Names like Evers and Jordon, Snowden and Wolak joined forces with the likes of Reese, Davis, Iaconelli, Martens and Duckett in pursuit of the young South Dakota pro, Jami Fralick – who qualified for the Classic via the Opens and has been in contention since the opening whistle. 

The weather? Sure, it was a challenge this week but if it wasn’t the weather it would be the river. This week it’s been both as weather and river conspired to create an ever-changing, and extremely challenging environment. 

Conventional wisdom would have lead onlookers eyeing conditions in Shreveport Sunday morning to label the day as anything but “optimal” for fishing. Fortunately, the bass in the Red River don’t subscribe to conventional wisdom.

Skeet Reese told The BASS ZONE Saturday that he was sure the tournament would be won in the last two hours of the day, and to win a tournament, any tournament, at this level of competition requires that everything must go your way. 

This axiom is even truer in the Bassmaster Classic where the pressures of the week come to their full frenzy on the final day – particularly when you leave the launch as the leader. No one in Sunday’s field wanted history to ask “what if” about them. 

Each of them knew that no one would remember who finished in second place. It’s all about the win, and on Sunday everyone swung accordingly.

Sunday, Skeet Reese made sure that he wouldn’t be included in the “What If?” category when pages are written about the 2009 Classic. He was able to capitalize on enough magic to claim his first Classic title in nine previous attempts. 

Skeet started the day in second place and kept the wolves at bay to claim the title of “Classic Champion.” Totaling 54 pounds and 13 ounces over the course of the week, Skeet capped off an amazing week by bringing a 16 pound 12 ounce limit to the scales. 

Ending his 10th Classic in second place was Michael “Ike” Iaconelli. Over three days of competition, Ike amassed a total weight of 54 pounds, 2 ounces after bringing his heaviest limit of the week weighing 20 pounds, 3 ounces to the scales on Sunday.

In third place after all the smoke had cleared was Brian Snowden, fishing his fourth Classic. This was the highest finish that Snowden has had in Classic competition, and did so by managing 52 pounds and 14 ounces over three days after bringing a final-day tournament limit weighing pounds and 18 pounds 1 ounce to the CenturyTel Arena weigh-in stage.

Mike McClelland finished his sixth Classic in fourth place with a three-day total of 52 pounds and 1 ounce. McClelland brought in his heaviest limit of the week, weighing 21 pounds and 11 ounces, to move him in the fourth-place spot.

Fifth-place honors went to Edwin Evers, who brought in a 15-pound 2-ounce limit to push his three-day total to 51 pounds and 5 ounces. Rounding out the Super Six was Federation angler Bryan Schmidt, bringing in 22 pounds and 1 ounce on Sunday, with 51 pounds and 1 ounce over three days of Classic competition.

1st Place: Skeet Reese
When Boyd Duckett flipped up the kicker to his winning limit in 2007, Skeet Reese was forced into second place. As everyone knows, there is no glory in the Classic unless you win. It looked for a minute during Sunday’s final moments on the water that Skeet was destined to be runner-up to the sport’s biggest trophy yet again.

But history wouldn’t be repeated in Shreveport, and Skeet would not be denied a goal that he’d set for himself. “It’s going to take a few days for this to really set in,” an emotional Skeet told the crowd gathered at the CenturyTel arena.

“After I won the Toyota Tundra Angler of the Year title, I set the goal that I was going to win the Classic trophy. I can tell you right now that this grin isn’t going to leave my face for a long time.”

To claim the trophy, Skeet had to go through and emotional roller coaster all week long – but particularly after he’d arrived at the staging area preparing to go onto the weigh-in stage. “People were telling me that Ike had a 23-pound stringer,” he said. “I’m usually guilty of underestimating my bag, so I really didn’t think that I had a prayer.

“Once Ike weighed in, I started doing the math and realized that I would need 16 pounds 2 ounces to pass him. I was an absolute mess, and was afraid that I would finish in second place again because I still didn’t think that I had enough.”

Just like the moments leading up to weigh-in, the week for Reese was up and down as well. He felt confident in his area, provided that his fish would cooperate. “There’s not a whole lot of ‘key’ areas on this river,” he said. 

“Preparing for this event, I decided to put myself in one or two of the areas that I felt would be key. Once I started fishing, and made the adjustment after Friday, I knew that I had the potential to win in there.”

The change that Skeet refers to was to move a little further inside the areas he was fishing towards the “pretty water” that he felt the fish would be living in. “I realized that the extreme back-end stuff was getting beat up pretty bad, so I opted to stay on the outside rather than getting way back in the junk,” he said.
“I pretty much fished my own thing all week, and refined it a little each day.”

As he’d reported to The BASS ZONE Saturday, once again Skeet wasn’t sure if he would be able to even cultivate a single keeper. He was literally going minute-by-minute each day of the tournament. “I honestly didn’t know if I could go back in there and catch a single keeper when I left the launch,” he admitted.

“The wind had just absolutely wiped out where I was fished (Saturday) afternoon. That had me a little bit nervous, but I would’ve been stupid not to go back in there after catching 22 pounds the day before. So I pulled in there and in my first pass I caught one on a spinnerbait.”

Getting enough bites to keep him interested in his primary water – about every 30 to 45 minutes or so – Skeet explained that he resisted the temptation to abandon his area for some back-up spot he’d identified. “I didn’t want to have to go in there because I didn’t know if I could catch any big ones,” he said.

“Once I got a limit I was committed. Once I caught my last two fish in there I never got another bite.”

Throughout the week, Skeet caught the majority of his weight on a shad patterned 3/8-ounce Redemption spinner bait by Lucky Craft, though he would occasionally flip a black and blue Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw around visible cover. “They seemed to react really well to the spinner bait – particularly as the front was coming through (Saturday),” he explained.

“I flipped at some of the scattered stumps as well, and if the weather would permit I would also through some weightless plastics.”

Going out on the final morning, Skeet was sure that he would need around 18 pounds to secure the win. Fishing a channel swing with scattered stumps and pad stems, Skeet connected with what turned out to be the Classic winning fish on the Chigger Craw, although he was still convinced he would need more. 

“I think my last fish got me really pumped up,” he said. “Everyone around me knew that I’d just caught a fish. I knew that it wouldn’t put me around my 18-pound goal, but I felt like that fish would put me in contention should someone stumble.”

He predicted Saturday that the Classic would be won in the final two hours of competition. Feeling certain that he would need another kicker to close the gap, he went on a frantic search for one more kicker. “The last two hours of the day, which I thought would be the best time of the day, never happened,” he said. 

“I ran around like mad trying to pick up one more fish because I felt like I would need another four-pounder to have a legitimate shot at winning, but I never got a bite.”

The emotions of winning a Classic title were apparent on Skeet as soon as victory was declared. Beyond the title however, there’s the legacy that the win brings. “This win creates validation for me,” Skeet explained. “Winning the Bassmaster Classic was something that I didn’t know if I would achieve. 

“It’s the dream and goal of every single professional fisherman out there, and now I’ve been able to cement myself into the history of our sport.”

Key to the Win: “I took a little bit different approach this week than some of the other anglers. I didn’t spend much time on the water during practice, and made a conscious decision to not lock down. Instead, I stayed in Pool 5 so that I could maximize my time fishing.”

2nd Place: Michael Iaconelli
Mike Iaconelli summed up his feelings about finishing second in this year’s Classic in just two short words: “It sucks!” 

“It’s pretty hard to come that close and not be able to do it,” he went on to say. “At the same time, this is a sport where you have a long life, so I feel like I’ll have another shot at it.”

Ike caught his last fish of the day with only seconds before he had to begin the 45-minute journey back to the marina. With it, he knew that he’d put himself into the mix. “It’s a great feeling to be able to catch a quality fish on your last cast of the final day of the Classic,” he said. 

“I caught that last fish at 1:54, and by the time I left it was 1:55 and was time to go.” 

Catching the winning fish on the final cast of Classic competition is nothing knew to Ike, but he confessed that the come-from-behind victory in Classic competition is hard to pull off. “In 2003, I knew that I had won that tournament when I caught my last fish of the day,” he said. 

“I never had that feeling today because it’s just so hard to come from ninth place and win. It’s been done before, I think Clunn did it at the James River, but it’s just next to impossible.”

Staying in the same area all three days of tournament, Ike pointed to losing at least two key bites each of the first two days as his downfall. “The first two days I didn’t execute 100%, and that was the difference,” he said. “I was able to execute flawlessly today.”

Ike explained that the progressively colder air and water temperatures spurred his pre-spawn bass into biting better. “The colder water temperature, the colder water lead these fish to eat a little better,” he pointed out. 

“A lot of times in the pre-spawn that colder weather will actually trigger a little better bite. That’s what happened in my area.”

Alternating between a Lazer Lure square bill in custom-colored black and blue and a 3/8-ounce Ike’s Revenge by Longshank as his “coverage baits,” and a Berkley Ike’s Finesse Jig or TruTungsten black and red tube to pick the cover a part. “Today, every single one of my fish came on the tube,” he said.

“The water had gotten colder, so I decided to fish the tube exclusively.” 

Ike confessed that he is typically “big eyed” when it comes to guessing the weight of his limit. He estimated his bag at around 22 pounds, and figured Skeet had closer to 18 – still enough to edge him out. With that in mind, he was prepared to close the Classic in second.

“We all sit around trying to figure out what everyone has, and I really thought that Skeet had around 18 pounds,” he said. “I had already mentally prepared myself to not win, but then when I realized that it was that close it stung.”

3rd Place: Brian Snowden
Brian Snowden’s day didn’t start the way he’d planned as he lost his lower unit after he’d already locked through into Pool 4. “It was nearly 10:00 before I was able to get into another boat,” he said. “I was finally able to start fishing and fortunately caught a couple of nice ones pretty quick.”

Two lost fish also hampered a slower-than-normal day, which was further complicated by mechanical failure for Snowden. “They were each a couple of pounds, so it wasn’t anything substantial,” he said, “but you hate to have one come off anytime you’re fishing a tournament.”

A model of consistency all week long swimming a 3/8-ounce green-pumpkin jig tipped with a Zoom Super Chunk trailer, Snowden commented that the tournament actually went better than his practice had let on. “In practice I had a few six-pounders, but I just never got that real big bite. I struggled a little bit the first day and spend too much time in the wrong area, but every day from there I improved a little bit.”

Like most anyone who has ever picked up a rod and reel in pursuit of bass, Snowden has long held the dream of winning the Bassmaster Classic. He’s gotten closer each time he’s made it to the Big Show, and figures with enough chances he’ll eventually get it done. “Winning the Classic is a dream that I’ve had since I was a kid fishing out of 14-foot boat,” he said. 

“I’ve gotten closer each time I’ve fished a Classic, and I believe that if I keep qualifying for them I will eventually win it.”

4th Place: Mike McClelland
It’s been said that you can’t win the Classic on the first day, but you can certainly lose it. Mike McClelland may be proof of that axiom as he confessed that his Day One performance sealed his fate. “I put myself behind the eight ball the first day,” he said. 
“I bailed out of the area that I started in after catching only 14 pounds. Yesterday I made some adjustments and stayed with it and caught a little better bag.”

With one of the day’s heavier limits, McClelland was pleased with his final performance and perhaps wished that the Classic was four days instead of three. “I made up ground every day of the week,” he said. “I had to totally regroup today. I knew that with the high skies and the conditions that I had to focus on more isolated stuff.” 

The adjustment he made was to retreat around 9:30 to an area that offered less targets to flip his 3/8-ounce Jewell football jig. “The area that I had been fishing was just a field of stumps so it was too much ground to cover,” he said. 

“I wound up going back to an area that had some isolated lay downs and some stumps on ridges and just convinced myself that there would be a fish laying there each time I made a pitch.”

With hindsight fully engaged, the three-time Elite Series winner wished that he could have Day One to do over. “Letting the first day slip away from me is about the only regret I have,” he said. “With it being such a good fishing day, I should have just hunkered down in one area and tried to make it happen. 

“I wound up in an area that had already been pounded and only culled one time.”

5th Place: Edwin Evers
Edwin Evers seemed to be on pace to win his first Classic trophy this week. After a quick 17-pound start, he backed it up with just over 19 pounds Saturday…then his luck ran dry. “It was a good run up until today,” he said. “I showed up where I’ve been fishing all week and it was like a ghost town.”

With the way his day started though, Edwin was convinced good things were going to happen. “I caught two this morning before I’d even locked through (into Pool 4), so I really thought it was going to be a great day,” he said. “I got down (to my area) and I just didn’t catch them.”

Edwin alternated between two key lures this week: a YUM Wooly Bug in black and blue shadow for flipping, and six-inch watermelon-red YUM Dinger rigged weightless. As for primary areas, the Oklahoma pro said that he had “several,” but got too focused on one that had been instrumental Saturday. “The first day I caught them all over the place,” he said. 

“Saturday I caught the bulk of my weight in about 30 minutes in one area, and just got too locked in. I should’ve done more moving around.

Looking back on the day, Edwin concluded that his stubborn side ruined his chances. “I had some other stuff that I should’ve gone and checked out,” he said. “I should have done a lot more moving around today.”

This week marked Edwin’s 10th trip to the Classic; however, to him it’s not the trip that matters – it’s what you do while you’re there. “It’s not about just being here, it’s about winning,” he said. “I’ve never finished in the Top 5, so this is nice, but I would much rather win it.”

6th Place: Bryan Schmidt
Federation Champion Bryan Schmidt slow-played his hand all week long and waited until the final day to engage the after burner. Actually, he explained that the bass “were just there” on the final day of his first Classic. “I couldn’t get a bite for anything this morning,” he said.

“Once the water started warming up, I told myself that I didn’t come out here to play it safe so I picked up my Sidewinder flipping stick and started hitting the hyacinth. My observer was dodging big fish the rest of the day.”

Schmidt had said all week long that warmer water was more to his like, and Sunday he took full advantage of it. “I think it was around 11:00 before I got my first bite,” he said. “I noticed then that the water temperature had come up to 52 degrees, so I knew that the better fish would be in the hyacinth.”

Schmidt used a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver to amass his 22-pound sack by flipping the hyacinth beds of the same area that he’d been in all week. “During practice, I was on absolutely nothing,” he said. “I had one duck blind that I caught two keepers on in this area and that was it. 

There was some scattered hyacinth in there and the locals that I’d talked to told me to never pass up hyacinth.”

That advice turned out to be pivotal as Schmidt relayed that during each day of the tournament the mats produced for him. “After junk fishing for most of the day on Friday, I went back where the duck blind was and caught three out of the hyacinth,” he said. “It was pretty much the same thing yesterday, but I caught four out of it and then left.

“When I went back in there today, they were just there.”