This may be the biggest weekend of the season — at least, as far as the rankings are concerned.
Both the BASS Elite Series and FLW Tour are holding tournaments this weekend (Toledo Bend and Kentucky Lake, respectively), which means Monday could see a complete upheaval in the Majors World Ranking as anglers from both tours succeed and fail the next few days.
To try and figure out who will be moving up in the rankings, let’s start crunching the data to see who the favorites are.
Toledo Bend
Rumor has it that this tournament is going to be a slugfest, which means any angler could stumble onto the mother load.
So who stands the best chance of doing so? Looking at the last five years, the numbers say Andy Montgomery. He has a 969.817 average on Toledo Bend in two Major events. The catch? Neither event came during the summer, which means Montgomery didn’t whack ‘em offshore as will probably be the case this week.
That means Rick Morris’ 938.776 and Steve Kennedy’s 912.884 averages could also be questioned. It just depends on if you want to take the summer angle into account (even if you do, Kennedy is on heck of an offshore angler).
The problem is, there hasn’t been a summer event on Toledo Bend since the turn of the century. However, there are still some noteworthy anglers who also double as summer specialists on our list.
Dean Rojas (911.488), Takahiro Omori (910.436), Alton Jones (873.263), Todd Faircloth (822.630), Denny Brauer (813.238), Keith Combs (798.112), Tim Horton (782.920) and Kevin VanDam (777.002) all headline the list not just from the last five years, but since 2000. There are certainly some great offshore anglers on that list.
Kentucky Lake
There may not have been as summer data for Toledo Bend, but there’s more than enough for Kentucky Lake.
The FLW Tour has held five tournaments there since 2000, as it’s an angler favorite. I mean, who doesn’t want to catch hundreds of fish with the potential to find a school of 5-pounders?
There are some big-name locals on this body of water, along with its sister, Barkley. And sure enough, one of those locals headlines the last decade.
Ramie Colson Jr. nearly won his first Major event last summer, and his 936.550 average says he could be in the running again this year.
Terry Bolton used to guide on the lake before moving to Arkansas. He moved back to Kentucky earlier this year, bringing his 812.167 average with him. And friend Dan Morehead is quickly becoming one of the best with the Alabama rig, winning the EverStart championship on Kentucky Lake last year on it. He has the worst average among the locals (687.812), but he’s also been on a hot streak.
As for the non-locals, literally any angler could win this event, since most know the bodies of water so well. However, some who have proven it time and again are Clark Wendlandt (852.032), Larry Nixon (825.014), Andy Morgan (806.584), Tom Monsoor (795.361), Luke Clausen (772.180) and Wesley Strader (754.191).
It should be a fantastic weekend, and check back Monday to see how it all shakes up the rankings!
