Evans, Ga. – It doesn't happen often, but 2009 Bassmaster Classic Champion Skeet Reese, who had been on a torrid pace for the first five events of the 2010 Bassmaster Elite Series schedule hit a stumbling block at the Pride of Georgia on Clark's Hill Reservoir on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. Reese, who had finished in the top five; including two wins, for each of the previous five tournaments, stumbled out of the gate with three bass that saw him mired in 78 th place after the first day of the tournament. “I expect better of myself,” he said. “I'm a professional angler, and I expect myself to put a limit in the boat at every day of every event; it kind of upsets me to do that.” Not to take defeat lying down, the Auburn , Calif. pro made adjustments and went out on the second day to catch a solid limit, and move up nearly 20 places to finish in 59 th for the tournament. Although he missed the cut to fish on Saturday, it is the first of the season, and the first since August of 2008 on Lake Erie out of Buffalo , N.Y. In fact, in 47 regular season events since the 2006 inception of the Bassmaster Elite Series, it is only the sixth time he has failed to make the first cut. “I hated to leave points on the table in the Angler of the Year Race,” said Reese. “I had built up a pretty good lead and wanted to maintain as much of it as I could, but it just didn't happen.” While he did lose some of the 258 point margin he had entering the event, Reese still maintained a 175 point lead over Edwin Evers of Oklahoma after the conclusion. Reese said that he had one decent day of practice followed by two lackluster days and knew that there was potential to struggle. “The bite got really tough, and it really kept me guessing on the first day,” he said. “I caught a fish on a Berkley Hollow Belly swimbait, one on an original mop jig, and one on a Carolina Rig, but needed to make an adjustment.” What he did was downsize his offering. “I still used my Wright & McGill Co. Skeet Reese Tessera Carolina Rig / Swimbait rod, and prototype of a new signature baitcasting reel,” he said. “But I used 12-pound-test Berkley 100% Trilene Fluorocarbon as a main line with a 3/4-ounce sinker, a 10-pound-test Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon leader and a watermelon / red flake Berkley PowerBait Finesse worm on a 1/0 TroKar Wide Gap Worm hook.” The scaled down offering produced his entire limit, as well as 25 to 30 other small fish. “It was the first time I've weighed a limit on a Carolina Rig since the last time I fished the Columbia River in a Bassmaster Western Open” ( September 2003, Fifth place), he said. “I was glad to move up, but shouldn't have put myself in the positions that I did, so I guess I'm glad it's over.” Following a break, the Bassmaster Elite Series next heads to Kentucky Lake , where Reese finished in fourth place in 2009. He hopes to regain the pace that started him on a path for one of the best season in BASS history there. “I'll start getting geared up for it soon, but for right now I'm enjoying some time at home with Kim and the girls.”