>>>KELLY JORDON

JASPER, Ala. (April 26, 2005) –Kelly Jordon almost wrote the perfect ending to his storybook week on Smith Lake to open the 2005 Bassmaster Elite 50 Series. His third-place finish was a season-best for the Lucky Craft angler.

With one of his worst Tour seasons behind him, Jordon came to Smith Lake with something to prove. Even though his 21 pounds and 5 ounces of Alabama bass wasn’t enough to trip up winner Mark Davis during final weigh in, beating out some of the most decorated anglers in the world has given Jordon a much-needed boost.

“It feels great, especially after having five really hard tournaments in a row on the Tour,” Jordon said. “I’ve tried to figure out why I haven’t done well. But I come out to these tournaments to win, so I think there’s a lot of the hero to zero stuff going on.

“The key for me was being able to change,” Jordon said. “The strongest thing during this tournament was sight fishing, but you still had to change and feel around a little too. It really feels good to do well in a tournament you had to adjust too. I beat Kevin Van Dam scrambling in this tournament. He may get the best of me in the next couple of tournaments, but any time you can beat Kevin Van Dam, you have done something. I didn’t beat Mark Davis though, but he’s really tough to get as well.”

Jordon hadn’t forgotten how to fish during the Tour season either. He definitely showed that by dodging the storm clouds and choosing lures at the right time.

“The thing is, in almost every one of those tournaments, I was on really good patterns during practice,” Jordon noted. “And without exception, each one of those died when the tournament rolled around. I couldn’t tell you why either. It was always the jerkbait bite too, which are suspended fish and they are always tough. It even happened here, it was a killer jerkbait bite during practice, but on Wednesday, that bite was gone. I thought I was going to catch 15 to 20 pounds of spotted bass on jerkbaits without any problem. The difference this time was the bite came back stronger and stronger each day as the temperamental weather moved in.

>>>SKEET REESE

California’s Skeet Reese got back on track as well. After a disappointing weekend on Table Rock Lake to close out the 2005 Tour season, Reese shook off the sting of missing out on his first AOY title with a 10 th-place finish on Smith Lake.

Reese put away 10 pounds and 8 ounces of bass on Friday, falling a bit shy of making the final six. But considering the top 12 included names like Mark Davis, Kevin Van Dam, Kelly Jordon, Davy Hite, etc… one would understand Reese’s satisfaction with being a part of this elite offering.

“It was an all-star line up in that top 12,” Reese said. “It was probably one of the more stout top 12’s we’ve had in a while, but that’s what you get when we fish these Elite 50s. I was happy I caught five today (Friday), but I had hoped for a little more weight. I had a good idea these guys we’re going to be able to catch them, but I was hoping they weren’t going to catch them as well as they did. They all went out and did what they had to do as professional fisherman. I did what I wanted to do and I caught a limit. I was able to cull a few and from that point on, it was who had the most weight. They flat out beat me here.”

According to Reese, Friday morning’s thunderstorm and downpour didn’t change how they bit.

“We definitely got some color from the rain and the storms this morning,” Reese explained. “But it still fished similar to what we had been fishing the rest of the week. The guys were fishing pockets, sides of pockets, points and sides of points. We were looking for spots and largemouths.”

>>>GERALD SWINDLE

Gerald Swindle was relieved. Yes, he did suffer his share of heartbreak as only three ounces separated the 2004 CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year from making another top 12 on his home lake. But more importantly for Swindle, his 13th-place finish lifted the proverbial monkey he was carrying at the end of the most recent Tour season.

Swindle reeled in 21 pounds and 9 ounces of Alabama bass, perking his outlook and refreshing his mind.

“I had three tournaments at the end of the Tour where I couldn’t have caught a fish sandwich at McDonald’s,” Swindle joked. “I didn’t just run off the road - I wrecked. To come back with a little confidence now is huge. I don’t know if it was because I fished around home or if it was just taking a week off, but I was relaxed and ready to go at the start of this tournament. I had a chance to fish some and get my thoughts together.”

Swindle knew what he had to do.

“I fished in a pocket and was trying to go down a bank using a buzz bait,” Swindle said. “I had a little pattern figured out where I was catching suspended post-spawn fish that were chasing lures. I had caught a lot of fish on topwater as well. I didn’t get a lot of bites, but what bites I did get were big ones. I felt if I had caught another big one, I would have made the cut. I had a big spot (spotted bass) on (Wednesday) and he jumped off right at the boat. I think it cost me the cut.

“I was fighting it to the bitter end,” Swindle continued. “I knew if I had gotten my five bites I was going to bring in a big sack. I had to have fished 100 docks (on Thursday) and I threw so many times I’m exhausted. Sometimes it feels like it’s a never-ending grind. It’s casting one right after another and about the time you give up – you catch a big one. You have to be very self-motivated and self-driven to do this type fishing.”

Takahiro Omori’s Thursday didn’t start out the way he would have liked. Shortly after launch, Omori abruptly swung back to the docks to switch boats. It was a sign of things to come for the 2004 CITGO Bassmaster Classic champion, as his 14 pounds and 14 ounces of weight placed him in 34 th.

“It was a real frustrating day,” Omori said. “As soon as I took off, I felt something wrong with the engine. There was a spark plug messed up so I had to come back and switch to a back up boat. It took away some time, so I couldn’t fish an entire day, but I appreciate BASS for helping me get into a new boat.

“One fish broke off which doesn’t usually happen to me,” Omori continued. “I had another one come up and I missed it too. At the end of the day, I missed a few and it was one of the worst days I have had in a long time. It was a frustrating day, but you have those types of days when you fish.”

Happiness comes in many forms when you’re fishing the Elite 50 Series. For Lucky Craft’s Marty Stone, who has a boatload of accomplishments for the 2005 season already under his belt, fishing in his first E50 tournament became reward enough. His 47 th-place finish was a learning experience for the 2005 AOY runner up.

“I had a lot of fun this week,” Stone said. “I was really looking forward to this event because it was my first E50. Actually, I knew there were some limitations because we were fishing some worm and drop shot patterns – which I’m not as good at.

“With these E50s, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” Stone added. “The way I thought I could have been competitive this week was throwing topwater baits, but it didn’t work out. It was fun to fish a tournament where I didn’t have the pressure of a point’s race always staring at me. I’m going to take this tournament and let it hurt a little, but I’ll change how I fish these deep, clear water lakes.”