CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (June 21, 2005) – It was a big weekend for the Lucky Craft Pro Staff during the final Elite 50 Series tournament on a challenging Lake Wissota. A relatively small impoundment located in the middle part of Wisconsin.

Takahiro Omori, the 2004 CITGO Bassmaster Classic Champion, had a very successful finish to his season, wrapping up the fourth slot after making his first Elite 50 Series cut of the season.

“I used a Lucky Craft Pointer 78 in Ghost Minnow color,” Omori said. “The first two days I found a lot of fish and caught a lot in the backwater areas. I lost a couple of fish, but found out I wasn’t the only one (who missed fish) and made the cut spot anyway.

“I fished in the same area the first and second days and caught enough keeper fish,” Omori continued. “This was the first time I made the cut during E50 competition, so I’m happy about that.”

Gerald Swindle’s biggest critic may be himself. But after an up and down 2005 Tour season, his charge through the Elite 50 Series field has been a welcome return to form for the 2004 CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year. His eighth-place finish on Lake Wissota was enough to secure Swindle the fifth spot in E50 points and a place in the 2006 Bassmaster Classic, to be held on Florida’s Lake Toho.

“On Thursday, I exerted every ounce of energy I had as a competitor to move into this cut,” Swindle explained. “At the end of the day (Friday), I felt like I was flat and couldn’t get it going. The goal to win one of these things is such a part of my approach – I’m not sure that it doesn’t hurt me in the long run.

“It (making the 2006 Classic) was one of the big accomplishments I was looking for coming into this year’s Elite 50 Series,” Swindle said. “A part of me is very satisfied about setting a goal and accomplishing it. But I’m frustrated that I can’t win one of these. It’s almost like I’m trying too hard to win.

“My confidence has really come back around though,” Swindle continued. “When I left Table Rock at the end of the Tour season, that was probably as down as I had ever been in my career. My first three (Tour) tournaments were good, but the last three were bad and it just beat me down. To come out and have four good E50 tournaments in a row puts me right back where I need to be. My confidence is high and I’m fishing well.”

“I fished the new Lucky Craft BDS-1 (which comes out in a couple of months),” Swindle said. “It’s the little brother to the BDS-2. I practiced with it and caught several on it. So, I decided to use it and caught quite a few on the first day of the tournament.

“I also threw the G-Splash during practice and caught several on it as well,” Swindle said. “Then late in the day (on Thursday), I wasn’t catching any with the G-Splash, but I realized I was fishing in areas where the boat traffic was way too heavy and it was hazy around the banks. So I drove up the river – as far as I could go – found some rocks, picked up my G-Splash (chartreuse shad with a five-pound line and a seven-foot light action rod) and fished where it was clear. I felt like I was on fire and in the zone at that point. There were really only a few times this year I knew I was in the zone.”

But Swindle’s thought about going upstream was initially made to catch just one more important keeper.

“I was thinking to myself before I ran up the river, ‘Gerald, you have to catch another bass to make the Classic,’” Swindle recalled. “Having a big catch wasn’t on my mind as much as it was to catch that one fish. I just wanted some insurance. I caught it – it was a two and half pounder. When I brought that fish into the boat I was fired up. I fished up the banks and caught another two and half pounder. This time I could barely tie on another G-Splash because I’m shaking so badly. I looked at my observer and told him he didn’t realize the fish I just caught assured me of making the 2006 Classic. When I weighed in, the people may have not realized what that two and half pounder meant, but for me, that fish was very important for my family. When that one fish came over the boat and hit the carpet - my whole world just let loose.”

Skeet Reese was no slouch when it came to Lake Wissota, either. With many of his seasonal goals already in hand, the California pro was looking for a victory. He found a little used dock technique and wound up in 14th.

Even though he didn’t find exactly what he was looking for, Reese worked hard for his stringers.

“I caught two keepers yesterday (Wednesday) and two keepers today (Thursday),” Reese said. “I never really figured them out this week. I never found one area where I felt I could have stayed in and just catch the fish I needed. I had to hunt and peck to catch them. It was a ‘grind it out’ type of tournament.

“I covered a lot of water and fished every dock on the lake today (Wednesday),” Reese said. “I cued in on some fish that were in a foot to a foot and a half of water. I was throwing way up under docks and areas where people weren’t fishing. I don’t think there were as many fish in the areas I was looking. I think the keys this week were a lot of the backwater areas up river.”

Marty Stone was less than happy with his final Bassmaster Elite 50 Series result of the 2005 season, but it didn’t cloud his overall outlook. The CITGO Bassmaster Angler of the Year runner up spoke about his tournament.

“I ended up catching some fish on a Lucky Craft (Pointer Series) 78,” Stone continued. “I really haven’t been using it at all this year, but I got up here on a smaller lake and I pulled that one out. These fish were really dialed into smaller baits. I was throwing both Ghost Minnow and the Pearl Ayu colors. I also threw a little Chartreuse Shad as well.

“I did have a lot of good (things happen) because I kept moving the entire tournament and generated some good bites,” Stone added. “My instincts are definitely there. This is such a brutal sport. You’re just one cast away from great things happening or one bad break away from being as low as you can be. You learn to take the good with the bad.”

The Elite 50 Series is a tough group to break through.

“I like tough tournaments and that’s what we walked right into,” Stone said. “It’s almost been a theme. Nothing has come easy for me this year. (On Wednesday) I only had one keeper bite and I put it in the boat. (On Thursday) I had five keeper bites and put one in the boat. There have just been a lot of bad breaks this year and it seems like it followed me around for the entire year.

“This has been a humbling Elite 50 Series appearance for me,” Stone added. “I came in here second in the Angler of the Year race, but only was competitive in one E50 tournament and it’s frustrating. I should have been in contention here. I should have made the cut pretty easily here, but I’m going to keep my head up, though. I did my job, found out how to catch them and I’m going to take that knowledge to Pittsburgh (The Classic).

Kelly Jordon would like to forget this Elite 50 Series tournament. With a 2005 CITGO Bassmaster Classic birth on the line, Jordon missed out on many of the larger schools of fish that marked Lake Wissota this time of the year.

“Practice was nice and the weather was pretty good,” Jordon said. “I had a lot of bites in practice, but didn’t get very many during the tournament. I would get 10-15 bites a day, but none of them were keepers. I had one (on Wednesday) that was right there and probably should have brought it in. I found a bunch of 12 to 13 and a half-inch smallmouth, but you have to make something happen to catch a keeper. Everybody struggled. I was hoping for a few bites because if you just caught three fish, you would make the cut going away.

“It was tough to take because I needed to catch them here,” Jordon added. “It was frustrating because you had to just consistently chunk a line, make presentation after presentation and hope for a keeper bite.”