By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Bad starts to new seasons have been pretty much a way of life for Jason Reyes since he began fishing at the tour level in 2004. This year was an exception, and that's the primary reason that the 43-year-old Texan is enjoying his best season ever.
"That's always been my nemesis – I'd have a sub-par finish to begin the year and then it'd be an uphill climb from there," he said. "But this year I had a decent start and then a really good second event, and I've just been kind of riding that momentum."
He goes into this week's regular-season finale at the Potomac River in 13th place in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race. Anything other than a finish at or near the very bottom of the field will give him a berth in the Forrest Wood Cup.
He's made the Cup once before (in 2010) after he ended up 44th in the points.
"That year I only went because some guys double-qualified and they worked down the list. Sewing up a spot on my own would be nice.
"About all I'll have to do (at the Potomac) is put one fish in the boat. Just doing that will put $10,000 in my pocket (the amount that all Cup qualifiers receive) and it'll give me a chance to fish for $500,000. It's going to be big."
Going With the Flow
The FLW Tour season frequently kicks off in Florida, and more often than not, Reyes has turned in a bomb in that event to get his campaign off on the wrong foot. He finished 138th at Lake Okeechobee in 2014, 119th at the "Big O" the year before and 132nd at Toho in '08.
He's posted some doozies in non-Sunshine State openers as well – 102nd at Lake Lanier in '06, 185th at Lake Travis in '07 and 102nd at Lake Hartwell in '12.
His 26th-place showing at Toho this year was his best ever in a season opener. He followed that up with a career-best 3rd-place outing at Lewis Smith Lake and has stayed among the points leaders with solid finishes in his last three outings (57th at Beaver, 41st at Eufaula and 39th at Chickamauga).
Like a lot of journeyman anglers in the midst of a good season are prone to do, he credits fishing more instinctually for his improvement.
"I'm really not doing anything different physically – the biggest adjustment has been mental," he said. "I'm going on my instincts more and if they tell me to go fish something, I go fish it, whether I've practiced it or not. I'm fishing a lot more by the seat of my pants and I'm not saying 'I've gotta go here' or 'I've gotta go there' just because that's what I practiced for."
He said a prime example of that occurred at Lewis Smith.
"There was a little bay, just kind of a pocket, that looked right and felt right, but I hadn't fished it all week. I was between stops and I just wheeled in there and decided I was going to fish some docks.
"All of a sudden I saw some fish on my graph, so I just started casting over the middle of the bay. I ended up catching every fish I weighed that day."
More Versatile, More Confident
Considering his Texas roots, it's not surprising that Reyes' preferred style is power-fishing in shallow water. The FLW Tour frequently visits venues, however, at which those techniques are a sure ticket to a triple-digit finish, so he's had to expand his repertoire.
It took him awhile, but he's finally gotten comfortable with using spinning gear now and then.
"I've gotten to the point where I actually enjoy it," he said. "I'm not saying I'm Cody Meyer or anything like that, but I'm not afraid of clear water anymore. I kind of know what do at those places now."
He likely won't be doing much of that at the Potomac, where he'll be fishing around hydrilla. He cut his angling teeth at Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend and thus has a great deal of experience trying to catch bass from the grass. The big key will be making the right decisions in regard to the daily tidal fluctuations.
His primary objective for the week will be nailing down that Cup berth.
"That was my goal for this year," he said. "I told myself that I've been out here long enough and I should be able to finish high enough at this point to achieve that.
"After that, I'll try to see how high I can go. I'm 100 points away (from the AOY lead), so that's not on the radar, but I'd like to make the Top 15 and qualify for the (Toyota Texas Bass Classic). Being from Texas, that'd be huge."
