Skeet Reese thinks he might've fished just a bit too shallow on day 3 of last week's Bull Shoals Bassmaster Elite Series, and that's what left him 3 ounces shy of making the final-day cut.
"Looking back now, there weren't enough fish that had moved up into the pockets," he said. "The weather just hadn't warmed up enough. If it had been a little warmer, I think what I did would've been good.
"I'm pretty sure the fish were just staging out a little bit farther."
After a lackluster practice, he took advantage of the windy conditions on day 1 to weigh a 15-13 bag, which was second-best of the day, on a crankbait. He dropped off by nearly 5 pounds on day 2 (10-14) and then caught a similar sack (11-00) on day 3.
"The second day I knew the lake would fish completely opposite from what it did the first day because there wasn't a breath of wind. I hadn't fished slow all week, but I picked up a Carolina rig, which is something I hate to do, because I knew that's what I had to do to get some bites, and I caught a limit.
"It wasn't a big limit, but I did what I needed to do. I did go shallow for awhile, and maybe if I'd stayed out longer I could've caught 12 or 13 pounds."
The Big Bite Lookback, which focuses on the angler who's first out of the final cut at each tour-level event, is brought to you by the great folks at Big Bite Baits.