Reese's Win Came Off Wood And Grass

Skeet Reese utterly dominated the recent Potomac Bassmaster Elite Series in Maryland.

He opened with a stunning 20-05 limit, which held up as the heaviest sack of the tournament, and he never relinquished his lead the next 3 days.

He eventually won by an 8 1/2-pound margin

over prior Potomac winner Kelly Jordon.

The win was Reese's second at this level, and helped him widen his lead in the Angler of the Year race with just one event left. It also pushed him above the $1 million mark in career BASS winnings.

Here's how he did it.

Practice

Reese finished 2nd to Jordon last year at the Potomac, and he'd also recorded 3rd- and 4th-place finishes at the Capitol river. He said he used some of his past knowledge this time, but largely branched out and tried to find some new stuff in practice.

"I just figured after last year's success out of the creek we fished – five of the Top 10 were out of there – that there was no way we could all go in there and have a successful event," he said. "I pretty much wrote it off and decided to go find some new water.

"Mattawoman had been my success previously, but I knew it would he hard to have as much water to yourself (this time). It was popular before, but now it's just stupid. I think half the field stays in there these days."

He fished daylight to dark on the first practice day in search of new water. He largely struck out with only four or five small bites all day.

On the second day of practice, he fished from daylight until 4:00 and got three bites – again, all small.

"I started thinking, 'You're sucking right now, and you need to go somewhere where you have some confidence," he said. "I pulled the boat out, pulled it down to Nanjemoy, and launched (again). I'd read the tide was going to be good that evening. I spent 2 1/2 to 3 hours practicing that evening.

"I fished hard, I fished thoroughly, and had four bites," he added. "But at least it was four bites in one area. One felt decent, one felt small. I thought, 'It's not a glory hole like last year, but at least I have one spot where I could fish hard and get five fish if I was lucky.'"

On the last day of practice, he wanted to find an area to fish on the way back from the Nanjemoy. He put the trolling motor down where there was "grass, grass, grass, and more grass," fished thoroughly, and eventually found an area with a concentration of fish.

He felt six or seven bites in an hour in that grass area. He stuck one and it was a 5-pounder, so he added the area to his list.

He thus went into the event with the Nanjemoy, where he was fishing wood, and the grass spot, where he was flipping mats of matted milfoil mixed with eelgrass.

"Overall, it wasn't a great practice by any means," he noted.

Days 1 & 2

> Day 1: 5, 20-05
> Day 2: 5, 14-14 (10, 35-03)

Reese started day 1 at the Nanjemoy, where he had about an hour and a half of optimal tide. He stuck four fish.

"That surprised the hell out of me," he said. "I thought at the time that they weighed 12 to 13 pounds, but they weighed 15. I was pretty fired up though, because I thought 13 pounds would go a long way in the tournament."

After the optimal tide was gone, he ran to his grass area and caught his fifth keeper on his third flip. He upgraded two more times, then decided to lay off the area.

"I was plowing out of the grass and thought, 'Oh well, I'll just flip once on this little spot,'" he said. "I flipped in and caught a 5 1/2. It was the last flip of the day, and I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.'"

He ended the day with 20-05. Since it was the heaviest limit caught all week, it earned him an additional $8,000 in Berkley Big Bag money.

He started day 2 at the Nanjemoy again.

"I just started fishing the same stuff," he noted. "I was covering water and fishing everything in sight. I wound up catching six or seven keepers, and I was pretty excited. They weren't big, but I left there with about 12 1/2 pounds. I figured that would keep me in the Top 10."

He culled one of those fish in his grass area and ended the day with 14-14. That brought his 2-day total to 35-03 and he led Jordon by 2-05.

Days 3 & 4

> Day 3: 5, 17-14
> Day 4: 5, 12-15 (20, 66-00)

Reese wasn't overly confident at the dawn of day 3. The Potomac's notoriously up and down, and several of his peers had suffered disastrous days already.

"I wasn't sure if I could get a bite, because the bites were so hard to come by there (in the Nanjemoy)," he said. "I knew I was fishing around a lot of (fish), but I was a little scared about whether I'd get a bite."

His first in the creek was a 12-inch keeper, and he went fishless for the next 2 hours. Then things started to happen.

He noted: "I don't know what it was, but then all my bites were big ones – 3 1/2- or 4-pounders. Every time I jacked a big one, I started screaming: 'Oh my God, I've got a giant!'

"So I left there with a pretty good bag, but I still had one small fish in the limit. I ran to the grass area, caught two keepers and replaced the small one with a 2 1/2. That got me up to the 17-14."

Jordon, who began the day in 2nd, tanked on day 3 with 7-07, so Reese now led by 8 1/2 pounds with 1 day left to fish.

"I was surprised to stay as consistent as I did for 4 days," Reese said. "With the tide, it's pretty hard to stay consistent every day. A lot of times, in tidal situations, spots don't replenish overnight.

"For Kelly to stumble, and some other guys, it didn't hurt my feelings none, but I was shocked to find out I had an almost 9-pound lead over 2nd place. I'd never been in that position before. But I was also stressed again not knowing if I could get another bite out of there."

He headed straight for the Nanjemoy as soon as day 4 began and caught one early fish, then again went 2 hours without a bite. At noon, he only had one fish in the box.

"Then the tides finally got right in there," he said. "We must have had a high tide, because the current stayed super strong for a long time. I just needed the tide to slow down a bit, and once it finally did, I caught two pretty quick.

"I felt like two that I caught were potentially the winning fish, but I also didn't know what everyone else was going to catch. I thought I needed at least 10 pounds, but I only had three for about 9."

At that point, the tide started "coming in too strong" so he bailed and headed for his grass area. He arrived with 45 minutes of fishing left and within 3 or 4 minutes "jacked a 4-pounder. Ten minutes later I caught my fifth fish and knew is was lights-out then."

Winning Pattern Notes

Reese said the best tide in the Nanjemoy was the bottom of the outgoing. In his grass area, it was the start of the incoming.

Inside the Nanjemoy he targeted wood almost exclusively. The best stuff was found along channel swings next to deeper water.

"It's probably not a place where a tournament will be won again for a long time, I'm sure," he noted. "I think there'll be way more fishing pressure now than there's ever been. Years ago it was known for fish, but it had a big saltwater fish kill. This'll put it back on the map."

He added that the fish didn't appear healthy there. They weren't thick, and many had sores. "They might be all dead by next year."

In his grass area, he punched matted milfoil that had some eel grass mixed in.

Winning Gear Notes

> Wood gear: 8' heavy-action Lamiglas XFT806 flipping stick, Abu Garcia Revo casting reel, 25-pound Trilene 100% fluorocarbon, 3/8-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight, 3/0 extra-wide-gap hook, Berkley Power Hawg (green-pumpkin).

> Grass gear: 7'10" heavy-action Lamiglas SRFT 7108 Skeet Reese Punchin' rod, same reel, 55-pound Spiderwire Ultracast braid, 1-ounce Tru-Tungsten weight, 5/0 Reaction Innovations BMF hook, Berkley Sabertail Burly Bug (green-pumpkin).

> He also caught two fish cranking a Lucky Craft BDS 2.

The Bottom Line

> Main factor in his success – "Patience. In the tournament, I was just fishing thoroughly and trying to capitalize on every bite I could. If you'd asked me before the tournament if I was going to win, I'd have said absolutely not. I'd have bet you $1,000 I wasn't going to win. For me to win off what I found in practice – it still baffles me. I got fortunate. I got some key bites, and some quality bites, that I didn't know I could get."

> Performance edge – "All of my tackle's critical. It all goes together."

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