After some jam-packed weekends, the holiday weekend was relatively quiet.
The lone event was a PAA event on Lake Douglas. But, when you combine that with the 2011 FLW Tour event on Lake Hartwell that dropped off last week, there are still plenty of noteworthy moves in the Majors Ranking.
We’ll start with the PAA event, which Shinichi Fukae won. It had been awhile since Fukae won a Major event, and the victory — when combined with him dropping his 58th at Hartwell — propelled him up nine spots to 22nd in the latest update.
Meanwhile, Andy Morgan finished second at Douglas, which didn’t do enough for his average to move him from second in the Majors Ranking, as he dropped a 15th at Hartwell, which didn’t allow his average to increase much.
However, two anglers who were sad to see the Hartwell event go were Jason Christie and Brent Ehrler, who finished first and second, respectively, in that event. With it dropping off and neither fishing the PAA event, both slipped three spots, putting Ehrler in 11th and Christie in 17th.
Mark Rose and Jacob Powroznik were the exact opposite. The two both jumped into the top 10 (Rose in ninth and Powroznik in 10th) with that event dropping off and Rose finishing 14th at Lake Douglas. And if you think they were happy, Kyle Mabrey jumped 14 spots to 13th without that Hartwell event weighing down his average.
Let’s go back to the PAA event for a minute, though, as it caused a couple pros to slide five spots. A week after claiming his first Elite Series win, Keith Combs struggled at Lake Douglas, dipping him from 22nd to 27th. Dave Lefebre also dropped five spots due to a lackluster finish at Douglas and him losing a top 10 at Hartwell. And Wesley Strader followed suit, dipping from 15th to 20th. JT Kenney also fell five spots, though his drop to 27th had everything to do with him losing a 13th at Hartwell.
The other notable moves in the top 50 after this weekend include Chad Grigsby (49th to 30th), Robbie Dodson (56th to 31st), Tom Monsoor (25th to 32nd), Stacy King (29th to 39th), John Voyles (57th to 41st), Todd Auten (33rd to 43rd), Stetson Blaylock (35th to 50th) and Koby Kreiger (46th to 59th).