the G.O.A.T. made his move to the top.

VanDam was able to bring in 14 bass for 39-2 in less than an hour thanks to a Strike King Series 5 XD crankbait in Blue Gizzard Shad. The Strike King pro was able to build a 30-pound lead over the rest of the field in just the blink of an eye, one that he never relented for the rest of the day.

“I knew that the afternoons were when I really needed to capitalize this week,” VanDam said. “With the TVA drawing the water out at the dam in the afternoon, I knew that if I could get that school fired up with the current I would have a special day. I found that school in practice and knew it had the potential to get me a win, I’m just glad I was able to catch enough of them.”

Michael Wooley Wins 2015 FLW Tour Lake Chickamauga with 92-4lbs!

Mammoth Win for Wooley! 

by Rob Newell

FLW PRESS RELEASE

One spot plus two lures plus 92 pounds, 4 ounces of Lake Chickamauga bass equals a $125,000 Walmart FLW Tour win for Michael Wooley.

Wooley, a second-year pro on the FLW Tour who hails from Collierville, Tenn., spends most of his fishing time somewhere on the Tennessee River, mostly on either Pickwick or Kentucky Lake.

Deep bite allowed Michael win as others moved shallow (Photo FLW)

Despite his deep knowledge of Tennessee River bass, Wooley’s win on Lake Chickamauga was about as straightforward as it gets. There were no big flashy spoons, secret hair jigs or new must-have crankbaits involved in his victory. There were no mega-schools or timing of tricky rotations.

Instead, Wooley dragged just two lures – a Zoom Magnum Trick Worm on a 1/2-ounce hand-poured shaky head and a 3/4-ounce Strike King football-head jig teamed with a Strike King Rage Lobster trailer – across a shell bar located in Dallas Bay for the win in the Tour event presented by Igloo Coolers on Lake Chickamauga.

Wooley found the fish on Sunday afternoon, the first official day of practice.

“I was idling along in Dallas Bay looking with the Lowrance DownScan when I found them,” Wooley says of the winning fish. “It was by no means a mega-school, but the size of the dots [sonar returns] was thick, which told me they were better quality fish.”

Another pass with regular sonar confirmed his suspicions.