Skeet Reese came back with a vengeance in Virginia and took his fifth Bassmaster victory at Smith Mountain Lake during the Evan Williams Bourbon – Blue Ridge Brawl. Catching 78 pounds of bass he bested the rest of the field by nearly 15 pounds. Using his typical favorite lure , the swimbait, skeet now has the inside track to become the 2010 Bassmaster Angler of the Year. If he keeps this up he is going to lap the field with only five events remaining.
After last weeks incredibly close tournament in Stockton, CA where John Crews pulled off a one (1) ounce victory over Skeet Reese. 2010 could shape up to be a very interesting season. Crews won by boating 72 pounds-6 ounces which makes the margin of victory that much more amazing. To catch that many high quality fish and to lose by one ounce had to be particularly hard to take for Reese. I cannot imagine what he felt like when he saw the final tally on the last day of weigh-in.
This week the professionals resumed with a tournament at Clear Lake in California. Bass fishing in the Golden State Shootout always hold the promise of a record bag of fish. Byron Velvick got his first Elite Series win by leading the tournament all four days. He weighed in over 98 pounds and has put himself in good position to make a run at angler of the year. Byron by coincidence is a California transplant who now lives in Del Rio, TX.
I really enjoyed the coverage ESPN provided of the 2010 Bassmaster Classic. It makes me yearn for the day we will back on the water bass fishing. When you live in northern Illinois the bass fishing season takes forever to arrive. That is why when I can get away for even a few days to Florida or Mexico to fish it minimizes the winter blues.
Kevin VanDam is truly amazing, he has won this event three times now and he can arguably be called the best tournament angler ever. Only Rick Clunn has won the Classic more, four-times but KVD has many more years to fish as he is only 42 and may be getting better with age. The most amazing thing is he uses out of the package bass fishing tackle: line, lures, rods and reels that anyone can purchase at Bass Pro Shops off the shelf.
He typical uses Quantum rods & reels, BPS XPS Fluorocarbon line and lures that are still in the package. He does not use custom or specially manufactured lures it is the same thing anyone can buy. The difference in him is the concentration and level of preparation he puts in to tournament fishing. Pretty good for a kid from Kalamazoo!