It would seem that Kelly Jordan, Mike Ike, Brian Snowden, and Jami Fralick were all on the fish to win it, but none of them were able to max out their spots or manage the fish as well as Skeet Reese did with his spot. Oh all the guys I think Kelly Jordan has got to be the most frustrated in the outcome. If he would have grinded it out in his starting spot instead of leaving the little area thus forfeiting the spot to Alton Jones who moved in after Jordan left then he very well might have won.
In my opinion the guys who came up biggest today were IKE, McClelland and Federation angler Bryan Schmidt. IKE and McClellend lost it on Day 1 and Schmidt lost it on Day 2.
It was really something to see 5 bags over 20lbs come in on the final day under the coldest weather of the tournament the day after the cold front. They talk about how Florida strain largemouth just don't bite with a cold front, but it appears that Florida strain transplants in a Lousiana river buck that trend. It could be that the Red River environment is conducive to getting anglers into the places where the big bass head under those types of conditions.
There is some buzz that the Bass Cast streaming and Bass Trakk are going to be used with the Elite Series this year. That combined with the stuff I get with Players Advantage at FLW should make this the best year ever in terms of being able to follow the major Professional Bass Fishing tournament trails.
A poster at FishingMinnesota.com handled "Fluker" wrote yesterday how he didn't want Skeet to win because he thinks the guy is a total jerk. I do not hate on the Skeeter but he really isn't one of my favorites either. Of the top guys I really wanted to see Evers win it. The honest truth was that I had mixed feelings about Fralick. Sure he is a Northern boy, but I am not so sure I want to see South Dakota have a Classic Champion before Minnesocold has one. Man I really would have been conflicted if Iowegian Fitzgerald would have done it as I esteem Iowa even less than South Dakota. Even with the Packer Cheesehead rivalry I would rather see a Packer Cracker win it than a Iowegian or a SoDaker. Do they even have bass in South Dakota?
J/K when I lived in Canby MN in far Western SW Minnesota there were a couple of lakes just across the South Dakota border that had more largemouth bass in them than anything close to me in Canby. I didn't really fish these lakes because I didn't have a boat and South Dakota jacked up there non-resident fishing licence price to about 60 bucks in 1996 which was my 2nd year in Canby and the year I would have fished over there given the chance.
On Kim Bain. Sure her showing was a bit of a dissappointment, but I believe Bryan Kerchal came in last place at the Bassmasters Classic as a Federation angler the first time he made it. Kerchal Qualified a second time through the Federation and the rest is tragic BASS history. It would not surprize me at all if Kim qualifies to fish several Classics in the next few years. She is one of the most talented women bass anglers out there and she has the extra help and advantage of having a Professional Bass Angler husband Andre Moore. Kim is a true Professional Bass Angler which gives her a big advantage over most of the WBT women who are more like Semi-Pro's.
The Skeet victory should give yet another boost to the reputation of West Coast and California bass anglers. In case you didn't know Michael Bennett of California is the current Forrest Wood Cup Champion on the FLW side. It's a good thing those West Coasters aren't relying on Byron Velvick to hold their water. (Oh Yes I did!)
Way To Go Skeet!!!
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