ESPN

Nov. 17, 2009
The real special times

As usual, my job has duties that are 'must do,' and then there are those things that I get to do that really warm my heart, and leaves lasting impressions and memories.

This week has included a lot of the latter.

First, the job duties had me spending the weekend with my sponsor, www.MonsterFishingTackle.com, and their first inaugural Bass Jam at their new building in Rohnert Park, Calif. Their brick and mortar store, Outdoor Pro Shops is where I worked for several years when I was first entering the fishing business.

Ken Elie, my friend, and the owner of the store, taught me a lot about the industry, and I have always appreciated his friendship and help.

Bass Jam was a trade show styled consumer show where I did some seminars, and set up a booth at as well. We had all of my signature apparel and some sponsor product. I saw a lot of my Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Tessera rods go out the front door. I also saw a lot of old friends and customers from when I managed the store for Ken.

Kim and the girls came over Saturday afternoon and stayed through Sunday. Lea and Courtney love staying in hotels, they think the rooms are like amusement parks — I feel sorry for any neighbors in the proximity

It was a great weekend; it brought back a lot of memories.

The other part of my week was a different kind of experience, and it began last year.

Kim and I met a young boy from our hometown named Dominic Ramos at the Sacramento International Sportsman's Exposition show. That week Dominic and his family got the kind of bad news that changes the way they look at things.

They found out Dominic had Leukemia.

I can't imagine the kind of feelings that kind of news would bring with it. I can imagine it would be somewhere between absolute terror, anxiety and despair.

We've stayed in touch with them throughout the process. We found out recently that his treatments had gone well, and that Dominic's illness had gone into remission, and he was able to go outside for the first time in a few months.

Kim, Lea and I took Dominic and his family to a pond at one of our neighbors' houses and went fishing the other day. I set him up with a Texas rigged tube and he caught his first bass, and a few more up to 3 pounds along with some bluegill.

His courage and fighting spirit has been a great example to us, as well as an honor to get to know.

Well, I'm off to Denver, Colo., for some hook development meetings with the folks at Wright & McGill Co. I am really excited about it as I'll get to learn how hooks are made — it's the only fishing component I have yet to learn how it's made, and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'll also get to meet a lot of new folks who make up the W&M family — it will be nice to put a face to their names.

Nov. 10, 2009
Get me off this crazy thing!

I thought the season was busy, but the past couple of weeks have made me feel like George Jetson on the treadmill.

Get me off this crazy thing!

I'm not complaining — not in the least. There's a lot of fun in the middle of travel. But I look up and I'm somewhere else. First it was Norman, Okla., and the Basszone.com Fish & Chips event, then it was Tulsa, Okla., for Lowrance training.

Last week was a trip to Puerto Vallarta with my boss at Pure Fishing, John Doerr, and his son Ian. We had some great talks. John and I have a lot of similar feelings about business, and I really like the direction he is taking Pure Fishing.

We fished for dorado and tuna and celebrated Ian's 21st birthday, which was one he'll remember. He caught a 90-pound yellowfin tuna, had a great dinner and we all had quite a few drinks and shared a lot of laughs.

Then, I came home for a couple of days, and it was off to Clear Lake to take Jerry Aldheizer, the 68-year-old winner of the Lowrance HDS trip, fishing with me. Jerry is from Virginia and had never been to California before. His impression was that everything was like L.A. or San Francisco, so the drive to Clear Lake surprised him with the farmland and rolling hills.

Jerry had his heart set on catching fish on swimbaits, and thanks to some Tournament Talon swimbaits and a dozen or so chunky Clear Lake largemouth, he didn't leave disappointed. Most of the fish we caught came on the swimbait, and he even left town with a couple of the baits we fished with for the day to try on his home lake, Smith Mountain.

I kind of expected that we'd be able to whack a few on the Clear Lake killer, Lucky Craft LV500 lipless crankbaits, but, thanks to the shad die-off up there, the typical fall bite is off a little. Luckily, with Clear Lake, there are always options, and we figured them out on the swimbait bite.

I always get a kick when people fish with my Wright & McGill Co. Skeet Reese rods; especially those who own high price rods, because most people say they can't feel a difference. Jerry said a few times how impressed he was with how my Swimbait/Carolina Rig rod handled the 6-inch swimbaits.

We got about 20 bites, and were able to land 12 or 13 of them. None of them was less than 3 pounds, and the biggest was 5 pounds. I think he was happy with the trip because the phone calls home were starting soon after we got off the water.

I've got a busy weekend ahead of me; I'll be at my sponsor Monster Fishing Tackle/Outdoor Pro Shop's new Bass Jam event meeting and greeting and doing a few seminars. It should be a busy weekend full of old friends and new people.

After that, I get on a plane and head to Denver, Colo., for some work with Wright & McGill/TroKar hooks for a couple of days.

Then it's back home. I truly love my job, but it will be nice to be home with Kim and the girls for a while.

Nov. 3, 2009
In training
I talked a little last week about going to Tulsa, Okla., to spend some time with Darrell Rollins, our Field Support Specialist at Lowrance. Darrell took me on the water to train me on the use of the new Lowrance HDS units and their new Structure Scan technology.

It may have been the best four hours I've spent preparing for a fishing season.

I've yet to use the HDS units in competition, but from what I have seen, they are the most advanced fishfinders that I have ever laid eyes on.

Anyone who has ever seen my boat knows that I have a unique — some may call it overkill — setup where my electronics are concerned. When coupled with my Biosonix Fish Activator, I have a total of five different electronic devices rigged on my boat.

I have a flush mount unit in the dash, as well as the bow, which I use for high speed and shallow water fishing. I also have two large screen Lowrance units on RAM mounts — one at the bow, and one at the console for higher detail imaging when fishing deep. You can see videos on my personal website (www.skeetreeseinc.com) showing how I set up my Champion for the season.

The new HDS units will take my unique setup and make it downright extreme.

First of all, the menus on the HDS units are completely different than anything Lowrance has released before, which is a good thing. In the past, making changes to the units required using the keypad on the right, and toggling between multiple screens to make changes. Now we will have the option of programming soft keys at the bottom of the screen that will save time on the water.

The definition of the high definition screens is amazing. They show some of the clearest images of what we are positioned over that I have ever seen in a fishfinder before. When coupled with their new broadband sonar, which returns sonar signals in a digitized format, the HDS units show target separation that can produce an image of a single fish next to a boulder.

Before the new technology, that fish would have been displayed as a part of the boulder. Now we can see it's a fish that could make the difference between winning and losing.

As an angler, I need every advantage on the water. Until now, my competition has had a slight advantage with the ability to see to the side with their fishfinders. Now that Lowrance has come out with their Structure Scan technology that integrates into the HDS units, I'm the one with the advantage. They have also added SIRIUS Satellite Weather, which can help me see weather trends, as well as help me make my way back to the ramp safely around bad weather.

They even made units that have GPS modules built into the units, which means we don't have to have additional wires and accessories mounted on the boat.

I have to credit Lowrance for listening to its pro staff and implementing things that we have asked that make installation and functionality of the units easier.

The new technology is more affordable than one might think, too, and with Lowrance's commitment to the quality of their products, and their training program, competing on the Elite Series just became easier. I can't wait to put it to the test.

Oct. 27, 2009
I'm no poker master
I spent the week in Oklahoma competing in Riverwind Casino's $100,000 Fish & Chips tournament presented by Mark Jeffreys' BASSZONE.com.

After spending a long week with too much down time, I learned one thing — I'm not a poker master.

There were a lot of tour level anglers who signed up to fish and play cards in this unique event — Kevin VanDam, Rick Clunn, Gerald Swindle, and the list goes on. The format was pretty unique as it combined a two-day fishing tournament on Arbuckle Lake with a one-day poker tournament at the Casino.

Both tournaments stood alone, but they also had a point value that would be combined to come up with an overall winner for the whole event. Dean Rojas and his partner won the fishing event as Dean's partner caught a Moby Dick 9-pounder on the first day to put them in the lead. Then they held off the field with a limit the next day.

They won $20,000 for the fishing portion, then played cards well enough to win the overall title for another $10,000. I don't know who won the poker tournament, but there was another group of local poker players who filled in the tables, and one of them took home the $20,000.

The event was a lot of fun, and any time there is a total purse of $50,000 the competition if going to get stiff.

We didn't do so well.

I partnered with the "King of Arbuckle" for the tournament; Jeffreys himself. I spent the week enjoying myself, not really worrying about the fishing because Mr. BASS ZONE is supposedly always a threat to catch a bunch of big fish on that puddle.

That didn't happen, I guess with all of the planning of the event, Jeffreys didn't have as much time to find us fish as I thought — so our poor showing is all his fault. Well, maybe not all his fault, I guess I could have put some time in, too, and perhaps gotten off of the back deck on the first day, but oh well.

On the poker front, I realized that I am a better blackjack player. With blackjack, you don't have to work in any strategy, you only have count the cards and get as close to 21 as possible without going over. Poker is an entirely different game; the mood became very serious when the tournament started.

I was out of the tournament early; I'm too big a risk taker to stay in the game too long.

Jeffreys and the folks at Riverwind did a great job of making the atmosphere fun. Everything was well-organized and it was a lot of fun — despite my lack of success.

After the event was over, I traveled to Tulsa where I spent a day on the water with Darrell Rollins at Lowrance learning about the new Lowrance HD and HDS fish finders. I'm really glad I did, because this is a whole new learning curve.

They are going to make a difference for me on tour next year — I'll tell you more about the trip next week.

Oct. 20, 2009
Goliath falls
I'm leaving Florida where Wright & McGill Co. took me to some Gander Mountain stores. The reason for the trip was to promote my Skeet Reese Tessera rods and TroKar hooks. But we were able to mix in some fun along the way.

Pure Fishing's Scott Dubiel hooked us up with inshore guide George Gozdz of Flat Lined Charters, in Jensen Beach, whom you may have seen on Byron Velvick's Going Coastal show. We wanted to go after tarpon, snook and goliath grouper.

Things started with a bang when Ryan McCullough, who handles the larger retailers for Wright & McGill, hooked a big tarpon, which took more than an hour to land. At 120 pounds, Ryan said it was a hard fight, but I think he was just being a wimp.

We went to the docks and caught a bunch of snook on Berkley Gulp Shrimp. At 3 to 7 pounds, they weren't big, but they were a lot of fun.

Then it was time to go after the goliath grouper that inhabit the bridge pilings. I'd heard stories about them, but until we got to the bridge and pulled out the tackle, I had no idea what I was in for.

They were heavy saltwater rods with giant Penn reels and 300-pound-test braid and 400-pound-test steel leaders. Our giant hooks were loaded with 5-pound amberjacks for bait.

It was 10:00 at night and dark and windy as we approached the bridge pilings that are only in 15 feet of water. George said it was dangerous because of the wind and darkness, and that if someone fell out, one of the fish could eat us.

With that in mind, I pitched towards the piling and let it sink until my rod jerked — and I do mean "jerked" to the water. All I could do was squat and pull with all my might. Eventually I was able to pull the fish into open water, where we landed it.

It was about 90 pounds, which, I'm told, is a small one, as they can weigh between 400 and 600 pounds. What was cool is that I landed one on my first attempt, and it took Byron several tries to land his first, which was around the same size. He even broke off several times. I don't see what was so hard about it.

Just kidding, Byron!

During the battle, the fish pulled the rod down and broke the button off my shorts, which made them fall down. Somehow I ended up with a lamprey on my rear end. I'm not sure how that happened, but oh well.

Wright & McGill's marketing manager Chris Russell took a turn and after he hooked up, he broke off. But it wasn't the line; it was the wire leader. Those things are beasts!

We had a great night. The five of us on the boat was absolute chaos. George Gozdz is the real deal, check him out at www.flatlinedcharters.com, and if you want to see some pictures of the night, go to my Web site, www.skeetreeseinc.com.

I can't wait to go again, but now it's off to Norman, Okla., and Mark Jeffreys' and Gary Giudice's Fish and Chips tournament, which combines poker and fishing on Arbuckle Lake and Riverwind Casino. It should be a lot of fun; I've been practicing my poker. I just hope Mr. Jeffreys found us some fish.

Oct. 13, 2009
Lowrance winner and Lucky Craft news
Lowrance Electronics ran a contest throughout the 2009 season for anyone who purchased a new HDS fishing system. All of those who purchased an HDS Hi-Def system would be entered into a drawing for a day on the water with me, and that winner has been chosen.

Jerry Aldheizer, a Lowrance customer who regularly fishes Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia will be crossing the country in November to fish with me on Clear Lake for a day. The fall bite can be a lot of fun there; we can catch fish a lot of different ways that time of the year.

There can be a topwater bite, a jerkbait bite, a crankbait bite, a deep jig bite and even a spoon bite. Needless to say, Jerry is looking forward to fishing my favorite lake, and it's all thanks to Lowrance. I'm sure we'll be able to put my Lowrance units to the test and show him a good time Nor Cal style.

I enjoy working for and with my sponsors, and spending a day with Larry on Clear Lake is certainly one of the best ways to work for Lowrance.

Speaking of sponsors, I got some great news last week.

I had a meeting last week, and I'm proud to announce that the Lucky Craft Express will be rolling once again for the 2010 season as one of the primary parts of my wrap.

Lucky Craft has been a major sponsor of mine for more than 10 years, and has been my primary sponsor for the past five years, and I couldn't be prouder that they have chosen to keep working with me as the main face of their marketing.

First of all, I've always been fortunate to be able to work with a company like Lucky Craft. In my mind, they make the best hard baits in the business. They are the most progressive and innovative bait makers around, and their products help me put more of the right fish in the boat.

After the meeting regarding next year, we turned our attention to product, and I can say that I'm really looking forward to the things we have in the works for 2010. There are new baits in both the Lucky Craft and Redemption Lures lineups, as well as new colors that we have been working on.

Redemption Lures has new spinnerbaits and jigs in design stages and the new stuff that we are working on in the Lucky Craft brand is of the quality that only they can produce.

It feels great to have an established company like Lucky Craft standing behind me, especially with the tough economy we've had for the past year or so. It makes me feel good to have a major sponsor for next year, especially one that I have so much history with.

With that news in place, it's time to focus on the fishing. The goals will be the same as last year, and I am preparing myself to go after them — as Lucky Craft says — they're about Fishing and Dreams.

Oct. 6, 2009
Back to life
I come home at season's end with expectation of relaxation and getting back to my hardcore offseason training. But it always seems that things come up, and I'm busier than I expect to be. This year has been no different, and for the most part, I don't know where the days go. It took me several days to get my workouts underway, but I'm starting to get in a groove.

Back to life....

One of the things I got to do this week was attend a friend's wedding. Mike Van Wagner, a local boat dealer and longtime friend got married to his fiancée Terri. Kim and I got to see a lot of my old fishing friends there. It was really nice to catch up and see some of the guys I grew up fishing with and against.

I'm often reminded of the quality of my sponsors' products, and sometimes in unusual places. The wedding was one of those. Terri's son is a U.S. Marine; he noticed the Wiley X Reign sunglasses I was wearing and wanted to talk about them.

He told me that he wears Wiley X while on duty and that at least 60 percent of the Marines he serves with wear them as well. He told me that the reason is because of their reputation for their impact resistance and because of the fact that Wiley X has such excellent service.

Wiley X is proud of the fact that they are U.S. Veterans, and they work hard to take care of the men and women of the armed forces who choose to wear them. Having someone stop me at a friend's wedding and tell me that my sponsors, as well as their products, really are as my sponsor represents them gave me a great feeling.

I gave him the glasses off my face to take back with him. It was the least I could do for someone who would give his life to protect our freedom.

We recently ran a video on my Web site about Wiley X sunglasses, and it was really cool to hear him talk about all of the features of Wiley X in real life examples — when life and death are at stake. See the "Skeet Talks Eyewear" video at my Web site (www.skeetreeseinc.com).

The next two days were spent filming for Wright & McGill Co. and my new Skeet Reese Tessera rods. We spent all day Monday in front of the camera on Lake Clementine near my home, and will spend much of Tuesday doing voiceovers.

The filming had two parts to it. First was for a 5-minute intro and description piece that will be given to dealers across the country talking about the rods. They will be able to use them as point of sale for their customers in stores and on their Web sites. The second part is a 30-second commercial, and in case you think that all took a half an hour to finish, you're not even close.

I spent all day on this beautiful little canyon lake with clear water, grassbeds, tule-lined banks and chunky little smallmouth, and I never got to fish.

Such are the rigors of my job. I know you all feel sorry for me.

Sept. 29, 2009
Recognitions
Kevin VanDam came into Toyota Trucks Championship Week and did exactly what he had to do to get the job done.

My hat's off to him. As a fan of the sport, I wanted to recognize what he has accomplished, and what he seems to be able to do most days.

That's not to say I didn't have the opportunity to close him out. I did, but I didn't execute on a couple of fish, and it cost me the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title.

I also want to recognize the seasons of a couple other of my competitors — Mike Iaconelli and Gerald Swindle. Ike has been on his "A Game" all year long, and he sits only a few ounces from being the Bassmaster Classic and Forrest Wood Cup Champion in the same season. He can be scary when he's that "on."

Gerald made a late season charge to get into the postseason, and it shows how strong he's become. He made the race more compelling and added some real drama to the end of the season. All of our other competitors had great seasons and made the postseason what it was.

I also wanted to say how thankful I am that Mark Menendez' wife Donna is recovering from her medical scare in Alabama. Donna had to leave the weigh-in on the second day of the Lake Jordan event. Mark left the weigh-in to care for his family, which says a lot about his priorities. I'm glad everyone is doing better.

On a separate note, every once in a while my job allows me to meet people who are extremely interesting, and Harlan Coben is one of those people.

Coben is a New York Times bestselling author who decided to take an assignment for Parade Magazine covering the postseason. Harlan rode with me on the first day of the Alabama River tournament, and I learned that he has sold 45 million copies of his novels over the years, as well as the fact that he took the job mainly because of his young son, Ben.

Ben is in love with fishing, and when Coben asked his son what he would like to see him write about, he told his dad that fishing was the topic. Harlan rode with me on Day 1, then he and Ben went to fish Lake Jordan with Elite Series pro Greg Vinson, and had a good day together.

Since the event, Harlan and I have texted numerous times, and we've kind of hit it off and become mutual fans of each other. Ben wants to be a tournament angler, so I'll likely get the chance to see our families get together somewhere, and I'll help Ben understand our sport a little bit more.

I feel very fortunate to have met Harlan, and that the article in Parade, which will go to more than 30 million people in February, will include some of me. Ironically, Harlan's new crime thriller due to be released in March 2010 is called Caught, but it has nothing to do with fishing.

Sept. 21, 2009
Four quarters
I won three quarters, and the Lucky Craft Express is lighter than I'd hoped it would be for the trip home.

Climbing on stage Friday, I knew I needed 11 pounds, 8 ounces to take home the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title. I also knew I didn't have it. But I was hoping, as anyone does who brings bass to the scales, that I'd miscalculated — 10 pounds, 2 ounces ... it wasn't to be.

I was immediately disappointed, for myself and for the amount of work I put in to being the best angler I can be. Along with that, I also felt bad for my family and friends, who invest so much in my career, and, judging by their comments and messages, they felt it too.

I also feel for my sponsors. They are more than business partners to us; they are friends, part of our family. I feel like I let them down as well. On the business side, I was looking forward to the additional exposure the AOY title would bring to them.

Without sponsors, friends and family, this career wouldn't be possible. They support Kim and the girls when I'm gone, they are a part of this team, and I feel their pain right now, too.

I held it together for the most part — all the way through Kevin's crowning. Then I saw Kim and the girls, and my emotions got the better of me. It was time for me to get out of there.

I'll admit to some jealousy while watching Kevin hold the Angler of the Year trophy overhead. Not an angry jealousy, but the kind that lets me know how close I was to accomplishing a goal I'd wanted so badly.

I respect Kevin too much to be angry at him. We get along great. I know we push each other to be better. We're friendly combatants, but man I wanted to beat him — I wanted that title.

We went to dinner Friday night as a family, and while they didn't mean to, every once in a while Kim, Lea or Courtney would say something that would make the emotion rise up, and I would have to control myself again.

After dinner, Kim and I joined Kevin and Sherry VanDam, as well as Ike, KJ and their girlfriends, for drinks — kind of a toast for Kevin. After everyone left, I got to talk to him for a while, which kind of helped me have some closure to the whole thing.

For the record, I wasn't a big fan of the new format. I thought then that it would make more sense as an Angler of the Week than for our Angler of the Year. But that's all I will ever say about it. Kevin crushed them, he crushed us all and he won. That's the bottom line.

I'm on my way home from Alabama. The trip will take me a few days. I'm planning a stopover in Tulsa to do some training on the new Lowrance HDS and SideScan because I want to get the most out of the new technology.

I'll be home soon and things will get back to normal. To the girls, I'll just be Daddy, and Kim is always behind me. The pain will start to fade.

It will turn into ambition. We start it all over again in a few months.

The goals will be the same. It's time to start training.

Sept. 14, 2009
Halfway there
Two days down in Toyota Trucks Championship Week, and I'm halfway to my goal.

There have been highs and lows for me. From overtaking the field at Oneida, to having the postseason point adjustments remove that lead. Then, to deal with the uncertainty of coming to a body of water I'd never been to at Jordan, and to have a so-so day on Saturday. I told someone in the media that I'd just shot par, but followed it with a definite birdie on Sunday.

There was another moment that brought ups and downs. I was talking to emcee Keith Alan, and he told me I'd leave the event with a 24-point lead over 2nd place in the standings. My mind started racing with tabulations, and I started to feel a little emotional — I've been known to get choked up a time or two. Then, when the points were officially tabulated, I ended up with a 16-point lead, so it was kind of a letdown.

As I made the drive to the hotel after doing Hooked Up with Tommy Sanders and Mark Zona and all of the other media stuff, I realized something. I'm halfway to my goal, and I know what I need to do.

I left everything on the water both days; fished as hard as ever — I should, this is my job. I expect the best of myself. I have to if I want to beat the other 11 anglers in this field. They are a bunch of sticks.

I caught 90 percent of the fish I weighed at the Berkley Powerbait Trophy Chase on one bait, but I think it might play a role for me next week, so I'll keep it to myself for now. I will say that I fished offshore on Saturday and mixed in shallow docks on Sunday.

Next week is going to be new as well. I've got a little experience on the Alabama River, but not much. We're hearing that they are going to release water from Jordan, which will create more current than usual downstream. I know I'm going to need to catch them and finish in the top three to guarantee the title, so that is my goal.

I started pursuing this objective before the season, after the last cast of 2008 when I put myself though my offseason workout routine — the most demanding I've ever done. Then I won the Classic on the Red River and the goal of winning Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year meant even more.

I know the sense of history that I'm chasing, and the magnitude of being able to equal what Mark Davis accomplished in 1995. My respect for the history of our sport, the great anglers who have gone before us and those I compete against everyday makes me want it even more, and I look forward to the challenge.

Kim and the girls fly in Tuesday for the final competition days, and I'm looking forward to that. They are everything to me, and it wouldn't be the same without them here.

On the topic of family, my Elite Series competitor Mark Menendez had to leave early Sunday because of a family emergency. Our thoughts are with you Mark; I hope everything is alright and that we'll see you on the water.

I'll write for you next week — hopefully with a new trophy in hand.

Sept. 8, 2009
My girls
I've spent three days this past week doing what I love with the people I love — my girls.

First was a kid's fishing day on Folsom Lake. Lea and Courtney were excited about fishing in their first tournament. They've seen me get ready for, and fish in, tournaments across the country, and they were ready to go after it for themselves.

Five o'clock Saturday morning, Kim and I woke them up, got them in the truck and headed to the lake. Being that the day was all about the kids, live bait could be used. We had a boatful of night crawlers and Shakespeare rods and reels that Andrew Marks at Pure Fishing sent to the girls — we were ready to go.

We rigged little split shot rigs with the crawlers, and before long the girls had each caught a couple of fish. After about two and a half hours of excitement, the newness wore off, and they started playing around in the bottom of the boat. Courtney decided to decorate the carpet of the Champion (borrowed from my sponsor Ken Elie at www.monsterbasstackle.com) with worm poop. The boat was pristine when he loaned it to me, so that meant I had cleanup duty.

We weighed in early and both girls got participation ribbons — which they were happy with — but they didn't get the biggest fish trophy that they wanted to put next to my AOY and Classic trophies at home. All in all, it was a day with my girls on the water and a lot of fun. I have a couple of pictures from the day on my Web site (www.skeetreeseinc.com) if you want to check them out.

We spent a couple of days fishing at two separate ponds with the girls and some friends. We caught a bunch of little bass and bluegill out of little farm ponds; everyone had a good time.

The girls got to take part in donating to the fire victims in Auburn last week, too. Some of you may have seen on the news that a fire torched more than 60 homes and businesses about a mile from our house. Had the wind been blowing from the northwest instead of the southwest, it would have gotten to our house too.

In fact, we had evacuation readiness orders ourselves, and after packing up some belongings, I videotaped all of our belongings and waited for the call to leave. Luckily, it missed us, but it certainly affected a lot of our neighbors in Auburn. Our hearts go out to them. After everything was over, we all went through the house, loaded up the cars with food, clothing, toys and blankets and went down to donate them in town. We just wanted to help.

Now it's time to turn my attention to Alabama and the postseason. I leave Tuesday to retrieve the Lucky Craft Express and head to Jordan in Wetumpka and then Montgomery and the Alabama River. I've got four competition days, two bodies of water, 20 fish and 12 serious competitors standing between me and the 2009 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year award.

I want it B-A-D. It's time to get it on!

Aug. 31, 2009
Race to appreciation
I wrote last week about getting ready to go to the Indy Racing League event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, as well as going fishing with two of their race officials. Those were two really cool days I'll never forget.

The race was amazing. My buddy Robbie Floyd, who is on-screen talent for the IRL on Versus Network, hooked us up with VIP passes; we could go anywhere. We went to the VIP Paddock Club, to the pits, around the trailers and even on pit row before the race started. The whole experience was totally unreal.

I stood next to Marco Andretti during the national anthem and got to watch much of the race from behind the wall of the pits. I can't believe they can change tires and fuel a racecar as quickly as they do. Seven seconds is not an unusual time to see those cars back on the track — and I thought our service crews on the Elite Series were fast!

Dario Franchitti got the checkered flag, and I walked away with a new appreciation for the drivers and crews of the Indy Racing League. I also got a signed helmet; every current IRL driver signed it, with something like eight different Indy 500 winners on it.

I took two IRL officials to Clear Lake on Monday, following the race: Brian Barnhart (president of race operations and competition) and Kevin "Rocket" Blanch (technical director, a rules and enforcement guy — basically a professional dictator, like our Trip Weldon. I'm kidding, of course. Hi Trip!).

We caught between 25 and 35 fish on frogs, and I caught a 7-pounder off a rockpile on a jig. Both of those guys love to fish, follow the Bassmaster tour, and Kevin has even competed on the Opens level a few times.

The fish were bunched up in little areas of grass, and Brian caught the biggest frog fish — a heavy 6-pounder that rolled under the mat on his frog. He tried to cast back to the same spot but was off target to the edge and wound up with a 3-pounder. Brian cast back to the spot and caught the fish; "Rocket" was pissed, but we all laughed about it.

They got to use my new Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Senko and Toad rods, as well as my Skeet Reese Revo reel and Spiderwire Ultracast braid. Both of them told me later that they would be buying setups for themselves. I love it when people get enjoyment from products I helped bring to the market; it's a great feeling.

I've got a full story on my Web site ( www.skeetreeseinc.com) about both days. Check it out.

I also want to touch on the situation revolving around the California Delta. I'm not a scientist, but it seems to me that there has to be a more effective way to solve our problems than pumping a bunch of the freshwater out of the Sacramento River before it gets to the Delta. It's going to kill our state's best fishery if this goes through.

Bassmaster.com ran a story about the situation earlier this month. If you've ever fished the Delta or wanted to, call your elected officials and voice your opinion.

Aug. 24, 2009
Another break — what to do?
Another break between events, but this time around the stakes will be a little more final as there are only two tournaments during Toyota Trucks Championship Week. While getting into position to be there at the end of the season was important, now there are only two tournaments left, and the points scale is tighter, which makes each point earned all the more important.

With another period of time between tournaments, how will I keep myself sharp and in tune for going after the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year trophy? Same way I did last time — spending time with family and friends.

I got a call recently from my friend Robbie Floyd, a television commentator who has worked for ESPN during the Classic, and has done everything from motocross to the Olympics. Robbie is now covering the Indy Racing League. The IRL is in our area for their stop at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

Robbie asked me if I would take some race officials fishing for a day; I was happy to oblige. We will be more than likely heading to Clear Lake — my favorite lake — to try and put these guys on some Clear Lake big heads. I'm not exactly sure how the bite is up there, but I'm sure we can put something together.

The fishing trip will happen this week, but by the time you read this on Monday, we'll have been to Sonoma for the race. We're looking forward to that.

After the trip to Clear Lake, I'll be getting ready to take the girls on a Kids Fishing Day event on Folsom Lake, which is about 20 minutes from our house. Kim and I will take Lea and Courtney in one of my old boats that we've borrowed from Ken Elie, my sponsor at Outdoor Pro Shops (www.monsterbasstackle.com), and have a good time.

One of the tournament organizations in northern California is putting the event on. There will be bounce houses, Radio Disney, fire safety training with the local agencies and a lot more fun stuff for the kids to do. Kim has even gotten a bunch of our friends from around here to take their kids because it sounds like a great time. I'll report on both fishing trips next week

On another topic, I've gotten a lot of good feedback through my Web site and from dealers about my new Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Tessera rods.

Monster Bass Tackle, a distributor in Japan, and some Bass Pro Shops locations got the first shipments, and people are already commenting about them. One of the comments came from a guy who said that with the $89 price tag, he had a cheap discount store rod in his mind when he picked it up, but found that it compared to the highest end rods on the market for weight, responsiveness and feel. I'm looking forward to hearing more of what people have to say about them.

I've always said that I wouldn't put my name on anything I wouldn't throw, and these were made for me. They are the same rods I'm using on tour — the ones I'll be using when I go after the AOY title in a couple of weeks.

Aug. 17, 2009
Farewell to Ken
Oneida is over, and with it another season is in the books ... kind of. We know who is in the 2010 Bassmaster Classic and who the Rookie of the Year is — congrats to you all. However, we don't yet know who the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year is; the postseason will determine that.

The postseason is upon us, and I think we added some intrigue with the way things ended up at Oneida. There is certainly a pile of all-star talent in the finals ready to tackle Alabama. I've certainly got my eye on creating some history, as my goal since the beginning of the season has been to match Mark Davis as a Classic winner and Angler of the Year in the same season.

I'll be going for the title in three weeks or so, as will the other 11 competitors. It certainly will be interesting.

Oneida left me feeling a bit bewildered, as I feel like I missed the best pattern. I never found the schooling fish that many of my competitors reported and, in hindsight, may have missed an opportunity to make the Elite 12. I don't have space to share the intimate details of my pattern here, but you can read them on my Web site (www.skeetreeseinc.com).

I'm going to depart from the details of my job as a professional angler for a moment, and change directions to something close to my heart.

At the beginning of the 2009 Elite Series season, my Pure Fishing teammate and industry icon, Ken Cook, announced his retirement from competition. I'm not sure we realize how much we'll all miss him now that he is gone.

We've seen several of our sport's heroes move to television — Dance, Parker, Martin, etc. — but never before has one who has done so much for our sport moved into retirement like this. Ken's career has been one of victory. He proved that with six career wins, including the 1991 Classic, and over $800,000 in career earnings.

As good as he has been on the water, Ken's career has been marked even more by his desire to educate and promote, which he did very well. He put his fisheries biology degree to great use as an educator over the years, leaving behind a legacy of anglers who know more about their quarry as a result.

He also was one of the hardest working and most professional promoters our sport has seen. He's done a great job working for his sponsors, always presenting himself in the most professional manner. We all learned a great deal about what it meant to be effective promoters from Ken's example.

We can only hope that the lessons he leaves behind will continue to educate and be an example as he heads to his Tarbone Ranch (www.kencookoutdoors.com) with his beloved wife, Tammy. I wish them both continued success and much happiness together. I hope our paths cross each other's again someday soon.

Ken you've always been one of the smartest, most articulate professionals our sport has known, as well as a great competitor. I hope your future meets all of your expectations. You will be missed.

Aug. 10, 2009
The Home Run King

I'm in the Lucky Craft Big Rig headed to Oneida. Heck, by the time you read this I'll be on the water practicing.

Mark Zona is a spaz — in a good way ... I think.

After the last event in Iowa, I drove the Lucky Craft Express to Michigan, dropped my Champion off at Randy VanDam's shop, D&R Sports Center in Kalamazoo, and my truck at Zona's house to await my return from California.

I flew in Thursday, where "Z," as we call him on tour, was all set to pick me up from the airport — in my truck. He greeted me, and all he could talk about is how cool it was to have people honking at him and girls waving at him while he was driving. It's gotta be the truck!

We headed over to D&R where Kevin's big brother and his staff were working on the Champion, making sure everything was in tiptop condition for the rest of the season. While I was at home they told me I had destroyed my lower unit in Iowa, and it had to be replaced.

Cool. One less thing to worry about.

We then headed, with Kevin, to a wing house where Zona saw on the menu that he could get his picture on the wall by eating 16 of the hottest wings available. When he found out he had to do it without drinking or eating anything to cool off his mouth, he chickened out. Wimp.

Then we headed to his house, where I thought I'd spend a couple of hours inspecting (translation: raiding) "The Smallmouth King's" (as he calls himself) prized tube collection. I figured he'd have hundreds of tubes, but he doesn't. He muttered something about only buying them in small batches for perfect color and flake consistency. Whatever, weirdo.

Then we had a home run derby in his back yard with his twin sons, Hunter and Jacob, his wife Karen, her parents, and "Z" and me. He and I were handicapped and had to hit left-handed, but were tied going into the final round, then he won by five dingers. He might be the "Home Run King of Michigan," but "The Fishing King" is still KVD.

I think I may have been sabotaged in "The Michigan Triangle" though, because I've noticed that after Zona had my truck for a couple of months, it doesn't run quite the same. It seems to be sluggish on acceleration, and I'm not so sure that leaving my boat at KVD's brother's shop unattended was a bright idea, either. Who knows how that will work.

I'm kidding, of course, but if I open my lockers, and my gear is gone, I'm headed straight to Zona's house. I'm sure he'll have a new Lucky Craft wall in his garage.

Back to the business side of life, I'm excited about a couple of things. Pure Fishing is sending a new prototype bait to Oneida — one that we've been working on together for awhile. It's pretty cool, and will fill a void in the product line. I'll also be seeing the new Abu Garcia SKT Revo, with a few changes, the biggest being a 24-pound drag system — should be awesome.

Aug. 3, 2009
My summer break
It's been a long break between tournaments, but it's not like I've been sitting around waiting. I've been busy. Kim, the girls and I have had a never-ending list of things to do.

I've continued to work out — fitness is very important to me — both on and off the water. Being in shape helps me stay focused and allows me to fish harder. I'm also setting an example for my daughters that taking care of yourself is important.

We took a week's vacation to Bullard's Bar Reservoir and Emerald Cove Marina. We had six families camping on two big, beautiful houseboats we rented from the resort. We swam, floated in tubes, fished and hung out with friends.

Bullard's Bar used to be full of small spotted bass, but we caught a bunch of solid fish. The lake has really matured. It's hard to imagine that Bullard's Bar and its emerald-colored water with fat spotted bass is still a secret even to anglers in the area. I've got a couple of pictures of Kim and me with those quality fish on my Web site at www.skeetreeseinc.com.

The folks at Emerald Cove were great. They made sure our big group was taken care of. I hope they're ready for us again next year. It is a great family vacation spot. For more information, call them at 530-692-3200. You won't be sorry.

Kim and I competed in the world's oldest triathlon, Eppie's Great Race, in Sacramento, Calif., on July 18. We ran 5.82 miles, cycled for 12.5 miles and paddled a kayak for 6.35 miles. I originally signed up to support Kim, but I had fun and did better than I thought I would. We finished together in 2:56:43, and while I was a little sore the next day, I'm looking forward to it again next year.

We hosted a combination 40th birthday/Classic victory party at our house on July 25. The week was hectic getting our house ready and setting everything up. I was running right up to party time.

Things got interesting on Friday when the company came to install the tents. They drove one of the support stakes through the pipes of our pool filter system. It took most of the day to dig three feet deep, repair the leak, put the turf back together and clean up.

It was worth it, though. We had 140 adults and children there. The pool got plenty of use, and the band, led by the father of one of my daughter's classmates, did a great job. We had the Mikuni Sushi bus along with Mexican food and all the beverages anyone could want.

Gerald and LeAnn Swindle flew in for the party, which totally surprised me. Gerald entertained the crowd with tales of white knuckling and fitting in with Lucky Craft in Japan. Everyone was doubled over laughing.

It was a great night. I really appreciated everyone sharing the occasion with us. It was something I'll never forget.

With all of that fun behind me, the Lucky Craft Express is rolling to the northeast this week. I'm really jacked up to get to Oneida and the postseason. My competitive drive is kicking in, as is my desire to hold another AOY trophy.

July 27, 2009
My how far we've come
After all of the excitement of releasing new products at ICAST, something hit me, and it left me feeling a little flat after the show.

Where has our professionalism gone as an industry?

Not to put anyone down, our industry is full of highly talented people who can create products that revolutionize an industry. However, when I look around the halls of a show like ICAST and see people in shorts, T-shirts and flip-flops like they are on an afternoon outing at the beach, I feel somewhat embarrassed for our industry.

It wasn't so long ago that ICAST was strictly a suit-and-tie occasion; if you weren't dressed the part, you didn't get into the room. Then, as things began to turn toward business casual, we as a whole dropped the business from our appearance and now we look like we could be sitting by the pool with the kids.

Sadly, a lot of what I saw came from some of my Elite Series counterparts, many of them, individuals who are still on the lookout for the sponsorship arrangements that can solidify not only their careers but their lives.

I'm not trying to single anyone out, per se, but as a whole, the Elite Series competitor is supposed to be the "cream of the crop" of professional anglers. We are the ones who are supposed to set the bar higher, both on and off of the water for everyone to see. When we don't come dressed for a meeting, I believe we diminish our effectiveness as professionals and ambassadors.

Every one of us has worked hard to cultivate our brands, be it my trademark yellow and black color scheme or the next guy, who has built his image on colors or a specific product. Professionalism needs to be a part of that equation.

I looked around the room and saw anglers I respect — those who have gone before me — who came to ICAST in slacks and dress shoes, with jerseys on, or sponsors' logos on a collared, button-down shirt, and saw their professionalism. These are the anglers we should continue to emulate as they are those who have set the mark of professionalism, both on and off the water, for years.

I also saw anglers in shorts, torn jeans and beach sandals sitting in meeting rooms planning marketing strategies, when they were more prepared to be at a concert in Margaritaville. There is a time and place for that look — when we are on the water competing in the sun — but not in the boardroom.

Again, I have no intention of singling any one person or group of people out, but at a time when sponsors are pulling out, organizations are reducing schedules to accommodate down economies and anglers are doing everything they can to keep competing on the highest level, we need heightened professionalism.

As Elite Series pros, and as industry representatives, the public's first view of our sport's professionalism comes from us. I guarantee that I'll be the first one to change into the beach bum uniform after the show is over, but we need to commit to professionalism now more than ever.

July 20, 2009
Skeet at ICAST
Well, here it is, my first blog on Bassmaster.com. Ken Duke, senior editor of BASS Publications, finally busted my chops enough to share my stories with you.

What is a blog anyway?

Apparently I'm supposed to spill my thoughts out as they come to me, and you guys will read them. OK. Sounds like tons of fun, so here it is.

I've spent the last couple days at the Orlando Convention Center basically screwed to the floor of booths. But, instead of it being a chore, the whole thing was really exciting.

I went on behalf of my new sponsors Wright & McGill Co. and TroKar hooks, as well as Lucky Craft, Pure Fishing and Wiley X.

The launch of my new Wright & McGill Co. Skeet Reese signature rods was something I was looking forward to since we first decided to do the project. I got even more excited about it when I received my first shipment of production rods before the show. They are everything I wanted them to be. The actions are perfect, the materials are better than that, and they are black and yellow — I know I don't need to explain that.

We also released the new TroKar hooks. We had been working on these hooks for quite a while; in fact the company has been working on the project for more than three years, under closely guarded secrecy. The press releases are absolutely correct, TroKar hooks are freakishly sharp.

When I first got them at Kentucky Lake, I cut myself on them so bad that I was bleeding like a stuck pig for a while. During practice, I was fishing another wide gap hook, and was missing four out of every six fish that bit. I tied on a TroKar, and caught every one after that. This hook is the deal.

The release of the hooks was cool, the buildup from the ads that went to the secret lazertrokar.com page only made people wonder what it was, and when the opening day of ICAST came, the site went live, complete with video and graphic descriptions of the hooks. Chris Russell at TroKar and Doug Long at 5 Stone Advertising did a great job with that. It's not every day you get to be a part of something so cool.

Everything about putting these projects together has been amazing. Wright & McGill Co. has made Kim and I feel like family, which is really important because that is exactly how we see them. My sponsors are more than business partners to us.

I spent a little time at Lucky Craft on the second day showing off the new larger sizes of my SKT series crankbaits. I've been chomping at the bit to get my hands on these. They give me another tool in my arsenal that only Lucky Craft can provide.

I also spent some time working with the folks at the Pure Fishing booth, mainly talking about future bait designs, which is something I always enjoy. Some of those projects will be the baits I use to compete with in the not too distant future. No matter how long I've been doing this, it's really cool to see baits you've helped design out on the market; Berkley is really good about that stuff.

Wiley X released the glasses that I wore when I won the Classic. Of course they were prototypes then, but they look pretty cool and have all of the famous Wiley X features. I even hear they may have some other new things in the works for the near future.

All in all it was a really cool experience, and releasing new products that I've worked so hard on is almost as exciting as winning the Classic again. OK, maybe not that exciting, but it was fun.

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