BASS Reporter’s Notebook: 2009 Classic Champ Reese Enjoys Limelight of Parade Cover Story
Category: press release
Mar 16th, 2010 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Mar 16th, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Skeet Reese was on the cover of the Sunday, March 14, edition of Parade magazine, the supplement 33 million people receive each week in their Sunday newspapers. Inside was a two-page spread with photos featuring the Bassmaster Elite Series pro from Auburn, Calif. The article was written by Harlan Coben, an award-winning author of 16 books in the thriller genre.
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| Skeet Reese(Photo by Parade) |
The Parade piece was a coup for the sport of bass fishing on two counts: It was the cover story for a mainstream media outlet that claims a readership of 72.775 million people and distribution in 470 newspapers, and it was written by a novelist of international fame. For the article, click here.
“Skeet Reese, the West Coast and bass fishing (were) represented very well,” said Bassmaster Elite Series emcee Keith Alan as he presented a copy of Parade to Reese on stage in the final moments of the TroKar Duel on the Delta last Sunday in Stockton, Calif.
As Alan spoke, Reese was still a bit stunned from learning he was 2 ounces short of winning the event. He smiled for photographers while holding up the magazine. The pose was a double image of the 2009 Bassmaster Classic winner in his yellow and black trademark wear.
Interviewing Reese was Coben’s introduction to bass fishing. His latest book, Caught, to be released next week, is not about fishing, nor are any of his other thrillers. Many, however, are award winners, including Tell No One, which was made into a movie of the same name.
Parade arranged Coben’s onboard interview with Reese. That was in September 2009, during the Bassmaster Elite Series Postseason in Alabama.
“I think they figured Skeet would be a good interview subject with his rather, uh, you know, brash background,” Coben said.
He was enthusiastic about taking on the piece because his son, Ben, is an avid angler.
“He loves to fish more than life itself, and he has a father who doesn’t know anything about fishing,” Coben said. “So that’s when we came up with the idea, and thought it might be neat to bring Ben down with me. I was a total outsider, a guy who knows nothing about fishing, rather than somebody who is an expert on bass fishing.”
While in Alabama, Coben went fishing with Elite pro Greg Vinson. The trip was an exercise to help him understand how tough the sport can be. Ben came along.
“I was ready to give it up in about 10 minutes,” Coben laughed. “I only caught a gar, but Ben reeled in four bass. The next day, Skeet and Kevin (VanDam) were making fun of me.”
Reese’s miss on an Elite win on the same day the Parade piece came out was an odd coincidence. Coben, who has been following Reese’s career, drew a parallel to the postseason tournament where he interviewed Reese.
“I’m crushed for him because I know what a competitor he is, and I know how hard he takes it,” Coben said. “I was in the boat with him when he didn’t win the Angler of the Year, so I know Skeet and that he’s taking it hard, but he’ll bounce back.”
MARTENS STILL STANDING: Aaron Martens isn’t over his calf muscle injury, but he’s able to stand all day in a boat. Kneeling to land a fish is still a challenge.
“I can’t bend my right leg to squat down at all,” he said. “If I twist, it’s excruciating. I have to sort of flop down on my butt and lean over. It’s hard to get down low.”
Martens, a native Californian who now lives in Leeds, Ala., was a favorite to win going into last week’s Bassmaster Elite Series season opener on the California Delta. He said the initial injury happened during the Feb. 19-21 Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake in Alabama, when snow fell and cold gripped the area.
“I was straining the leg too long in the cold, and I tore a muscle close to where it attaches to the bone, behind the knee,” he said. “Luckily, I didn’t completely tear it or I’d have to consider surgery.”
He competed in California, but the injury held him back. The second day of the Delta tournament, he was hobbling and had trouble standing on a boat deck. He finished in 54th place.
“It’s going to take a total of five to six months to get back to normal,” he said. “I have to be very careful; I’ve already reinjured it three or four times since I first injured it.”
In Alabama, he had a sports medicine doctor check him out. He got a sports massage on the leg, and he is taking an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory.
“I’ll have to take care of it for months and let it heal, but at least now I’m walking and standing OK,” he said.
He’s ready for this week’s Golden State Shootout on Clear Lake out of Lakeport, Calif.
“It’s one of the best,” he said of the fishery. “It’s going to be good fishing this week. There’s going to be a lot of big fish caught.”
LINTNER TRYING TO FORGET: Monday, just two days after his truck was T-boned on California’s Interstate 5 and his boat was wrecked, Jared Lintner was scouting Clear Lake for his next Bassmaster Elite Series event. But the California native from Arroyo Grande was still struggling to get his mind off of the crash.
“I’ve never had any kind of drama like this, my head is still on it,” he said. “It puts things in perspective. I’ve been out on the water now for three hours and I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve probably thought about fishing for about 10 minutes.”
Lintner won a Bassmaster Open event on Clear Lake in 2005, so the lake has good karma for him. Monday he was practicing for the Golden State Shootout, March 18-21, in Lakeport, Calif. It follows the March 11-14 TroKar Duel on the Delta out of another northern California city, Stockton. Like the Duel, the Shootout carries a $100,000 first-place prize.
“I know I just need to fish and kind of put it behind me, but it’s hard,” he said.
Lintner’s 9-year-old son was in the truck with him, a big reason the accident shook the Elite pro down deep.
“The biggest thing is my kid is OK. If anything would have happened to him …”
While he practiced Monday from a boat loaned to him by a Clear Lake friend, Lintner described the Saturday, March 13, accident and aftermath.
“A car came flying up on me – on the shoulder, actually – going about 70, 75, went off the embankment, came back up and T-boned my truck, pushing us sideways down the interstate,” he said.
“I remember seeing my (boat) motor in front of the truck. All of a sudden we came to a stop and the trailer was up kind of along the side of the truck, and the boat was 15 feet away from the trailer.
“My first instincts were to make sure my son was OK, then to get away from the truck. We had just bought fuel.”
Lintner said his son complained of a headache and a sore neck. The boy was examined at an area hospital and appears to have no injuries.
Lintner said he has no apparent physical injury. “I didn’t move. The truck is heavy. If I had had a smaller vehicle, it probably would have flipped,” he said.
He said he assumes that the boat careened end over end because the top of the motor cowling was badly damaged.
Lintner’s thoughts also have been focused on his wife, Keri, and two other children, who were caravanning with him in a separate vehicle as the family traveled from Stockton to Lakeport. Keri was driving a few miles ahead of him with the other two Lintner children, a 2-year-old and 12-year-old. When she got the call that everyone dreads, she turned around at the next exit and backtracked to the scene.
“I’m grateful they weren’t behind us, that they didn’t have to go through the trauma of seeing it happen,” the Elite pro said.
His truck was slammed so hard it bent the axle. “The rear end is totally crooked,” he said. “One tire is probably 8 to 12 inches ahead of the other tire.”
His tackle was scrambled. He didn’t lose much because most pieces were packed in boxes and stowed inside the boat’s compartments. But it took all day Sunday to pick out damaged pieces from shattered boxes and put everything back in order. He lost several rods – maybe all.
“Today I stood up, made my first cast, and the rod broke in half,” he said. “It probably had a hairline fracture that I couldn’t see. That was discouraging a little bit. Hopefully I’ll catch fish in practice and test out more of my rods.”
The fraternity of Elite anglers, along with friends near and far, are helping him get past the bad experience.
“You really don’t know who your true friends are until something like this happens,” Lintner said. “I’ll tell you what, these guys are great – I’ve had phone calls from guys I didn’t even know had my phone number. They’ve offered rods, reels – whatever I need.
“Rich from Tackle Warehouse – that’s my main sponsor – came up with a truck and we loaded all my stuff,” Lintner said. “(Sunday) he helped me all day. I might have lost a few things, but it could have been worse.”
JONES LAUNCHES VIDEO BLOG: Alton Jones’ wife, three children and two dogs travel with him on the Bassmaster Elite Series circuit. Now fishing fans can see how that all comes down by watching a new video blog online at Bassmaster.com.
The first episode of Keeping Up With the Joneses is just less than two minutes long. It introduces the family and shows them loading up their double-stack trailer that’s towed by their RV. The pro’s Skeeter boat rig, complete with trailer, rides on one level; the Sequoia tow vehicle rides on the other.
To view the episode, click here, and then click on the “Top Videos” tab above the main photo.
DELTA MEMORY BY CREWS: “You know a tournament is meant to be when you catch a 5-pounder on the very last pitch.” – John Crews of Salem, Va., victor by 1 ounce over Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., at the March 11-14 Bassmaster Elite Series season opener on the California Delta
DELTA MEMORY BY REESE: “I’ve got blood on my mind, and I’m going to Clear Lake to get it.” – California’s Skeet Reese, looking ahead to the March 18-21 Elite event, the second of 2010 in his home state
About BASS
For more than 40 years, BASS has served as the authority on bass fishing. The organization advances the sport through advocacy, outreach and its expansive tournament structure while championing efforts to connect directly with the passionate community of bass anglers through its Bassmaster media vehicles.
As the flagship offering of ESPN Outdoors, the Bassmaster brand and its considerable multimedia platforms are guided by a mission to serve all fishing fans. Through its industry-leading publications Bassmaster Magazine, BASS Times and Fishing Tackle Retailer; comprehensive Web properties in Bassmaster.com, BASSInsider.com, ESPNOutdoors.com and ESPN360.com, and ESPN2 television programming, Bassmaster provides rich, leading-edge content true to the lifestyle.
BASS oversees the prestigious Bassmaster Tournament Trail, which includes the Bassmaster Elite Series, Bassmaster Opens, BASS Federation Nation and the ultimate celebration of competitive fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.
BASS offers an array of services to its more than 500,000 members while spearheading progressive, positive change on issues related to conservation and water access. The organization is headquartered in Celebration, Fla.