Photo: BassFan Takahiro Omori said a bad decision cost him on day 2.

Week 33 – Top Gun
Team Lucky Craft
At Cabela's Top Gun 8/15/2005

Team Lucky Craft made a strong showing at the recent Cabela's Top Gun Championship. In all, it fielded four competitors in the 24-man field. Here's how each member finished, with their final-day notes.

7th: Takahiro Omori

Takahiro Omori entered the tournament ranked No. 7 in the State Farm–BassFan World Rankings. He had a strong day 1 (5, 12.06) but only brought three fish to the scales on day 2. He caught another limit on day 3 and finished with 13 fish for 28.12.

"I had a good tournament," he said. "I had one bad day – one bad decision that cost me. I'm disappointed. I'll do my best to come back next year. I want to be No. 1 in the world."

He fished a shallow-running Bagley Balsa B2 (Tennessee shad and chartreuse/black-back). He also fished a Lucky Craft RC 1.5 (Tennessee shad).

He concentrated on boat docks and isolated laydowns "all over the lake, mainly (in) off-colored water 2 to 4 feet deep."

On Top Gun, he noted: "The whole system is good – the World Rankings. I hope they continue to do it."

9th: Gerald Swindle

Yes, Gerald Swindle could have counted himself out of it. But he kept swinging. He only caught three fish for 5.39 on day 1, and two for 5.03 on day 2. He rocked Eagle Mountain Lake on day 3 with the biggest bass that day (5.73), and the biggest sack of the tournament (13.73). That moved him way up from 19th to finish 9th.

"I'm not disappointed," he said. "There was nothing else I could do (on day 3). But I'm not leaving satisfied. I enjoyed the event. From 1 to 10, it would be an 8. There was no stress. I just wish I fished better. I'm tired of catching them in tournaments. I want to win one."

His caught his big final-day sack in the lower (south) end of the lake, where he fished a "bigger Lucky Craft G-Splash (chartreuse shad) around natural rocks."

He fished out of an aluminum boat, which was difficult to control. When the wind stopped on day 3, that helped. "When the wind stopped blowing, my tin cup stopped blowing around. The first keeper I caught was right around 5 to 6 pounds. The whole key was you could never quit moving, and you had to stay on those rocks."

Photo: BassFan Each member of Team Lucky Craft said he enjoyed the event.

12th: Skeet Reese

Like Swindle, No. 3 in the world Skeet Reese struggled on day 1. He caught a limit on day 2, but struggled again on day 3 and finished with a 12-fish, 19.59-pound total.

"I enjoyed it," he said of Top Gun. "It's a step in the right direction."

He noted he was "pretty much junk-fishing. The bite was shallow, and the majority of my fish were in 2 feet of water or less."

His "best bait all 3 days" was the Lucky Craft BDS-1. "It's the smallest BDS they make. I don't think it's on the market yet. It was chartreuse with a green back."

He also caught two or three fish on a 4-inch Berkley Power Worm on a Shakey Head jig fished below boat docks.

"The frustrating part is I know those guys in my area were catching fish on jigs," he said. "I tied on a full-size Terminator and threw the heck out of it. I got one bite, on a point. I was swimming it across a point, and it just knocked like 5 feet of slack into my line. I went to crack him and – nothing."

15th: Marty Stone

Two anglers blanked on day 1, and one of them was No. 2 in the world Marty Stone. He began fishing for pride and slowly climbed the next 2 days to finish 15th with 17.20 pounds.

"I'm disappointed," he said. "Obviously, the first day I zeroed. On day 3 I was so far behind, I had to swing for the fence. There were only two places here: 1st and everybody else. I knew I needed 18 to 20 pounds to have a chance, and I went out with the full intention that I had a chance to catch that.

"It didn't work out. I caught three."

On Top Gun, he noted: "I was one of the ones who said there's no way we cannot have fish at the weigh-in. Buddy, was I wrong. The effort has really been here for this event. Everyone went way above and beyond. It was a fun event, and one I hope I can qualify for again."