One announced his presence with authority . The other took a little to get going . Skeet Reese and Michael Neal ended up battling until almost the final day of the season for the Angler of the Year title . In the end , Neal did just enough to edge out Reese in one of the tightest AOY races in recent memory . Here ’ s a look at how Neal got there .

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Potomac River

St . Lawrence River

PHOTO BY KYLE WOOD PHOTO BY ROB MATSUURA PHOTO BY KYLE WOOD

LAKE OKEECHOBEE — 22ND

“ There was nothing too exciting about this event ,” Neal recalls . “ I just did what I always do in Florida – what I do best , and that ’ s [ fish the ] wind . A lot of guys get caught up in that flipping bite , and I just put a swim jig in my hand and fished the way I wanted .”

LEWIS SMITH LAKE — 33RD

“ I caught five keepers each of the first two days ,” he says . “ That ’ s it . And on the first day , I caught my fifth with about five minutes to go . I had this foundation I ’ d found and fished so many times and had only been able to catch fish off it in practice . Well , I hit it on my way in and caught a 3- pounder . Without that fish , I can kiss Angler of the Year goodbye .”

LAKE MURRAY — 3RD

“ I thought the first day I was in really good shape until I got to weigh-in and realized the guys caught them a lot better than I thought they would ,” Neal says . “ So Day 2 , after starting offshore , I decided to take a little gamble and run up the river to a stretch of laydowns I got one bite in practice . I got up there and caught a 4 1 / 2-pounder on a vibrating jig that ate it with about a foot of line out . I set the hook and boat-flipped her in one motion . After that , I ’ d start offshore and then run up the river to get some bigger bites .”

LAKE EUFAULA — 11TH

“ I caught 9 1 / 2 pounds the first day , and I ’ m mad at the world ,” Neal explains . “ Then , Day 2 happens , and it ’ s one of those days where everything went right . I went to one place I caught one small fish in practice and caught two 3 1 / 2-pounders on a deep crankbait . And it was like that all day .”

POTOMAC RIVER — 2ND

“ I knew what I was going to do going into this event : I was going to find one area and hunker down in it ,” Neal says . “ I found one stretch of grass where I caught all my fish , and it nearly worked out if [ Jacopo Gallelli ] didn ’ t have the most incredible final day .”

ST . LAWRENCE RIVER — 11TH

“ This one was so stressful because I didn ’ t even know if Skeet was going to show up ( he flew back from a family vacation in Italy to fish the event ),” Neal recounts . “ Plus , smallmouth are not my forte . They ’ re like ghosts . I just never truly understand them . Fortunately , a few weeks before I fished a Bass Pro Tour event there and did OK , but I realized the area I was in a lot of fish got caught .

“ I decided to go back and make a milk run in that area , and it worked , but still there were two fish that stood out that helped me get Angler of the Year . On Day 1 , I cast out and I watch on my screen a fish eat my bait on the way to the bottom . It gets off quick , but instead of reeling in , I dropped it back and the fish followed it all the way to the bottom and ate it . It was a 5 1 / 2-pounder . Then , on Day 3 , I was re-tying and was on the trolling motor setting myself back up , but I steered wrong and ended up on a grass flat . As I was working my way off it , I pitched to the edge and caught a 4 1 / 2- pounder that pretty much sealed it for me .” n

MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2021