WITH
THE ELITE SERIES SEASON WINDING DOWN, OUTCOMES FAR
FROM CERTAIN
Two
regular season tournaments remain to decide who's
in and who's out
Story
by Pete Robbins
Posted
- June 2nd, 5:24am CST
NORMAN, OK - With only four full-field days left in the Elite Series regular season, there’s plenty of time left to be a hero – or a zero.
Anglers in the top 12 and top 37 dearly want to hold onto their positions, or ideally move up the ladder, while those on the outside looking in will do everything in their power to take away what their competition seeks to protect.
With the possible exception of Skeet Reese, no one is assured of any post-season opportunities, so everyone except for a few bottom-dwellers is fighting to fish beyond the Arkansas River in Oklahoma.
In the eight event schedule, each tournament is weighted equally and each has the potential to break – but not necessarily make – an angler’s season. With that in mind, last season’s fourth quarter trends may be instructional, although there’s no guarantee they’ll be repeated.
Photos
by Mark Jeffreys & Matt Pangrac
Top Twelve
After six events last year, the top twelve consisted of:
• Kevin VanDam
• Skeet Reese
• Alton Jones
• Aaron Martens
• Todd Faircloth
• Gary Klein
• Mike Iaconelli
• Mark Menendez
• Randy Howell
• Brent Chapman
• Bobby Lane
• Cliff Pace
Nine of those anglers went on to fish the two events in Alabama. The three who fell out were Martens, Chapman and Lane, who fell 12, 10 and 23 spots respectively. All three still made the Classic, although Lane, at 34th, did so by only three places and 32 points.
Martens had the fall that should be most instructive and scary to those sitting in the catbird’s seat right now. He was in 4th after six events, 174 points ahead of the 12th place man, and ended the season in 16th, 61 points out of the top 12, a 235 point swing. Right now all the anglers down to the 26th place man, Kevin VanDam, are within 235 points of Edwin Evers in 2nd. No one, save for Skeet, is safe, and he wants to build up as much of a lead as possible heading into Alabama.
The three who dropped out were replaced by Kelly Jordon, Tommy Biffle and Gerald Swindle, who rose 9, 14 and 11 places, respectively, over the final two tournaments. Jordon was the first man out after six, but Biffle and Swindle started off 66 and 72 points outside the cut and ended up making it in by 38 and 14 points respectively.
Steve Kennedy closed an even larger gap – 122 points after six tournaments – but ultimately it was too much to overcome. He rose from 34th to 13th and was the first man out. Jeff Kriet started off 95 out and ended up in 14th, 48 out, despite a valiant runner-up finish at Oneida.
Right now, the 12th man in the standings, Greg Hackney, has 1327 points. There are 14 anglers within 100 points of him. The lesson from last year? He needs to fish well and watch his back.
Classic Qualfiers
While those at the far bottom of the standings sheet are all but assured of missing the Classic, if you assume that 37th place is the cut-off (it may be as few as 36 or a few over 37, depending on where KVD ends up and how the Opens play out), the field is in many respects wide open.
Brent Chapman, in 37th, has 1139 points. Jeff Connella, in 75th, is only 185 points behind him. In between the two are 2010 Classic competitors including Matt Herren, James Niggemeyer, Boyd Duckett and Billy McCaghren. Structure fishing experts like Paul Elias and Mark Tucker, in 42nd and 43rd respectively, must be salivating at the thought of fishing Kentucky Lake next. Past Classic winners including Alton Jones, Takahiro Omori and Rick Clunn also fall between them.
Last year 32 of the 37 anglers who were inside the 37th place cutoff after six events eventually qualified for the classic. The biggest leaper was McCaghren, who vaulted from 56th place after six events (105 points out) to 27th (80 points ahead of 37th). Right now, there are 32 anglers outside the Classic cut but within 105 points of 37th place.
Other big jumpers were Mike McClelland (39th to 22nd), Stephen Browning (48th to 30th) and Terry Butcher (47th to 35th).
But for every angler who makes a fourth quarter surge, there is usually one who plummets sufficiently to counterbalance him. Last year the big drops were experienced by Fred Roumbanis (20th to 41st), Bradley Hallman (18th to 44th) and Davy Hite (27th to 47th). Hallman was exactly 200 points ahead of the 37th place angler after six events and ended up 21 points outside the cut. Right now only the top seven anglers have a 200 point cushion over 37th and there are 52 anglers outside the cut but within 200 points of 37th.
Stay tuned – there promises to be some sort of shake-up before the season is done.
Notes:
• Right now, 12 of the bottom 13 in the standings have not previously participated in a Classic. The lone holdout is Jami Fralick, who has fished the big dance three times. The other 12 seem likely to maintain the dry spell.
• The highest-ranking “Classic Virgin” is Morizo Shimizu in 20th. He is 60 points out of 12th and 123 points ahead of the 37th place angler.
• Of the current top twelve, six did not make the Classic last year (Edwin Evers, Derek Remitz, Dave Wolak, Brian Snowden, Mark Davis and John Crews)
• Of last year’s top twelve, four are currently outside the Classic cut – Alton Jones (45th), Kelly Jordon (50th), Randy Howell (57th) and Mark Menendez (59th).
• Timmy Horton, in 61st, is in danger of missing his second consecutive Classic after making 10 in a row.
• Cliff Crochet is the only rookie inside the Classic cut right now (36th).
