Two Lucky Craft Anglers Make Top 12
on Smith Mountain Lake Omori, Reese finish 3rd and 4th, respectively; all five make top 50 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
>>>Takahiro Omori |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lucky Craft’s Takahiro Omori had a great finish, coming out of Smith Mountain Lake making his first top 12 cut of the year. “I didn’t expect this week to end up this way, to be honest,” Omori began. “I ended up with a great finish. My first top 12 of the year makes me feel really good. “Do I get a trophy?” he joked. Omori was able to take home the 3rd place trophy and was very happy with the outcome, especially since he had to use a new technique to catch them this week. Since the summer schedule changes made by BASS, the Japanese native, now a resident of Texas, hasn’t been able to fish the style he enjoys most – crankbait fishing.
“I haven’t been able to throw crankbaits much lately,” Omori explained. “On Smith Mountain Lake, I stayed away from cranks. I used a Green Pumpkin Senko some, as well as some finesse worms with jigheads. It made a big difference.”
Fishing around points and boat docks in 5 to 10 feet of water, Omori actually enjoyed practicing a new technique for a change, especially when it brought him success. With bags well over 10 pounds all four days, Omori brought in a four-day weight of 53 pounds, 15 ounces to finish in 3rd. “I’ll probably have to do more of this as the summer continues,” he continued. “Running a new technique was fun because I could really see myself getting better as I did it. I felt like this was a really positive week, and I really learned something. Not to mention anytime you make a top 10, you’re usually pretty happy.” Omori was all smiles as he began to talk about the next tournament on Grand Lake in Oklahoma. It could be another tournament outside his comfort zone, but with more confidence after Smith Mountain Lake, he is looking forward to it. He believes he might be able to return to his cranking roots, too. “I heard the lake was a little high, so I’m looking forward to getting back to normal,” Omori concluded. “At the same time, I’m going to try to be open-minded about the fishing style.”
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
>>>Skeet Reese |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
In practice, Reese spent most of his time fishing pockets and open water with no rhyme or reason. He was simply trying to figure out where the fish were and what they liked. Stumbling on some bed fish on day two of practice led Reese to his game plan going into day one of the tournament. “I found some areas with decent fish,” Reese began. “Areas were limited as far as where the fish were, so I got out there early the first day and thought I could catch five and hopefully have 15 or 16 pounds. But none of the big ones would bite in my key area on day one and a lot of them were gone. It was weird because there were pairs there the day before. These fish either dropped their eggs and left, or they picked up and moved their housing locations elsewhere.”
After having to adjust to the major change in the bed fish, Reese had to change it up right away if he wanted to be in contention the rest of the weekend. Weighing in 13 pounds, 1 ounce on day one was positive, but Reese knew he could catch more. On the second day of competition, Reese fished all new water and brought in a 17 pound, 9 ounce sack, putting him in great position for day three. Lucky Craft came into play on Saturday, as Reese caught two nice fish on the Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 97 (Ghost Minnow). He was fishing it on 12-pound Trilene Max, an Abu Garcia Revo and a Lamiglas SR705 rod. After four good days of fishing, Reese had a total of 53 pounds, 3 ounces, putting him in 4th and pushing him to more than a 100-point lead over Kevin VanDam in AOY points, his number one goal this season. “For me to pull this finish out without being on anything solid, I’m very pleased,” Reese explained. “Do I want to win one? Absolutely. I’ve also said I’ll keep taking seconds and thirds if I can have the [AOY] title at the end of the year. I have tunnel vision on Angler of the Year right now, and I’m trying to fish consistently every event the best I can. If I can somehow manage to run the rest of the season out with top 20 finishes, I feel like that might just do it.”
Reese isn’t sure what to expect from the next tournament on Grand Lake but remembers last year’s event being won on outside structure. The California native had a good practice last year on the Oklahoma lake, but his tournament didn’t turn out as well. He is hoping for redemption this time around. “That was my bomb of the season last year,” Reese concluded. “Sounds like the lake is in a little better condition this year. They have had a lot of rain up there, and the lake is a little higher and dirtier, so I think a Lucky Craft BDS might be a factor there. I’m betting there will be a shallow bite.”
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
>>>Marty Stone |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Making the top 50 cut and finishing in 32nd was Lucky Craft’s Marty Stone. After having a mixed practice and having trouble figuring out how to make the fish commit, Stone was happy with the way things turned out.
“I saw a lot of fish in practice and knew this lake had the potential to have a 20-pound bag,” Stone said. “It was a clear water, sight-fishing lake this weekend, and these fish were really reacting to the bait once you figured out how to catch them.” Smith Mountain Lake was an exclusive Lucky Craft tournament for Stone, who weighed in 15 fish over a three-day period – all on a Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 112 (Ghost Minnow). “I was running boat docks, making two or three casts down the front of each,” Stone explained. “The fish would either come out and show themselves or they would come out and eat it. I really felt like I had the bait that could win the tournament. Everyday, I would see 20 pounds worth of fish come out and look at my bait. That’s why I could never put it down.”
Stone was fishing docks on some main lakes and in some creeks. According to the North Carolina resident, he would put the trolling motor on 36 high and make long casts with 10 pound fluorocarbon. He was also using a seven-foot American Rodsmith Mark Tucker rod with a 5:4 Browning reel. Stone would make long casts down the fronts of docks and jerk the Slender Pointer 112 really fast to the front of the dock and stop, followed by slow twitches for about 3 or 4 feet.
“If they were going to bite, the line would just explode,” Stone added. “It was a fun bite.” Stone weighed in a total of 32 pounds, 7 ounces for three days of fishing and feels like his year is really turning around. “I had a little break and it probably did me some good,” Stone concluded. “I’m treating the next six tournaments like the first five never happened. There’s nothing I can do about those, and maybe I’ll be able to look back and be glad I got the points I did. If this is the worst finish I have in the next six tournaments, I still have a shot at the Classic.”
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
>>>Kelly Jordon |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
“I found a whole lot of sight fish in practice,” Jordon began. “We’ve been able to see fish all week long because it is a pretty clear lake. But apparently, these bass feed on Alewives here and they spawn at night. And that is when the fish feed on them. All the bass were really big in this lake, but it’s tricky to catch them.” According to Jordon, it was one of the most frustrating things he had ever seen because the bass were full during the day from feeding on the Alewives the night before. He was, however, able to bring in three good stringers during the tournament to finish 38th. The Mineola, Texas resident was mainly sight fishing pockets and creek mouths close to the main river channel, throwing topwaters and jerkbaits trying to make the bite happen. He ended up in 38th with a three-day total of 31 pounds, 4 ounces. All but three of his fish came on a craw worm or a twitch worm, casting to beds.
Jordon was one of many Lucky Craft anglers who had never fished Smith Mountain Lake before, and he had heard the rumors about how tough this tournament was going to be. He was surprised, however, at just how well he and his fellow pro staff members caught fish. “The fishing was a lot better than I expected,” Jordon concluded. “If you would have asked me before the tournament began if I thought I would have 31 pounds in three days, I would have said I would take that in a second and probably make the top 10 with it, but the fisherman on this Elite Series are so good. When you get all of them together, it really brings everyone’s game to a new level. When you know you’re fishing with guys like that, it makes you really step up your game, too. It’s amazing the kind of fish caught here this weekend.” |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
>>>Gerald Swindle |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
“I was throwing the Slender Pointer 112 and the G-Splash in practice,” Swindle began. “I would get quite a few bites everyday and thought I could catch 10 to 12 pounds per day. I was also having a couple big bites here and there. I tried to catch fish a couple other ways, but it never worked out, so I knew what my pattern was going to be going into day one.” Fishing the fronts of deep docks with the Slender Pointer 112 (Ghost Minnow) in the mornings and switching to the Sunfish color in the afternoon worked well in practice, so he planned to stick with it on day one. However, most of Swindle’s day one fish came on top. After catching a limit quickly, the bite started to fall apart.
Swindle weighed in 11 pounds, 3 ounces on day one and returned to the same areas on day two. “I didn’t fish well Friday morning,” Swindle admitted. “It got really hard yesterday and I barely caught a limit. Honestly, I struggled pretty badly.” Vowing to fish all new water on day three (Saturday), Swindle decided to still throw topwater in the morning, but switched from the G-Splash to the Gunfish 95 (Sunfish). When he threw the Gunfish out at the first dock he came to, Swindle caught one nearly four pounds and had several others just barely miss it. Later in the day, he switched to a dropshot, fishing in 12 to 15 feet of water. “It was mainly the same pattern, fishing docks and going into pockets with even deeper docks,” Swindle explained. “It just really wasn’t my tournament – nothing seemed to be going right for me.” Like fellow teammate Jordon, Swindle had never fished the 20,600-acre lake, and would really like to have this one back.
“I think everyone really underestimated this lake,” Swindle concluded. “It has a lot of fish in it, and I’d really like to do this tournament over again. I feel like this could have been the best tournament of the year for me. I like this lake, and I had the bites. I just didn’t execute as well as I could have. That’s what makes these tournaments hard to swallow – if you don’t get the bites, that’s just the way it is. I had a lot of opportunities; I just wasn’t able to capitalize on them. But I’ll get them next time and a top 50 is pretty good.”
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Presented by Bass Pro Shops 
