It seems like any time smallmouths are in the mix, you get some exciting tournaments, and both Major events this past weekend definitely fell in the “exciting” category.
Boyd Duckett shocked everyone by coming from behind on the final day of the BASS Elite Series finale on Lake Oneida. Meanwhile, Larry “The General” Nixon showed that at 62 years old, he still is one of the top offshore anglers by winning the FLW Tour Open at the Detroit River.
Now, it’s time to see where those two anglers, and the rest of the fields rank in the Majors World Ranking following the weekend.
Let’s start with the winners. Neither Duckett nor Nixon was even in the top 100, but they’re a lot closer now. Duckett’s victory shot him up 14 places, from 149th to 135th. Meanwhile, Nixon is knocking on the door of the top 100, as his victory jumped him 12 spots to 102nd.
As for the top anglers in the world, the top six anglers remain unchanged (as usual), but their averages have gotten much closer together, with David Dudley losing 19 points after this weekend. Meaning, after leading Kevin VanDam by 32 points, he’s now only up by 10.
Meanwhile, the No. 7 spot continues to be the chameleon, changing after every tournament. Cody Meyer now sits in the hot seat after Todd Auten slipped to ninth.
However, the more noteworthy move may be Brent Chapman, fresh off sealing his AOY title, is now the next man up for the top 10, as he sits in 11th. If you can believe it, he started the year ranked 60th. That’s a pretty good year.
The teens are now all jumbled when compared with last week, though, it’s all the same anglers except for Randall Tharp, who fell from 15th to 23rd. Replacing him is Terry Scroggins, who now resides in 17th.
The 20s are likewise, with Alton Jones being the only one who fell (from 27th to 42nd). At the same time, Koby Krieger (44th to 35th) and Shinichi Fukae (48th to 38th) both joined the top 40, while Randy Howell (54th to 40th) and Takahiro Omori (51st to 44th) both joined the top 50.
One-year studs
Now that the Angler of the Year crowns have been given out (Chapman on the Elite Series, Dudley for FLW), we wanted to take a second to see who really was having the best year. Not just for the regular season of their respective tours, but overall (including championships and other Major events) since Jan. 1.
Not surprising, both Chapman (third, 812.589) and Dudley (fourth, 798.528) are up there, but the quiet and consistent Ott Defoe is leading the season with an 829.298. He’s followed by Bryan Thrift (819.069), and the top five is rounded out by Meyer (791.600).
The season is starting to wind down, but we will keep you updated as it does, which will lead to an Angler of 2012 crown being handed out this winter.
