Where Does Skeet Rank?

[preach4bass]

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/news/story?page=b_ES_Reese_RankAllTime

According to this article, he dosn't rank in the top 10.

[5bass]

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

[silbasser]

People don't realize how good he really is.  Top 3 easy!

[silbasser]

Bill Dance wouldn't make top 10,000 on my list.

[Tin]

He seems to get into little "funks" that really mess him up. Bmadd and I were talking and if you watch the "playoff" t's, when he is flipping he is hardly setting a hook and can't keep fish buttoned up or he is missing them completely. It was like he had got into the groove of setting a hook with a treble hooked bait and couldn't get out of it. The same thing seemed to happen on Pickwick. It is like he cannot switch gears when he needs to.

[bmadd]

Tin nailed it. He definitely knows how to locate fish and how to make them bite. I think the thing that keeps Aaron Martens and Skeet from having more AOY trophies though lies between their ears. I don't know how light of line Skeet was flipping with at that last tournament but the way he set the hook you would think he was flipping with 6lb.

[boneil]

imho, between 10 and 15.  I wonder if he will fizzle out.  I'm sure KVD is in his head just like Kriet.  Skeet may never recover.

[b.Lee]

I completely agree with that article.  He is a great fisherman, but he can't rank stats wise against the others. Having a couple of good seasons doesn't mean anything without titles. Sports are all about stats.

[hookingem]

I think the guy can fish don't get me wrong but he is going through some what of a hot streak right now. Let's see if it will hold up.  ;D

[SDoolittle]

Bill Dance wouldn't make top 10,000 on my list.

Care to elaborate?

[Grey Wolf]

Bill Dance wouldn't make top 10,000 on my list.

WHY????????????????????????????/

[Vinny Chase]

Bill Dance wouldn't make top 10,000 on my list.

Can we nominate this quote for Bass Recourse preposterous statement of the year award?

Bill Dance is one the best fisherman on this planet hands down.

[Bass Dude]

I don't get the ranking of Mark Davis.  He's done well, but I don't think he's worthy of the top 10.

[wisconsin heat]

some people need to understand that anglers today fish about 500 times more competitively now than they did years ago, do you honestly think that if you threw bill dance or roland martin in an elite series event that they would stand a ghost of a chance? i dont think so. they probably shouldnt be ranked as high imo.. and this toss-up between vandam and skeet, i think to be fair that vandam would rank higher for what he has done, but for the most part i think skeet is a better angler. when it boils down to versatility, skeet takes the cake...we all know that kevin can fish a crankbait, but that usually accounts for all his wins now, skeet on the other hand won an elite series event, on a swimbait, finished 2nd by a mere ounce by flipping, also finishe 2nd at fort gibson on a football jig and a crankbait, the lake guntersville event was also won by reese, he fished a rc 3.5 then, so vandam isnt the only who can crank up the bass, and that was all this season!! he also won last years classic on a spinnerbait and a crawbait, hes from california, which almost automatically makes him a good finnesse fisherman. skeet has also been VERY consistent these past few seasons, he won the 2007 aoy, and wouldve won the past two years (this last won he would have blew out of the water) if it werent for the new postseason, final answer;

best of ALL TIME: KVD

best RIGHT NOW: Skeet Reese

[Catt]

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/news/story?page=b_ES_Reese_RankAllTime

According to this article, he dosn't rank in the top 10.

That's one man's opinion 

[WCCT]

some people need to understand that anglers today fish about 500 times more competitively now than they did years ago, do you honestly think that if you threw bill dance or roland martin in an elite series event that they would stand a ghost of a chance? i dont think so. they probably shouldnt be ranked as high imo.. and this toss-up between vandam and skeet, i think to be fair that vandam would rank higher for what he has done, but for the most part i think skeet is a better angler. when it boils down to versatility, skeet takes the cake...we all know that kevin can fish a crankbait, but that usually accounts for all his wins now, skeet on the other hand won an elite series event, on a swimbait, finished 2nd by a mere ounce by flipping, also finishe 2nd at fort gibson on a football jig and a crankbait, the lake guntersville event was also won by reese, he fished a rc 3.5 then, so vandam isnt the only who can crank up the bass, and that was all this season!! he also won last years classic on a spinnerbait and a crawbait, hes from california, which almost automatically makes him a good finnesse fisherman. skeet has also been VERY consistent these past few seasons, he won the 2007 aoy, and wouldve won the past two years (this last won he would have blew out of the water) if it werent for the new postseason, final answer;

best of ALL TIME: KVD

best RIGHT NOW: Skeet Reese

KVD won his first Classic with on a flippin/pitching pattern. He won his second, and probably the toughest Classic ever on a jerkbait. His third came on a lipless crankbait. These are 3 vastly differnt patterns, and although the last two are reaction patterns, they are very different than deep cranking. He can be just as versital as the next guy when he needs to be. I really think Skeet is a special talent when it comes to fishing, and he will get his due in the future, but KVD is head and shoulders above the crowd. JMO

[kikstand454]

some people need to understand that anglers today fish about 500 times more competitively now than they did years ago, do you honestly think that if you threw bill dance or roland martin in an elite series event that they would stand a ghost of a chance? i dont think so. they probably shouldnt be ranked as high imo.. and this toss-up between vandam and skeet, i think to be fair that vandam would rank higher for what he has done, but for the most part i think skeet is a better angler. when it boils down to versatility, skeet takes the cake...we all know that kevin can fish a crankbait, but that usually accounts for all his wins now, skeet on the other hand won an elite series event, on a swimbait, finished 2nd by a mere ounce by flipping, also finishe 2nd at fort gibson on a football jig and a crankbait, the lake guntersville event was also won by reese, he fished a rc 3.5 then, so vandam isnt the only who can crank up the bass, and that was all this season!! he also won last years classic on a spinnerbait and a crawbait, hes from california, which almost automatically makes him a good finnesse fisherman. skeet has also been VERY consistent these past few seasons, he won the 2007 aoy, and wouldve won the past two years (this last won he would have blew out of the water) if it werent for the new postseason, final answer;

best of ALL TIME: KVD

best RIGHT NOW: Skeet Reese

hahaha.

here's a better question... if you took skeet or any of the other anglers and took away their internet, and their 80+mph boat and their chartplotting/side imaging and their graphite rods and 400 dollar reels and set them in a bass tracker with a 50horse and an old school flasher.... do you think they would fish any better than roland martin or hank parker? 

sports always grow more and more competetive as time goes by because technology makes it easier and levels the playing field. you have to compare the dominance of the sport at the time in order to veiw "greatness". and then take it with a grain of salt.

the gretzky,ruth,jordan,petty, martins of the world will always be considered "the best"...but they dominated in an era when it was easier to dominate. everyone is better in sports these days than 30 years ago and so you have to grade it on a curve.

but to discount the greatness of these competitors based on the fact that they couldnt compete today.... well thats just ignorant.

and for the record... id put skeet somewhere in the 20's.

[BrASSmonkey]

Can anyone say definitively that a past great, were they playing in their prime today, with the same advantages that today's athelete's have, would be inferior to today's stars?  How much of their greatness was physical and how much was mental?

[SeanW]

The ranking were based greatly on longevity in the sport. All of those guys have been at it for a long time. Bill Dance give's himself a shoty appearance of greatness by fishing the ponds. He was a great competitor back in the day and elected to make sure money from TV.

For those of you discounting Skeet, I just dont get it. He has dominated the past 3 years. The new AOY format is not an AOY at all. Its Nascar! You just dont start the AOY over after the season. Its also all Alabama, not what I call an AOY race. Angler of the year? Means best angler over the course of the regular season. McKinnis will fix this, as it was a bad move. : Lets not forget these guys are trying to make a living. Skeet dominates there as well. Nobody is making the money he is. He is marketing himself better then any other.

KVD is a great fisherman. Perhaps the best on the big stage. KVD has a killer instinct like no other. Now if he could just figure out those California fish.

That said I respect all the folks on that list. I also believe that bass fishing is much more competitive now then it was back then. It has more to do with the number or people fishing. The sport grows just like others, and evolves.

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

I'd rank skeet as 2nd or 3rd. He had an outstanding freakin year this year. I cant believe he didnt end up winning AOY