Unless Skeet Reese wins one of the final two Bassmaster Elite Series regular-season events, he'll be forced to sit out the 2012 Classic at the Red River in Louisiana. Buried in 67th place in the Toyota Tundra B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year (AOY) race, there's no conceivable way he could climb into the low 30s to make it via that route (only the Top 28 are guaranteed berths, but there will be several double-qualifiers).
B.A.S.S.'s new win-and-you're-in format represents his only hope of competing at the venue where he won the sport's premier event in 2009. Otherwise he'll be relegated to hawking his Wright & McGill rods and reels and other branded gear at his booth at the Classic Outdoor Expo.
"It would be humiliating, it would be embarrassing and it would suck if I had to go down there as the returning champion just to work the trade show," said Reese, who hasn't missed a Classic since 2002.
There is a bright side, however.
"It would be a very successful show from a business standpoint. When I missed the cut (at Lay Lake in 2010) and had to spend Sunday in the booth, the lines were long and I sold a lot of stuff. I still want to win (one of the final two events) and I want to be able to defend that title down there, but I also know that if it doesn't happen, it won't be the end of the world."
He said several factors have contributed to his unfamiliar placement on the points list this year, most notably a mindset focused almost entirely on winning. In previous years his goal was to make Top 10s and he'd let the victories take care of themselves, but winning twice last year and narrowly missing on two other occasions created a thought process that 1st place is the only place to be.
He's ended up 77th or lower in three of the six tournaments.
"I've been trying to manufacture the bites that I thought I needed to win," he admitted. "I've had opportunities to have some big stringers in the tournaments where I bombed, but my timing was off or something else wasn't quite right and I haven't made those stringers happen. There's really a fine line between having a 20-pound bag and coming in with four fish."
Next up is the Arkansas River – a place he's visited only once. That was for the 2006 Bassmaster Legends Major, which was plagued by low-water conditions and resulted in short bags and miniscule weights. He finished 43rd in a field of 55.
"You can't even count that thing. That was as tough as that river system can get and it should fish completely different this time. I'm not saying it's going to be a great tournament for me, but it should be shallow-water power-fishing, and that suits my style."
The finale will be at Lake Wheeler in Alabama, where he notched 14th- and 24th-place showings in regular-season tournaments in 2008 and '09, respectively.
"That's part of the Tennessee River chain, and little by little I've learned more about those lakes. I have a little more history there and I should be able to formulate a better gameplan. That place is as tough as any lake on that chain, though, and I don't think you're going to see a bunch of big bags caught. Fifteen pounds a day, max, should be all that it takes to win it.
"The one good thing about this format is it gives you a little hope to make the Classic in a bad season," he concluded. "It's a little carrot that spices things up at the end."
