Skeet Reese Wins 2015 Bassmaster Elite Lake Guntersville with 92-11lbs

Skeet and Bryon Claim 1 &2 with Swimbait. 

By Bryan Brasher

bass press release

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – When Skeet Reese arrived in Alabama last week for the Diet Mountain Mtn Dew Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville, he had a solid plan in place for how he wanted to fish.

His plan didn’t work.

So instead, he just followed the lead of his friend and roommate on the tour, Byron Velvick.

Swimbaits and friends won G-ville. (Photo: BASS)

Velvick told Reese about the 7-inch Basstrix Swimbait – the largest version of a 15-year-old soft plastic bait that has seen a recent resurgence in popularity – and Reese used it to win with a four-day catch of 92 pounds, 11 ounces. He entered the final round in second place, more than 2 pounds behind Michael Iaconelli, but vaulted himself to the $100,000 victory with a Sunday catch of 25-5.

His buddy, Velvick, placed second with 88-1.

“You just couldn’t have scripted this any better,” said Reese, a California native who now has eight victories in B.A.S.S. events, including two on Guntersville. “I had a really tough practice. I was going out with the anticipation of catching 13 to 14 pounds a day — unless maybe I could find a big bite and come in with 16 to 17. But Byron turned me on to a bait, and it evolved into something special, a win.”

2015 Bassmaster Elite Lake Guntersville Day 3: Ike Keeps Leads as Leaderboard Flip-slops!

Ike  Struggles as Skeet Advances!

By Bryan Brasher

BASS PRESS RELEASE

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – Michael Iaconelli’s ever-evolving game plan for the Diet Mtn Dew Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville took another drastic turn during Saturday’s third round.
The New Jersey pro switched to a Carolina Rig – a technique he calls his “next-to-least-favorite way” to fish – and managed a five-bass limit that weighed 16 pounds, 7 ounces. It pushed his three-day total to 69-8 and kept him in the lead for the third straight day.
Iaconelli’s margin dwindled, however, dropping from nearly 5 pounds as the day began to just 2-2 entering Sunday’s championship round. California pro Skeet Reese caught 25-1 Saturday and jumped into second with 67-6, followed by Tennessean David Walker (67-4) and Oklahoma angler Jason Christie (65-7).

Just enough for IKE to keep lead. (Photo: BASS)

“My least-favorite way to catch fish is with a jiggin’ spoon,” Iaconelli said. “After that, it would be Carolina-rigging.  But if I had not pulled out that Carolina Rig, I probably would have only weighed in about 11 pounds today.”
Iaconelli worked the same area that produced catches of 28-2 and 24-15 the first two days. But the fishing was much tougher due to strong winds that made the lake choppy and eventually caused some areas to become stained with mud.
He said he’ll have to decide before take-off Sunday whether he’ll stick with the area that’s been so good to him or finally make a move.
“I still believe in my heart that the area I’m fishing is the winning area,” Iaconelli said. “It’s so hard to leave. My mind keeps thinking I just need to stay in there the entire day and commit. I’m going to go home and think about it tonight.”
Iaconelli did leave the area briefly Saturday to check out a spot where he had found several fish on spawning beds during practice. But after inspecting that area, he said he abandoned any thought of sight-fishing the rest of the way.
“I took it off the table,” Iaconelli said. “When I ran in there today, there were dudes on the bank everywhere. So I just decided I’m not bed fishing.”
Though it helped him hang onto the lead Saturday, Iaconelli said he believes another 16-pound catch Sunday will sink his chances for a wire-to-wire victory. He thinks it’ll take 20-plus pounds, possibly even mid-20s, to win.

2015 Bassmaster Elite Lake Guntersville Day 2: Ike Takes 5 Pound Lead Going into Weekend!

Consistency a difficult feat as bass move shallow.

By Bryan Brasher

bass press release

GUNTERSVILLE, Ala. – After rocketing into the lead with 28 pounds, 2 ounces on the first day of the Diet Mtn Dew Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville, Michael Iaconelli went back out during Friday’s second round with intentions of fishing the same way.

Ike lands a shallow brute!
(Photo: Steve Bowman BASS)

But after a while, things just didn’t feel right. So he followed his instincts, made a quick adjustment and put together another fantastic catch of 24-15 to widen his lead in the event with a two-day total of 53-1.

The remainder of the top five anglers on the leaderboard saw some drastic changes on a day that was delayed one hour by thunderstorms. David Walker (48-6) moved into second, followed by Carl Jocumsen (46-8), Byron Velvick (45-3) and Brent Ehrler (43-13). With the lake itself undergoing changes, even more shifting could happen atop the leaderboard Saturday.

“On Thursday, I thought I knew exactly what was happening,” Iaconelli said. “After today, I believe there’s a lot more fish moving up to spawn than I thought and a lot more fish coming out for the post-spawn than I thought. There are a lot of fish on the move.”

Iaconelli, who never said which lures he was using Thursday, said he switched to a crankbait when things got slow Friday. That’s when he caught two of his largest fish of the day.

“The first cast on a crankbait, I caught one that weighed almost 8 pounds,” Iaconelli said. “The next one on a crankbait was a 6-pounder. That was a key decision, because without those two fish, I probably would have only weighed in about 16 or 17 pounds.”