Last year was one to forgot for Skeet Reese.  The California pro finished 48th in the 2011 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Standings, and missed a chance to defend his 2009 Classic title on the Red River. Losing the AOY in 2010, after dominating the regular season with two wins had to hurt. In 2010 BASS used a playoff format to decide the Angler of the Year, and Skeet went on to lose it to Kevin Vandam. BASS did away with the playoff format last year, but we saw KVD win back to back (2009 & 2010) AOY titles in that format at Reese’s expense, which had to play with his confidence.

In 2012, Skeet is out to a great start and looking to get back to the Classic, and win another Angler of the Year title. With no playoff’ format to deal with this season should sit just great with Reese. It may only be two events into the eight event year, but you can’t over look at the leader at the moment, and that man is decked out in black and yellow.

The Bassmaster Elite Series started off 2012 with a swing of Florida events at the St. Johns River and Lake Okeechobee.  At the St. Johns River Showdown, Reese had a great start to the year with a 5th place finish, and backed it up the following week at the Power-Pole Slam finishing in 3rd place. With those finishes he sits atop of the TTAOY with 192 points, one point ahead of Brent Chapman.

No one is saying that Skeet is going to walk away with the title after only two events, but it’s nice to see him back on top. Also the machine that is Kevin VanDam sits in 9th place, 24 points behind Reese. It’s going to be a interesting year on the Elite Series, and everyone can’t wait to see how this all unfolds as the year goes on. The next stop is Bull Shoals Lake in Arkansas on April 19-22.  Can he hold on to the top spot in the standings? Only time can tell, but Reese looks to be out on a mission this year!

 Angler of the Year