Lucky Craft Pro Kelly Jordon Brings Home Fourth B.A.S.S. Win

Waldorf, Md. (August 14, 2006) – Anglers had to adapt this past week, as more than 100 of the world’s best fisherman competed just outside our nation’s capital on the Potomac River. Bright skies turned grey for the first day of the tournament, completely changing some patterns found in practice.

With an obvious ability to adapt to the changing conditions and the tough fish, Lucky Craft pro Kelly Jordon was hoisting the trophy after Sunday’s eventful weigh-in, bringing in an overall weight of 60 pounds, 9 ounces.

With the rest of the field nipping at his heels, Jordon new a big sack would be what it would take to win this tournament. After a horrible practice, things began looking up for Jordon.

“I did have a horrible practice, but the last day, I figured something out,” Jordon said. “I knew I was going to flip mats and found a couple areas that had some nice fish in them. You have to find those nice size fish to do well here. It’s easy to fish a bunch of places with decent fish and come out with 10 to 12 pounds, but finding an area with a school of better quality fish is the key.”

Jordon knew how tough it would be to flip mats and how boring it can be when they aren’t biting. But Jordon decided this was the time to give it all he had and it paid off.

“Today (Sunday), there was a bunch of cut up hydrilla out there, along with the milfoil and duck weed,” Jordon explained. “Anywhere you have boat traffic and mats, you’re going to have this type of vegetation. Flipping mats is tough, but when the bite is on, it’s my favorite way to catch bass.”

Sunday was not only an exciting day, but an almost unexpected one, as Jordon thought something that happened on Saturday was going to cost him the tournament.

Jordon made the decision to throw back a 1 pound, 13 ounce fish. He didn’t want to take a chance, as this fish looked as though it might not make it to the weigh-in stage alive if he kept it.

“The only way that fish was going to survive was if I released it right back in the river,” Jordon said. “If that fish would have died in the livewell, I wouldn’t have been able to cull him if I caught a bigger keeper. I threw him back hoping I would catch a bigger fish.”

Jordon never caught that bigger fish, and wondered if throwing the almost two pounder away would cost him the tournament. Had he kept the fish and it died, it would have cost him four ounces, but would have added a pound and a half to his total weight for Saturday. With Skeet Reese right behind him, Jordon was afraid losing that extra pound and a half could be a deal breaker.

“You've got to swing for the fences,” Jordon said. “But it felt like one of those deals in football, where you go by the formula for trying a two-point conversion, you do it by the book, but then you end up getting beat by a point.”

Luckily for Jordon, that didn’t happened and he came home the winner of this year’s Capitol Clash.

“I was running around, trying to find those big fish, and it happened for me today. This feels so good.”

Just ounces behind Jordon, was Lucky Craft’s Skeet Reese. With a four-day weight of 60 pounds, 2 ounces, Reese was so close, but not quite able to bring home the win.

“I wanted to win so badly,” said a disappointed Reese. “I keep putting myself in position, but not being able to seal the deal in a situation like this hurts, no doubt about it. Winning comes easy to some, but no matter how many top 10s or 12s I make, I can’t seem to close the door. I knew going into today, if I could catch a good bag, I had a legitimate shot at winning this tournament. I got beat fair and square today, and I can’t complain about that, but it still hurts.”

Reese spent his entire tournament in one small section of the river – Nanjemoy Creek. He had several different patterns, but never left his honey hole. There was one thing, however, he feels could have made all the difference.

“My entire tournament was spent in the creek,” Reese said. “There was a ton of grass in there, and I was working the tail end of the outgoing tide. I look back, and yesterday’s (Saturday) boat traffic in that area was probably what really cost me the tournament. Everybody left today and the fish settled back down in the creek. Having that many boats in there yesterday kept the water dirty and the fish spooked. I have no doubt in my mind that’s what kept me from having a good bag yesterday.”

Knowing the boat traffic cost him a lot on day three, Reese went out Sunday knowing he had to catch a big bag if he wanted to have a chance to win.

“Today (Sunday), I caught one early, and I had my third one by 10 or 11,” Reese continued. “I started to make my runs as the tide was going out, and everywhere I went, I started catching fish. I probably caught eight or nine keepers today, which is pretty consistent with what I had been catching.”

Reese’s key to success this week was trying to understand those finicky fish.

“In addition to understanding the fish, I think bait selection and presentation were also crucial,” Reese added. “I was open-minded to change, not relying on the same spot over and over. I fished every shoreline on the creek at some point and time during the week. There are good quality fish in there, and the flip bite was what brought me consistency.”

“It's been a good week for me,” Reese concluded. “I wanted to do well here and make sure I was qualified for the Classic, so I reached my goals. But when you get that close, you want to go ahead and go for the jugular.”

Several places behind Reese, still in the top 10, was Gerald Swindle, who also found one area for this tournament and stuck with it. The conditions during practice were pretty harsh for the Alabama native, but he felt like he’d found a place with potential.

“When I started practice, the water temperature was in the upper 80s to lower 90s, and it was extremely hot outside,” Swindle explained. “It was really tough. I was only getting five to six bites a day and they were pretty small fish.

“The last day of practice I found a grass bed in the southern part of the river, near the mouth of a quiet creek. When the tide was low, it got really clear and I started casting a worm to the edge of it. I had four or five bites right there in that one area, so I committed to spend my tournament there, because I felt like it had the most potential.”

However, the weather conditions greatly affected Swindle, basically changing his whole game plan around as the rain moved in. After throwing a spinnerbait without much luck, he did find something worthwhile.

“The first morning of the tournament, my whole game plan took an about face, because it started to just pour rain,” Swindle continued. “The air temperature was a lot cooler and the water temperature went from the upper 80s down to about 82 degrees. I was throwing a spinnerbait when I first got to the spot, and had a few bites, but my partner started catching them on the Lucky Craft RC 1.5 (in white shad). I put on the RC 1.5 and caught my limit. That was the key bait that day, keeping it on the edge of the grass as the tide went out.”

Swindle’s bait selection changed about as much as the weather, leaving him throwing something different everyday. Using everything from a spinnerbait to a frog, Swindle brought in limits everyday, never leaving the spot he found in practice.

Seventh wasn’t the position Swindle hoped to bring home, as he is still looking for his first tournament victory.

“We’re all competitors and I was really looking for the win,” Swindle said. “I wanted to come up here and finish well to assure me a place in the Classic in Birmingham. I was able to do that, so it took some of the pressure off. The back-to-back cuts also help build momentum.”

Swindle is looking forward to Arkansas and Missouri, as they will both be tough tournaments, and that’s exactly how he likes it.

“I like both the Arkansas River and Table Rock, because I like the tough tournaments,” Swindle concluded. “I like when you have to work and hustle, and I seem to rally up for those types of tournaments. Table Rock is going to be very different, fishing in about 50 – 60 feet of water with a dropshot. I like fishing that way and feel very comfortable out there. I like the change, making guys get off the bank and finding out who can fish light line.”

>>>Joe Thomas

Finishing his week on Friday with a total weight of 7 pounds, 10 ounces, was Lucky Craft’s Joe Thomas.

After bringing in a five-fish limit on day one, Thomas wasn’t able to find those keeper fish and didn’t come in with a bag on Friday.

 

Thomas wasn’t alone in his struggles however, as Takahiro Omori finished his week in 100th, with a two-day weight of 6 pounds, 12 ounces. After the last several tournaments, Omori believes his finishes will keep him out of the 2007 Classic – so he now plans to fish hard and fish to win, and see what happens.

“Now I’m just fishing to win. I don’t really care about points anymore, or a check for that matter. I just want to win one.”

Provided by Cox Group

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