Skeet Reese settled into the middle of the pack on day 1 of the Toyota Trucks BASS Championship Week at Lake Jordan, but that didn't hurt his quest to nail down his second career Angler of the Year (AOY) award. In fact, he strengthened his position just a bit.
He rallied late to weigh a 12-04 limit and latch onto a tie for 6th place, but his closest pursuers
failed to capitalize on that mediocre showing on a sultry day in Alabama. Big moves were made by anglers who began the day farther back on the adjusted points list, but Reese was allowed to skate on a day that was a severe struggle for him until Alabama Power started pulling some current over the last couple of hours.
Edwin Evers, who started the event in the No. 2 slot and carrying a deficit of 15 points, weighed just 11-10 (8th place). If the 2-day first leg had ended today, he'd be 19 1/2 points behind Reese in 4th.
Cliff Pace, who came in at No. 3, sacked 9-02 (10th) and is in line to surrender six positions in the standings. It's a similar scenario for Derek Remitz, who came in 4th in the points but caught just 6-10 (12th) and has fallen to the bottom of the pack.
Russ Lane, a resident of nearby Prattville, live up to his billing of hometown favorite with a 17-pound bag, which was the best of the day. He can move into 2nd on the points list if he holds on to win the leg tomorrow and there isn't a major shakeup behind him
Below are how the standings would look if the tournament ended today. Each angler's name is followed by points total based on day-1 at Jordan. After that comes points deficit in red, then notation on upward or downward movement in green or blue.
1. Skeet Reese -- 242.5
2. Russ Lane -- 227 (15.5, up 7 spots)
3. Kevin VanDam -- 225 (17.5, up 1 spot)
4. Edwin Evers -- 223 (19.5, down 2 spots)
5. Greg Hackney -- 222 (20.5, up 4 spots)
6. Aaron Martens -- 213 (29.5, up 3 spots)
7. Gary Klein -- 209 (33.5, up 2 spots)
8. John Crews -- 207.5 (35, up 1 spot)
9. Cliff Pace -- 203 (39.5, down 6 spots)
10. Tommy Biffle -- 201 (41.5, down 3 spots)
11. Terry Butcher -- 197 (45.5, down 5 spots)
12. Derek Remitz -- 195 (47.5, down 8 spots)
What's Happening Out There?
The post-season is taking place about a month and a half earlier than in 2009, and lighter bags than a year ago were anticipated due to the more stagnant state of the fisheries. That didn't materialize today, however, as overall weights were up compared to day 1 in '09.
Nonetheless, both the air and the water are hot and many of the fish are suspended. Some anglers were able to box early limits, but others – such as Reese – had to wait until the current started moving around lunchtime to begin filling their livewells.
Russ Lane's day-best bag was topped by a 4 3/4-pounder.
The lower portion of the lake seemed to be the hotspot in the morning, with the upper part producing better in the afternoon. The period between the time the sun covered the water and when current generation started was ultra-slow for most.
Spotted bass were more prominent than largemouths overall, but some of the leaders weighed big green kickers.
Isolated thunderstorms are in the forecast for tonight and late tomorrow, and maybe the change in sky color will spur some activity for day 2.
Field Rundown
1st: Russ Lane -- 5, 17-00
A huge flotilla of spectator boats – as many as 37 at one time – accompanied Lane today, and he didn't disappoint them. He knows the two post-season fisheries (the second leg will be contested on the Alabama River) far better than anyone else in the field and although his chances of winning the AOY are slim, his chances to have a lucrative couple of weeks are stellar, as the winner of each leg will receive a $60,000 boat package.
He did most of his damage after 11:00 and his bag was topped by a 4 3/4-pound largemouth.
“Everything is out of my control,” he said. “I feel like I don’t have much of a chance to move up so I’m fishing like I have nothing to lose. It’s like all the pressure is off of me and I can just go out and have fun.”
2nd: Greg Hackney -- 5, 16-09
Hackney seems to be plying his specialty – thoroughly dissecting shallow areas – and he has one in particular that he visited several times during the day. His bag consisted of four largemouths and one spot.
"I'm fishing for both (species)," he said. "I'm catching them two different ways, but I'm not getting a lot of bites. Some of these guys are going out and catching a bunch of fish, but it's not like that for me.
"It's a grind. It's like watching paint dry all day."
3rd: Kevin VanDam -- 5, 15-04
VanDam laid a solid foundation in his bid for a third straight BASS AOY and sixth overall. He started the day trailing Reese by 31 points, but is now 17 1/2 back.
He thought 15 pounds might be good enough for the lead, so he laid off his fish a bit late in the day. He'll give them no such break tomorrow.
“I have to move up – 3rd place just isn’t going to cut it," he said. "Skeet controls his own destiny, but I can put the pressure on if I go out there and whack 'em.”
Keeping with his preferred style, he moved around a lot. He did most of his damage from mid-morning on.
Greg Hackney caught a strong bag despite not getting many bites.
"I knew sooner or later I was going to run into a place that had some fish – they roam a lot here. They're feeding on this year's shad and the shad are real small, and they're here one day and gone the next.
"On the first day of practice I had some good bites early, but it didn't happen today."
4th: Aaron Martens -- 5, 15-00
Martens was one of the anglers who caught an early limit (he had five in the box by 9:00). He said he caught about 40 keepers on the day and 60 fish total.
"I didn't get anything over 3 pounds – I'm saving them for tomorrow," he said. "For me, it's more of a time-of-day thing than the current, although the current doesn't hurt the bite. The magical hour was a little bit shorter than I expected."
He anticipates a drop in the weights tomorrow.
"I think it's going to be really tough and it'll be interesting to see what happens."
5th: Gary Klein -- 5, 13-06
Klein, one of five anglers to make the post-season for the second straight year, fished alongside Martens for much of the morning and also went through a lot of fish.
"These fish are suspended and it's a matter of getting them around the contours where you can catch them," he said. "I'm almost never satisfied, but I am satisfied with 13 pounds today.
"I've always enjoyed this lake for some strange reason and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."
6th (tie): Skeet Reese -- 5, 12-04
Reese endured a miserable morning that was compounded by watching Martens and Klein boat several quality fish apiece. He had just one run-of-the-mill keeper to show for the first 3 hours of the day and possessed just three at 1:00.
A strong afternoon surge saved his day.
“I’m pretty dang happy right now,” he said. “I feel good about heading into Sunday in the position I'm in. I knew it was going to be an interesting week and I just need to roll with the punches.”
He said he junk-fished for the majority of the day and each of his weigh-in fish came on a different bait.
“I’ve got some work to do. I’m looking to extend my lead each day of competition and hopefully I can do that again tomorrow.
"I was looking for 15 pounds today and it didn’t materialize, but I know there is plenty of fish in here that are capable of producing a solid bag like that.”
6th (tie): John Crews -- 5, 12-04
Crews said his day was anything but easy.
"This is one of those scrap-along tournaments," he said. "I've only got a couple of techniques that are producing and they're at the opposite ends of the spectrum. But you've got to do what you've got to do to put fish in the boat.
Edwin Evers started the day in 2nd place in the AOY race, but lost some ground with an 11-10 bag.
"You've got to stay focused all day and that's hard to do in this heat. You have to stay hydrated and it's hard to eat enough because you don't get hungry, so you have to force yourself."
8th: Edwin Evers -- 5, 11-10
Evers felt like he did the things he should have to have a much better day, but it wasn't in the cards.
"It started out pretty slow and it was a real grind," he said. "I feel like I can still catch them because I know I'm around a lot of fish. I thought it was going to happen quick and often, but it didn't happen at all for me.
"(The AOY) wasn't going to be won or lost today – there's still a lot of fishing left. I'm excited to get back out there tomorrow."
9th: Tommy Biffle -- 5, 10-06
Biffle was the leader after day 1 here last year, but it was a different story today. He said he was tardy in arriving to his best area.
"By the time I got there Kevin was already there, and so were Terry Butcher and John Crews," he said. "I think I was a little late on my route.
"I'll probaby visit there again tomorrow – I'll go by and see if I can get a bite or two and then move on."
10th: Cliff Pace -- 5, 9-02
Pace's day was extremely disappointing – not only because he missed a golden opportunity to close the points gap on Reese, but also because he thought big things were in store for him.
"I just didn't get the bites I expected," he said. "That's part of the sport, but it's frustrating.
"It's a given that you're going to have days like this, but you don't want to have them in a tournament like this one. It's revenge time now."
11th: Terry Butcher -- 5, 8-12
Butcher is coming off what was easily his best Elite Series season ever, but today was a bit of a downer as he brought five small spots to the scale. At least he had some fun catching them, though.
"Those things are mean," he said.
12th: Derek Remitz -- 5, 6-10
Remitz does his best work with a jig, and it's tough to employ that bait effectively on suspended fish.
"I could never get a good bite today," he said. "I tried (a jig) a little bit, but the fish aren't relating to the bottom. I'll have to regroup and fish some of the same stuff tomorrow because I know I'm around some good ones."
Notable
> Day 1 stats – 12 anglers, 12 limits.
> Lane said his bag was about as good as he could've hoped for. "That's about what it takes to win a 1-day tournament this time of year – 16 or 17 pounds. Thirteen pounds is solid, and then you need to get a big one and I was fortunate to get that one that was pushing 5 pounds."
> Water temperatures exceeded 90 degrees in many places. "It was close to boiling," Reese said. "It has to be the hottest water I've ever fished."
Weather Forecast
Here's the weather forecast for the final tournament day.
> Sun., July 25 - P.M. T-Storms - 95°/75°
- Wind: From the S at 8 mph
Day 1 Standings
1. Russ Lane -- Prattville, Ala. -- 5, 17-00
Day 1: 5, 17-00
2. Greg Hackney -- Gonzales, La. -- 5, 16-09
Day 1: 5, 16-09
3. Kevin VanDam -- Kalamazoo, Mich. -- 5, 15-04
Day 1: 5, 15-04
4. Aaron Martens -- Leeds, Ala. -- 5, 14-00
Day 1: 5, 14-00
5. Gary Klein -- Weatherford, Texas -- 5, 13-06
Day 1: 5, 13-06
6. John Crews -- Salem, Va. -- 5, 12-04
Day 1: 5, 12-04
6. Skeet Reese -- Auburn, Calif. -- 5, 12-04
Day 1: 5, 12-04
8. Edwin Evers -- Talala, Okla. -- 5, 11-10
Day 1: 5, 11-10
9. Tommy Biffle -- Wagoner, Okla. -- 5, 10-06
Day 1: 5, 10-06
10. Cliff Pace -- Petal, Miss. -- 5, 9-02
Day 1: 5, 9-02
11. Terry Butcher -- Talala, Okla. -- 5, 8-12
Day 1: 5, 8-12
12. Derek Remitz -- Grant, Ala. -- 5, 6-10
Day 1: 5, 6-10
