The 2007 season began in Birmingham, Ala., with a battle between several Bassmaster Classic Champion hopefuls. California’s Reese was one of many anglers vying for his first Classic win. According to Reese, it was one of those weekends that was both good and bad. It would also prove to be the start of a season-long pattern Reese would unintentionally follow until the season finale.

“As far as the fishing, I had a horrible practice,” Reese said. “I only had a couple bites but decided to run with it and stick with that area in the tournament. I turned a couple of bites into 48 pounds of fish and 2nd place in the biggest tournament of the year.”

Reese finished with a total of 48 pounds, 4 ounces and agreed it was a great way to start the year. All his fish during the Classic came flipping a jig and a Berkley Chigger Craw in the current.

“It [the 2nd-place finish] built a lot of confidence and pushed me harder than ever towards a win,” Reese said. “To come that close is great, but ultimately you want to win, not finish in 2nd place. It was frustrating and motivating all at the same time.”

Next up for Reese was the first regular season tournament of 2007 – Lake Amistad in Del Rio, Texas. Reese admits he remembers that tournament as a scramble for him, as he caught a lot of fish in various ways. One of his patterns was fishing a jerkbait, Lucky Craft’s Pointer 100 and Slender Pointer 127, both in Chartreuse Shad.

“I believe I caught an 8-pounder on the Slender Pointer 127 (Chartreuse Shad),” Reese added. “Lucky Craft played a huge part in my finish on Lake Amistad. I knew I had to scramble around each day to find new fish and new locations. That’s why the 9th-place finish was so rewarding for me. To pull that out after not having any sort of solid pattern in practice was really rewarding.”

After making good decisions and adjustments all week, Reese caught a total of 86 pounds, 9 ounces. It was still early in the season, with only one regular tournament under his belt, but Reese was hopeful he was on his way to a successful season.

From Texas, the Elite anglers traveled further West to California. Reese, coming off a good finish on Lake Amistad, thought he would be able to catch fish in areas he had fished during the last 10 or 12 years. Rarely able to fish the California Delta anymore, Reese was excited to be back again and knew a lot of the predominant areas.

“I didn’t want to fish community holes,” Reese explained. “I wanted to fish my reliable spots where I’ve always been able to do really well. That’s exactly what I did the first day… And that was my worst day of the whole week. I basically fished like a chicken with my head cut off.”

Burning about 50 gallons of gas in one day and hitting spot after spot, Reese’s expectations of catching the big one dwindled. Nothing materialized on the first day, and Reese knew a good spot years ago didn’t mean it would still had the same potential. Making adjustments to his game plan, Reese changed his areas completely on day two.

“Not only did I change areas, but I would up having to change my whole presentation too,” Reese said. “I caught a lot of fish on a Lucky Craft LV-500 in Mad Craw and a Senko. Going into day three, conditions changed, so I had to make yet another adjustment to my plan.”

Gradually able to get bites on day three, Reese made it to the final round of competition on Sunday. After making one more adjustment, day four was his best day yet.

“I went to an area I hadn’t fished all week,” Reese said. “I tied on the SKT Mini DR (Spring Craw), and I crushed them. I caught my biggest stringer of the week, and it was more than 20 pounds. Those fish on day four pushed me to a top-five finish on the California Delta. My signature bait really showed it’s true colors at this tournament.”

After finishing 4th on the Delta, Reese was ready to head to Clear Lake and fish in front of his home crowd. It was another ‘almost’ for Reese, as he finished 2nd yet again.

“This is the one tournament I really wanted to win because it was my home lake and my home crowd,” said Reese with disappointment in his voice. “To come so close was pretty disappointing, but from a fishing standpoint, it was a phenomenal week.”

Phenomenal just scratches the surface of describing what happened on Clear Lake in 2007. Reese, who weighed in 117 pounds, 6 ounces, was the first of many anglers to break the all-time heavyweight record during the third regular season tournament of the year. Catching 117 pounds and still finishing 2nd is almost unheard of, but Reese knows how amazing that week actually was.

“Each morning I started on the same spot, throwing the Lucky Craft Slim Shad (Ghost Minnow), and I would catch one or two good fish in the morning,” Reese explained. “From then on, the rest of the day was pretty much all swimbait action. It proved yet again how important Lucky Craft is in the equation of success for me.”

Another successful Lucky Craft tournament was in Reese’s future, as he traveled across the country to Evans, Ga. Reese caught fish several different ways on Clarks Hill Reservoir, but struggled in practice much like he had at the Classic and during several tournaments already that season.

“I had a rough practice, which seemed to be the story a lot in 2007,” Reese said. “I finally found a group of fish on the first day of the tournament after making several adjustments in practice. It still took me a while after finding them to actually figure out how to catch them.”

Reese caught most of his fish on Clarks Hill on a Lucky Craft Sammy 100 (Ghost Wakasagi) and a jig. After day one, he adjusted again and found another key area with some quality fish up in the shallow water.

“When they would start blowing up on the surface, I’d throw the Sammy and could catch them every time,” Reese explained. “If they weren’t blowing up, I would fish the jig on the bottom and catch them that way.”

After finishing 6th on Clarks Hill and being almost mid-way through the season, Reese was feeling pretty good about his chances at an Angler of the Year title. It was becoming a reality for the veteran bass angler, and Reese admits that many top 10s really help boost confidence.

“I felt like I was making good decisions and doing the right things to have solid finishes,” Reese explained. “I was leading the points at that time, but there were still so many variables, and I didn’t know what would happen as the season went on. All I could do was hope that, at the end of the year, I was still leading. There was a lot of time left in the season, and I knew I couldn’t finish in the top 10 every time.”

After a successful start to the season, Skeet Reese headed for Alabama for the second time that year. Lake Guntersville was the site for the fifth regular season tournament of 2007, and this is where the wheels came off for Reese.

“This was one of those tournaments I thought I could do really well in,” Reese began. “I was on fish for the first time since Clear Lake, and I wasn’t having to do much scrambling around. I felt like I could catch 15 to 18 pounds a day and have another good, solid finish.”

Day one yielded a decent bag for Reese, who caught most of his fish on a dropshot that day. After targeting bed fish on day one, the weather moved in and tournament officials decided it was in the best interest of the anglers to cancel day two. According to Reese, all the bed fish pulled off, and he was left scrambling on Saturday.

“I found some fish on day three, but obviously it wasn’t what I needed,” Reese said. “I caught one on a Lucky Craft BDS 3 and the rest on a spinnerbait. It just so happened, Kevin (VanDam) won that tournament, which put him much closer to me in the points.”

Reese finished 53rd on Lake Guntersville, while his rival VanDam finished in 1st-place. With the points spread too close for comfort, Reese knew he had to bounce back from the disappointment if he wanted to keep his chances alive for the Angler of the Year title.

Next up was Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, which turned into yet another full-on scramble for Reese. Catching fish many different ways and in many different areas all week, Reese knew it was going to be one of those do-or-die type tournaments.

“The first two days I was able to catch some bed fish, but had to adjust on days three and four because all those fish left,” Reese said. “I ended up fishing within sight of the weigh-in stage both Saturday and Sunday that week. I caught some on a dropshot, some on a football jig and two or three on a Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 97 (Ghost Minnow). It was one of those tournaments where I had 10 or 12 rods on the deck and caught fish doing all kinds of different things.”

After finding one fish here and one fish there, Reese admits it felt great rebounding back to a 4th-place finish. With a total of 53 pounds, 3 ounces on Smith Mountain Lake, Reese was now more than 100 points ahead of VanDam in the Angler of the Year race.

“I was feeling really good with the finish and the rebound… until Oklahoma,” Reese said.

Leaving Virginia and heading to Grand Lake in Oklahoma, Reese had another tournament much like Lake Guntersville. Except this time, he thought the wheels had come off for the whole season. Finishing 67th, with a total weight of 23 pounds, 3 ounces, Reese didn’t know what was going to happen next.

“I started thinking, after the event, and wondering if this was the start of two or three bad tournaments in a row,” Reese admitted. “I thought it might just be the beginning of the end for me. I started thinking about how many times I’ve been in this very position before and wasn’t able to get it done. What made me think I could get it done this time around?”

After a break between tournaments, Reese was able to reflect, absorb what he did wrong and refocus going into the next tournament. Lake Champlain was just around the corner, and Reese knew he couldn’t do well there if he dwelled on what happened in Oklahoma. He had to put that tournament in the past and move forward.

“I decided to think positively about Champlain and think back to what I had done years ago on that lake,” Reese said. “I’d done fairly well there in the past. I also knew I would have to make a big decision before the tournament began. I decided to fish for largemouth instead of chasing smallmouth this time around.”

Knowing the largemouth bite would be more consistent no matter the weather conditions, Reese decided to make that his game plan for Lake Champlain. Still living out the same old story, Reese had to adjust several time throughout the week.

“The one spot where I thought I’d be able to catch them really well ended up having locals on it everyday, just hammering away,” Reese said. “Come tournament time, I caught one fish there on day one and two on day two. I knew I had to change it up.”

Reese threw the Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 (Chartreuse Shad) in practice and was getting bite after bite, so he hoped it was going to be his glory bait during the tournament. What he didn’t expect was making a 60-mile run.

“I fished my first area with the Gunfish and had maybe one bite,” Reese said. “Around noon, I only had one or two fish in the livewell so I decided to make a 60-mile run. I knew I was going to have to leave early to make it back on time, so I wouldn’t have a whole lot of time to fish. I decided to try an area where I had caught some decent fish six or eight years ago. I didn’t practice in that area, so I put the trolling motor down and started fishing.”

It was slick calm around 1 p.m., so Reese decided to throw the Gunfish 115 at the small, isolated clumps of grass around him. This led to a two-hour run where every clump of grass yielded a bite. According to Reese, it was one of the most exciting topwater bites he’d had in a long time.

“I probably had 30 or 40 bites in a couple hours,” Reese added. “I decided to run back there on day two, but the wind was blowing so I couldn’t throw the Gunfish like I had originally intended. I picked up the Lucky Craft BDS 3 (Chartreuse Shad) instead and started fishing around with that. I fished the same water, but made the adjustment and the fish responded very well. I probably caught another 30 or 40 fish on that bait. It was the same deal on day three and four. Lake Champlain was a rush.”

Coming off a bad tournament then rebounding with a 2nd-place finish made Reese’s confidence soar. Bringing in a four-day total of 70 pounds, 13 ounces put Reese right back where he wanted to be going into the final three tournaments of the year.

After regaining the points lead on Lake Champlain, Reese and his fellow tournament anglers headed just up the road to Lake Erie and the Niagara River. Reese was excited to fish a big lake and have the opportunity to catch some big smallmouths.

“I spent a lot of my time shallow trying to catch some fish throwing the Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 97 and 112,” Reese said. “I caught some, but they were small and I didn’t end up finding anything in practice, which again, was the story of my 2007 season.”

Reese had one area roughly 30 miles away where he was able to catch three or four nice-sized smallmouth on a dropshot, but those fish were spread out. He couldn’t seem to find fish in one spot, so he decided he’d make the 30-mile trip on day one of the tournament.

“Every fish came on a dropshot on Lake Erie,” Reese said. “I finished 13th (37 pounds, 13 ounces) which was great after not finding much at all in practice. I finished ahead of my biggest competitor and that was really all I cared about at this point. It was getting close to the end of the season, and I knew if I could stay in the points lead if I could finish in front of him.”

Heading South, Reese’s next tournament was on the Potomac, and he had a great week to say the least. But the horrible practice story was still holding true. Reese actually had no intentions of fishing the area where he caught the majority of his fish.

“I fished this particular spot when I was here last time, and I didn’t think there was any possible way I could duplicate my success this time around,” Reese explained. “But by day two, I gave up everything else I was fishing to try my hand at this spot. It wasn’t great, but it was better than anything else I had.”

Reese was catching fish, but he wasn’t sure it would be enough. He ended up catching more than anticipated and was pleased with the results of day one. The success continued throughout the week as Reese caught a few fish on a Lucky Craft BDS 2 but had the most success flipping creeks and main lake grass beds. After a tough fight, Reese found himself in 1st on Sunday with 66 pounds total.

“It was a huge relief to finally win another tournament,” Reese said. “After all the top 10s in the last four years and the 2nd-place finishes this year, I wasn’t sure when it was every going to really happen for me. This win felt incredible. Having the points lead going into the season finale felt pretty good, too.”

According to Reese, many people called checkmate at this point in the season, predicting Reese had the Angler of the Year title in the bag. However, Reese approached it all with a different attitude.

“It wasn’t all sewn up in my opinion,” Reese said. “I knew anything was possible going into the tournament on Lake Toho. Once you starting thinking you have it all together, you make bad decisions. I had to keep the pressure on myself, forcing me to make good choices and making sure I kept my work ethic up high. I had to quit worrying about what Kevin was going to do and focus on what I was doing. I wanted to win the Angler of the Year title based on my performance, not his.”

And that is just what Reese did at the final tournament of the season. Finishing 14th on Lake Toho with a total weight of 29 pounds, 3 ounces, Reese took home the highest honor in bass fishing – and he did it with the Lucky Craft SKT Mini (Aurora Black).

“That (SKT Mini) is without a doubt the bait that propelled me into a 14th-place finish on Toho,” Reese said. “I was in the Kissimmee River fishing canals. I would throw it on 30-pound braid just burning it and ripping it through any type of grass or cover I could find. It was all about the reaction strikes.”

After the realization set in, Reese said the 2007 season was the most rewarding season of his bass fishing career.

“I reached the pinnacle of the sport,” Reese concluded. “I got the biggest title. No matter what I do the rest of my career, I’ll always have this accomplishment. As a competitive athlete, that’s what we strive to do, no matter what sport you’re in.”

Reese isn’t done yet. As the start of the 2008 season approaches, Reese has his sights set on a new goal; one attainable on Lake Hartwell in Greenville, S.C. Next goal? Bassmaster Classic Champion.