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BACK TO BACK TO BACK WINS FOR Kevin Van Dam
(info by Jeff Pierce )

Without a doubt, the hottest bass angler in the world is Kevin Van Dam. No other angler has ever won 3 B.A.S.S. tournaments in a row that included the Bassmaster Classic. With his Lewisville and Wissota E50 wins, he secured his second Elite 50 series championship in a row. Keep in mind that the E50 series is made up of the 50 greatest bass tournament anglers. To win the series championship in both years of its existence proves KVD is the best of the best.

Kevin simply dominated the tournament trail when it counted most. KVD scored a victory at the Lake Lewisville Elite 50 event, winning by nearly 2 pounds and setting a lake record with an 11lb 13oz hawg.

The next event took him to Lake Wissota for the final Elite 50 of the season. Again, Kevin dominated under some very tough conditions and won by more than 2 pounds. This win assured Kevin of his second Elite 50 series Championship in a row.

The 2005 Citgo Bassmaster Classic presented the anglers with the toughest fishing conditions ever at a BASS event. Going into the event, Kevin told me he felt that the winning weight would be no more than 15 pounds and he was right. The best of the best fished the 3 river system and many had trouble catching any fish much less a keeper sized bass. Despite the very poor fishing and lack of any sizable fish, Kevin pounded the water and did what he had to do to win. On the last day he actually caught more than 5 keepers, allowing him to cull the smallest fish. This proved critical as Kevin won by only 6 ounces. His 3 day total of 12lbs 15oz proved to be the lowest winning total ever in a BASS event.

HOW HE DID IT

Lake Lewisville E50
In qualifying for this event Kevin fished a shaky head jig that was built on the 32746BLN Ultra Point light wire jig hook. Kevin won on the final 2 days of the event by fishing a Strike King Spinnerbait armed with the Ultra Point (2/0) 91707NWS trailer hook. The trailer hook was key in his win here as most fish were hooked on the trailer.

Lake Wissota E50
Kevin used 2 main techniques here to best the field in this tough event. One of the key patterns was fishing the Strike King 5” Zero soft plastic with a 1/0 92567R Ultra Point hook rigged wacky style. The other important pattern was throwing topwater plugs. All of the topwater plugs had a 36233BLN Triple Grip treble in the front and the 233BLNW Ultra Point Triple Grip dressed treble (white feather) on the back. The white Ultra Point dressed treble was key here as the fish were not biting aggressively. Kevin commented, “There simply is no other dressed treble on the market that comes close to the quality of the Ultra Point product.”

Bassmaster Classic
Kevin said, “The key to winning this event was losing fewer fish than your competitors, plain and simple.” The fish here are small and were simply not interested in feeding. So, those strikes that the anglers got were tentative at best as the fish were slapping at the baits more than trying to eat it. All of Kevin's fish were caught fishing a very old Smithwick Rogue stick bait armed with Ultra Point hooks. “With the way they were biting, I selected hooks that would hopefully stick them somewhere when they rolled on it, would go in easily and hold on.” To do this the front and center hooks were the Ultra Point 36102BLN in size 6 while the back hook was a size 6 Ultra Point 36233BLN Triple Grip. For those that watched the coverage of the tournament, you would have seen anglers losing lots and lots of fish. Those who finished in the top 10 lost countless fish that cost them the tournament. While Kevin did lose some fish, his hook up and landing percentage was higher and he attributes that to the quality of the Ultra Point trebles.

More than 16,000 fans cheering at the weigh-in

Product Details:

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Lake Lewisville E50:
32746BLN Jig Hooks
91707NWS 2/0 Spinnerbait Trailer Hook

Lake Wissota E50:
92567R 1/0
36233BLN sizes 4, 6
233BLNW sizes 4, 6

Bassmaster Classic:
36102BLN size 6
36233BLN size 6

In addition to these products, Kevin has been using the new Stimulate spray on his lures. This newly developed feeding stimulant has really proven itself time and time again this season. At a recent tournament Kevin said, “I have 100% confidence that the Stimulate product is producing more fish for me, especially when I'm sight fishing. If I see a fish and I have the Stimulate spray on the boat I'll catch that fish every time.” Between the two E50 wins and the Classic, Kevin traveled to Upstate NY to compete in the Mustad Ultra Point Classic. The tournament was held on Owasco Lake and included some of the very best bass anglers of all time. Kevin fished against Denny Brauer, Tommy Martin and Woo Daves in this one day event. Once again, Kevin proved to be in the zone weighing in 5 Smallmouth Bass at just under 20 pounds. The new Stimulate spray was a critical part of Kevin's U.P. Classic win. The fish came on prototypes of a new KVD Strike King Spinnerbait (built on Ultra Point hooks) and on the Strike King 5” Zero armed with the Ultra Point 92567R in 1/0. With both presentations, the Stimulate spray proved itself by triggering more bites. Denny Brauer has also been using the Stimulate spray for a few weeks now. “This Stimulate spray has really blown me away. Time and time again it gets fish to bite when nothing else will.”