BOSSIER CITY, La. — On the Red River Sunday, California's Skeet Reese won an East-West battle by outdueling Michael Iaconelli of New Jersey for the Bassmaster Classic title and $500,000.

Reese won by 11 ounces. On Sunday, he caught five fish that weighed 16 pounds, 12 ounces.

"Everything fell into place," Reese said. "I fished all day in one 200-yard stretch of water — just circling through it all day."

Brian Snowden of Missouri was third, Arkansas angler Mike McClelland finished fourth, and Oklahoma's Edwin Evers wound up fifth. The top five anglers all had totals over 50 pounds.

Anglers from 17 states made up the final-day field of 25. Fifty-one anglers started the tournament Friday, and the field was cut to 25 for Sunday.

Bryan Schmidt, 38, of Olney, Texas, had one of the best final-day hauls (22 pounds, one ounce) and briefly held the lead. Schmidt, who says he's the only serious bass angler in his West Texas hometown of about 3,000 people, qualified through the BASS Federation tournaments and never dreamed of holding a lead in the Super Bowl of bass fishing.

Schmidt is a planner for Air Tractor, a company that builds crop dusters. The small aircraft are more common than bass boats in his neck of the woods.

Next year, he plans to compete on the Bassmaster Central Open circuit and hopes to return to the big show.

Kelly Jordon, in fourth place when the day started, said he made a bad decision on Sunday . He left his best fishing spot early in the day when the weather was cold and the fish were not biting. By the time he returned, fellow Texan Alton Jones had caught 30 fish in that spot. Jordon slipped from fourth to 10th. Jones climbed from 21st place to 14th.

In spite of unsettled weather that ranged from bright sunshine to cold, drizzling rain, the Red River showed itself to be an outstanding fishery. The top 17 anglers all posted more than 40 pounds over three days.

On Saturday, Jones, the Waco, Texas, angler who won last year's Classic, told a heartbreaking tale of the big one that got away. Jones lost a bass he estimated at nine or 10 pounds. Jones said he spotted the fish on a spawning bed and flipped a tube lure onto the bed. The fish ignored his offering, and Jones laid the rod down and turned around to tie a lure on another rod.

When Jones was distracted, the big bass grabbed his lure and almost jerked his rod overboard. Jones managed to grab the rod and set the hook, but the fish got under a submerged limb and escaped. Had he landed that fish, Jones had a realistic shot at becoming only the second angler to win back-to-back titles. Texas native Rick Clunn did it in 1976 and '77.

"I felt sick to my stomach when I lost the big one," said Jones. "Life doesn't give you many chances to win two Classics in a row."

Over 300 members of the media applied for credentials, about 50 more than usual. ESPN publicist Doug Grassian credited much of the added attention to Kim Bain-Moore, the first woman to qualify for the Classic.

In two days, Bain-Moore caught five bass that totaled eight pounds, 12 ounces and failed to make the final day of the competition when the field was cut to 25. She finished 47th of 51 competitors.

Saturday's attendance for the Classic Outdoor Show at the Shreveport Convention Center totaled 60,123, surpassing the previous three-day record of 52,000 set at New Orleans in 2003. Sunday's attendance was equally impressive. CenturyTel Center, where the weigh-in was held, was packed on Saturday and Sunday.