By BassFan Staff
Mike Iaconelli's one-fish bag on the final day of the Lake Guntersville Bassmaster Elite Series allowed everyone in the Top-12 field to blow right past him. It was Skeet Reese who left the 3-day leader the farthest in his wake.
Reese topped the 25-pound mark for the second consecutive day to triumph with a 4-day total of 92-11. It was his fifth Elite Series regular-season victory since the circuit's inception in 2006, leaving him just one behind Kevin VanDam for the top slot in that category.
Byron Velvick, who roomed with the winner all week and clued him in to the effectiveness of the 7-inch Basstrix swimbait that Reese used to catch all of his 20 weigh-in fish, boxed 24-07 on day 4 and finished 2nd with 88-01. It was his best showing since he won at Clear Lake 5 years ago.
Likewise, Derek Remitz's 3rd-place finish was tops for him in a regular-season derby since he notched a 1st and a 2nd (at Amistad and the California Delta, respectively) in his first two Elite derbies in 2007. He weighed 20-13 on Sunday to conclude with 85-05.
David Walker ended up 4th after a 17-04 stringer pushed his aggregate to 84-08. Keith Combs, who excels in big-weight events, completed the Top 5 with 83-06 after catching 20-07.
Here are the final totals for the remainder of the Top 12:
6. Carl Jocumsen: 81-15
7. Jason Christie: 81-15
8. Greg Vinson: 78-14
9. Brent Ehrler: 78-01
10. Chad Morgenthaler: 76-06
11. Dean Rojas: 75-04
12. Mike Iaconelli: 72-07
Iaconelli, who was bidding for his second win in as many years following a lengthy victory drought, suffered a stunning collapse as his formerly fertile area in Seibold Creek gave him just a single 3-pounder. He left it for the first time in the event during the middle of the day, but his backup stuff was completely fruitless and he plummeted all the way to the bottom of the standings.
He amassed more than 53 pounds over the first 2 days, but caught less than 20 over the weekend.
Reese was in 11th place going into the weekend, but caught more than 50 pounds over the final 2 days.
John Crews, who finished 14th in the event, took over the lead in the Toyota Tundra B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year (AOY) race at the quarter pole. He has a 7-point advantage over Vinson, who's followed by Rojas, Iaconelli and Shaw Grigsby.
The circuit will take the next 2 weeks off before resuming with back-to-back Western events at the California Delta and Arizona's Lake Havasu.
Reese Credits Velvick
> Day 4: 5, 25-05 (20, 92-11)
Reese was quick to make it known that it was Velvick who put him on the right track toward victory.
"It feels really good, but I wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for Byron," he said. "I came in thinking it would be a swimbait thing with pre-spawn and spawning fish and if I threw the big stick all day I wouldn't get that many bites, but hopefully I could capitalize on the big ones.
"I had a horrible practice, and then he happened to show me the 7-inch Basstrix and I knew I had to get some. Then the first day I went out and caught 25 pounds on it."
It was his second victory at Guntersville – he also won on the venue in 2010.
Byron Velvick's 24-07 stringer was the second-biggest of the final day.
"Never could I have imagined it happening the way it did. There's certain lakes that you sort of bond with, even if the fishing is different than it was before. There aren't many lakes in the country where you can catch fish like this."
Some specifics of his winning pattern, as well as those of the other top finishers, will be published in the coming days.
2nd: No Second Thoughts for Velvick
> Day 4: 5, 24-07 (20, 88-01)
Velvick said he had no regrets about passing the Basstrix tip along to Reese.
"You have to help out your friends," he said. "Besides, I had the fish on to beat Skeet – I had all the bites I needed, but I didn't convert. I lost key fish every day.
"I can't regret it. If I had my head under a rock and it was just me and the swimbaits in a campground somewhere, then it would be a different story. But me, Skeet, (John) Murray, Rick Clunn and Ish (Monroe) talk to each other and help each other out."
He caught 13 keepers on the final day, including a day-best 6 1/2-pounder.
"I had one on for a second that ate it right at the boat that was the same size as my biggest one, and on the other days I lost fish up to 7 pounds. Throwing swimbaits, it's a war every day. I know I had the bites to win and I didn't capitalize."
He's just happy to be fully healthy again after battling numerous upper-body nerve issues in recent years that affected everything from his neck to his hands.
"I don't have any ailments and that feels really good. I spent 4 days throwing swimbaits and I feel great. I'm stronger now than when I won at Clear Lake.
"It's great to be able to do this and not be broken."
3rd: New Start for Remitz
> Day 4: 5, 20-13 (20, 85-05)
Remitz had done little of note since his 3rd-place showing at the 2011 Bassmaster Classic, but believes he's headed toward the type of strong campaign that marked the early portion of his career. He's 12th in the AOY race after two events.
"It just feels good to get the season off on the right foot," he said. "The last few I've dug myself a big hole and had to try to fish my way out. I kind of got into the wrong mindset.
"The past is the past, though, and I've got a brand new attitude this year."
Derek Remitz's 3rd-place finish was his best since the 2011 Bassmaster Classic.
He caught three 5-pounders in the final 10 minutes of day 4 to make a three-place jump in the final standings.
"I lost one about the same size in that little flurry. I was sick to my stomach for awhile, thinking that was the winning fish, but it turned out that it wouldn't have mattered."
4th: Walker Pleased
> Day 4: 5, 17-04 (20, 84-08)
Walker needed a good finish after his 107th-place bomb at the Sabine River, and he got it.
"I'm telling you what, I feel pretty darn good about my week," he said. "I'd like to have won, but I didn't catch enough fish. I fished good and I never lost anything, which is something that's really cost me in the past. I feel good about the choices I made."
He said he definitely felt pressure coming in to get his season turned around in the wake of the Sabine River debacle.
"That really showed in the first few hours of the first day – I was pretty anxious and I didn't catch anything until 10 o'clock. I settled down and it ended up turning into a big day, but I needed to calm down."
He caught at least 10 keepers on day 4, but none that exceeded 4 3/4 pounds.
"It was just sort of a steady flow – I'd catch one, then fish for awhile and catch another one. It wasn't fast and furious.
"The fact that I didn't get a lot of bites kept my weight down somewhat. I needed to catch 40 or so to get three or four good ones."
5th: Combs Adapted Well
> Day 4: 5, 20-07 (20, 83-06)
Like a lot of anglers, Combs always looks forward to tournaments at Guntersville.
"It's such a good lake and everybody can fish their strengths," he said. "I was excited about it even though I'd never seen it with the fish in this phase (all stages of the spawn).
"I had a good practice, but the way I caught them in practice didn't work in the tournament, then in the tournament I caught them a different way every day."
He caught eight keepers on the final day, but the first five (which he had by 8:30) were the ones he brought to the scale. He fished deeper (in the 15-foot range) than he had on any other day.
"That area just shut down and I couldn't get bit there anymore. I thought I could probably upgrade here or there, but to win I thought I'd need a couple of 7-pounders or something like that, so I just stayed out there. I just didn't get them."
Notable
> Day 4 stats – 12 anglers, 11 limits, 1 one.
> Iaconelli's tough day left him more than 20 pounds behind Reese after all of the dust had settled. “I look back at today, and I don’t know if I would really change anything,” he said. “It just didn’t work. I had a B plan, and it didn’t work. I had a plan C, and it didn’t work. What are you going to do?”
Day 4 (Final) Standings
1. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, CA -- 20, 92-11 -- 100 -- $100,000
Day 1: 5, 24-15 -- Day 2: 5, 17-06 -- Day 3: 5, 25-01 -- Day 4: 5, 25-05
2. Byron Velvick -- Boerne, TX -- 20, 88-01 -- 99 -- $26,000
Day 1: 5, 18-13 -- Day 2: 5, 26-06 -- Day 3: 5, 18-07 -- Day 4: 5, 24-07
3. Derek Remitz -- Grant, AL -- 20, 85-05 -- 98 -- $21,000
Day 1: 5, 19-11 -- Day 2: 5, 24-00 -- Day 3: 5, 20-13 -- Day 4: 5, 20-13
4. David Walker -- Sevierville, TN -- 20, 84-08 -- 97 -- $15,000
Day 1: 5, 23-01 -- Day 2: 5, 25-05 -- Day 3: 5, 18-14 -- Day 4: 5, 17-04
5. Keith Combs -- Huntington, TX -- 20, 83-06 -- 96 -- $14,000
Day 1: 5, 23-00 -- Day 2: 5, 20-06 -- Day 3: 5, 19-09 -- Day 4: 5, 20-07
6. Carl Jocumsen -- Queensland, Australia 20 -- 81-15 -- 95 -- $13,500
Day 1: 5, 19-14 -- Day 2: 5, 26-10 -- Day 3: 5, 18-00 -- Day 4: 5, 17-07
7. Jason Christie -- Park Hill, OK -- 20, 81-15 -- 94 -- $13,000
Day 1: 5, 20-07 -- Day 2: 5, 21-06 -- Day 3: 5, 23-10 -- Day 4: 5, 16-08
8. Greg Vinson -- Wetumpka, AL -- 20, 78-14 -- 93 -- $12,500
Day 1: 5, 23-11 -- Day 2: 5, 16-06 -- Day 3: 5, 24-02 -- Day 4: 5, 14-11
9. Brent Ehrler -- Newport Beach, CA -- 20, 78-01 -- 92 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 23-08 -- Day 2: 5, 20-05 -- Day 3: 5, 16-12 -- Day 4: 5, 17-08
10. Chad Morgenthaler -- Coulterville, IL -- 20, 76-06 -- 91 -- $11,500
Day 1: 5, 16-10 -- Day 2: 5, 24-08 -- Day 3: 5, 19-13 -- Day 4: 5, 15-07
11. Dean Rojas -- Lake Havasu City, AZ -- 20, 75-04 -- 90 -- $11,000
Day 1: 5, 22-02 -- Day 2: 5, 20-02 -- Day 3: 5, 20-06 -- Day 4: 5, 12-10
12. Michael Iaconelli -- Pitts Grove, NJ -- 16, 72-07 -- 89 -- $12,000
Day 1: 5, 28-02 -- Day 2: 5, 24-15 -- Day 3: 5, 16-07 -- Day 4: 1, 02-15
