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Skeet Reese, hard at work at his "office." The bass fisherman from Auburn, who spends most of the year on the road, will be among the many top-level competitors in the TroKar Duel in the Delta this weekend, part of the Bassmaster Elite series.
One of the best of the best, Auburn's Skeet Reese, will be back on his home turf after commuting across the country dozens of times over the past three years, during which all Bassmaster Elite tournaments were east of the Rockies. Reese won the 2007 Angler of the Year and the 2009 Bassmaster Classic, receiving $500,000. He has more than $2 million in BASS career winnings, plus sponsorships, and will be featured Sunday in Parade magazine.
The complete field will compete today and Friday in the Stockton-based tournament, and the 47 anglers with the top two-day total weights of fish will advance to semifinals Saturday. The 12 with the highest three-day total weights will compete for the $100,000 top prize on Sunday.
The public can view daily boat launches for free at Morelli Park Boat Launch and check out the daily weigh-ins at 3:30 p.m. at the Weber Point Events Center. The event will be covered on Bassmaster.com and ESPN360.com, and will be featured March 28 and April 17 on ESPN2's "The Bassmasters."
We were lucky enough to catch up with Reese just before he put on his tournament game face – lucky in that high-level tournament bass fishing is anything but leisurely. Reese is on the road, away from his wife, Kim, and his two small children, for 250 to 275 days a year.
How does it feel to be able to fish practically in your own backyard again?
Pretty damn nice. It's not very often I get to be at home and fish, and (this time) almost everybody else has to travel cross-country like I normally do.
Do you think you will have any particular advantage here?
I've been fishing the Delta and Clear Lake (site of the March 18-21 tournament) all my life. That gives me some local knowledge, and it helps me in navigating the Delta, but that doesn't mean I'll have any advantage over the guys coming from back East. They're tough.
How good do you think the fishing will be this weekend?
I think it's going to be really good. I'd be shocked if we didn't see several bass over 10 pounds weighed in. There might even be a 14- or even an 18-pounder caught. My biggest from the Delta weighed over 11 pounds. Bass should be in their pre-spawn mode, and the water should be in the low to mid-50s. It's really dirty, though.
Without giving secrets, what do you think will be the best approach?
There's going to be more than one successful pattern. Flipping (in which an angler moves close to a stand of weeds and, using a heavy line and stout rod, pitches a heavy jig) should be good. The best colors should be black and blue or black and brown because of the dirty water. Add a soft-plastic "creature" bait like a Chigger Craw. Spinner baits and crank baits should work, too. I don't think we'll get a top- water bite, though. The water is still too cold.
How did your 2009 season go?
Pretty good. I started out really great winning the Classic, but I just missed out on winning Angler of the Year again. I didn't do very well at the latest Classic. Almost all the fish were caught in one little creek right by where we launched. There was all kinds of activity going on, and it looked just like all the other creeks, which had less traffic. So I fished those. The fish weren't there. That's why they call it fishing.
BASSMASTER ELITE SERIES: DUEL ON THE DELTA
When/where: Today-Sunday, with boat launches at 6:20 a.m. today-Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday at Morelli Park Boat Launch, 828 W. Weber Ave., Stockton; and weigh-ins at 3:30 p.m. today through Sunday at Weber Point Events Center, 221 N. Center St., Stockton.
Plus: The Bassmaster Shamrock 5K Run & Walk at Weber Point will start at 5 p.m. Saturday, after the weigh-in. A Downtown Stockton Alliance pub crawl will be held for adults after the run/walk, and kids will be invited to participate in "cabbage bowling." To register for the run/walk: www.fleetfeetstockton.com/ bassmasters-5k-run-walk.
On the Web and TV: Bassmaster.com will cover the tournament daily. Live streaming video will be shown on ESPN360.com, and ESPN2 will feature the competition on its March 28 edition of "The Bassmasters," repeating on April 17.
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