Skeet Reese's Pattern, Baits & Gear

Skeet Reese fished at two different speeds last week - Bull Shoals Slow and Norfork Fast. His damage at Bull Shoals was done flipping a craw/creature bait in bushes and buck brush while a swimbait/crankbait combo is what he relied on at Norfork. "Even though these lakes are so close together, they fished completely different for me," Reese told Davy Hite for Bassmaster.com's First Look. He caught most of his fish Thursday winding a square-bill crankbait. He said on stage during Sunday's weigh-in that he tapped into the flipping bite at Bull Shoals on the first day of practice. It produced 12 1/2 pounds on Friday, but he changed areas Saturday and came in with a tournament-best 19-02 to move into 3rd entering the final day. "The areas I thought I'd catch them, I couldn't catch them," he said on stage. "On Saturday, I went to water I'd never seen before in my life and just ran a pattern flipping shallow. "I just cracked their heads and it was so fun. I grew up learning from Dee Thomas, the godfather of flipping, fishing out in California. I feel comfortable with flipping stick in my hand. That's how I grew up. When you flip up into a foot of water, it's so shallow you think there can't be a fish up there. There's one little root or a tiny piece of shade and then something comes out and crushes it." His game plan for Sunday was to fish farther out in the main creeks that he had on Thursday. "I saw something at the end of the day Thursday that told me the fish might be further out than I thought," Reese told Hite. "The bigger fish were coming more toward the main lake." He caught a few keepers cranking, then switched to the swimbait for the rest of the day. When the wind picked up later in the morning so did his catch rate and he momentarily moved into the lead after one particular flurry. "(Chris) Zaldain and I worked together some this week and I knew he was on a similar pattern, but didn't know where he was," Reese said. At one point Sunday, they encountered each other and Reese opted to cede the area to Zaldain and ran to a different spot. "I realized the fish were on steeper banks so I tried to find wind-blown rocky banks," he said. It was fun. When they hit either bait, they just crushed it."

Flipping gear: 8' heavy-action Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory Pro Carbon Flip/Pitch rod, Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory Pro Carbon casting reel (7.9:1 gear ratio), 25-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line, 1/4-oz. unnamed tungsten worm weight, 5/0 Laser TroKar flipping hook, Berkley Havoc Pit Boss (green-pumpkin).

Swimbait gear: 7'4" heavy-action Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory Pro Carbon Jig/Big Worm rod, Wright & McGill Skeet Reese Victory Pro Carbon casting reel (7.9:1 gear ratio), 20-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon line, 5/0 Laser TroKar weighted (1/4 oz.) swimbait hook, 6" Berkley PowerBait Hollow Belly (out of production). Reese opted for the high-speed reel to compensate for how fast he was moving down the bank. He tried to keep the swimbait down 2 to 4 feet under the surface.

Crankbait gear: 6'8" medium-action Wright & McGill Skeet Reese S-Glass casting rod, same reel (6.4:1 ratio), 15-pound Berkley Trilene Big Game monofilament line, Lucky Craft 3.5 square-bill crankbait.

Bull Shoals/Norfork 2-5 Patterns BassFan 4/27/16 (Todd Ceisner)

Lazer Trokar Flippin Hook

$5.99 - $15.99

Video

Lazer Trokar Magnum Weighted Swimbait Hook

$6.99 $7.49*

Video

5 Colors

Lucky Craft LC 4.5 Silent Squarebill Crankbait

$18.99 - $20.99

Best Seller

Berkley Trilene Big Game Line Clear

$11.99

5.0

5 Reviews

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