Syracuse, NY. (August 19, 2009) - As the 2009 regular season wrapped up at Oneida Lake, there was a lot on the line as anglers vied for 2010 Bassmaster Classic qualifications and also the new coveted Top 12 "post season" anglers who shoot it out for this years Angler of the Year title.

Gerald Swindle came into the Champions Choice with one thing in mind and that was a top 10 finish that would keep him in the Classic cut and maybe gets him a shot at the post season. He did just that.

"The ride home from Oneida was very emotional for me," said Swindle. "Three tournaments ago, I wasn't looking at the post season, I was worried about making the Classic. Now three tournaments later I'm in the post season and we are fishing in Alabama for the title, so I'm seriously jacked up, to say the least."

Swindle started off the first day at Oneida Lake with a solid 15 pounds, 9 ounces.

"During practice, I kind of boxed myself in on purpose. I put a perimeter around the launch ramp of about a mile and half and told myself ‘I am not going to leave this area.' I knew that during the last few years, four of the top 12 anglers fished in this area. So, I wanted to give myself a chance and stay committed to an area I felt confident about.

The first day I caught a small limit of smallmouth's schooling with an LV 200 in ghost minnow. During practice, I tried several different lipless crankbaits, some with rattles some without, different sizes, and different colors and the LV 200 seemed to work the best. I would cast it a mile and burn it back through them as fast as I could. The LV 200 has the flash plate in the center of it and those schooling bass would just crush it.

"I also threw a Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 112 and then went flipping a Zoom Speed Craw and culled everyone of those smallmouth's that I caught early. Saturday and Sunday, I caught most of my fish with the LV 200 and I also caught one on top with a Gunfish in ghost minnow."

Swindle caught 56 pounds, 4 ounces over four days to finish 9th and earn his first check at Oneida Lake. "I had never gotten a check before at Oneida, so I wasn't hanging my head to low after slipping a few slots from Saturday to Sunday. I'm happy to have snuck in the top 12 for the post season because now I have a shot at the AOY, which is pretty cool."

Takahiro Omori had a big first day with 16 pounds, 11 ounces and ended up catching 55 pounds, 4 ounces over four days to finish 12th.

"My tournament went pretty much the way I was expecting," said Omori. "We have fished Oneida Lake three years in a row now and so, during practice, I checked my key areas and felt pretty comfortable heading into the tournament.

"I was focused mainly on largemouth, but caught smallmouth as well. My main pattern was flipping docks, grass, and throwing to shallow cover with a frog, senko or sweet beaver. I used a Slender Pointer 97 in chartreuse shad as a search bait in practice.

"I needed a few bigger largemouth bites during the tournament, but I'm still happy with how things turned out. I made the Bassmaster Classic, which is always one of my goals at the beginning of the year. This is my 7th classic and I had a much better year this year with three top 12s. It was my best year so far."

Omori made some changes over the offseason to get him back on track for 2009.

"I really tried just to get back to the basics. I focused more on having a good mental focus and staying to basic techniques that I know produce and leaving some of the ‘crazy' stuff alone. My personality is to take big chances to try to win. I did that this year but things felt better and I had a good mental attitude and things just worked out for me this year."

Skeet Reese just barely missed the top 12 cut at Lake Oneida. But his 42 pounds, 11 ounces was good enough for 14th place and he took over the lead in the Angler of the Year standings.

"In practice I caught them pretty good on a LV 500 in ghost chartreuse shad," said Reese. "I thought it was going to be a pretty solid pattern but I never got a single bite on the LV 500 during the tournament. The crankbait bite completely died off in my areas. I caught just about everything flipping.

"My game plan was to catch both largemouth and smallmouth. I wanted to catch a limit of smallmouth in the morning and then go hunt for bigger largemouth. My largemouth pattern never really materialized, and if it wasn't for a dead fish penalty on the first day, I probably would have made the 12 cut."

Skeet has been neck and neck with Kevin VanDam for the points lead this season. BASS has created a new playoff system to determine Angler of the Year and after VanDam's bonus points for wins this year, Skeet starts the post season in 2nd place, just one point behind VanDam.

"My thinking for the post season is that it still boils down to pounds and ounces. You still have to go out and catch them, no matter if there are 100 boats or 12 boats. So if I can get off to a good start and catch them like I need to, I'll be ok."

Kelly Jordon had a good event at Lake Oneida with a 16th place finish that secured his spot in the Classic as well as the post-season tournaments.

"I never have really focused much on the Angler of the Year title," said Jordon. "I've always just tried to go out and win tournaments. But when BASS announced the post season earlier this year, I said, ‘I want to be in that' and I have thought a lot about it throughout this season."

Jordon starts the post season in 4th place, definitely within striking distance of the Angler of the Year title. Jordon's Oneida Lake event was a mixed bag of baits and patterns.

"I found a couple key deals in practice and was targeting largemouth," said Jordon, "but ended up catching mostly smallmouth. I found my smallies while I was largemouth fishing. I didn't put a whole lot of stock in that pattern though. I found one area that was pretty special and debated whether or not to start there or work my way there. The first day I decided just to work my way there and that ended up being a poor choice. I should have just started there first thing, but you learn more and more about your spots as you go through the tournament so it's easy to second-guess it now.

"The first day I caught at least 25 largemouth or more and 1 smallie, because he came up schooling right next to my boat. I threw out a spinnerbait and it broke me off. Then I threw a RC 1.5 (splatterback) and caught about a 3 and half pound smallmouth. That was the only smallmouth that first day, but it was my biggest fish.

"Over the next couple of days, I caught almost all my fish on a ghost minnow G-Splash and Sammy. I was happy with the limits I caught but I missed the 12 cut by 4 ounces, so that's just one bite or one bigger fish over three days."

Casey Ashley fished exactly how he wanted to fish with topwaters and jigs, but just couldn't get some of those bigger bites he was looking for at Oneida Lake.

"Well, I had a great first day but then the 2nd day went south on me," said Ashley. "I started out the first day and caught them on a Sammy and then switched up to a Gunfish 115 in ghost minnow. After culling through those first five fish with the Gunfish, I picked up a jig and frog and caught a few largemouth's and had about 15 lbs in the boat.

"I thought I was going to do a lot a better than I did, but that second day, my bite just died. A lot of guys were flipping but I mainly stayed shallow. The only thing I may have changed was to move around a little bit more, but I fished the way I wanted to fish.

"I am in the Classic and I didn't fall to much in points. That's three Classics in a row now and so I can't complain about it too much. Oneida was my worst finish of the year."

Ashley finished Oneida in 73rd place with 24 pounds, 6 ounces for two days.