It wasn’t just a rough week weather wise for much of the country. A number of tournaments were absolutely brutal, with tight-lipped fish, muddy water and falling water temperatures. That made for a number of falling pros in the Regional Ranking.
Still, there were guys who did well in the six Regional events this weekend — ABA Weekend Series on the Red River and Pickwick Lake, and FLW BFLs on Lake Ouachita, Kentucky Lake, High Rock Lake and Lake Murray. There were also some who benefited from tournaments dropping off.
Jerry Kotal fell into the later group, as he rose to No. 3 after a 2012 on the Savannah River fell off.
The other notable move in the top 10 was the debut of Jason Lambert in 10th. Not surprisingly, the Pickwick Dam, Tenn., angler finished fourth at Pickwick over the weekend.
Then we started seeing pros dropping like flies once we got into the teens. The list of falls includes Steve Sink (11th to 30th), Jerry Williams (14th to 38th), Michael Murphy (15th to 82nd).
It wasn’t all bad, though, as there were a couple rises. Most notably was Corey Bradley (29th to 13th), Rodger Pope (196th to 18th! Courtesy of his worst tournament dropping off) and Blake Ellison (90th to 31st).
College – School
A couple weeks back, Bethel University took over the No. 1 spot in the rankings as a school. Now it owns the top spot in all three College rankings, which is the first time that has happened since the debut of our rankings.
The school only increased its lead when the team of Dewey Ross and Cody Swims took second at the FLW College Fishing event at Guntersville over the weekend. More on them in a second.
Two big moves in the school rankings both involved teams from the state of North Carolina. The University of North Carolina-Charlotte jumped from 15th to 10th, while NC State slipped from 12th to 21st.
Other notable moves and debuts included Florida State (14th), Jacksonville State (16th) and Purdue University (19th) all now residing in the top 20.
College – Team
That team of Ross and Swims have taken over the top spot in the College Team Ranking with a 942.491. In the last year the duo has two wins, two more top 10s and an 11th. Wow.
College – Individual
Since Ross and Swims always fish together, they both are now tied for No. 1 in this ranking too, leaping over Stephen F. Austin teammates Robert Platt and Kyle Turner.
Check back Friday for an in-depth look at Bethel University and how its coach, Garry Mason, is building the program.
