No one needs to explain the value of consistency to Matt Reed. The Texan recently ran some numbers from the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series season that tell him everything he needs to know about that concept.

When you compare Reed's finishes straight up with Kevin VanDam's, Reed ended up higher in four of the eight tournaments. Still, KVD won his fourth straight Angler of the Year (AOY) title by a wide margin, while Reed (who finished 33rd in the points) barely qualified for the Bassmaster Classic.

The big difference, of course, was in their respective worst finishes. A 33rd at Toledo Bend was the bottom of the barrel for VanDam, whereas the best of Reed's four finishes in which he didn't beat VanDam was a 44th at West Point. He also had a 59th, a 75th and an 89th on his ledger. Read Complete Story

> Day 1: 5, 14-08 - Texan Matt Reed locked down to Pool 4 and estimated his total time spent with a line in the water at 5 hours. In that duration he scrounged up seven keepers and boated every fish that he hooked. He called the bite "weird" and attributed that to fish trying to spawn.

"You can't see anything, but I think there are some fish that have moved on (to beds)," he noted. "I'm moving really slow and trying to fish my areas thoroughly. I hate to fish slow, but that's how you have to catch them right now."

He fished a single stretch all day and had it to himself until Bill Lowen set up shop close by in the afternoon. Reed said he'll live or die in the same place on day 2.

"I hope we can make those fish last a couple more days, but I don't know. It's a pretty small area.

"I'm really praying the wind stays up tomorrow," he added. "I'm already fishing a protected area and if it slicks off, it's going to get awfully tough."

Before the tournament started, Reed was convinced the winning fish were going to come from off-shore schools. His thinking appears to be spot-on so far. He worked “a bunch” of deeper-water spots to catch his weight. His bag was anchored by a 5-03 brute and his smallest fish was 4 pounds.

Photo: B.A.S.S./Gary Tramontina Matt Reed stuck with his deep-water plan and it paid off.

“In my mind, there’s no doubt it’s going to be won out there. That was my thinking before it even started. If you wanted to fish for a check you better go fish the bank.”

Patience is a huge factor this week, especially with the community holes taking a beating.

“It’s a huge gamble and you have to commit to it because if you get one of the schools to fire you can catch it in a hurry,” he added. “I panicked at one point this morning. I started on a spot and couldn’t work on it. I didn’t catch one there and ran to the bank for about 20 minutes. I basically looked in the mirror and said, ‘You idiot.’ I went back out by 8 and had a limit before 10. I hit two areas where I caught them, then I could breathe.” Full Story