'The Moneymaker' is indeed
Staff reports
Jeremy Reese grew up fishing at Clarks Hill. While growing up in this area, he enjoyed participating in a variety of fishing tournaments, including Wal-Mart's BFL, Fishers of Men and Millbrook Christian Anglers of Aiken. He even learned to make his own lures, which helped him out recently.
Working on his undergraduate degree in fisheries biology at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Reese is the president of the UALR Bass Club, formed last year.
It was no surprise that he and friend Trent Gephardt decided to compete in the Under Armour College Bass National Championship.
And maybe his special lure, which he half-jokingly calls "The Moneymakre," made the difference as the pair of fishermen fished their way to the national championship with a tournament-best 21.07-pound sack.
A total of 54 teams and 112 fishermen qualified for the championships, held on the 8,900-acre Lake Maumelle, and only the five with the highest combined weights on two days advanced to fish on Day 3 on what was billed as a "mystery lake."
After a bit of drama, the UALR pair finished fifth at the end of the second day and resolved to fish for the fun of it on the last day. The pair finished fifth after judges realized they had already counted a penalty for a dead fish when the penalty was levied again by mistake. Once the double penalty was realized, Reese and Gephardt reclaimed fifth place from a Northwestern team.
"We knew it was going to be close but not that close," Reese said. "That's a little too close for comfort. We're just thrilled to get to fish tomorrow. We're going to go big, or go home."
Even with last pick of holes in a five-hole format, the two managed to catch a 4- and 5-pounder before 7:30 a.m.
After a dry spell, they caught a 3-pounder, followed by yet another.
As the day unfolded, the five teams who fished the final day finished in the reverse order of where they qualified.
And when all was said and done, Reese and Gephardt managed to beat the field of bigger schools for the championship.
Reese has been in Arkansas since 2006, when he and new wife, Donnell (Shelley), moved there to complete his degree. Donnell was the children's librarian at Nancy Carson Library at the time. She is now the interim director of the Institute for Economic Advancement Research Library at UALR.
Reese's lifelong dream to become a professional fisherman.
Sam Eifling with the Under Armour College Bass National Championships organization contributed to this article.
