Kevin Van Dam Wins 2016 BASS Elite Cayuga Lake Event with 71-13lbs!

KVD is King again!
By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

KVD is BACK! (Photo BASS)

A little over six weeks ago, many professional fishing fans were wondering out loud, “What’s wrong with Kevin VanDam?”

Now those same fans must be wondering just how many gigantic moments VanDam has ahead of him.

After recording his 21st career victory at Louisiana’s Toledo Bend Reservoir in May, VanDam won again Sunday, coming from behind to claim the $100,000 first-place prize in the Busch Beer Bassmaster Elite at Cayuga Lake. After going five years between victories, the Michigan superstar has now won twice in seven weeks.

VanDam, went into Sunday’s final round in third place, almost 2 pounds out of the lead. But a final-day catch of 15 pounds, 7 ounces put him over the top with a four-day mark of 71-13. Jordan Lee, a 24-year-old Alabama angler who led going into the final round, finished second with 70-12.

“You just never know how things are going to go out here,” said VanDam, who extended his own B.A.S.S. record with his 22nd career win. “I’ve said it many times before. It’s really hard to win against these guys.

“I feel pretty lucky today, for sure. I didn’t have a great day today.”

Unlike Toledo Bend, which he described as the “toughest tournament he ever won,” VanDam went into the Cayuga Lake event with a lot of confidence based on what he’d seen in practice. He used a variety of patterns throughout the week and exploited the lake’s solid populations of both largemouth and smallmouth bass.

2012 Elite Series Green Bay Challenge: JVD Wins His First BASSMASTER Tournament!

By Ken Duke

Bass Press Release

Jul 1, 2012

Finally nails a win!
(Photos: BASS)

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Four days on Lake Michigan produced four different tournament leaders at the Bassmaster Elite Series Green Bay Challenge, but it was the leader at the end of today's final competition round who takes home the trophy, $100,000 in first-place prize money and an automatic berth in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.
That distinction belongs to Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., who bested 97 of the best bass anglers in the world with a four-day catch of smallmouth bass weighing 79 pounds, 2 ounces. He saved his best performance for the last round, boating a limit of five smallmouth that weighed 23-4 to edged Idaho's Brandon Palaniuk, the tournament leader going into the final round by 4 ounces.

He was sight fising cruising beasts.

VanDam fished a Strike King Dream Shot plastic worm in KVD Magic (green and silver with blue flake) on a drop shot rig above a 3/8-ounce sinker for the bulk of his catch. Though he struggled early, falling behind Palaniuk and others, he came on strong in the last couple of hours to claim the championship.
"I went through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows today," VanDam said on stage moments before his uncle, legendary angler Kevin VanDam, handed him the tournament trophy and set a Green Bay Packers' cheese head atop his fishing cap. "I didn't have my first keeper until about noon. I was a train wreck but I kept grinding, and it paid off."
Along with the Elite Series win and six-figure payday, VanDam earns a berth in the 2013 Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake out of Tulsa, Okla. It will be his first appearance in the championship that his Uncle Kevin has dominated with 22 consecutive appearances and four wins since 2001.