Reese Dominates Potomac, Wins Wire-To-Wire

In three previous visits to the Potomac River, Skeet Reese had finished 4th, 3rd and 2nd. He'd also finished 2nd four times in the past year. But with a total display of domination, he won today's Potomac River Bassmaster Elite Series by a whopping 8-09 margin to complete the 1st through 4th cycle on this fishery.

He led day 1 with 20-05 and never relinquished the lead – even as others around him rose and fell with wildly inconsistent bags. His workmanlike 12-15 today brought his 3-day total to 66-00.

It was his second tour-level win. His first was the 2003 Harris Chain Bassmaster.

But Reese has stated many times that his first goal this year is the Angler of the Year (AOY) title, and the win today brought him

one step closer. He now leads the BASS AOY race by 107 points over Kevin VanDam, who finished 21st.

The title will be decided in September at Florida's Lake Toho.

Kelly Jordon won here last year by a 7-ounce margin over Reese. Jordon caught 17-02 today and moved back up to finish 2nd.

Matt Reed also improved. He started the day in 5th, caught 14-07, and finished 3rd.

Randy Howell's 13-10 final-day bag nudged him up two spots and he finished 4th.

Chris Lane, with 12-06 today, slipped one spot and finished 5th.

Here's a look at the final standings.

1. Skeet Reese: 66-00
2. Kelly Jordon: 57-07
3. Matt Reed: 56-02
4. Randy Howell: 55-05
5. Chris Lane: 54-12
6. Charlie Hartley: 53-03
7. Boyd Duckett: 51-15
8. Tommy Biffle: 51-08
9. Grant Goldbeck: 50-12
10. Bill Lowen: 49-01
11. Fred Roumbanis: 48-12
12. Britt Myers: 48-05

Reese Relieved

With his $100,000 prize, Reese eclipsed the $1 million mark in career BASS winnings.

"Never in a million years, after the practice I had this week, would I have expected to be holding this trophy," he said. "I'm so relieved. Finally, after all those close calls, I'm bringing a trophy home."

About the AOY race, he said: "It's been a phenomenal year thus far. I consider the AOY the crown jewel of bass fishing, and to win would solidify what I've been working on for all these years."

He said he used a strategy similar to the one he ran last year, when he finished 2nd. He made long runs to Nanjemoy Creek where he flipped Berkley plastics to grass and wood.

The full details of his winning pattern, and pattern information for the other top finishers, will be posted soon.

2nd: Jordon Mixed

Jordon trailed Reese by 2 1/2 pounds after day 2, but a day-3 disaster dropped him to 8th. He moved back up today when he stuck 17-02, but day 3 was definitely his undoing.

He's happy with his finish, but he's also a little disappointed he didn't win. "Everybody can do the math real easy," he said. "I just needed 15 pounds yesterday and I would have won.

"I was hard-headed. It's paid off for me five times since 2001, and I pretty much stuck to my guns. I stayed with my fish (yesterday) and it didn't happen."

His limit today was the heaviest in the field.

"Today I fished like I would if I was practicing," he noted. I still had my areas, but in the key area I was doing three different things, and they were all gone. I only spent 20 minutes on each and moved on.

"My hat's off to Skeet," he added. "He led wire-to-wire, and it's great to see him win. He did it right, he did it well, and he's a true champion."

3rd: Reed Tickled

Most important for Reed is that his finish moved him up to 38th and the AOY points. The Top 36 are guaranteed a berth in the 2008 Bassmaster Classic, and due to double-qualifications, he thinks he's in the Classic as of now.

"It's a wonderful finish, and I did my best to finish 3rd," he said. "I had a really good tournament. I knew those fish were there and they really bit for me the second day."

About the points standings, he said: "I'm at 38th right now and that tickles me to death. I think that would be in right now due to crossovers. So that made me feel better that the 3rd-place finish did – to get back in reach of the Classic where I just have to have a decent tournament at Toho."

4th: Howell Excited

Howell's thoughts are a lot like Reed's in that Classic qualification was his biggest focus this week.

"I'm excited – tickled to death," he said. "I came in at 51st place in the points, and just a little bummed out on the ups and downs of my season.

"I knew I needed a Top 5 to get me back in Classic contention. I'm really excited it worked out. It moved me up to 32nd in the points. Now I just need a decent finish in Florida to make the Classic. I'm glad the sweat and bullets are over with now."

He added that a key for him was fish management. "I maximized my fish this week. I didn't really have a whole lot of fish found, but I was able to work them slow and easy and pick off enough to have a good finish."

5th: Lane Happy

Lane genuinely thought he had a chance to win today, but overall, he's fine with a Top 5.

"I'm happy with it," he said. "I really think I had a shot to win it today. I had some bites that were big, key bites. I capitalized on two, and lost three of them."

"For 2 hours today, I really felt I had a chance to win the thing. But all in all, I'm very happy with the finish. I'll take a Top 5 every day of the week."

6th: Hartley Wished For Better

Charlie Hartley caught the biggest sack yesterday and moved up to 2nd. His goal today was to at least stay there, but he caught four for 8-11 and dropped.

"I wish I'd have done better, but (at least) I'm not dwelling on making bad decisions," he said. "The conditions were perfect for my areas today and I caught a good one right off that gave me more confidence to catch more (big ones). But it didn't happen.

"I was just hoping to stay in 2nd," he added. "To be honest, Skeet really would have had to blow it. But I wanted a decent bag just in case. He kind of left the door open.

"I would have needed a 20-pound bag. But when your first fish in the first 5 minutes is a 4 1/2, you start to think it's doable."

8th: Biffle Dropped

Tommy Biffle began the day in 3rd, gambled, and slipped to finish 8th.

"I don't like it real well," he said of his finish. "You don't ever like to go backwards. I'd have rather stayed in 3rd or moved up."

About his gamble today, he said: "I tried to win it. I made a long run down in the saltwater. I hoped I could run up a creek and catch a big stringer. I hadn't practiced there, but I ran down, fished for about 2 hours, and never had a bite. It was worth a shot."

Notable

> Day 4 stats - 12 anglers, 8 limits, 4 fours.

> To view the updated AOY standings, click here.

> The next Elite Series event is the 50-boat Bassmaster Legends Major, which was recently moved from the Arkansas River to Lake Dardanelle. The final list of Legends qualifiers appears below today's final standings. Yusuke Miyazaki, who finished 53rd this week, was the first angler out of the Legends cutoff.

Day 4 (Final) Standings

1. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif. -- 20, 66-00 -- 320 -- $110,000
Day 1: 5, 20-05 -- Day 2: 5, 14-14 -- Day 3: 5, 17-14 -- Day 4: 5, 12-15

2. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, Texas -- 19, 57-07 -- 295 -- $32,000
Day 1: 5, 18-00 -- Day 2: 5, 14-14 -- Day 3: 4, 7-07 -- Day 4: 5, 17-02

3. Matt Reed -- Madisonville, Texas -- 20, 56-02 -- 290 -- $25,333.33
Day 1: 5, 9-15 -- Day 2: 5, 18-04 -- Day 3: 5, 13-08 -- Day 4: 5, 14-07

4. Randy Howell -- Springville, Ala. -- 20, 55-05 -- 285 -- $18,000
Day 1: 5, 15-06 -- Day 2: 5, 14-03 -- Day 3: 5, 12-02 -- Day 4: 5, 13-10

5. Chris Lane -- Winter Haven, Fla. -- 20, 54-12 -- 280 -- $17,500
Day 1: 5, 15-01 -- Day 2: 5, 14-07 -- Day 3: 5, 12-14 -- Day 4: 5, 12-06

6. Charlie Hartley -- Grove City, Ohio -- 19, 53-03 -- 276 -- $15,500
Day 1: 5, 11-08 -- Day 2: 5, 15-11 -- Day 3: 5, 17-05 -- Day 4: 4, 8-11

7. Boyd Duckett -- Demopolis, Ala. -- 20, 51-15 -- 272 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 12-01 -- Day 2: 5, 13-06 -- Day 3: 5, 15-00 -- Day 4: 5, 11-08

8. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 20, 51-08 -- 268 -- $14,500
Day 1: 5, 14-07 -- Day 2: 5, 16-14 -- Day 3: 5, 11-15 -- Day 4: 5, 8-04

9. Grant Goldbeck -- Gaithersburg, Md. -- 18, 50-12 -- 264 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 18-05 -- Day 2: 4, 10-13 -- Day 3: 4, 9-15 -- Day 4: 5, 11-11

10. Bill Lowen -- North Bend, Ohio -- 20, 49-01 -- 260 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 12-10 -- Day 2: 5, 15-06 -- Day 3: 5, 11-13 -- Day 4: 5, 9-04

11. Fred Roumbanis -- Auburn, Calif. -- 20, 48-12 -- 257 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 14-02 -- Day 2: 5, 14-04 -- Day 3: 5, 11-09 -- Day 4: 5, 8-13

12. Britt Myers -- Lake Wylie, S.C. -- 17, 48-05 -- 254 -- $12,800
Day 1: 5, 16-11 -- Day 2: 5, 15-00 -- Day 3: 3, 8-09 -- Day 4: 4, 8-01

Big Bass

> Day 4 -- Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, Texas -- 5-02 -- $1,000
> Day 3 -- Britt Myers -- Lake Wylie, S.C. -- 5-09 -- $500
> Day 3 -- Chris Lane -- Winter Haven, Fla. -- 5-09 -- $500
> Day 2 -- James Niggemeyer -- Van, Texas -- 8-02 -- $1,000
> Day 1 -- Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 8-02 -- $1,000

2007 Bassmaster Legends Qualifiers

(Anglers are ranked based on 2-year combined AOY standings. Those totals appear below. Those who qualified through exemptions appear at the top of the list.)

2007 Classic champion -- Boyd Duckett
2006 AOY -- Mike Iaconelli
2007 BASS Rookie of the Year leader -- Derek Remitz
Defending Legends champion -- Scott Rook

1. Kevin VanDam -- 5
2. Steve Kennedy -- 6
3. Skeet Reese -- 8
4. Aaron Martens -- 10
5. Kelly Jordon -- 18
6. Edwin Evers -- 20
7. Jared Lintner -- 21
8. Kevin Wirth -- 22
8. Tommy Biffle -- 22
10. Greg Hackney -- 25
11. Todd Faircloth -- 32
12. Terry Scroggins -- 36
13. John Murray -- 40
14. Peter Thliveros -- 43
15. Dean Rojas -- 46
16. Jason Quinn -- 47
17. Alton Jones -- 49
17. Jeff Kriet -- 49
19. Mike McClelland -- 53
20. Ishama Monroe -- 55
21. Timmy Horton -- 56
21. Gary Klein -- 56
21. John Crews -- 56
21. Randy Howell -- 56
25. Matt Reed -- 59
26. Gerald Swindle -- 62
26. Brent Chapman -- 62
28. Takahiro Omori -- 63
29. Stephen Browning -- 64
30. Jeff Reynolds -- 71
30. Denny Brauer -- 71
32. Mike Wurm -- 73
33. Fred Roumbanis -- 76
33. Chris Lane -- 76
35. Davy Hite -- 78
36. Dave Wolak -- 80
37. Bill Lowen -- 81
38. Kotaro Kiriyama -- 84
38. Shaw Grigsby, Jr -- 84
40. Russ Lane -- 85
41. Mark Tucker -- 89
42. Mark Tyler -- 94
43. Rick Clunn -- 98
44. Kenyon Hill -- 102
44. Morizo Shimizu -- 102
46. Lee Bailey -- 104
46. Brian Snowden -- 104