Lucky Craft’s Skeet Reese and
Takahiro Omori Make Top 12

Plattsburgh, N.Y. (July 18, 2007) – Lake Champlain hosted the first tournament of the Bassmaster Elite Series Northern Run last weekend, and more than 100 of the world’s best anglers converged on Plattsburgh, New York to compete in the Champion’s Choice.

Fishing on such a large body of water gives anglers many options, which can be a positive for some and a negative for others. Lake Champlain is a large, freshwater lake approximately 435 square miles in area. Running nearly 110 miles long and 12 miles across at it’s widest point, many anglers had a tough time deciding where to fish.

Lucky Craft’s Skeet Reese had to adjust, adapt and change things up all week as he tried to bring in the big ones and regain control of the Angler of the Year (AOY) race. After weighing in a four-day total of 70 pounds, 13 ounces and finishing in 2nd, Reese again sits at number one with three Elite Series tournaments to go.

Lake Champlain was kind to Reese during the tournament, but practice Monday through Wednesday was a different story.

“It turned out to be a good week for me,” Reese began. “Bad practices seem to lead to good tournaments for me this year, and that was the case this week, too. I had some bites on the first day of practice and could have done okay had it been a tournament day, but when I went back to that area during the tournament, I rarely caught a thing.”

Although practice was rough, Reese knew he had the opportunity to have a good tournament. On Thursday, the water was slick and calm, and he was casting around grass beds with the Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 (Chartreuse Shad).

“I caught about 16 pounds in two hours,” Reese explained. “That was between noon and 2 p.m., so the primary bite was already over for the day. I was happy to bring in what I did.”

While the Lucky Craft Gunfish was the key on day one, Reese was clued in to another bite going into day two. Managing to catch close to 50 fish and weighing in another 16-pound bag put Reese in good shape, making the top 50 with ease.

“I made a pass through a little area and caught a lot of fish on day two with the Lucky Craft BDS 3 (Lavender Shad), so I decided to go back on Saturday,” Reese said. “Around 9 a.m., I found a couple of schools in that area and it was a really fun bite. I was burning the BDS 3 through the outside edges of the grass and the fish were eating it up. It was an absolute blast.”

Reese continued his successful drive all weekend. He was tired after a hard-fought battle on Lake Champlain, but is looking forward to going into the next tournament on Lake Erie. With the momentum from his finish here, Reese is looking forward to fishing a new body of water.

“I’m ready to go, and the boat is ready for big water,” Reese said. “All I should have to do is switch props on it. I’ve never been to Buffalo, but have fished the west side of Erie when we fished in St. Clair. But that’s it, so I’m really looking forward to going and catching some big ones.”

Anytime an angler can finish in the top 12, it’s a great accomplishment. But what about when it’s done almost entirely with one hand? Lucky Craft’s Takahiro Omori burned his hand cooking a week prior to the tournament on Lake Champlain. According to his physician, if his burned hand was exposed to lake water or came in contact with a fish, there was a good chance it could get infected. Being able to fish at all was an achievement for Omori this week, not to mention his 67-pound total and 6th-place finish.

“I had a really good tournament this week and am so amazed,” Omori began. “Every time I set the hook, my hand hurt. I’ve fished a couple tournaments here over the years and knew there was a good chance I’d get wet driving my boat, not to mention having to take fish off the hook. But these last few tournaments are really important for me, and I have to do well if I want to make the Classic in 2008.”

Omori started off the right way this week as he fished for both largemouth and smallmouth in several different areas of the lake. Day one, Omori spent most of his time flipping for largemouth and caught nearly 17 pounds. Lucky Craft baits such as the Pointer 78 (Sunfish) and the Slender Pointer 127 (Sunfish) came into play throughout the weekend as well.

Happy with a top 12, Omori knows he has his work cut out for him next week at Lake Erie.

“I’ve fished there a couple of times before and know you get soaking wet, so I am worried about my hand,” Omori admitted. “Driving the boat on Lake Erie is really tough work. I thought I was going to have a hard time on Lake Champlain, but I figured out a way to make it work. I’ll have to do the same thing on Erie.”

Finishing in 25th was Lucky Craft’s Kelly Jordon, who used knowledge from last year’s tournament on Lake Champlain to help make some of the tough decisions he faced this weekend.

“Last year I fished for largemouth and got killed going to Ticonderoga,” Jordon began. “I felt like it was a long run for nothing. I didn’t totally bomb that tournament, but when you spend $200 on gas to run down there and don’t even make a check, it’s pitiful. So this year I decided not to put all my eggs in one basket, but you know what they say about hind-sight, because looking back on it, I wish I had.”

Jordon only practiced in Ticonderoga one day and caught fish pretty well. He thought he knew enough about it.

“I had a lot of good bites in Ticonderoga,” Jordon added. “I figured if they didn’t bite the buzzbait I was using, I could catch them flipping or on a Senko. I know now I didn’t spend enough time on deeper stuff down there in practice because I didn’t know what the weather was going to do or whether I’d be able to make the run at all.”

On day three, Jordon was tempted to stay closer north and not make the run, but decided against it and again ran to Ticonderoga.

“I just never really got the bites I needed to make the top 12,” Jordon said. “It really wasn’t a rough ride at all. If the fish would have stayed on the buzzbait I was throwing, it would have been a really good day and tournament for me, but they didn’t. If they would have kept hitting it, I thought I could bring in about 18 pounds.”

According to Jordon, however, a front came through and cooled off the water, pushing shad and alewives up into the grass. He was flipping mats looking for fish, but it seemed the weather pushed the fish a little deeper, and fishing deep is something Jordon didn’t do too much of in practice.

Finishing much better than he did last year, Jordon was pleased, but is never fully satisfied until he wins. Looking forward to Lake Erie, Jordon plans to work on fishing a little deeper than he did on Lake Champlain.

“I’ve fished Erie before, over by Detroit,” Jordon concluded. “I’ve heard there can be 10-foot seas, and my first thought is I just hope everyone will be safe. I’m excited about having a lot of fun catching giant smallmouth, and I think I might use some crankbaits and maybe a dropshot in about 20 – 40 feet of water.”

Lucky Craft’s Gerald Swindle spent two days practicing in Ticonderoga and knew it was going to be won there. Wanting to be in the winning area, Swindle stayed south and caught fish on several different baits including the Lucky Craft G-Splash.

On day one of the tournament, Swindle made his way to Ticonderoga again and caught around 14 pounds with a horny toad, a jig and the G-Splash (MS American Shad). He admitted the bite was tough, but felt his weight from day one would give him enough to head back down there on Friday and do well.

“I made the choice to run down there again on day two,” Swindle said. “I could have stayed up (north), because the one day I did that in practice, I caught them pretty good on a Slender Pointer 112. I was actually really torn on what to do. I didn’t know whether I should go down to Ticonderoga and try to catch the big sack or if I should stay up north, stay conservative and try to make a check.”

After much thought, Swindle decided it was all or nothing and had to go for the glory, no matter the outcome.

“I don’t know what happened,” Swindle admitted. “I couldn’t get any bites down there on day two. I fished all my good areas, or areas I thought were good, and figured out they weren’t worth a thing. It was really frustrating because I don’t know what I did wrong. I’ll really have to do a little soul-searching after this deal.”

According to Swindle, the conditions were as he expected, but he did say the last two mornings cooled off and it shut the largemouth bite down early.

“I couldn’t catch them, but other guys did,” Swindle said. “So I have to admit the hard, honest truth. I just got out-fished this week. Sometimes that really hurts to say, but that’s exactly what happened. I found the fish in practice, but when they move around and bite different during a tournament, it’s easy to get mixed up and out-fished.”

Swindle finished 89th with a total two-day weight of 22 pounds, 6 ounces. He hopes by the time he makes the drive to Lake Erie, he can put this tournament behind him and focus on what is next.

“In Plattsburgh (Lake Champlain), I couldn’t make up my mind on what to fish for, and that really hurt me,” Swindle admitted. “In Buffalo (Lake Erie), I’ll be fishing for smallmouth, no question. Maybe I can get a little more comfortable with my decision while I’m there, because obviously I wasn’t comfortable at this tournament, and that makes a big difference mentally.”