Lucky Craft’s Reese and Jordon Break the 100lb Mark

MANNING, S.C. (April 3, 2006) – Lucky Craft Pro Staff anglers Skeet Reese and Kelly Jordon may not have won this weekend, but their four-day totals fulfilled lifelong personal goals during this weekend’s Santee Cooper Showdown.

Late March and early April is the prime spawning period for this massive body of water. Combine that with the first significant warm front of the 2006 season and you have results like Reese’s – a third place finish with an overall career best of 108 pounds in four days of competition.

“I think I’ve found my new favorite lake,” said Reese, who caught 24 pounds, 12 ounces on Sunday. “I ran out of all of the places I pre-fished today, so I went looking for some new waters (on Sunday). And if I would have had just two more hours out there, I think I could have won this tournament. In the last two hours (on Sunday), I sat there and watched seven and eight pounders move in (onto spawning flats) all over the place. I just looked at my clock and freaked out because I didn’t have enough time to get to them all.”

After opening the tournament with a 29-pound, 12-ounce bag, Reese’s second day on the water yielded 30 pounds, 3 ounces. Day three was highlighted by a 23-pound, 2-ounce sack that propelled him into the second position heading into Sunday’s final day of competition.

“I’ve never caught more than 100 pounds of bass in a four-day tournament,” said Reese, who’s from Northern California. “I’ve had some good days fishing back home, but I’ve never come remotely close to the weekend I had here. I’ve weighed 30-plus pound bags in one day, but never on consecutive days.

“I grew up out West sight fishing, and making a decent living at it as well,” Reese continued. “Since I’ve been on the Tour, there have been so many people sight fishing I haven’t wanted to do it as much. But I was tired of getting beat like that. Recently, I’ve gone back to what I know and have put myself in a real good position this year. A lot of guys may be able to see the fish, but being able to catch them is another thing.”

Kelly Jordon is also an accomplished sight fisherman, so this weekend played right into his early season game plan. The Mineola, Texas resident loves to present big lures and catch large fish – something he did a lot of this week – including a 9 pound, 2 ounce ‘Big Bass’ award winner on Thursday.

“I just love coming to this lake when it’s right,” Jordon said. “These first three lakes have really played into what I like to do. When you get warm weather like this, and have the fish biting like they were, it’s just a dream. I broke the century mark, which is something I’ve always wanted to do in a four-day tournament.”

Jordon, who won this event back in 2004, looked to be on a similar track after the first two days of competition – capturing back-to-back (Thursday and Friday) 30-pound plus bags (31-15, 31-10), placing him in second heading to the third day of competition.

“I blew it on Saturday,” said Jordon, who caught 14 pounds, 13 ounces, dropping him to ninth. “I had two 31-pound stringers and I thought I had a chance to really do well in this tournament. If I could have caught what I had hooked, I would have easily had 10 more pounds. That’s frustrating, but you have to look at is as ‘just fishing.’

“It’s been a great start to the season because we’ve been on some incredible lakes,” Jordon added. “Everyone is so good out here, so to make two cuts in a row is a real boost to my confidence.”

>>> Takahito Omori

Takahiro Omori, the 2004 CITGO Bassmaster Classic Champion, continues to impress in the early part of 2006 by capturing the 29th position with an overall three-day weight of 67 pounds and 13 ounces.

The Emory, Texas resident used his keen eyesight for much of the tournament, corralling consistent totals of 21 pounds, 7 ounces on day one, 27 pounds and 11 ounces on day two and 18 pounds, 11 ounces to wrap up his weekend. Omori is happy with how he’s opened the season.

“This was the biggest three-day weight of my career,” Omori said. “I remembered how this tournament played out three years ago when practice had cold temperatures as well. Knowing that, I didn’t try to catch any fish in those three days – what I did do was try to find all the beds and spawning areas I could.

“Once practice was over, I had found every place I needed to catch enough fish for the tournament,” Omori continued. “But during the tournament, my biggest problem was trying to find the bigger fish. The key was to take my time and catch each fish, making sure I didn’t lose any along the way.”

Omori was asked about his start to the season.

“I’m very happy with it,” Omori said. “I hope to stay in the race all year because we hit some really good lakes. Ones I’m comfortable with.”

 

It was a mixed bag for Gerald Swindle this past week, even though he finished a solid 29th place and made the top-50 cut. But for a competitor like Swindle; the 2004 CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year - he’s still looking for more.

“I haven’t really had the results I have been looking for so far this year,” Swindle said. “But when you look closely at it, I have caught a lot of fish and a lot of weight, but never really been in contention for a victory. I’m trying to hold steady until the sight fishing tournaments are over.”

Swindle reeled in a three-day total of 63 pounds, 3 ounces including a 23-pound, 15-ounce stringer on day one (Thursday) and 23 pounds, 4 ounces on Saturday. But after a tough Friday, Swindle made an adjustment to get back on track.

“I caught all of my fish (on Saturday) in a place I had never been before,” Swindle said. “On Friday, I got caught up in staying in a certain area way too long. When you’re sight fishing and see lot of fish, it’s very hard to leave an area. I had all the intentions in the world to catch (fish) with a topwater bait, but I wasn’t able to get it to bite. This was strictly a sight fishing tournament.

“The lake is phenomenal this year, which reminds me of how it was back in 1994 and 1995,” Swindle added. “A lot of people say Lake Amistad is the best fishery in the world, but I would argue that Santee is the best.”

Joe Thomas finished in the 80th position, grabbing 29 pounds and 7 ounces over his two days of competition. The veteran angler talked about his tournament.

“I guess I was just in the wrong areas this weekend,” Thomas said. “I did the sight fishing game but it goes against my grain - so I may not be too good at it. When you look back at practice, I have caught 13-15 pounds every day. But this number has me buried because of all the big weights out here. The fishing is so incredible this time of year that you just have to catch some big ones to compete. Catching the big one has been the biggest difference for me this year because I have executed well and caught limits every day.”

Thomas did have some success throwing a Lucky Craft lure however.

“I did a lot of sight fishing this tournament, but I did have an area, when it was real cold during the first couple of days of practice, that I would catch them on a Lucky Craft Slender Pointer. I would throw it out over a ditch that led into some spawning flats. I really felt like I could have caught a good bag there with the jerkbait bite. But when the water warmed, getting above 62 or 63 degrees, the fish would leave there.”

Provided by Cox Group

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