LA PLATA, Md. (August 14, 2007) – The best of the best competed last weekend during the Capitol Clash on the 21st largest river in the United States. The Potomac River hosted anglers from all across the country as they began the final charge of the 2007 Bassmaster Elite Series season.

California resident Reese is no stranger to second-place finishes, but he went to Maryland with one goal in mind – win it all. And that is just what he did. After bringing in a 20-pound, 5-ounce bag on day one, Reese knew he was in for something special this weekend. Not to mention the fact that this was his tournament to win, according to his roommate’s view of destiny.

“It means a lot to win this tournament, especially after the year I’ve had so far,” Reese began. “My roommate said I was destined to win this tournament, and the weird thing was, I felt the same way. My last five tournaments here have been interesting, to say the least. Five years ago, I finished fifth here; the next year, fourth; three years ago, I finished third; and last year, I came in second. And now we know this year, I won. Destiny is a good way to describe it, and I just knew I was going to finish out the top-five cycle here this week, especially after my catch the first day.”

Reese had two main areas that worked for him on the Potomac. In the mornings, he would start in an area with a lot of wood, flipping lay downs and throwing the Lucky Craft BDS 2. Then in the afternoons, he would run to his second location and start punching the grass.

“When I was in the area with wood, I would look for a sweet spot on the back side of a log and target that one area,” Reese explained. “I would work the baits by some underwater stuff and hope the fish would bite. There really was no distinct pattern to it. It was just one of those deals where you had to fish everything. I moved around a lot.

“When I was using the Lucky Craft BDS 2, I would concentrate on the ends of the lay downs. I’d grind it over the ends of tree tips, too. I’d make a couple of casts in a certain area, and if the fish didn’t hit it, I’d start flipping.”

In Reese’s grass areas, he targeted small, isolated mats along the surface, and the tide seemed to play a big role.

“Once the tide got too high, it seemed like I couldn’t catch anything,” Reese continued. “As soon as the tide started coming in, I had about an hour to really catch them. It seems like these fish really live by the tide. The best tide seemed to be at the bottom of the outgoing and the first hour of the incoming. That’s when I had my key bites.”

In addition to playing the tide just right, Reese had to figure out where these fish were in the grass and what presentation they liked best.

“I was pitching to the center of the mats,” Reese said. “I’d catch most of my fish on the first or second hop, once the bait was down there. The five-pounder I caught on day one actually hit the bait on the initial fall but that wasn’t the norm.”

Three baits were key for Reese this week: the Lucky Craft BDS 2 in Splatterback Shad, a Berkley Power Hog in Green Pumpkin with a 3/8-ounce Tungsten sinker and a Berkley Sabretail Burly Bug in Green Pumpkin with a 1-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight.

After leading all four days of the tournament and closing the door with a total weight of 66 pounds, this win means a lot to Reese, especially after so many close calls this year and a truly phenomenal season. Even with the excitement of such a great weekend, the Angler of the Year title is still Reese’s number one goal and focus, and he knows it will all come down to the final Elite Series tournament on Lake Toho in September.

“This win leaves me truly speechless,” Reese said. “But even as I was fishing today [Sunday], I was already starting to think about Toho. I did great here and got the maximum points I could get out of an event. However, the reality of it all still remains; I know even with the points lead I have, I’m not safe. I definitely have to catch them in Toho, and I know it isn’t going to be an easy tournament, either. It will all come down to that tournament.”

Finishing just behind teammate Reese, swapping spots from last year’s tournament on the Potomac, was Lucky Craft’s Kelly Jordon with a four-day total of 57 pounds, 7 ounces. A 7-pound day put Jordon behind going into day four, but the Texas resident was still able to pull it out and have another great tournament.

“It feels really good to do well,” Jordon said. “I really didn’t like being 13 pounds behind going into the final day, but I was tickled to death to be fishing on Sunday. Anytime you get to fish that final day, especially when you get to flip grass, it’s great.”

Jordon admits it was tough out there, and the fish were hard to find. With a 14-pound, 14-ounce bag on Friday and 7 pounds, 7 ounces on day three, Jordon had his work cut out for him on the final day.

“I think I caught seven keepers today,” Jordon said. “Fortunately for me I had a five-pounder and another one around 4-1/4 pounds. Then I had three more decent keepers to finish it out. I threw a Lucky Craft Sammy and BDS 3 a little bit in practice and caught a couple, but I found so much cut up grass in the tournament that I couldn’t throw those baits in the areas I was going to. So I pretty much stayed with the big stick in my hand all weekend.”

Jordon has had some good finishes this year, and was happy to have a second place finish on the Potomac – and was also happy to see teammate Reese win it all.

“To do what Skeet has done this year is awesome, and it’s pretty neat to watch it all unfold,” Jordon added.

Flipping was key for Jordon this week, and he thinks that might also come into play at the next tournament, the Bassmaster Legends Major on Lake Dardanelle.

“I imagine they’ll be some current in a few areas but not many,” Jordon said of the Arkansas lake. “I think it is kept at a steady level. There could be some good flipping opportunities and good offshore structure, too. I’m looking forward to cranking and maybe using the D-20. The bites were shallow there a few years ago, and the last time we were there, it was won flipping grass. There will be a lot of shallow bites, but they’ll be some offshore stuff too, and I’ll be hunting for that.”

Missing the top-50 cut and finishing in 67th was Lucky Craft’s Takahiro Omori. He only had one main thing to say about the tournament this week – “It was hot.”

Omori was flipping for most of the week, and weighed in 10 pounds, 2 ounces on day one and 10 pounds even on day two. He just couldn’t seem to get the bites he needed, admitting he lost only one fish this week. He would have only gained a pound or so had he boated that one, which would not have been enough to make the cut.

“I personally just couldn’t catch any fish the way I was fishing this week,” Omori said. “I do know it was really hot out there, and I was trying to focus while drinking a lot of water and trying to survive.”

All joking aside, it was a miserable heat for the anglers this week, as well as Omori’s bout with some other dangerous elements.

“Yesterday [Thursday], I had to hide under a dock for about 30 minutes during a lightning storm,” Omori said. “Overall, I just tried to survive the week in Maryland.”

Omori wasn’t able to locate much of a pattern in practice, trying several different baits but not finding anything that would work for him during the tournament.

“I tried shallow running crankbaits, the Lucky Craft GDS SSR, but couldn’t seem to find just the right thing,” Omori said. “I ended up catching all of my fish this week flipping.”

Sitting 21st in points coming into this tournament, Omori knew he would have to finish 75th or better on the Potomac and on Lake Toho to make the Classic. He succeeded in completing the first part of that goal, and now it all boils down to his tournament in Florida.

“I am confident going into Toho,” Omori concluded. “My goal for this year was to make the Classic, and I plan to fish that way in Florida. I think I fished Lake Toho in September one time before, and I’m going to have a lot of Lucky Craft Splash Tails and Gunfish tied on if it’s anything like last time, trying to find that topwater bite.”

Lucky Craft’s Gerald Swindle knew the Potomac was going to be tough, long and tedious if it was anything like last year – and he was right.

“I knew flipping the mats would be the ticket here and that is so long and tiresome,” Swindle said. “You go for hours without a bite, and it’s a lot of work. It’s almost like doing a lot of pitching a big bowling ball in the grass for nothing.”

Even with the prior knowledge and the lack of love for this ‘flipping’ lake, Swindle worked hard all week, weighing in a two-day total of 19 pounds, 2 ounces and finishing 71st. He didn’t find much of a pattern in practice but caught some flipping mats. He had a few bites on a dropshot and a finesse worm on the outside of the mats.

“I didn’t have anything really dialed in during practice,” Swindle admits. “And that showed the first day of the tournament. I thought too hard about it, and in the end, that was probably my biggest mistake. I thought my best area was in the back of Mattawoman [Creek], but I didn’t think the tide was right. So I went out and fished on the main lake for about two hours first thing Thursday, but I didn’t catch a thing.”

After making the decision to head to Mattawoman after a rough morning on the main lake, Swindle was a little too late.

“I got back to the back of Mattawoman and realized everyone had already caught them,” Swindle said. “I actually ended up missing the best tide in that area. I scrounged around and caught five little ones, but it was a really horrible day. I was still trying to pitch to the mats and caught two outside the mats, one in the mats and one on a chatterbait.”

After weighing in 6 pounds, 10 ounces on day one, Swindle figured he better start in Mattawoman on Friday, which proved to be a good idea and led to almost doubling his day-one weight.

“I found out flipping hydrilla was the ticket,” Swindle said. “I flipped a 1 3/4-ounce weight that looked like a bowling ball. I probably caught 20 keepers but failed to boat the best two bites I had all day. It was a bad tournament for me. I caught a lot of fish, and it was nice to figure out what I’d been doing wrong, but still it was all a little too late.”

Skipping forward, Swindle admits he is worried about the final Elite Series tournament on Lake Toho, knowing he will have to make the top 10 to fish the 2008 Classic.

“I’m not saying I can’t do that, because I know I can,” Swindle said. “I have made a lot of top 10s this year, but I’d also like to see myself fish a little better in Florida. I haven’t fished badly, but I haven’t fished great, and I haven’t had any breaks. I’d like to see things swing back in my favor on Toho. Winning on Lake Dardanelle during the Major would give me some confidence, but it’s really all boiling down to Lake Toho. I’m going to start offshore and stay offshore, which is different than I normally do down there. I’m going to find somewhere to catch them offshore and probably use a dropshot, trying to catch 13 pounds or so a day.”

Bass Pro angler, Rick Clunn finished 29th on the Potomac with a total three-day weight of 33 pounds, 6 ounces. He admits his tournament was okay, minus one technical error the first day that cost him 3 or 4 pounds. Outside of that, he did exactly what he wanted to do.