Kevin VanDam Wins AOY! 2025

Glenn reply :

Woo Hoo!

CAdeltaLipRipper reply :

i thought skeet reese already won it?

Big Tom reply :

Crazy. KVD is just absolutely unstoppable.

I wonder how Skeet is feeling right now? He was getting choked up at the weigh in.

WoolleyBass reply :

Wow that's his sixth now. That guy is a flippin animal.

Roby

hmongkidBee reply :

simply AMAZING. KVD all the way. Sorry Skeet Reese, but you got beaten by the best.

Captain Obvious reply :

My heart goes out to Skeet, after the year he had to loose it at the end like that is almost unfair.

KVD is a freak, I'm putting him in there right now as one of the best ever.

I think he tops Jordon, Tiger, Kobe, Jimmy Johnson, Nadal, Pele etc......

In a sport where one Classic or AOY can make or break you and success is measured in how many times you finish in the top 12. No one should be able to do what he has done. KVD is the best ever period

Capt.O

hookingem reply :

The guy is pure amazing! He is smartest angler out on the water and really knows his stuff!

Glenn reply :

Here's the story

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_123/bass-alabama-river1-10.html

A-Jay reply :

Kevin VanDam IS THE MAN !

At the beginning of the week I didn't know if he could actually pull it off but I couldn't picture him losing either. Considering the phenomenal year Skeet Reese had and realize that at one point this year KVD was like 40th or something in the AOY points race - to see him win the thing almost defies logic.

I do feel bad for Skeet as well. But there always next year Mr. Reese.

A-Jay

Hook Set reply :

He's at the top of his game for sure!

Gotta respect the guy.

Bass_Akwards reply :

KVD DOMINATES!

The guy is almost just messing with the field at this point. I obviously say this tounge and cheek but it's like the guy is purposely just trying to win AOY in as many different ways as he can before he dies so this year he chose to make everyone think he had no legit shot to win it until close to the end. As if he was trying to prove he can come back from a near insurmountable lead just in the nick of time, only to surgically remove Skeets heart, and have it mounted on his wall.

Doesn't matter a lick if KVD wins or doesn't win when he WANTS to. What makes the wizard such a complete dominator is the fact that he almost always win when he NEEDS to. Dude is just cold blooded and a true freak of nature. Congrats Mr. VD.

OHIO reply :

Quote
My heart goes out to Skeet, after the year he had to loose it at the end like that is almost unfair.
KVD is a freak, I'm putting him in there right now as one of the best ever.

I think he tops Jordon, Tiger, Kobe, Jimmy Johnson, Nadal, Pele etc......

In a sport where one Classic or AOY can make or break you and success is measured in how many times you finish in the top 12. No one should be able to do what he has done. KVD is the best ever period

Capt.O

He definatley does not top jordan.

Bubba_Bruiser reply :

The man is flat out at an expert at what he does. I know it is off subject, but he kept talking at the Classic about how Kriet kept running up short a bad luck throughout the season and always coming up short. And the announcer dead eyed him and said, you wanna know his bad luck, you look at it in the mirror every morning, or something like that. The man is just a relentless machine on the water though. I wish I had a quarter of his know how and drive.

Grey Wolf reply :

The cream rises to the top again.

NBR reply :

I didn't think he had much of a chance and while I feel sad for Skeet I am a KVD fan. Many years ago I bought a boat from an absolutely super nice young man who at the time announced that he and Don were turning pro.

Little did I know that the youngster would be known far and wide in the bass world as KVD. More important is the last time I had a chance to talk with Kevin he remained a very nice person. Just a class act in every thing he does.

Crestliner2008 reply :

Fantastic job for KVD. A true competitor. However, this was very close for him. He performed poorly the first half of the season and I thought for sure Reese would pull it off. I think it's getting harder and harder for KVD to stay on top. I hope I wrong though....he's tops in my book.

fishermantony reply :

He is the man. We are fortunate to have him in this sport, he's got everything. Possibly the fiercest competitor bass fishing has ever seen, up there at the top of the list of fiercest competitors in all sports. Man has got all my respect.

Scorcher214 reply :

Well, i guess im gonna have to wait to go pro(What a joke lol)...I wont win anything with him out there.

slonezp reply :

How about changing the title of the thread to "Skeet Reese Loses AOY" As others have said Skeet had an incredible year. He just couldn't clinch it. That being said IMO KVD is a better angler and I'm glad he won.

A-Jay reply :

Quote
How about changing the title of the thread to "Skeet Reese Loses AOY" As others have said Skeet had an incredible year. He just couldn't clinch it. That being said IMO KVD is a better angler and I'm glad he won.

I would tend to agree that this title was Skeet's to lose, but once he opened the door by not putting it away when he had the chance there were several anglers who COULD have taken the title but didn't - for what ever reason. And talk about bad luck ~ Arron Martins had some crazy fish kill thing going on the week before and that really hurt his chances. These guys catch, keep and release fish for A Living. What was that all about ?

A-Jay

salmicropterus reply :

So where's that thread "What's the matter with KVD this Year" from a few months ago. Guess it doesn't matter what the score is in the 4th inning. A great feat as he just ground away the second half of the year. Mental toughness, not to say that Skeet doesn't have it too, it's just KVD has so much.

K_Mac reply :

KVD is just a winner. He doesn't have to lead every lap, but come crunch time you know he is going to be there. I do feel a little bad for Reese. It was his to lose...

Jake. reply :

What a bad format for Angler of the Year. Congrats to KVD, but BASS (read ESPN) needs to rethink this system....

K_Mac reply :

Quote
What a bad format for Angler of the Year. Congrats to KVD, but BASS (read ESPN) needs to rethink this system....

I completely agree.

mi_basser reply :

Congrats to Kevin, I *** his ability. Just think if he ever figured out how to catch fish west of the Mississippi River he would be totally unstoppable. He never seems to do well in California and the "Big Bass" fisheries of Texas.

CAdeltaLipRipper reply :

Quote

Quote
My heart goes out to Skeet, after the year he had to loose it at the end like that is almost unfair.
KVD is a freak, I'm putting him in there right now as one of the best ever.

I think he tops Jordon, Tiger, Kobe, Jimmy Johnson, Nadal, Pele etc......

In a sport where one Classic or AOY can make or break you and success is measured in how many times you finish in the top 12. No one should be able to do what he has done. KVD is the best ever period

Capt.O

He definatley does not top jordan.

He tops everyone.Hes is his mid 40s dude and hes already out preformed every bass fisherman in history. He hasnt even peaked yet not even close. 3 bassmaster classics, 6 AOYs,over 17 tournaments,a bunch of top 10 and top 5 finishes, and top 20s.He is the man

5bass reply :

Quote
But there always next year Mr. Reese.

He was talking that talk after he got screwed the same way last year. ;D

littlefisher reply :

What a heart breaker for this to happen to Skeet two years in a row. But, with that said, KVD is the man, and he has earned every bit of respect from everyone in the industry today.

I am a huge fan of both Skeet and KVD, and it is exciting to see both of them fighting for the AOY title. I really thought Skeet couldn't lose it after the start that he had to the season. And, I have to admit, I was really hoping he was going to edge out Vandam when he came up to the scales, but that's not the way it played out.

Congrats to KVD, and my heart goes out to Skeet. Looking forward to hopefully seeing those two dual it out in New Orleans in a few months .

J Francho reply :

They should change the title to Angler of the Past Few Weeks. KVD is the man, but the format stinks.

Bass_Akwards reply :

Quote
They should change the title to Angler of the Past Few Weeks. KVD is the man, but the format stinks.

There's 8 weeks in the entire regular season. I think being the best for a few weeks is tougher and more important than you think.

If most Elite series guys could be "Angler of the past few weeks" in the regular season more often, they'd make a hell of a lot more money on tour, and be recognized as even better anglers than they are now. They'd also make the top 12 at the end of the year more often.

Being "Angler of the past few weeks" is super important in the regular season, but to be "Angler of the past few weeks" when it REALLY matters? That's KVD.

Having said that, the format really does stink. It'll be fun to see how the format changes and how KVD adjusts to it so he can dominate 5 out of 8 AOY's after the change.

Glenn reply :

Well, he hasn't topped ALL the records just yet. Roland Martin has 9 AOY titles under his belt.

But nonetheless, KVD is a fishing machine. He's not even human. Simply amazing.

shootermcbob reply :

Many people seem to not like the format. I am not sure if folks are Skeet fans and are unhappy he did not win, or if they really just don't care for the format.

One point for all to remember is that all the elite anglers are operating under the same rules for the entire season, which includes the post season.

Skeet had a tremendous first part of the year, but he did not close the deal...again.

I did not think anyone could catch him, but he stumbled late in the season, even failing to catch a limit on the second day of the lake jordan tourney.

Skeet left the door open a crack, and KVD and Edwin Evers passed him in the last tournament.

J Francho reply :

I just don't get it. Bass fishing is neither a game, nor is it a sport. The best angler of the year should be the one that fished better than the rest, for that year. That would be weight/points. In the current format, you don't need to be the best to win. You only need to be good enough to get in, and then do well when it counts. In other words, Angler of the Past Few Weeks. I don't mean to diminish Kevin's success, but this win is not as good as others, in the past.

And BTW, with this format, I think Roland's record is in dire jeopardy.

ChiCityBasser reply :

Congrats to KVD and true the new format might suck but didn't Gerald Swindle win AOY without winning a tourney under the old format...

Don't think too many were happy with that either.

Big Bass Chaser reply :

Quote
I just don't get it. Bass fishing is neither a game, nor is it a sport. The best angler of the year should be the one that fished better than the rest, for that year. That would be weight/points. In the current format, you don't need to be the best to win. You only need to be good enough to get in, and then do well when it counts. In other words, Angler of the Past Few Weeks. I don't mean to diminish Kevin's success, but this win is not as good as others, in the past.

Boogey Man reply :

I don't follow BASS like I used to so I'm a little lost on the "post season" events. I thought they shortened the regular season and replaced the last two events with these two post season tourneys. If that's the case, if Skeet and KVD would have finished in the same positions in these last two events (and these last two tourneys had been "regular season" tournaments), would KVD still have passed Skeet and won AOY?

NorcalBassin reply :

Quote
... if Skeet and KVD would have finished in the same positions in these last two events (and these last two tourneys had been "regular season" tournaments), would KVD still have passed Skeet and won AOY?

Nope, Skeet would have won by a mile. The last two tourneys are weighted HEAVILY and pretty much shrinks your lead to a low enough level that 2 so-so tournaments by the leader and a couple good tourneys from someone nowhere near the lead in the regular season results in the guy that was out of it in the regular season being the AOY.

It's all about how you finish... congrats to KVD yet again.

wisconsin heat reply :

the postseason is total

CAdeltaLipRipper reply :

Quote
Well, he hasn't topped ALL the records just yet. Roland Martin has 9 AOY titles under his belt.
But nonetheless, KVD is a fishing machine. He's not even human. Simply amazing.

But think about it roland was like 20 years older than kevin and he got 9 aoys. Kevins already got 6

Dinky reply :

Quote

Quote
... if Skeet and KVD would have finished in the same positions in these last two events (and these last two tourneys had been "regular season" tournaments), would KVD still have passed Skeet and won AOY?

Nope, Skeet would have won by a mile. The last two tourneys are weighted HEAVILY and pretty much shrinks your lead to a low enough level that 2 so-so tournaments by the leader and a couple good tourneys from someone nowhere near the lead in the regular season results in the guy that was out of it in the regular season being the AOY.

It's all about how you finish... congrats to KVD yet again.

Evers was real close going into the two "playoff" tournaments and if they had been regular tournaments couldn't he have passed Skeet?

VanDam actually closed the gap quite a bit at the end of the season--but the question is: was he close enough (in 5th place if I recall) to overtake Reese if the last two tournaments had been regular tournaments?

Also, if Skeet had maintained a wide lead in the AOY points going in to the two "playoff" tournaments could he still have won it all with a so-so performance in them?

Wish someone would set out how the points are/were adjusted. I can't find it on Bassmaster site.

J Francho reply :

Clunn's take on post-season 8/2/2010 (from another site.COM)

Four-time Bassmaster Classic winner Rick Clunn recently gave another sites his take on the U.S. Open cheating incident, and today he called to offer his opinion on the Bassmaster Elite Series post-season. He wishes it'd never been dreamt up.

"Really the thing that's a very sad travesty is what's been done to Skeet Reese the last couple of years," he said of the Californian who led the Angler of the Year (AOY) points list after each of the last 2 regular seasons, but lost the title to Kevin VanDam in the post-season on each occasion. "I'm not trying to pick on Kevin I'm one of his biggest fans and all he does is goes out and fishes as hard as he can, and he's really a victim in this too with some people claiming it's his fault. But I can't imagine how anybody thinks this is a fair system.

"Skeet had a lead of over a hundred points, and then through somebody's mathematical ignorance it gets reduced down to 15 points. Then (BASS) makes the (4 post-season days spread over two events) more important than the other 32 days the man has fished during the season.

"They want to make it more like NASCAR," he continued, "but NASCAR has never been a fair sport, anyway. People in that sport have always tried to pull shenanigans and I don't think it's something we should be trying to copy. The people who run these tournaments don't understand how important the format is to the integrity, and what they've done is taken away the credibility of the Angler of the Year."

Clunn called Reese's season which included two wins, two runner-up finishes and two 5ths in eight outings one of the best he can recall in his 37 years as a tour pro.

"I understand that they want (the AOY race) to be competitive going down to the end, but they've really erased a historical year they've basically put a lid on it and artificially gutted it. This is a farce and it's embarrassing and it's not fair to anybody.

"Anytime you try to handicap or socialize a performance-based sport, the end result is that you end up diluting it. Maybe it didn't seem so bad last year when the points were closer going in, but this year it's really been exposed."

Big Tom reply :

Rick Clunn knows whats up.

I agree with everything he said.

tyrius. reply :

Quote
Rick Clunn knows whats up.
I agree with everything he said.

Yep. Skeet was the best angler over the course of the year. KVD, was the best for the last two tourneys. Seems awfully strange to call KVD the AOY when Skeet's stats over the course of the year are so much better than KVD's.

NorcalBassin reply :

Props to Clunn... that's a straight shooter right there.

Dinky reply :

Finally found the scoring system on the web site.

Seems unfair for Reese to have to defend the last two tournaments against anyone who could not have beaten him if (a) the last 2 tournaments were scored the same as the first 8 and if ( he (Reese) had whiffed the last 2 and his closest competitor had won both of them.

Evers would probably be the only one who could have caught him--maybe not depending on how many points are awarded for a regular tournament.

Still, it seems unfair for the AOY leader to have to defend the last two tournaments against anyone who could not have caught them if they were regular tournaments.

Anyone want to bet it is changed next year with Bass being sold to Jerry McKinnis et al?

ChiCityBasser reply :

Quote
Finally found the scoring system on the web site.
Seems unfair for Reese to have to defend the last two tournaments against anyone who could not have beaten him if (a) the last 2 tournaments were scored the same as the first 8 and if ( he (Reese) had whiffed the last 2 and his closest competitor had won both of them.

Evers would probably be the only one who could have caught him--maybe not depending on how many points are awarded for a regular tournament.

Still, it seems unfair for the AOY leader to have to defend the last two tournaments against anyone who could not have caught them if they were regular tournaments.

Anyone want to bet it is changed next year with Bass being sold to Jerry McKinnis et al?

I can agree I think it will be changed next year with Bass being sold.

5bass reply :

Quote
Rick Clunn knows whats up.
I agree with everything he said.

Yep. Clunn knows what's up and I agree with him 100%.

shootermcbob reply :

I too agree with what Rick Clunn has said.

I think the winner of should be the person who did it the best and the longest.

However, in sports, teams, drivers, anglers, don't always get what they want. Money trumps all. Sadly.

I also think Skeet had a great year, but the fact is he didn't produce at crunch time...for the second year in a row. That has to be eating at him.

mi_basser reply :

If you want to keep the "playoff" system the way it is they should invert the schedule every other year so Skeet and the guys who do well out west are fishing their strong waters in the playoff and guys like KVD are fishing their appearingly "weaker" waters then.

I don't like the playoff either way but having the playoff in the south/southeast isn't fair to the guys who are the stronger western fisherman.

gobig reply :

Cooch had a pretty similar perspective to Rick Clunn.

REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS..8 Events

2010 Muskogee, OK - Muskogee, OK Pro Points

After Arkansas River, Muskogee, Okla. Ending 06-20-2010, Day 4

-------------------------------------------

Place..Name........St........Pts

-------------------------------------------

1 Skeet Reese....Calif.....2116

2 Edwin Evers.....Okla....2010

3 Cliff Pace..........Miss....1868

4 Derek Remitz....Ala......1854

5 Terry Butcher....Okla...1841

6 Kevin VanDam..Mich....1825

Finishes:

Skeet: 2nd,,5th,,,1st,,,,5th,,,1st,,59th,48th,2nd

KVD:....29th,59th,22nd,57th,9th,38th,1st,,,6th

Toal Weigh:

Skeet:..508 lbs

KVD:.....393 Lbs

Winnings

Skeet: $332.5K

KVD:....$156K

2010 Elite Series Championship Week Standings - 2 Events

Points

Skeet: Starts 216.. ends 260

KVD:....Starts 185.. ends 275

(I don't git this part, probably some assinine formula somewhere)

Finishes

Skeet: 6th & 10th

KVD: 3rd & 1st

Weight

Skeet: 42.11lbs

KVD:....64.3lbs

Winnings

Skeet: $0

KVD:....$260K

Pay real close attention here folks to the numbers, it's REALLY clear and simple to understand! Out of 10 events, Skeet outfished KVD 6 vs 4 times. Over the first 8 Tournaments, Skeet absolutely smokes the entire Elite field by 100+ points of his nearest competitor. He whoops KVD's . by d**n near triple that at 291 points. Yet by some magical formula and two year end events, BASS in their infamous, asinine way, allows a completely dominated angler the opurtunity, to sneak in and grab something he truely didn't EARN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't give a shat about this whole thing that they all knew the rules coming in, that's an absolute moot point. BASS has made a mockery of Angler Of the Year. Clearly, to allow someone to make up 291 points over 2 events, is assinine! What would have been even worse, is if Russ Lane or Aaron Martens had managed to win this thing, making up 350 points in two tournaments! AOY is a title competitors EARN in sports for your overall performance thru the year. Although he was awarded the title, over the entire season, he did not earn it, the numbers don't lie. The only thing KVD beat Skeet at ALL year long, was total winnings, where KVD had $416K to Skeet's $332.5K, of which $260K was from that final event.

It's a complete joke, shame on BASS! Congrats to Skeet for the finest season ever on the BASS Elite Tour! Regardless of the way it turned out, you WERE, BASS' AOY, the numbers don't lie!

Matt Fly reply :

If anything, last year should have prepared most of you guys for this type of finish to the AOY race.

Ike came from 11th in points last year to almost win it with 2 post season tournaments.

Skeet had the lead with 249, KVD was 233, and Ike was in 3rd with 225.

Post season brings pressure, Skeet had a great regular season, so did the Patriots at 16-0.

How did the post season work out for the Patriots?

I'm sure AOY will get some minor tweeking under new ownership.

I've only see 10 different AOY formats over the years, its not like ESPN is the only ones to ever change AOY formats.

Its been done with regular season, through the 150's, with Pro/Ams, a combination of some.

alwayslooking reply :

KVD beat the class the old way, and the new way,,this is 3 in a row,,like the post season or not, the man is GOOD

ChiCityBasser reply :

After watching the replays of the post season tournament it seems Skeet just couldn't get it together and had several fish come off after the initial hook set.

shootermcbob reply :

Skeet choked. Too bad to because he seems like a really good man. I enjoy his blog on espn.

He had a great year, however, in the end run, the numbers don't lie. Final TTAOY standings:

KVD 275

Edwin Evers 265

Skeet Reese 260

sbrown reply :

Clunns take on it was dead on. I think the new ownership at BASS will address the post season format. I hate it for Skeet, but you cannot take anything way from KVD. He was awesome and Skeet did not perform his best with a 4 fish day during the post season. As for the whole season, Skeet was the man.

I would like to see Brent Ehrler qualify for the Elites. I read he is fishing the Northern Opens, so maybe it will happen.

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Kevin VanDam Wins AOY! 2025

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