Mike Iaconelli caught the most weight over 2 days at Lake Jordan, Ala. to win the Berkley PowerBait Trophy Chase, but 2nd-place finisher Skeet Reese was the real winner.
Reese, defending Bassmaster Classic champion and former BASS Angler of the Year (AOY), collected a stout 45 points as the runner-up and leads the AOY race by 16 points with 2 days left to fish.
Those final 2 days occur this Thursday and Friday at the Alabama River near Montgomery.
Here's a look at how the points shake out after Jordan. Anglers are shown in order of standing. Total points are followed by distance from leader in red, then up/down movement from initial points standing.
1. Skeet Reese -- 249 (up 1 place)
2. Kevin VanDam -- 233 (17, down 1 place)
3. Mike Iaconelli -- 225 (24, up 7 places)
4. Tommy Biffle -- 220 (29, up 1 place)
5. Randy Howell -- 216 (33, same place)
6. Alton Jones -- 214 (35 down 3 places)
7. Gerald Swindle -- 206 (43, up 5 places)
8. Todd Faircloth -- 202 (47, down 3 places)
8. Cliff Pace -- 202 (47, up 2 places)
10. Mark Menendez -- 199 (50, down 5 places)
11. Kelly Jordon -- 192 (57, down 4 places)
11. Gary Klein -- 192 (57, down 2 places)
The fewest points Reese could finish with is 259 (12th place at the Alabama River awards 10 points). That mathematically eliminates Gary Klein, Kelly Jordon, Mark Menendez, Cliff Pace, Todd Faircloth and Gerald Swindle.
Mike Iaconelli caught the big bass both days en route to his 1st-place Jordan finish.
Of those still alive, Jones would need 46 points at the Alabama River (a win), Howell 48 (a win), Biffle 39, Iaconelli 35 and VanDam 26.
Another way to look at it is Reese needs to reach 286 points to clinch the win, which would be 51 points ahead of VanDam's current points total. Reese could do that with a finish of 3rd or better.
On the other hand, if VanDam were to win at the Alabama River, Reese would need to finish 4th or better to pass him.
And Iaconelli's still in the mix. If Ike were to win the Alabama River leg, he'd finish with 275 points. Reese would need to finish 6th or better to pass Ike, while VanDam would need to finish 1st or 2nd to hold off Ike.
Although Tommy Biffle isn't mathematically eliminated, he'd need Reese, VanDam and Ike to utterly cave. To be specific, if Reese finished last (12th) at the final leg, VanDam 11th and Ike 10th, Biffle would still need to finish 3rd or better to win the title.
Tiebreaker for points standings is total weight caught during post-season.
Penalty, Emergency, More at Jordan
It seemed an odd day. Tommy Biffle made a culling error which might have cost him 1st place. According to Biffle, he caught a 3- to 3 1/2-pounder, threw it in the well and started to blow into the grass. Before culling, he hopped on the trolling motor to get out of the grass, adjusted his bait, made a flip or two, then it hit him: He had six fish in the box.
Kevin VanDam came back with a solid limit after a light day 1.
He said he immediately called BASS tournament officials. He met them and was assessed the written penalty: BASS culled his largest fish. BASS tournament director Trip Weldon estimated that error cost Biffle a pound to a pound and a half. He finished 3rd – 1-07 behind Ike.
Biffle worked primarily docks the first day, but got off that pattern today and fished shallower.
Mark Menendez did not attend weigh-in due to what BASS officials described as a family emergency. His wife wasn't feeling well and went to the hospital for tests. Menendez weighed 13-03 today and finished 9th.
Mike Iaconelli primarily worked a dock pattern and caught better than 14 pounds both days to finish on top. He added several deep spotted bass across both days that bit a tube. Although Ike would certainly rather be leading the points, he likes the fact that he enters the Alabama River just like he did Jordan – with no pressure.
Reese walloped 15-03 today – the second-biggest bag of the tournament – and improved three spots over his day-1 standing. Reese said he changed tactics today and hunkered down in a single area. He kept the trolling motor on high and moved constantly between shallow and deep.
"I'm tickled to have the tournament I had here," he added. "It's good to have the points lead. Now I want to get the Alabama River going and see what happens. It's been a while since most of us have been there. It should present new conditions. I'm not going to focus on what the other guys will be doing. I can only take care of myself and, thankfully, this will be my title to lose."
VanDam, meanwhile, came back as he almost always does after a disappointing day. Lost fish dominated his day 1, but he put 14-08 on the scales today, which moved him up a spot to finish 6th. The difference, he said, was he got his bites in the boat.
"Some days you get out there and nothing goes your way," VanDam noted. "(That's) the way it was yesterday – one of those days you dread having. You just have to deal with it and fish through it. Today was a little better. They got me yesterday, but I got a little redemption on them today."
As for the AOY race, VanDam felt beforehand that the winner would need to have "4 real solid days," but so far he's 1 for 2. What makes it especially difficult, he added, is that under this format you have to fish to win, which also means there's the likelihood of a strikeout. "You go out there and try to hit it out of the park. You don't go for singles. That's what I'm going to do (this week)."
Tommy Biffle was assessed a culling penalty today.
Randy Howell caught a tournament-best 15-10 today and improved two spots to finish 4th, but in terms of the race, it was too little too late. His swim-jig pattern worked today (it didn't yesterday), and he added a frog-fish and a deep fish to reach his total.
The biggest surprise the past 2 days was probably the fadeaway by Alton Jones and Kelly Jordon, who entered the post-season at 3rd and 4th in the points, respectively. Jones, in particular, let a chance slip away, as he initially trailed VanDam by just 7 points.
Jones finished 10th today and Jordon 11th, which shattered their title dreams.
Notable
> Trip Weldon commented on Biffle's culling error and noted how odd it was to have three culling violations in two events (Bill Lowen and Bobby Lane were penalized at Oneida). In fact, former BASS tournament director Dewey Kendrick was in attendance, and Weldon said he can only remember one time in all his history with BASS and working with Kendrick that he assessed a culling penalty. That was at Lake Murray.
> The anglers break tomorrow for media day, then resume with the official 2-day Alabama River practice on Tuesday.
Day 2 (Final) Standings
1. Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, N.J. -- 10, 28-15
Day 1: 5, 14-12 -- Day 2: 5, 14-03
2. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif. -- 10, 27-09
Day 1: 5, 12-06 -- Day 2: 5, 15-03
3. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 10, 27-08
Day 1: 5, 15-00 -- Day 2: 5, 12-08
4. Randy Howell -- Springville, Ala. -- 10, 26-15
Day 1: 5, 11-05 -- Day 2: 5, 15-10
5. Gerald Swindle -- Warrior, Ala. -- 10, 25-07
Day 1: 5, 12-10 -- Day 2: 5, 12-13
6. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich. -- 10, 25-06
Day 1: 5, 10-14 -- Day 2: 5, 14-08
7. Cliff Pace -- Petal, Miss. -- 10, 24-12
Day 1: 5, 12-14 -- Day 2: 5, 11-14
8. Todd Faircloth -- Jasper, Texas -- 10, 24-02
Day 1: 5, 10-11 -- Day 2: 5, 13-07
9. Mark Menendez -- Paducah, Ky. -- 10, 23-14
Day 1: 5, 10-11 -- Day 2: 5, 13-03
10. Alton Jones -- Waco, Texas -- 10, 23-00
Day 1: 5, 9-07 -- Day 2: 5, 13-09
11. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 10, 21-12
Day 1: 5, 10-01 -- Day 2: 5, 11-11
12. Kelly Jordon -- Mineola, Texas -- 8, 13-14
Day 1: 3, 4-01 -- Day 2: 5, 9-13
Big Bass
> Day 2 -- Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, N.J. -- 4-03
> Day 1 -- Michael Iaconelli -- Runnemede, N.J. -- 4-11
