Skeet Reese’s Winning Baits

As we prepare to induct Skeet Reese into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame this week, he is to me iconic of what a true Hall of Famer should be – a multi-tool player. While there are certainly some inductees who got in on the strength of one particular talent or achievement, Skeet’s credentials are numerous and impressive: he was an incredible marketer, a valuable spokesman, the prime modern representative of the west on the national stage, and most of all a tournament winner.

While there are anglers who will make it into the Hall without his long list of victories, the fact that Reese has consistently been a closer (as recently as this summer, when he won his first BPT event) means to me that he would have gotten in on fishing alone.

While he had earned two Opens level win earlier, his first tour-level trophy came on the Potomac in 2007. Here are his main winning baits in that event and the six that followed:

2007 Elite Series – Potomac River

Berkley Power Hawg

Berkley Sabertail Burly Bug (discontinued)

Lucky Craft BDS 2

2009 Bassmaster Classic – Red River

Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw

Lucky Craft Redemption Spinnerbait

2010 Elite Series – Smith Mountain Lake

6” Rago SKT

Berkley Heavyweight Sink Worm (discontinued)

2010 Elite Series – Lake Guntersville

RC 3.5DD

Rapala DT16

Homemade Mop Jig

2013 Elite Series – West Point

Berkley Fat Dover (discontinued)

Berkley Bottom Hopper Jr.

Lucky Craft LV100

2015 Elite Series – Guntersville

7” Basstrix

2024 Bass Pro Tour – James River

Lucky Craft BDS1

Unnamed Vibrating Jig

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Notes About Skeet’s Wins:

• In the 2015 Guntersville win, the Basstrix produced all but one of his weigh fish. Thanks to a tip from Byron Velvick, he became “One Rod Todd.”

• During the Classic victory, he fished the outside of the area known as The Bobo Hole, named after former bass pro Dalton Bobo.

• In the Potomac victory, he fished Nanjemoy Creek. He also won the Elite Series Angler of the Year title that season.

• Reese also had 14 runner-up finishes with BASS, including at the 2007 Classic.

• He qualified for 19 Bassmaster Classics, finishing in the top 10 four times, but never again after his 2009 victory.

• The BPT James River win came on Reese’s 55th birthday.

• He earned four Century Belts with BASS: at Guntersville (2009 and 2010), Clear Lake 2007 (Clear Lake), and Santee Cooper (2006).

• His $3,348,353 in Bassmaster winnings is second only to KVD’s $6 million plus.