Kevin Van Dam wins BASS at Guntersville

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., is known for his fast-paced style on the water, but the two-time Bassmaster Classic champion had to shift gears into low speed Sunday to claim the Bassmaster Elite Series Southern Challenge presented by Purolator besting Mark Tucker of St. Louis, Mo., by more than seven pounds.



VanDam, who received a $100,000 top prize, stormed from fourth place and almost two pounds behind leader Terry Butcher of Talala, Okla., on Sunday with a catch of 25 pounds, 5 ounces, to finish with 66-3 on Lake Guntersville for his first victory in a Bassmaster Elite Series event. VanDam’s catch was the second-heaviest bag of the tournament, which was shortened a day due to weather.



ESPN2 will air coverage of VanDam’s comeback victory at the Southern Challenge presented by Purolator on Saturday, May 5 at 9 a.m. ET.



Tucker was second with 59-1 and Butcher finished third with 58-4. Terry Scroggins of Palatka, Fla., was fourth with 58-0 and Jason Quinn of Lake Wylie, S.C., rounded out the top five with 57-2.



The win was VanDam’s 11th career BASS victory and 67th career top 10, several of them coming on Guntersville Lake where the 39-year-old competed in the third tournament of his illustrious BASS career. It also put the three-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year winner closer to the lead in the points chase roughly halfway through the current Elite Series season. VanDam now has 1,263 points, just 25 behind leader Skeet Reese of California.



After missing the top 50 cut the week before at an Elite event on Clarks Hill Lake in Evans, Ga., VanDam, who is in first place on the Bassmaster Elite Series Power Index, tightened the screws on Guntersville. He hovered near the lead all three days, concentrating on spawning shad along grass lines with a ½-ounce Strike King KVD Pro-Model spinnerbait in blue shad and either a Strike King Series 5 or Series 6 crankbait, depending on the depth of the milfoil.



“Shad is spawning all over the lake on the ledges or grass,” the 39-year-old said. “You can throw a spinnerbait in the grass and hardly get it back because of the shad bumping the bait.



“Bass are up there capitalizing on that and if you can find a pack of them, you can catch two or three. I really had to slow down and work the spinnerbait deliberately through those areas and when a bass in that grass saw it come over their heads, they’d come up and get it.”



VanDam made milk runs to specific spots in the midlake area, keying on areas near spawning flats where bass would be moving to key on the shad spawn.



Tucker and Butcher also were keying on spawning shad, mixing up a variety of spinnerbaits, crankbaits and soft plastics around grasslines, docks and wood cover.



“You had to stay around the shad whether they were shallow or deep,” said Tucker, who worked a ½-ounce Picasso spinnerbait, ¼-ounce Chatterbait and Zoom crankbait. “If there weren’t any shad following my bait, I’d throw the crankbait and they usually would follow it, so I knew they still were there but were just deeper. After 10 a.m., they’re harder to find.”



Butcher, a 35-year-old ex bull-rider, led the first two days of the tournament but couldn’t close the deal Sunday. He plucked bass from different areas, never getting the consistent big bites he needed.



“I spent most of the day flipping docks and wood with a Yum Wooly Hawg,” he said. “They had to be specific docks near spawning areas. I just didn’t have enough to get the victory.”



After being on the road since Feb. 9 for the Bassmaster Classic and Elite Series season, VanDam wrapped up his tournament with a vow to be in Michigan with his family Monday. The tour has a two-week break before the Bassmaster American presented by Advance Auto Parts on High Rock Lake in Greensboro, N.C.



He’ll do it with the Elite Series trophy comfortably secured in his truck on the long drive.



“Anytime you can win on this series with these guys, it’s special,” he said. “This is awesome.”



Fishing fans can visit www.espnoutdoors.com for live weigh-in footage, a real-time leaderboard, photo galleries and analysis of the Bassmaster American, the first Bassmaster Major of the season.