"My practice there was horrible. I never caught more than two fish a day. I fished the lower lake for most of practice because it had produced so well last year. I just never got on anything consistent going in the lower lake though. At 11:30 AM on the last practice day I ran back to the upper lake and caught a five-pound bass, one other good fish and shook a couple more fish off. This was the only area where I felt confident that I could catch fish consistently in," Thomas said of practice.

On day one of the tournament Thomas brought in four fish that weighed 12-15 and put him in 48th place. "I felt good about my weight on day one. The only thing that bothered me was the number of tournament boats in the area where I was fishing. There were a lot of other competitors in there with me. I wasn't sure if the area could handle the pressure."

Day two saw Thomas's weight drop. He weighed in three fish for 3-04 pounds. "My area just didn't hold up. I didn't have anywhere else that I felt confident in going to so I stayed there and gritted it out," said Thomas of day two. Joe's weight on day two dropped him down to 81st in the overall standings.

Day two saw Thomas's weight drop. He weighed in three fish for 3-04 pounds. "My area just didn't hold up. I didn't have anywhere else that I felt confident in going to so I stayed there and gritted it out," said Thomas of day two. Joe's weight on day two dropped him down to 81st in the overall standings.

"I caught all my fish fishing shallow. I pitched a jig and a lizard to the cypress trees in 2-4 feet of water. I'm not into sight fishing so I didn't waste my time looking for fish on beds. I think the fish that I was fishing to were mostly pre-spawn fish."

When asked about his year overall Thomas had this to say, " I'm sick about it. I had a really inconsistent year. I finished last at the Harris Chain then I come back with a thirteenth place finish at Smith, and a 23rd at Guntersville, so I really felt good about that. Then, I turned around and had a mediocre finish at Table Rock. The last two tournaments of the year I started out like gangbusters, I had big stringers the first day and then almost nothing on day two. So it wasn't just inconsistency from tournament-to-tournament but I was inconsistent day to day as well. That bothers me more than anything, because if your performance is inconsistent it's an indication you're not making the right adjustments. If you perform poorly all the way along it just means you might not be in the right areas but when you know you're in good areas and you're still inconsistent that's what hurts the worst. I guess I have plenty to work on in the off-season."

"My practice was very tough. I never caught more than two keepers in one day. That makes it difficult to come up with a good plan for the tournament. I tried to find fish up shallow on beds, but the week before we arrived at Santee they had several cold fronts had come through. I did find several areas that were holding a few staging fish," said Omori. Takahiro's best technique in practice was fishing a Carolina rig in 4-6 feet of water.

Day two saw Takahiro continue with the Carolina Rig pattern. "It got a lot tougher for me on day two. I think some of the fish were leaving the area I was fishing to go to spawning areas. I just didn't have anywhere else to go." Omori's five fish limit on day two weighed 10-01 and put him in 43rd place in the over standings behind teammate and tournament winner Kelly Jordon.

"I am happy with my finish. It gave me enough points to qualify for the Classic, and that is my goal above all else each year. I wish I could have found some more big fish, but making the Classic was my main objective coming into this tournament. Making the Classic keeps both my sponsors and myself happy," said Omori. "I'm looking forward to going to Lake Wylie. It's a lake that I think I can do well on. I can't wait for practice to start."

"I really only got a day and a half of practice at Santee. After making the final six cut at Eufaula and fishing on Sunday, I had to spend Monday driving to Santee and getting my tackle ready. So I only got Tuesday and half a day on Wednesday to practice. I fished way up the river on Tuesday and found an area that I felt comfortable with. It was a backwater slough that had a lot of cypress trees in 2-4 feet of water. On Wednesday I fished down low on the lake and didn't like what I saw. I decided that during the tournament I would fish the back-water area upriver."

Skeet finished day one strong. He had a five fish limit that weighed in at 21-05 and put him in third place going into day two. "I caught all my fish on day one flipping a black and blue Jig to the cypress trees. It was great. I didn't even fish the whole area," said Reese of day one.

On day three Reese again went to his backwater area. The fishing was even tougher. Skeet's day three weight dropped to 13-04 and put him in 11th place in the overall standings behind tournament winner and teammate Kelly Jordon.

"I knew that I had a good area, but I also knew that it might not hold up. I think I just fished the area out. The sight fishing was getting better everyday down on the lower lake and my area was getting slower. I'm happy I got what I did. I didn't think there were enough fish there to win. To win on Santee-Cooper in the spring, you need to be on giants. I was on good fish, but not giants," said Reese of his performance.

Greg Hackney and Gerald Swindle were neck and neck in the point's race for Angler of the Year. Swindle finished the tournament tied for 39th place with Ron Shuffield, but Greg Hackney made the cut to twelve and went on to fish on day three. Gerald would have to spend day three on the sidelines waiting to see how Hackney's day went. The race was Hackney's to win or lose. He would have to finish eighth or better to beat Swindle in the Angler of the Year race. As the weigh-in progressed Swindle got more and more anxious. Day three saw the fishing get better on the lake, and the weights being posted were impressive. " Waiting for Hackney to weigh-in was like being in a boxing match with my hands tied behind my back," said Swindle. "I thought that I might throw up. I was as nervous as I have ever been. I mean, I had my whole family there and my fiance there. I really didn't want to lose, but I had to just sit there and wait, it was grueling."

As Hackney's day three weight of 13-02 was weighed in Gerald's tension grew. In the end Hackney's weight put him in ninth place. Gerald Swindle was now officially the 2004 Citgo Bass Masters Angler of the Year! "When they announced that I had won, it was like a thousand pound weight was taken off my shoulders," Swindle said of winning.

"If someone would have told me at the beginning of the season that I would win the Angler of the Year (AOY) title, I would have laughed in their face. The person who wins AOY is the best of the best for that year. I have always wanted to win AOY, but it's so hard to do. To win AOY, you have to have the perfect season. I mean nothing can go wrong. Your equipment has to always be ready, and you have to make the right decisions all season long," said Swindle.

"Before the Tour even started this year, I was fired up. I spent the off-season getting into shape and thinking about every tournament that was coming up. I didn't fish the FLW Tour this year, which let me focus all my energy on the B.A.S.S. Tour. The Tour schedule also fit me well. I was excited to fish all the lakes we were going to," said Swindle.

"Winning Angler of the Year is still very overwhelming. Even with all the press coverage and publicity, I still can't believe I won. It's really all quite humbling. I'm really just a kid at heart that loves to fish. I already can't wait to start fishing the Elite 50's."

When asked about how winning Angler of the Year would affect his career Swindle said, "I'm really not sure. I mean; short term the money is great. Long term I don't know. I just want to earn the respect of all my fellow competitors."

"If I had to give someone advice, I would tell them: Never give up on your dreams. Winning never comes easy. This makes up for all those times when you fished in brutal conditions or were sick and didn't want to leave the motel room."

"Four years ago when I was laying in a hospital bed recovering from major back surgery, I told myself that if I get up again, I would make it count. Since then I have been totally focused on my goals and my career. I'm going to go for it again next year. I plan on spending the off-season working to improve the weak spots in my game, so that I can come back even stronger next year," said Swindle. "When it's your time, it's your time."

When asked about the upcoming Citgo Bass Masters Classic Gerald said, "Wyle is a lake that fits me. I can't wait to go. I am just going to swing for the fence like I always do. I guess we will find out how I do at the final weigh-in."

"My practice was okay. I spent the first day of practice fishing deeper stumps looking for fish that were staging to move up to spawn. I got a few bites doing that but nothing that I felt I could count on. The last two days of practice I spent all my time looking for fish on beds. Those fish weren't easy to find. I think a big part of the field missed them. I had to look in probably fifty prime spawning pockets to find four that were holding quality fish. I had to spend a lot of time looking but I liked what I found. I was anxious for the tournament to start. I knew with the weather warming up that fish would keep moving in, and my areas would get better and better," said Jordon.