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California's Skeet Reese Edges
New Jersey's Mike Iaconelli by 11 Ounces to Win 2009 Bassmaster
Classic
 Skeet
Reese from Auburn, California celebrates winning the 2009 Bassmaster
Classic. Photo by Kathy Barker
February 22, 2009 - SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER CITY,
La. After Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., realized his
first career goal in 2007 of winning the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster
Angler of the Year award in the Bassmaster Elite Series, he set
his sights on winning bass fishing's ultimate event.
Just 1 12 years later, Reese fulfilled the dream,
winning the 2009 Bassmaster Classic Sunday on the Red River with
54 pounds, 13 ounces, barely beating 2003 Bassmaster Classic
winner Mike Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J., who had 54 pounds,
2 ounces after a Day Three haul of 20 pounds, 3 ounces.
So what goal will the 39-year-old Reese set for
himself next?
"Repeat, repeat, repeat," Reese said.
"Winning Angler of the Year at the time
was the biggest achievement of my career, that was my lifelong
dream. Since I won that title in 2007, I've had a new focus and
a new dream, and this is it. You don't know when it's going to
be your time. To win a one-derby event like this our Super
Bowl, with everything on the line, it is tough to do.
"Now I'm going back to working on another
Angler of the Year."
Alton Jones of Waco, Texas, the 2008 Bassmaster
Classic champion, awarded an emotional and excitable Reese the
2009 trophy on stage at the CenturyTel Center in front of a capacity
crowd. Jones finished 14th with 46-11.
Just behind Reese and Iaconelli, Brian Snowden
of Reeds Spring, Mo., was third with 52-14; Mike McClelland of
Bella Vista, Ark., was fourth with 52-1; and Edwin Evers of Talala,
Okla., rounded out the top five with his 51-5.
Jami Fralick of Martin, S.D., who was second after
Day One and lead the Classic after Day Two, fell to eighth with
a final weight of 49-2.
Changing weather conditions forced the 25 competitors
to change their plans Sunday as water temperature dropped overnight.
Reese, whose Sunday total was 16 pounds, 12 ounces,
concentrated on a few areas just outside Caspiana Lake to find
groups of fish. He said the water cooled by four or five degrees
and he couldn't catch fish Sunday on the spawning areas he worked
Friday and Saturday.
"My bigger fish came out of the muddy water,"
Reese said. "Anytime we fish high-pressure, post-front conditions,
clear-water fish are the hardest to catch. They're moving up
there to spawn, but when it gets cold like that, they pull back
out and into ditches. If you have fish in dirty water, those
fish are going to be easier to catch. The fish felt more comfortable
staying shallow where the water temperature stayed warmer."
Reese fished most of the tournament at the neck
of Caspiana Lake. He caught his first three fish Sunday on a
3/8-ounce white Redemption spinnerbait with a nickel blade, and
the others came while he was flipping a black and blue Berkley
Crazy Leg Chigger Craw.
"I made a conscious decision to stay in Pool
5 and put myself in the area that had the highest possible potential
for me winning the tournament," Reese said. "That lake
back there, every local knows about it. I read a little about
it online, something about Caspiana Lake, and you look on a map
and it's one of the best looking lakes in Pool 5."
Iaconelli, who worked the edge of a slope in a
cove, was grateful Sunday for what he called a magic day, bringing
to the boat every fish that bit, unlike his first two days when
he lost a few lunkers.
"I had a two-pronged approach out here,"
Iaconelli said of his three days on the Red. He used reaction
baits to cover water, and then a LaserLure crankbait in a custom
black and blue; he also fished an Ike's Revenge, a Chatterbait
style lure by Longshank, in black and blue; a black and blue
Ike's Finesse Jig by Berkley; and finally a Tru-Tungsten black
and red metalflake tube.
"All week I used all four of those baits interchangeably,"
he said. "When I got in there today the water was 50 degrees.
It was 10 degrees colder than at the start of the tournament.
So I threw that reaction stuff for 10, 20 minutes and nothing.
I realized I had to slow down, so I fished a 4 12-inch tube all
day. I caught all my stuff today on that tube."
Louisiana's own Greg Hackney, of Gonzales, had
the big bass of the day, a 7 pound, 1 ounce lunker. Kenyon Hill
of Norman, Okla., had the big bag of the tournament with his
Sunday haul of 24 pounds, 2 ounces.
The 2008 Toyota Tundra Women's Bassmaster Tour
Angler of the Year Kim Bain-Moore of Alabaster, Ala., who made
history Friday in becoming the first woman to fish the Bassmaster
Classic, missed the cut Saturday, finishing the tournament in
47th place with a two-day total of 12 pounds, 2 ounces.
Two-time Classic champion Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo,
Mich., the 2008 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year,
finished 30th with 23-11.
2009 Bassmaster Classic - Shreveport, LA 02/20-02/22
Red River, Shreveport La.
(PRO Division) Standings Day 3
Angler Hometown No./lbs-oz Pts Total $$$
1. Skeet Reese Auburn, Calif. 15 54-13 0 $500,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-08 Day 2: 5 22-09 Day 3: 5 16-12
2. Michael Iaconelli Runnemede, N.J. 15 54-02 0 $45,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 18-10 Day 3: 5 20-03
3. Brian Snowden Reeds Spring, Mo. 15 52-14 0 $40,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-09 Day 2: 5 19-04 Day 3: 5 18-01
4. Mike McClelland Bella Vista, Ark. 15 52-01 0 $30,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-14 Day 2: 5 16-08 Day 3: 5 21-11
5. Edwin Evers Talala, Okla. 15 51-05 0 $25,000.00
Day 1: 5 17-00 Day 2: 5 19-03 Day 3: 5 15-02
6. Bryan Schmidt Olney, Texas 15 51-01 0 $22,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-05 Day 2: 5 13-11 Day 3: 5 22-01
7. Kenyon Hill Norman, Okla. 15 49-14 0 $21,500.00
Day 1: 5 9-00 Day 2: 5 16-12 Day 3: 5 24-02
8. Jami Fralick Martin, S.D. 15 49-02 0 $21,000.00
Day 1: 5 19-03 Day 2: 5 19-06 Day 3: 5 10-09
9. Aaron Martens Leeds, Ala. 15 49-01 0 $20,500.00
Day 1: 5 18-01 Day 2: 5 17-09 Day 3: 5 13-07
10. Kelly Jordon Mineola, Texas 15 48-12 0 $20,000.00
Day 1: 5 15-10 Day 2: 5 20-05 Day 3: 5 12-13
11. Mark Davis Mount Ida, Ark. 15 48-04 0 $15,000.00
Day 1: 5 11-11 Day 2: 5 22-07 Day 3: 5 14-02
12. Boyd Duckett Demopolis, Ala. 15 47-08 0 $14,500.00
Day 1: 5 20-03 Day 2: 5 13-12 Day 3: 5 13-09
13. Casey Ashley Donalds, S.C. 15 46-15 0 $14,250.00
Day 1: 5 9-13 Day 2: 5 22-11 Day 3: 5 14-07
14. Alton Jones Waco, Texas 15 46-11 0 $14,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-05 Day 2: 5 12-12 Day 3: 5 20-10
15. Kevin Wirth Crestwood, Ky. 15 44-02 0 $13,750.00
Day 1: 5 15-03 Day 2: 5 15-02 Day 3: 5 13-13
16. Bobby Lane Lakeland, Fla. 13 40-15 0 $13,000.00
Day 1: 5 13-02 Day 2: 5 18-12 Day 3: 3 9-01
17. Terry Fitzpatrick Waukon, Iowa 15 39-15 0 $12,900.00
Day 1: 5 18-00 Day 2: 5 9-06 Day 3: 5 12-09
18. Dean Rojas Lake Havasu City, Ariz 14 39-14 0 $12,800.00
Day 1: 5 15-13 Day 2: 5 16-02 Day 3: 4 7-15
19. Shaw Grigsby Gainesville, Fla. 15 39-10 0 $12,700.00
Day 1: 5 8-11 Day 2: 5 16-07 Day 3: 5 14-08
20. Greg Hackney Gonzales, La. 13 38-06 0 $12,600.00
Day 1: 5 12-09 Day 2: 5 13-13 Day 3: 3 12-00
21. Greg Pugh Cullman, Ala. 12 37-08 0 $12,400.00
Day 1: 5 14-00 Day 2: 5 16-11 Day 3: 2 6-13
22. Dave Wolak Wake Forest, N.C. 12 37-02 0 $12,300.00
Day 1: 5 17-06 Day 2: 5 17-00 Day 3: 2 2-12
23. Bill Lowen North Bend, Ohio 13 36-11 0 $12,200.00
Day 1: 5 14-12 Day 2: 5 14-14 Day 3: 3 7-01
24. Randy Howell Springville, Ala. 12 34-07 0 $12,100.00
Day 1: 5 16-03 Day 2: 5 9-02 Day 3: 2 9-02
25. Jay Evans Corvallis, Mont. 14 31-07 0 $12,000.00
Day 1: 5 9-12 Day 2: 5 15-09 Day 3: 4 6-02
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Totals
Day #Limits #Fish Weight
1 39 223 584-00
2 38 223 655-09
3 17 108 339-05
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94 554 1578-14
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