Congrats to KVD!

[Rebbasser]

Once again, the best of the best prevails. Congrats to KVD on winning the 2010 Bassmaster Classic!

[Jrob78]

KVD is a unbelievable fisherman! Congrats indeed, although I must say I was really pulling for Jeff Kriet.

[BassinNC]

dang you lol. I just sat down on the couch with my chips and salsa to watch it on tv. Congrats kvd.

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by BassinNC

dang you lol. I just sat down on the couch with my chips and salsa to watch it on tv. Congrats kvd.

Yep. I won't be watchin till the 29th. Haha, oh well, I'm still gonna watch.
I'm glad KVD won it

[Rebbasser]

NC, I DID have second thoughts about posting it for that very reason.

[BassinNC]

Originally Posted by Rebbasser

NC, I DID have second thoughts about posting it for that very reason.

Its all good.
I had a strong feeling he would win.
Kind of like tiger woods or jimmie johnson, its what they do.

[MallenManson]

Yeah, it's fine. For some reason, it's not like a football game, where if you know the outcome, it's not worth watching.
I'll still be glued to the TV when I get a chance to watch it

[screwballl]

he is a great fisherman... but considering he sat on the beds just around the bend from the tournament release point is a bit sketchy...

no matter what, grats to him!

[carolina-rig-01]

Originally Posted by MallenManson

Yeah, it's fine. For some reason, it's not like a football game, where if you know the outcome, it's not worth watching.
I'll still be glued to the TV when I get a chance to watch it

Very true, I followed the Classic all 3 days on bassmaster.com and still got up early to watch it every morning and watched it every night. KVD is amazing, it seems like he just never makes bad decisions. I wanted Kriet to win it really bad and I feel really sorry for him, it doesn't matter what kind of tournament Kriet puts together KVD always seems to do a little better. I saw it when they came to Grand for the Sooner Run and this was no different, Jeff Kriet fished as well as anyone could expect and yet KVD goes on to come from behind and win. Kriet is a great angler who will win his share of tournaments before it is all said and done but man the poor guy has some tough luck.

[rrw4258]

Yep, KVD has dominated another event, imagine that, huuh!! But seriously, he is the best to ever fish on the face of the earth. Sure Roland Martin may have more AOY's but look how much competition KVD has know compared to what Roland had.

It's almost like KVD could see a red leaf hit the water and figure out that the fish are hitting a Series 4 Crankbait in Blue Gizzard Shad. But if that leaf was yellow they would hit Green Gizzard Shad. He is just that good!

Ryan

[Bassboss]

That dude's a real fishing machine I tell you what! This time I was not rooting for in though. This time it was Jeff Kriet, Todd Faircloth, and Ike for # 1.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by rrw4258

Yep, KVD has dominated another event, imagine that, huuh!! But seriously, he is the best to ever fish on the face of the earth. Sure Roland Martin may have more AOY's but look how much competition KVD has know compared to what Roland had.

It's almost like KVD could see a red leaf hit the water and figure out that the fish are hitting a Series 4 Crankbait in Blue Gizzard Shad. But if that leaf was yellow they would hit Green Gizzard Shad. He is just that good!

Ryan

I have to agree with Ryan. I grew up during the Roland Martin era and true enough he was the KVD of our period. The fish were far less pressured, Roland was innovative as it gets back then and he was definitely fish savvy. Having said that, I just wonder what the competition would've been like if you could just drop KVD in there with the knowledge, equipment, experiences he has now? I would imagine he would've blown the competition away, even more so than he does today. The man is simply incredible (and I bet that you would get the same compliment from Roland Martin!).

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by screwballl

he is a great fisherman... but considering he sat on the beds just around the bend from the tournament release point is a bit sketchy...

Do we know the release point was right there? I'm not particularly up on the mechanics of a big tournament like that.

However, I think it is safe to say that his biggest sack, which came on the first day, obviously was not full of bass that had been caught during the tournament.

I do wonder sometimes though, and not to ruffle anyone's feathers here, but how exactly does KVD catch more fish than anyone else? I'm pretty sure it's not the actual line in the water. He fishes baits and techniques that a lot of other guys use. I doubt he's any better at retrieving a crankbait than the other top guys.

He must simply be better at finding fish.

Which leads me to my ultimate question:

Do these guys have "scouts," who help them find fish for them during pre-fishing? It wouldn't defy any stretch of the imagination to picture a pro sending out 4-5 other guys (probably locals), to find good patterns right before the tournament. Do you think this is done?

Again, I'm not trying to impugn anyone's reputation. I just know that every competitive sport has its "dirty little secrets," kind of like the steroids mania that swept baseball in the last 20 years. They say that KVD is the Tiger Woods of bass fishing (a comparison he probably no longer appreciates ). However, even Tiger Woods is rumored to have been taking Human Growth Hormone recently. Maybe finding an edge is just part of any professional sport.

[rodnreel]

I believe it was Timmy Horton that was being interviewed and he came right out and said that Beeswax Creek is THE main release point for tournament fish. This at least could explain the big catches on day 1. He also said he believes that a lot of the fish in that area live there year round and never move and there are possibly thousands of bass in that one creek.

As for pros using 'scouts' and other local anglers that know the lake like the back of their hand...I personally do not think that happens. I'm sure they talk to locals about hot spots, patterns, where to find fish at particular times of the year, but I doubt they send guys out to scout other parts of the lake for them. The only thing guys like KVD, Ike, Faircloth, etc. would need to hear from a local is that Beeswax is the hotspot. An area that small and those guys could easily dissect it in a matter of a couple hours.

[BigBassin144]

Personally, I'm not a big KVD fan, but he is a great fisherman. So congrats to him.

I've heard one of the reasons KVD catches more fish is because he can pretty much cast farther than any other pro. If it's true or not, I don't know. But I could see where outcasting your competition and staying farther away from fish would definitely be an advantage.

BB

[basstastic]

KVD is a robot thats why he wins so much. The guy is silly when it comes to the details of fishing. When they interviewed him after weight in he said that the pattern he used was the same pattern he used two yrs ago when he lost to Boyd Duckett. He said the difference between this classic and the one two yrs ago was the weather. Two yrs ago it was warmer and the fish had started moving to beds. This classic they were still in a pre-spawn pattern. He also said that in those two classics he caught every fish on the red eye shad in that same creek channel. So he had everything figured out for this classic two yrs ago.

[Vegasspider]

I think it was one of the better classics. I also agree 1000% that KVD is the all time best. Considering the level of competition and resources it would be much harder to be a consistent #1 than ever.

All I can say all of the resources that are available to him are available to everyone else out there. He just more talent and manages it. There are plenty of people who have the talent but they are not he whole package. Same as Tiger hand someone the same shot scenario with exact equipment conditions etc and Tiger will do a better job. Personally I think KVD’s advantage is, the last 10% Scenario. For example day 1 he stayed in his spot all day. Most would have moved on not finishing the job…. The guy is simply amazing like Zona said at the end of the show, bud how did you do that? I pay no attention to release point theory – I never picked up on that any of the fish he caught was caught the day before. I think that’s fisherman theory which is lets say “not that reliable”. Congrats I also love that he does it from a Nitro and not all of this Ranger, Skeeter nonsense.

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by Vegasspider

I think it was one of the better classics. I also agree 1000% that KVD is the all time best. Considering the level of competition and resources it would be much harder to be a consistent #1 than ever.

All I can say all of the resources that are available to him are available to everyone else out there. He just more talent and manages it. There are plenty of people who have the talent but they are not he whole package. Same as Tiger hand someone the same shot scenario with exact equipment conditions etc and Tiger will do a better job. Personally I think KVD’s advantage is, the last 10% Scenario. For example day 1 he stayed in his spot all day. Most would have moved on not finishing the job…. The guy is simply amazing like Zona said at the end of the show, bud how did you do that? I pay no attention to release point theory – I never picked up on that any of the fish he caught was caught the day before. I think that’s fisherman theory which is lets say “not that reliable”. Congrats I also love that he does it from a Nitro and not all of this Ranger, Skeeter nonsense.

I'm curious why you'd say that. From what I've seen, which isn't a whole lot, Rangers and Skeeters, not to mention Champions, Tritons and most other brands hold their value a lot better than a Nitro

[nofearengineer]

So you guys are saying that it's not just the Classic that releases fish at Beeswax Creek, but a lot of others too. Okay, that makes sense. If fish are always being dumped there, then it stands to reason there would be more quality fish per acre there than other places, and every single piece of /structure/cover capable of holding fish would be.

[MallenManson]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

So you guys are saying that it's not just the Classic that releases fish at Beeswax Creek, but a lot of others too. Okay, that makes sense. If fish are always being dumped there, then it stands to reason there would be more quality fish per acre there than other places, and every single piece of /structure/cover capable of holding fish would be.

There's a similar situaton a couple hours from me. There's some kind of bass festival/tournament in Mancelona. I'm assuming these bass are coming from more than 1 lake, because they dump the keepers into Lake Bellaire which is at least 1/2 hour away.
Kinda makes sense since the guy I talked to in Bellaire was mentioning 6 pounders, while the Sportsmans Guide Map Book, which hasn't been updated in a few years, doesn't mention the big'uns.

[bassinbob]

KVD is amazing. I think he works his lures in a way that a bass just can't ignore. The best will prevail. Even if he was aware that the bass were released there what is wrong with taking advantage? Others fished the same creek. How many times have you heard guys say I used the same bait and didn't catch as many as my buddy did, what am I doing wrong? Anyways I wanted Ike to win.

[keithdog]

Congrats to KVD! Huge fan of the man from Michigan. But I would have been very happy if Jeff Kriet had won. He's a heck of a nice guy and has come so close so many times. He desearves a big win. I believe KVD is just a bit better than many of the other guys. Why? I'm guessing he just does everything a little bit better. I think he just has a better ability to do his homework and figure out what the best approach will be before he even gets to the water. Everything from reading his electronics, map study, understanding bass behavior, lure selection, casting techniques, and a deep sixth sense for whats going on under the water with those bass. Especially when you consider he was competing against guys who consider that lake to be their home waters, guys who fish it often and know it even better than KVD. He just is able to use his own talents and knowledge to come up with a game plan better than most.

[CMorg]

I believe most people with home field advantage , lose. Most of the time anyway.

[Bob Smith]

1. The Bassmaster tournament trail has a live release boat with about 10 drop bottom tanks. At night after the tournament is over they go out on the lake and drop the fish at several discreet and undisclosed locations.
2. I have it from a good source that KVD used his practice going from one end of the lake to the other and could not set up a good pattern. He opted to fish Beeswax based on his years of experience with the location was generally the only way in and the only way out for bass migrating to the spawning areas, season, water temps and prevailing weather condition and made the comment that he was going to play his cards right there, and let the fish come to him. Sounds like he the other top anglers were thinking the same thing. What I am impressed with is the amount of respect these guys show each other and they avoided poaching each other. Pure class and professionalism.

[bcklash]

I believe his preperations and mental game is a step above others.
He reminds me of Dale Earnhardt Sr. (not Jr.) I'm happy he won but Kreit winning would have me happy too. Our local boy Jeff Freeman finished 9th. Fedration Nation angler.