When BASS scheduled its tournaments last year for this year's season, no one knew how important a swing through the Volunteer State could be. Both the Bassmaster Elite Series and the Women's Bassmaster Tour make back to back stops at Old Hickory Lake due to a schedule change.

BASS said if anyone thinks they've got Kevin VanDam's number, they'd better have the number four in mind. Last Sunday, the 40-year-old pro took his Bassmaster Elite Series record fourth victory. It was his 14th BASS win, and it put him on top in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points standings in his bid for his fourth AOY title.

His wire-to-wire triumph at Kentucky Lake boosted VanDam, from Kalamazoo, Mich., past two Elite pros who have been duking it out all season in the AOY standings: Todd Faircloth of Jasper, Texas, and Mike McClelland of Bella Vista, Ark.

Faircloth now trails VanDam by 65 points. McClelland is 94 points behind. Reigning AOY Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., is fourth in the points race, 145 ticks back. In fifth is Edwin Evers of Talala, Okla., who is 181 points back and Terry Scroggins of Palatka, Fla., is sixth, 271 points behind VanDam.

I know Kevin VanDam. We've talked on several occasions, mostly about who has the best smallmouth fishing, Tennessee or Michigan, and I've fished beside him in his boat. The man is a fishing machine and seems to only get better under pressure. If the other fishermen in the running for AOY weren't concerned about him before, I guarantee they are now with his recent string of successes.

With just three events remaining on the 2008 schedule, the points race is important to all Elite pros, whether or not they're among the leaders. The top 84 will qualify for the 2009 season. Pros also are vying for one of 36 berths in the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, set for Feb. 20-22 on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La.

Along with the points and prestige, the AOY title pays $250,000. The runner-up will get $100,000, and the program pays the top 50 anglers for a $1 million total payout. Moments after VanDam took his fourth Elite victory, BASS emcee Keith Alan asked VanDam for his thoughts on the AOY race.

"Winning an event is always wonderful, it's special," said VanDam, whose 14 BASS wins include two Bassmaster Classic crowns. "It's so hard to do against these guys that I don't take (a win) for granted, but Angler of the Year is the ultimate goal.

"When you compete in 11 events, all over the country, at all different times of the year, consistency is a hard thing to do. To the anglers, I think it (the AOY title) means even more than winning the Bassmaster Classic."

BASS said VanDam's focus is on the Trail to the Trophy's homestretch -- the three events remaining in the Elite season. "I want to win it bad," he said of the AOY title, "but we still have a lot of fishing to do, so I'll take it one step at a time."

Next up on the Elite trail is the June 26-29 Tennessee Triumph on Old Hickory Lake out of Hendersonville. The event was rescheduled from the Mississippi River out of Fort Madison, Iowa, where high water levels rendered the river unsafe for competition.

VanDam, who has banked more BASS career winnings than any other pro, soon could be the first to hit the $3 million mark. VanDam's total reached $2,954,958 after his $100,000 win Sunday on Kentucky Lake at the Bluegrass Brawl. He had piled on $30,000 in the previous week for his second-place finish in the Southern Challenge at Wheeler Lake out of Decatur, Ala.

BASS said bonuses from both tournaments added up to $23,000. Most of it was in Berkley Heavyweight awards: $11,000 at the Bluegrass Brawl and $11,000 at the Southern Challenge. VanDam also won a $1,000 Purolator bonus at the Bluegrass Brawl for a 6-pound, 7-ounce lunker, the big bass for Day 1. VanDam's BASS winnings this month total $153,000. And the month's not done; with the Old Hickory Lake tournament looming on the horizon. Denny Brauer of Camdenton, Mo., is the only other pro to have surpassed the $2 million mark in BASS winnings. His total is $2,266,901.

According to BASS statistics, 26 other anglers can claim membership in the BASS Millionaires Club, an exclusive group of pros who have surpassed the $1 million mark in BASS tournament winnings. Recent Elite pros crossing the threshold were Scott Rook of Little Rock, Ark., who achieved the mark at the last event on Kentucky Lake and Boyd Duckett, the 2007 Bassmaster Classic champion.

The Bassmaster Elite Series will bring its ninth tournament of the season - the Tennessee Triumph presented by Longhorn - to Old Hickory Lake out of Hendersonville, Tenn., marking BASS' seventh visit to the lake. Fishing fans can watch the on-the-water action from the June 26-29 Elite Series event on Old Hickory Lake on The Bassmasters, which airs Saturday, July 5, at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.

This week, Old Hickory will play host to a decisive tournament on the Women's Bassmaster Tour. This third event of the WBT season takes place Thursday through Saturday out of Hendersonville. The Cumberland River impoundment has been the site of four other pro-level BASS tournaments. One was a Bassmaster Top 100 event in October 1996, won by Missouri's Chad Brauer -- son of Bassmaster Elite Series pro Denny Brauer -- with a three-day total of almost 50 pounds.

WBT pros will be competing for a $51,000 top prize and points for WBT Toyota Angler of the Year. The AOY will win a Toyota Tundra and a berth in the Feb. 20-22, 2009, Bassmaster Classic on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La. That angler will make history as the first woman to qualify for a Classic.

As the third of four regular-season events, the Thursday-Saturday tournament in Tennessee will establish firm leaders in the points race. The WBT Championship, set for Lake Hamilton and Hot Springs, Ark., on Oct. 23-25, will determine the winner of the prestigious crown.

Fresh off his victory at the Bluegrass Brawl on Kentucky Lake, three-time Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the VanDam is excited about the possibilities of another big win in 2008, this time on Old Hickory Lake. In the three pro tournaments held at Hickory Lake since 1996, VanDam has three top-10 finishes - eighth (1999), fifth (1998) and ninth (1996).

BASS said other Elite Series pros who have enjoyed top-10 finishes in pro events at Old Hickory: 2008 Bassmaster Classic winner Alton Jones of Waco, Texas (fifth, 1996); four-time Classic winner Rick Clunn of Ava, Mo. (second, '96); Tommy Biffle of Wagoner, Okla. (fifth, '99), three-time Angler of the Year Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Ark. (sixth, '99; eighth, '98; ), Davy Hite of Prosperity, S.C. (seventh, '99) and Ray Sedgwick of Cross, S.C. (10th, '99; sixth, '96).

While he thinks the Tennessee Triumph will produce some big bags, VanDam doesn't think the weights will be similar to those at the two most recent Elite stops: Wheeler Lake in Decatur, Ala., and Kentucky Lake in Guntersville, Ky.

"We're there at a much different time of year than what I've fished there before," VanDam said. "But it's like a miniature Wheeler or Kentucky lake, it's got a lot of river to it on the upper end and a lot of ledges and drops on the lower end. It's a typical summertime deal, so I'm sure there'll be a good offshore bite - the lake used to have a lot of grass in it too, in the midsection, so that's always a factor there, too."