Jordon, Reese Make Top Twelve Cut

Kentucky Lake, Ky. (June 19, 2006) – Deep ledges were the key to success in Kentucky this week, as six Lucky Craft pros fished the eighth stop on the 2006 Bassmaster Elite Series Tournament Trail.

The ‘Bluegrass Brawl’ proved difficult for many anglers as they fished both Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Temperatures fluctuated as did cloud cover, making for interesting conditions on these two lakes. Thunderstorms plagued the pros as they fished on the final day of competition, bringing some anglers in off the water to wait it out. Even with the changing conditions and challenging deep-water fisheries, Lucky Craft’s Skeet Reese was able to bring home a fourth place finish, keeping him in contention for the Angler of the Year title.

After a very tough practice, Reese found a pattern, bringing in 16 pounds, 8 ounces on Friday – more than enough to make Saturday’s cut to twelve.

“For me, considering how my practice went, I never fathomed I’d be sitting where I’m sitting in this tournament right now,” said Reese, an Auburn, Calif. native. “The best day I had in practice was probably a total of about 11 pounds. I really had a horrible practice.

“Throughout the week, I ran to some areas where I knew I could find some fish,” Reese continued. “They weren’t big ones, but at least I had bites. Little by little, I figured out two key areas. If I would have figured those areas out sooner, I probably could have brought in 16 or 17 pounds on the first day and put myself in legitimate contention to win this thing.”

As it was, Reese brought in enough to make the cut and end his week in the fourth spot; not bad for a guy who had much more than just fishing on his mind.

“I’m definitely not complaining,” Reese said. “I didn’t think I’d be standing here today, especially with the fact that my wife, Kim, and I were suppose to induce labor and have a baby tomorrow. I’ve been on such an emotional rollercoaster this week trying to keep myself together. It’s been tough with all that on my mind, because I absolutely do not want to miss the birth of my baby.

“If she would’ve gone into labor today, I don’t know how I would’ve lived with myself,” Reese continued. “It was her decision; she really wanted me to fish, but it has been tough. It was like a mental war was going on in my head knowing we were on such a fine timeline with the birth of our baby and the end of this tournament. I’m sure I’ve caused myself to age and gray a little early, and I’m sure Kim has a little more gray after this week too.”

Reese did, however, make it through the tournament without missing the birth of his baby, which has yet to occur. In addition to thinking about his family back home, Reese had to focus on what to throw during the tournament. Not able to make the crankbait bite happen, Reese used a couple other well-known techniques.

“I threw a ton of Lucky Craft Flat CB D-12s and D-20s, but I could not get a crankbait bite at all this week,” Reese explained. “It wasn’t from a lack of effort, that’s for sure. I came in here with about 48 D-20s thinking I would be set, but I cranked and cranked and I just couldn’t get the bite. So for me, it turned out to be just the opposite. Almost all of my fish came on a dropshot – eight-pound line with a power worm tied on. I’m sure I was one of the few people dropshotting in this tournament, that did as well as I did.”

Reese, along with 100 other pros, will travel to New York for the next two Elite Series tournaments – Oneida and Lake Champlain. Reese may use some of the same techniques he used in Kentucky.

“I’m really not too familiar with Lake Oneida, but from what I’ve heard, I’ll be throwing Lucky Craft Sammys and a dropshot again,” Reese said. “I figure one of those two will help me be successful in Oneida. After that, there’s no telling when we go to Lake Champlain. It’s going to be fun chasing some smallmouth up there because they’re just so mean and ferocious. I get nervous about going up there because I’m no expert on smallmouths. I just haven’t had the time on those northern lakes. I’m looking forward to going up there, but I’m glad I finished well here because it gives me a little cushion in case I need it for the next couple events.”

Lucky Craft’s Kelly Jordon also made the cut to twelve, finishing 11th with a total weight of 52 pounds. Jordon, like Reese, is also still in contention for Angler of the Year, sitting in 10th, moving up a spot after this week’s finish.

Jordon had a great first day, bringing in 17 pounds, 12 ounces and sitting comfortably in the fifth spot.

“The first day of the tournament was my best day,” Jordon said. “I was catching most of my fish on a spoon, but that bite eventually disappeared. Those fish got less active as the week went on, but the first day was awesome. The fish would react to the spoon on almost every cast. It was really frustrating when that bite went away because it was the deal. You could catch the big ones and a lot of them. The most shallow I fished on Thursday was about 23 feet deep, but I caught most of my fish in about 33 feet of water.”

Jordon wasn’t the only one fishing deep. In fact, most everyone found that fishing those deep ledges was the ticket to catching big sacks. However, Jordon tried to change things up a bit on the final day of competition, fishing shallow while trying to avoid the threatening weather.

“Today I switched it up and ran over to Lake Barkley and tried to fish some shallower stuff,” Jordon continued. “I caught a lot of short fish and one keeper on topwater. I ran back offshore and caught a couple more short fish and then a nice 3.5-pounder, but I came back in for about an hour when the storm hit. It was pretty bad out there. After it was over, I ran back out and caught two more keepers, fishing deep water.”

Jordon came in on day four with four keepers and a weight of 8 pounds and 15 ounces, not enough to win the tournament, but enough to keep Jordon in good spirits.

“This was a pretty good finish and I made up some ground for the Angler of the Year race – some ground I lost at the last tournament,” Jordon explained. “It feels good. I really like fishing offshore on a lake like this. This ledge fishing is a lot about decisions and having the right stuff. But with the weather we had today, I was fishing very deep, and it was just really messing with those fish. They suspend a lot more and those deeper ledge fish are much less dependable than shallow ledge fish. There isn’t a whole lot of structure when they are suspending that deep and it’s harder to get your bait in front of a fish that wants to bite. But overall, I’m happy with this tenth place finish.”

 

Lucky Craft’s Gerald Swindle just missed the cut to twelve, finishing his tournament on Saturday in 22nd with a total weight of 39 pounds, 10 ounces. Swindle knew, after he left Oklahoma, this would be another deep fishery, and he had to stay focused and stay offshore.

“There are a couple different ways to fish in Kentucky Lake,” Swindle said. “I chose to fish on the bank at our last tournament in Oklahoma, but the guys who did well were catching them offshore. We are right at that time of year when you need to be off the bank fishing, but I thought I could still make it work on the banks in Oklahoma. It was a hard lesson learned out there.

“So, when I got to Kentucky, I was fully convinced I would remain offshore on deep ledges, river channel drops and creek channel drops, and just try to find what I could for three days,” Swindle continued. “I was practicing from daylight to dark trying to maximize my time because it’s a slow process. You spend a lot of time idling, reading the electronics, putting buoys out and that sort of thing. It’s a long, ongoing process, unlike throwing at the bank.”

Once the grueling practice was over, Swindle realized the importance of sticking with his game plan and fishing offshore. He found an early morning pattern and stuck with it, which proved successful.

“Once I practiced for a couple days and got into the tournament, I realized something about the early morning bite,” Swindle explained. “The first two hours in the morning were pretty crucial. If you could get the fish to bite the crankbait, they were very aggressive and you could catch seven or eight and maybe catch one or two nice keepers. I would throw the Lucky Craft Flat CB D-20 in Chartreuse Blue Back at really low light and around 8:00 am, I would start throwing the same bait in Table Rock Shad, which is a little bit of a softer color.”

“I absolutely felt like I fished the hardest physical tournament I have ever fished,” Swindle added. “I stayed disciplined and stayed offshore, and it paid off. I’m proud of myself in that aspect. I knew it was going to be won out there, and it was, and I’m glad I stayed out. Unfortunately, I never had a chance to win because I just never had the fish on and never had the big bites.”

Swindle currently sits eighth in the Angler of the Year standings. He is comforted by the fact that he remains in the top ten, but at the same time frustrated he hasn’t moved up. Most of all, Swindle says he just fishes tournament to tournament, not focusing too much on the points, but on the tournament that lies ahead.

“Up North this time of year, there are a few things going on. There will be a couple smallmouths left spawning on the flats. There will be a good topwater bite with the Sammy and the Gunfish. That’s a bite I really look forward to. If the wind blows, we’ll be able to catch them using spinnerbaits, reeling them real fast over the open flats. I’m very well prepared to go up there and fish deep again with a dropshot and a tube. I’m getting in the mindset of where I need to be for our next tournament.”

Also making the cut to 50 on Friday was Lucky Craft’s Takahiro Omori, who brought in five-fish limits on days one and two to have him fishing on Saturday. Although he made the top 50, Omori prefers fishing in shallow water. However, much like Grand Lake a few weeks ago, he found the opposite in Kentucky.

>>> Marty Stone

Finishing in 80th with a two-day weight of 13 pounds, 13 ounces, Joe Thomas couldn’t seem to find a pattern on the unforgiving Kentucky Lake or Lake Barkley, a place he fished several years earlier.

“I never really figured it out up here,” Thomas began. “I wish I had some words of wisdom. I came here knowing the ledges would be the deal. I cranked and threw a jig on those ledges for three days of practice and never got it going. It is really difficult if you don’t have an area that you have confidence in. I scrambled around a lot today and caught scraps. I actually fished the banks this morning and caught my fish on a Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 (in MS American Shad).

“I also ran way up to Lake Barkley to a place I’d fished a few years ago, realizing I wasn’t going to catch a big stringer on the bank. I went out and started fishing ledges again, but never got a bite the rest of the day.”

Even though it wasn’t the finish Thomas had hoped for, he was happy with the performance of his go-to lure, the Lucky Craft Gunfish 115.

“It’s a bait I have been using a lot lately – it catches a lot of fish,” Thomas explained. “It’s a little different than the Lucky Craft Sammy. The Gunfish has a loud, single knocker and a concave face that makes it clack instead of rattle. That flat face pushes water every time it turns. The Sammy glides and rattles and, for some reason, the louder clack and flat face of the Gunfish will call those fish in stained water a little better. The Gunfish is highly overlooked. I think more fishermen should use it.”

Thomas has had mixed experiences in New York, but knows, with the cooler weather and the northern waters, both venues can be fun to fish.

“I like New York and have had some good success up there,” Thomas said. “Oneida has been tough for me though. I’ve fished some open tournaments and have had a huge day one day, but can never put two or three days together. I’m going to go at it from a fresh perspective. I really like fishing up north. I like catching those smallmouths and think it’s going to be a really fun time. I think jerkbaits could be a real factor. The Lucky Craft Pointer 100 or a Slender Pointer 112 will probably be my go-to baits. Chartreuse Shad and Table Rock Shad are usually good colors in those northern lakes.”

Provided by Cox Group

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