Kevin VanDam

How Skeet it is

February 22, 2009
(bassmaster.com, February 22, 2009)

BOSSIER CITY, La. — For Skeet, this one was sweet.

Two years after losing the Bassmaster Classic by 6 ounces on a last-hour big fish, Skeet Reese outslugged 2003 Classic champion Mike Iaconelli by 11 ounces to fill the only glaring hole in his bass fishing resume.

“To be able to do it — I didn’t know if it was going to be possible,” Reese told a capacity crowd of 9,300 at the CenturyTel Center.

With the win, he will reap a $500,000 payday (less, of course, the 6 percent tax the state of Louisiana will immediately impose). And he cast himself as only the 11th BASS angler ever to earn both the Classic and a Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title in a career.

The 39-year-old Auburn, Calif., pro knew it would go down to the wire. Iaconelli whacked 20 pounds, 3 ounces to rise from 10th on the final morning to first, with 54-2 over the three-day tournament.

Needing 16-2, Reese figured his bag was perhaps 16 pounds. When the scale read 16-12, he leapt in the air, pumped his fists and hugged Iaconelli.

“It’s hard to be that far back in the standings and win the Classic,” Iaconelli said. “It’s almost impossible. I knew the potential was there but these guys are too good. They’re not going to slip up.”

Day Two leader Jami Fralick’s weigh-in was almost a formality. Needing 16-5 to complete his Cinderella run, he brought a 10-9 limit across the stage, falling to eighth.

“It just wasn’t my time, I guess,” said Fralick, the 33-year-old from Martin, S.D., whose bite abandoned him on a stretch of water that he shared with third-place Brian Snowden.

The Classic win caps a stellar run since Reese lost that 2007 Classic to Boyd Duckett, who finished 12th in this Classic after leading on Day One. Reese won his first Elite Series event that summer on the way to his first AOY title, and in 2008 finished fourth in the points.

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/classic/news/story?id=3926870

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