BUFFALO, N.Y. — In the final round of the Bassmaster Classic Bracket event on the upper Niagara River, Michigan's Kevin VanDam collected his 23rd B.A.S.S. win in a dramatic ending to this first-of-its-kind tournament.
In today's championship match, VanDam was pitted against Brett Hite of Arizona, and fans were able to watch live on Bassmaster.com as the two Elite Series anglers clashed rods for a berth in the 2017 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro and a $10,000 first-place payday. Unlike the first two elimination brackets of this derby — and traditional Elite Series tournaments — where a five-fish limit was the goal, every legal-size bass caught today was weighed and counted.
VanDam, who was worried about the change in format after it was announced Thursday, had no issues locating and catching enough fish to eliminate Hite, as he landed 11 bass that weighed-in at 20 pounds, 3 ounces.
"I hit a whole lot of spots looking for keepers, but really the key to my weight today was a spot where I caught my biggest fish (Thursday)," VanDam said. His key area was a flat littered with grass and rock that slowly dropped from 5 to 10 feet deep. And there was plenty of current. "Fish spawn here a lot later than people think, and I was sight-casting to a lot of smallmouth."
VanDam swapped between three Strike King baits, including a tube, drop shot and jerkbait. "The drop shot was key on the sight-fish, but being able to cover water with the jerkbait in this crazy Niagara River current was important in connecting with fish."
Hite committed to fishing a bridge on the northernmost boundary of competition waters, where he easily eliminated his first two opponents.
"I identified three pilings in the center of the bridge that were holding nice schools of bass," he explained. "The water was 10 to 18 feet deep and I drop shotted with a Yamamoto Shad Shape worm the whole time."
Unfortunately for Hite, those bass had lockjaw during the championship match. "It was really overcast today, and I think I needed sun to position those fish where I could catch them," he said. "Plus, we had a strong cross-current wind that could have messed 'em up."
He caught a little more than 7 pounds on the bridge during the first five hours of competition.
"I ditched the bridge pattern with an hour left in the match and caught two keepers quickly," Hite said. "And I was fighting a third keeper as the buzzer went off. I made a big mistake by not leaving that bridge earlier." Hite ended with seven bass weighing 13-9.
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