KVD is a MACHINE

[elnutsmalljaws]

All props go to KVD BUT..... Skeet is my AOY because he was the most dominating force throughout the year! angler of the YEAR, not the way this thing wound up. If I was Skeet I probably would have to look at myself and say "DUDE, you blew it", but on the same hand the man still needs to hold his head up because he did dominate all year and he was a victim of a format, KVD had bad tourneys throughout the year and it didn't cost him as bad as Skeet having a bad tourney in the format they set up.

If I went up against Elwood fishing for smallies on Dale and - "I" won once doesn't make me the better of the two when he could wax my rear 7 previous times and could do it time and time again. It just doesn't seem right, in fact allot of the guys are having fits because they made the same type of format as NASCAR, and I know - I know, that is the format but come on............ and I like KVD as much as I like Skeet but fair is fair

You would win all 8 of them. I FISH I don't CATCH especially at Dale.

[offdtop]

lol... sorry Woody I guess i should have added "in December"

[Mean Morone]

I think Joe Thomas would love to have these two guys come on his match fishing show and see who would win. I'm not that much of a bass guy, but even I can see that KVD is a machine. I would much rather watch him fish than just about anyone else, cept maybe Al Lindner.

[smljaw]

Elnut, you are 100% correct! KVD grinded it out for the post season win. And remember, he started off the year by winning The Classic.

Now, regarding Skeet... That guy was awesome throughout the year. I was left shaking my head when he won The Blueridge Brawl on Smith Mt. Lake by 15 pounds. Really???!!! And by throwing a big swimbait. Again, really???!!!

[elnutsmalljaws]

lol... sorry Woody I guess i should have added "in December"

I did not know you could catch Smallmouth at Dale Hollow in December. When did this start happening? Any tips you could give a fella ? Seems the water would be too cold for the fish and fishermen at that time. My guess is a Carolina Rigged Pink Double Blade Buzzbait with a 10" Black Grape Powerwom trailer would work in December.

[mhall]

Elnut, you are 100% correct! KVD grinded it out for the post season win. And remember, he started off the year by winning The Classic.

Now, regarding Skeet... That guy was awesome throughout the year. I was left shaking my head when he won The Blueridge Brawl on Smith Mt. Lake by 15 pounds. Really???!!! And by throwing a big swimbait. Again, really???!!!

And not just a big swim bait, that thing was huge, it looked like some of those monster Gizzards we use at the river to catch the whiskered ones.

[roadrunner]

I did not know you could catch Smallmouth at Dale Hollow in December. When did this start happening? Any tips you could give a fella ? Seems the water would be too cold for the fish and fishermen at that time. My guess is a Carolina Rigged Pink Double Blade Buzzbait with a 10" Black Grape Powerwom trailer would work in December.

You got it; I'm sure that is what you won the Westmoreland Tourney on.

[elnutsmalljaws]

You got it; I'm sure that is what you won the Westmoreland Tourney on.

You caught me, I admit it. It was not a Double Bladed Pink Buzzbait, it was a Single Blade Orange Buzzbait. Besides, I did not win the Westmoreland, Catchemall did. I was just a NETBOY.

[davidsa]

I was not keeping up and can not believe KVD won. Some may look at what Skeet lost but I prefer to think of the incredible finish for KVD. KVD can just flat out fish when it counts most. I think I could take a deep crank down to Barkley or Kentucky right now and I would have to work hard to catch any fish on it and this guy can use the same lure to catch fish on about any lake any time with 50 boats around him. Just amazing!

[Tim_T]

I discussed this on the radio last Sunday. I am not really a fan of the new format, but it is what it is. It is possible it might change under the new ownership, that remains to be seen. I kind of equate it to the NCAA tournament, where you could be like UNLV did in 1992, go undefeated all season and lose in the final four.

All that being said, KVD IMO is the best bass tournament angler ever. He has made over $4.5 million in tournament earnings, way ahead of second place. 19 BASS wins, three Classic Championships, six BASS angler of the Year titles, plus an FLW Tour angler of the year. All this and he is only 43 years old. I could see him tying or pasing Clunn's four Classic titles and the same with Roland's nine Angler of the Year titles. All of this when the competition is much tougher top to bottom than it was back in the day.

Speaking of KVD he was on ESPN's First Take sports show and here is a link to the show.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=543...goryid=4096010

[Bradd]

First, I would like to state - KVD is a Machine. I think he is the best I have ever seen. He has the bass fishing business figured out. Not only does he have the ability to find and pattern fish, he has the personality, business savvy, and competitive drive. He is a Machine. I feel bad for Skeet this year, but KVD is not built to just sit back and not compete.

I have to choose my words carefully or I will just confuse people with my position on the post-season. I like the post-season for the fact that you get to see the best in the world fish under tougher conditions and in the dead of summer. The majority of the BASS season ranges from late winter to Post-Spawn. Sure we get a couple tournaments on early summer patterns, but what about the dead of summer and fall? BASS seems to put the majority of tournaments on lakes that they can whack them and in the "prime times." I want to see these guys fish it all. A tough tournament here and there to remind me of the conditions I usually fish is refreshing. Boy are they good! I like seeing these guys fish. So I like the Post Season for those reasons.

What I don't like is how the shrink down the points so everyone could win in the top 12. I have not studied exactly how they do that, but I do have a problem with Skeet's commanding lead being shrunk down to make it more competitive race. Hey, I will be the first to admit maybe it is fair and I just have not looked into it enough. On the surface it seems a bit unfair, but in the majority of sports you have a playoff system in place. March Madness is my favorite sports time of the year. Does this fit into fishing?

Correct me if I am wrong but college football and golf are the most popular sports that don't have a playoff system in place. In my opinion, the PGA probably most resembles BASS instead of college football. I don't know what the new group should do with the tournaments, Classic, and post season. BASS has tried a lot of different things. They have an opportunity to change and I wish them the best on finding the right ingredients to get BASS rocking for everyone!

[Jbyrd]

First, I would like to state - KVD is a Machine. I think he is the best I have ever seen. He has the bass fishing business figured out. Not only does he have the ability to find and pattern fish, he has the personality, business savvy, and competitive drive. He is a Machine. I feel bad for Skeet this year, but KVD is not built to just sit back and not compete.

I have to choose my words carefully or I will just confuse people with my position on the post-season. I like the post-season for the fact that you get to see the best in the world fish under tougher conditions and in the dead of summer. The majority of the BASS season ranges from late winter to Post-Spawn. Sure we get a couple tournaments on early summer patterns, but what about the dead of summer and fall? BASS seems to put the majority of tournaments on lakes that they can whack them and in the "prime times." I want to see these guys fish it all. A tough tournament here and there to remind me of the conditions I usually fish is refreshing. Boy are they good! I like seeing these guys fish. So I like the Post Season for those reasons.

What I don't like is how the shrink down the points so everyone could win in the top 12. I have not studied exactly how they do that, but I do have a problem with Skeet's commanding lead being shrunk down to make it more competitive race. Hey, I will be the first to admit maybe it is fair and I just have not looked into it enough. On the surface it seems a bit unfair, but in the majority of sports you have a playoff system in place. March Madness is my favorite sports time of the year. Does this fit into fishing?

Correct me if I am wrong but college football and golf are the most popular sports that don't have a playoff system in place. In my opinion, the PGA probably most resembles BASS instead of college football. I don't know what the new group should do with the tournaments, Classic, and post season. BASS has tried a lot of different things. They have an opportunity to change and I wish them the best on finding the right ingredients to get BASS rocking for everyone!

I think everyone is blaming skeet not winning on the format. Ok, first if he had continued to catch fish this thread would have not been started. SECOND his lead was not entirely erased by the post season, the last 2 events of the year he bombed. One he didn't even make the top 50 cut.Every fishermen knows guys get on hot streaks.Skeets streak end too early and KVD kicked in at a perfect time. Feel sorry for EVERs he caught skeet and passed him and STILL THE MACHINE caught both of them !!!!!