Skeet Reese is No. 1 in State Farm-BassFan.com World Rankings. It's a monumental accomplishment for the California native who fished his first tour-level event 7 years ago. How monumental? Consider that

only three anglers have ever been ranked No. 1 in the world: Kevin VanDam, Mark Davis and Kelly Jordon. That's pretty elite company.

"Any time you can be number one at something, you always feel good about it," Reese said. "My last couple of tournaments have gone well, but there's still a lot of fishing left to be done. Would I love to stay at No. 1? Absolutely. But there's too many other good fishermen out there, and too many variables, to expect it to last.

"If I don't stay there, at least I can say I was there for 1 week. Kevin VanDam – obviously his track record over the past 10 years is impeccable, and he'll be back (at No. 1) again. The other guys up there are all fishing good too."

His Main Goal

He said his primary goal this year is the same as always. "I want to win Angler of the Year (AOY). That'll be my main goal every year until I at least reach it once. That'll be my driving force every year on tour.

"Making the (Bassmaster) Classic is a short-term goal, but Angler of the Year is still the most prestigious goal."

He's off to a great start toward his AOY goal – he's 4th in the Bassmaster Tour points. "It's still so early, I'm trying not to think about it," he said. "That's counting chickens way before they can hatch. If things go right and I keep in the Top 20, I'll be in contention at the end of the season. But one bad tournament takes you right out of the game."

The Florida Swing

The Bassmaster Tour kicked off with back-to-back tournaments in Florida. Reese left Florida with two good finishes – 18th at Toho and 8th at the Harris Chain. He won Harris Chain in 2003, but said Toho has historically been a problem. For example, he was 105th there in 2001.

"Historically, Toho hasn't treated me real well," he said. "I had one decent finish, but otherwise I've pretty much taken a whoopin' there. It was my goal to get out of Toho with a Top 20, and I did that.

"Then I had confidence going into Harris, from winning there once prior, so I felt like I could go there and catch fish. Fortunately I did."

His next stop is Guntersville, where his track record is spotty. He finished 58th there last year and 112th in 2003.

"Guntersville is the next hurdle," he said. "It hasn't treated me real well either. I have to go there with an open mind. I might try to find some new water, or try some new ways of fishing, to maybe make the Top 20."

From The West

While three other anglers have been ranked No. 1 in the world, Reese is the only western angler ever to reach the top spot.

"You have to consider me a western angler," he said. "That's where I learned how to fish. My style, for the most part, is based on western fishermen. But I had to take the knowledge I acquired and learn to apply it over here. So even though I'm on a national tour, I still consider myself a western fisherman.

"Everybody has kind of sanctioned their own geographic personalities – Mike Iaconelli's from Jersey, there's guys from Florida, northern states, western states – and they all have their own little styles and quirks."

But of all those different regions, he said the western fishermen, in particular, have distinguished themselves. "So far, from what I've seen, there's obviously more western tour pros than there was before, but they're taking a pretty good percentage of paychecks.

"At Toho, I want to say about 20 percent of the checks were going to western fishermen. For only having a lot fewer guys out there, that's pretty strong."

Notable

> Reese started the year ranked No. 3 in the world and became No. 1 after his strong finish at the Harris Chain.

> He finished 5th in the Bassmaster points last year, was 10th in 2003 and 66th in 2002.

> > BassFan reported in Dec. 2004 that Reese had left Minn Kota and would run a MotorGuide digital trolling motor for the 2005 season. That news has now been made official. "I think the new digital technology is bulletproof and I wanted to further support Brunswick in their efforts," he said. Brunswick is the parent company of Mercury Marine and MotorGuide. Click here to learn more about MotorGuide's digital technology.