LITTLE ROCK — Kevin VanDam took a sledgehammer to the Bassmaster record books last weekend at the Bassmaster Classic in New Orleans.
VanDam, of Kalamazoo, Mich., proved he is the greatest bass angler of his time and, quite likely, the greatest ever. He won his fourth Classic title and second consecutive. Rick Clunn is the only other angler to win four Classics, and the only angler to win two in a row.
It was also VanDam’s 20th Bassmaster tournament victory, surpassing Roland Martin’s record of 19. With a three-day total of 69 pounds, 11 ounces, he also shattered the Classic weight record of 56-2 set by Luke Clausen in 2006 at the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes in Florida. And, with his $500,000 Classic check, he passed $5 million in career earnings.
Scott Rook of Little Rock saw it all, from a closer perspective than anyone else. He and VanDam are best friends and room together on the road. Rook finished seventh in the tournament but finished the first round in second place, behind Aaron Martens and ahead of VanDam.
All three, as well as Derek Remitz, fished the same little area, but on the second day VanDam did what VanDam does. He found an edge, and everybody else watched his taillights for the rest of the tournament.
Rook said he and VanDam exchanged information freely and that Rook even used the same lure that VanDam used.
How did it turn out so differently for him?
“I’ve asked myself the same question a hundred times,” Rook said. “I’ve had a hundred people ask me why he’s so much better than everyone else. Why is Tiger Woods better than everyone else? I can’t really answer that.”
Rook, Martens and Van-Dam were pretty even the first day, catching fish with spinnerbaits in a big spawning flat that measured about 400 feet by 100 feet. On the second day, Rook said the bass quit eating the spinnerbait.VanDam tied on a crankbait, and Rook soon followed suit but with different results.
“He got hung up on a log and he popped it off,” Rook said. “When he popped it off, a 6-pounder ate it. From there, it was the Kevin Van-Dam Show.”
Rook observed that he caught just as many fish as VanDam, but they weren’t as big. They threw the same lure, made the same presentation and retrieved at the same speed. Basically, VanDam parked next to big cypress stumps and made as many as 50 casts at one stump until he provoked a fish to bite. Rook managed only 15-20 casts per stump, and he said that was the difference.
“You get hung up on those stumps all the time,” Rook said. “He’s got a method of popping a bait loose where he can continue to throw. I’d make 15 casts and get hung up, and I’d have to pull up my Power Pole, go over to the stump and get my bait loose and chase the fish off and ruin that spot for awhile.
“That’s the only thing I saw him do that was different than anyone else.” ARKANSANS HONORED
The National Wild Turkey Federation bestowed two of its highest honors on Arkansans at the NWTF 35th annual convention Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
Mike Widner, who recently retired as turkey biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, received the NWTF’s Wayne Bailey Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in ConservationCorp. Roger Tate, an AGFC wildlife officer from Evening Shade, won the NWTF’s National Enforcement Officer of the Year Award.
In his 36-year career with the AGFC, Widner served as Arkansas’ NWTF Technical Committee representative for 15 years. He also worked with the Arkansas NWTF board of directors to implement hundreds of Hunting Heritage State Super Fund habitat and management projects, with more than $1.5 million spent on those projects by the NWTF.
Tate is a 13-year veteran assigned to Sharp County, one of the state’s top turkey hunting areas. He has maintained a 100 percent conviction rate for years, a direct result of his preseason wild turkey investigations and effective investigative skills.
Additionally, Tate is an active NWTF volunteer who serves as a youth mentor to support our hunting heritage by instructing hunter safety classes and assisting with NWTF outreach events and other educational activities.
“I’m honored to be recognized like this,” Tate said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime career accomplishment and it means the world to me.”
Tate also recently received the 2011 Arkansas State Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award.
Sports, Pages 26 on 02/24/2011