KVD Wins the 2016 BASS Elite Toledo Bend

The King had returned. 
By Bryan Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASESuperstar professional angler Kevin VanDam often deals with a different set of circumstances than the average angler on the Bassmaster Elite Series.

With such a sparkling resume, many fans' expectations for VanDam are much higher. With such a recognizable name and face, the number of people who want to catch a glimpse of him doing his thing on the water is sometimes off the charts.

Because of all that, many people have wondered aloud these past five years if VanDam would ever win another major tournament. But he was never one of them — and now, he's silenced all of his doubters.

Van Dam scratches out his 21st BASS title. (Photo: BASS)

VanDam slammed the door on a wire-to-wire victory at the A.R.E. Truck Caps Bassmaster Elite at Toledo Bend with 21 pounds, 6 ounces of bass on Championship Sunday. The big bag gave him a four-day total of 96-2 and his record 21st victory in a B.A.S.S. event.

"This was the most challenging tournament I've ever won," said VanDam, who raised his career earnings with B.A.S.S. to just over $5.9 million with Sunday's $100,000 payday. "The first two days were pretty good, but the last two days were really, really tough.

"It's normally not hard fishing here. But with the pressure out there this week, trying to be there at the right time when the conditions were right, it was tough."

VanDam caught 29-5 Thursday and 20-11 Friday to lead the field into Saturday's semifinal round with 50-0. But with the weekend, the lake became more crowded — and at times, VanDam had as many 50 boats following him from spot to spot.