Where to begin?
The 2012 Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Lake Conroe was everything it’s been in the past — one of the few opportunities to see a good number of FLW and BASS pros go head-to-head. And if we’re scoring the round, the BASS pros certainly put a hurting on the FLW guys.
Eight of the top 10 were BASS pros. However, the spot that matters most went to FLW Tour pro Bryan Thrift. And the debate ranges on.
What can’t be debated is that the top 10 in the Majors World Ranking is now evenly split between the two tours, with a BASS guy back in the No. 1 spot.
David Dudley had been looking to go into the offseason as the undisputed top angler in the world. Then he had his worst tournament (average wise) since 2009, as he finished 39th out of 49 anglers, and he slipped 24 points, putting him three points behind Kevin VanDam.
Rounding out the rest of the top 10, Edwin Evers and Mark Rose continue to leapfrog each other for the No. 5 spot (with Evers leaping this time). Meanwhile, Todd Faircloth now joins the elite range in eighth after his tie for sixth at the TTBC, as does Luke Clausen.
And the TTBC winner? Thrift, too, moves up, from 13th to 11th.
Ok, that was the easy part. Now, the rest of the rankings are a complete jumble. See for yourself. Here is a Custom Search showing last week’s Majors World Ranking. And here is this week’s.
If I tried to write out every jump and fall, I’d have a novel when I was done (and I don’t think you came to read a novel, so I’m just going to highlight some notable moves).
Keith Combs had been sliding the last few events after one time being in the top 10. Now, after his third at the TTBC, he is moving in the right direction again, as he moves 11 spots to 27th. Gerald Swindle’s 15th at Conroe also had him moving up, from 43rd to 34th.
One week after jumping 12 places, Randy Howell gave eight of those spots back, as he slipped to 35th. However, that’s a slide Greg Hackney would have taken, considering he fell 13 spots to 48th. And both pale in comparison to Chris Lane’s fall, as he plummeted 17 spots to 47th after he finished second to last at Conroe.
Closing it out, Kevin Wirth and Steve Kennedy joined the top 50 in the final two spots.
