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BASS ANNOUNCES 2008 CITGO BASSMASTER ELITE SERIES, BASSMASTER AWARDS
California’s Skeet Reese Takes Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year Award
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Attaining an elusive goal and fulfilling a “lifelong dream”, Skeet Reese of Auburn, Calif., closed the 2007 Bassmaster Elite Series season with his first Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title.
The veteran pro had a stellar Elite season, in which he scored a victory on the Potomac River in August and posted seven top-10 finishes. He held off Michigan’s Kevin VanDam, a three-time Angler of the Year, with yet another solid finish at the season-ending event on Florida’s Lake Tohopekaliga.
VanDam fought Reese down to the wire, also performing well at the season-ending event. But Reese’s lead proved insurmountable and the three-time BASS winner scored the $125,000 top prize.
The California angler has hovered around the top of the points standings before, finishing in the top 10 the previous three years, but had never secured what he deems as “the crown jewel of bass fishing.”
“I started this season with one goal in mind and I aggressively pursued it all season,” said Reese, 38. “It feels phenomenal to finally win one of these.”
Reese started the season with a second-place showing at the 2007 Bassmaster Classic, which doesn’t count toward the Angler of the Year standings. He took the lead in the standings after another second-place finish at the third Elite event of the season on California’s Clear Lake.
Continuing a trend, Reese placed second at an Elite event on Lake Champlain in July. While he is disappointed that he didn’t get a few more victories, the three-time BASS winner was always focused on this award.
“This award is the truest measure of performance in the sport,” Reese said. “With the advent of the Elite Series, anglers now fish more events throughout a variety of seasons. Only a versatile angler can win this award now, and it means so much to us.”
Reese’s triumph is the latest boost for West Coast anglers. In third heading into the Elite finale was another California pro, Jared Lintner of Arroyo Grande.
VanDam finishes just short for the second year in a row. He was third in the 2006 race, falling to reigning AOY champ Michael Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J.
Even with two Elite victories during the season, VanDam, 39, wasn’t able to string together the top-10 finishes that Reese had. He said he was disappointed, but he realizes he put together a solid season.
“I’m one of the most competitive people you will meet so I’m never pleased with finishing second,” the two-time Classic champion said. “But Skeet was amazing all year and when an angler gets on a roll like that, he’s hard to keep up with.”
Alabama’s Derek Remitz Wins Toyota Rookie of The Year Award KISSIMMEE, Fla. – As the Bassmaster Elite Series season comes to a close, rookie Derek Remitz of Madison, Ala., can look back and say that a spectacular start to the year – he won the first event of the Elite season – was a precursor to a spectacular ending.
With his finish in the season-ending Sunshine Showdown presented by Allstate Boat Insurance at Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee, Fla., Remitz earned the Toyota Rookie of the Year title for the Bassmaster Elite Series.
Remitz beat out Casey Ashley of Donalds, S.C., and Matt Sphar of Pavilion, N.Y., to win the $25,000 top prize. Like Remitz, Ashley also won one of the 11 Elite Series events, the first time in series history that two rookies won tournaments.
“This means a lot,” said Remitz, 25, who won the season-opening Battle on the Border on Texas’ Lake Amistad. “There was a pretty tight field of rookies all season, and winning this award just shows you that you did pretty well. Everybody out here can catch them at any time, and you can’t slip up.”
Remitz proved to be a solid Elite Series contender throughout his rookie season. He followed his win at Lake Amistad with a second-place finish in California’s Duel on the Delta in March and finished fifth in April in the Pride of Georgia on Clarks Hill Lake.
He added two more top-20 finishes at the Sooner Run (20th) on Grand Lake in Oklahoma and the Capital Clash (19th) on the Potomac River.
Ashley was in close pursuit of Remitz all season, including a victory at the Blue Ridge Brawl on Smith Mountain Lake in Moneta, Va. But Ashley’s three top-20 finishes this season weren’t enough to catch Remitz.
Likewise, Sphar closed with a strong performance at the season-ending Elite event but in the end, it wasn’t enough.
Remitz joins past ROY winners Steve Kennedy of Auburn, Ala. (2006); Dave Wolak of Wake Forest, N.C. (2005) and Greg Hackney of Gonzales, La. (2004). All are BASS winners.
“This season was definitely a learning experience,” said Ashley, the youngest angler in the Elite field at 23. “I never imagined I would win a tournament in my rookie season and that was by far the highlight of the season for me.”
The award is determined by angler’s positions in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year. Standings will be finalized after the final day of the season-ending tournament Sunday.
Fred Roumbanis Takes Toyota Moving Forward Award in Bassmaster Elite Series With Greatest Improvement in 2007
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Second-year Bassmaster Elite Series pro Fred Roumbanis of Auburn, Calif., bounced back from his rookie season in 2006 to earn the Toyota Moving Forward Award, recognizing the angler who posts the greatest improvement from season to season based on the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. He received $10,000.
Roumbanis had a solid 2007 season, placing in the Elite 12 in three of 11 Bassmaster Elite Series tournaments to outpace his nearest competitor, Floridian Chris Lane.
“At the end of last year, my goal was to achieve this award,” said Roumbanis. “This season I learned to trust my instincts and go with what I know. I focused on catching a limit every day and one good kicker fish.”
Roumbanis highlighted his 2007 season with seven top-50 cuts in Elite events. And, while the Bassmaster Majors did not influence the Toyota Moving Forward Award, Roumbanis scored an impressive victory in the Bassmaster American in Greensboro, N.C. His first career BASS win was worth $250,000.
Runner-up Chris Lane also improved dramatically from the 2006 Angler of the Year standings. Standings will be finalized after the last day of this weekend’s Bassmaster Elite Series tournament in Kissimmee, Fla.
“Last season I had an experience I would never forget, but this year was either catch them or not fish anymore,” said Lane. “Last year I watched all of these legends in the sport compete and do well, and this year I wanted to beat those guys and I convinced myself that I could.”
Roumbanis joins past Toyota Moving Forward Award winners including Bassmaster Classic champion Denny Brauer (2006), Gary Yamamoto (2005) and Bassmaster Classic champions Davy Hite (2004) and Takahiro Omori (2003).
Sheri Glasgow Wins Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year Top 12 in Points Qualify for Women’s Bassmaster Tour Championship
SHREVEPORT, La. – It has been a long time coming, as Oklahoma’s Sheri Glasgow has remained a front-runner since March to take the crowning title of the Mercury Marine Women’s Bassmaster Tour presented by Triton Boats.
Glasgow, of Muskogee, Okla., is the 2007 Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year. For her efforts, she takes home a 2008 Toyota Tundra.
“It’s one of the highest honors a person can have. The emotions of winning this award are crazy. You can do well in individual tournaments and be consistent all year long, but to be the point’s leader at the end of the year is a hard thing to do,” Glasgow said.
Glasgow came into the season finale on Louisiana’s Red River 129 points ahead of Arkansas’ Tammy Richardson. Glasgow finished third in the final WBT tournament of the season; her total for the three-day event was 28 pounds, 0 ounces, enough to keep at bay both Richardson and Pam Martin-Wells of Georgia.
“Any girl is capable of showing up and winning these tournaments and it’s a struggle everyday you compete. I wasn’t looking at the whole season together; I was looking at each tournament specifically. I had to break it down per day and mentally that made it seem easier. Being versatile enough each day to make changes was key,” she said.
Glasgow has remained at the top of the standings since her win in March at Lake Dardanelle – in Richardson’s home state – and has finished in the top five at each event this season.
At Dardanelle, Glasgow’s winning weight was 46 pounds, 1 ounce. In the season opener at Texas’ Lake Amistad, she finished third, behind winner Juanita Robinson of Texas and Pam Martin-Wells of Georgia. Richardson won the third Tour stop, at Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, while Glasgow finished fifth, and Glasgow finished second to Arkansas’ Lucy Mize in the fourth event, on Kentucky Lake.
“I’ve been enormously blessed this year and it’s almost hard to put into words what it’s like,” Glasgow said of her productive season. “I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet. I’m relieved it’s over and honored that ESPN and BASS have given us this opportunity.”
Glasgow also finished second in the WBT Championship in February on Lake Mitchell out of Birmingham, Ala. Martin-Wells, Glasgow’s closest competitor for Angler of the Year throughout this season’s action, won that event.
While competing for the Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year title, WBT anglers also were trying to qualify for the Women’s Bassmaster Tour Championship, set for February 2008 on South Carolina’s Lake Keowee. Only the top 12 pros and 12 co-anglers in the points standings were invited to compete in the showdown, which coincides with the Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell out of Greenville, S.C.
Anglers who qualified along with Glasgow for the championship: defending champion Martin-Wells; Arkansas’ Lucy Mize, who won the fourth event of the season; Arizona’s Audrey McQueen; Texas’ Juanita Robinson, who won the season opener; Arkansas’ Tammy Richardson; Louisiana’s Judy Wong; 2006 Toyota Women’s Bassmaster Tour Angler of the Year Dianna Clark; Tennessee’s Cindy Hill; Arkansas’ Penny Berryman; Kentucky’s Secret York and Ohio’s Marcia Rubin.
“I’m really looking forward to the championship and it’s an honor to be associated with the Bassmaster Classic. Last year was the first time, but I don’t think this year will feel any different; it’s going to be a wow for everyone. We’ve all tried so hard to get there. I’m excited to go and anxious to have that date roll around.” Co-anglers who’ll join the pros at the championship include Texas’ Karol Whitehurst; Oklahoma’s Kala; Texas’ Laura Elkins; Ohio’s Debbie Pegoli; Washington’s Bonnie Ward; Georgia’s Kim Stapp; Louisiana’s Cheryl Holloway; Arkansas’ Dianne Kegley; Massachusetts’s Colleen McKay; Texas’ Angie Everitt and Virginia’s Barbara Gaskins. About Us | Contacting Us | Rates and Reservations | FAQ | Fishing Report & Tides | Articles & Tips | Photo Album | Client Comments | Sponsors | Corporate Trips |
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