One is back. The other is gone.
With no Major events over the weekend, the Minor events on Lake Seminole (FLW Everstart) and Douglas Lake (BASS Open) take precedence. The Seminole event is of extra importance in the Minors-Only Ranking.
Trevor Fitzgerald of Belleview, Fla., has been the on-again, off-again No. 1-ranked angler in the Minors. When an event drops off so does he from the rankings, and he no longer meets the minimum tournament criteria. When he fishes an event, he comes back. Over the weekend he finished 21st at Seminole, so he’s back at No. 1.
However, Fitzgerald wouldn’t be No. 1 if Curt McGuire hadn’t dropped off. The Paris, Tenn., angler hasn’t fished an event in 2013. So when a 2011 event dropped off, he no longer qualified. It gets confusing, I know, but basically, Fitzgerald is in at No. 1. McGuire is out until he fishes another tournament.
Now let’s look at the other big move in the top 10 that came courtesy of the Douglas Lake event. Jordan Card was sitting in fifth prior to the event, but his 111th-place finish took care of that. He dropped from an 831.433 to a 757.107, dropping him from fifth to 32nd.
Kent Ware also slipped outside of the top 10 after fishing the Seminole event, but his fall was a short one, going from eighth to 11th. That allowed Brandon Lester of Fayetteville, Tenn., to debut at No. 9 in the rankings after his 15th at Douglas.
After all that shuffling at the top, there was a lull until we reached No. 23. That spot used to be held by Tom Silber, but he had a 2011 tournament drop off, and he dropped to 36th in the process.
Then we get to the 30s. Sandy Melvin and Casey Martin sat in 32nd and 33rd, respectively, going into the weekend. Now, both took steps back. Melvin finished 102nd at the Tennessee reservoir to fall from 32nd to 50th. Martin finished 58th at Seminole and slipped to 39th. Jamey Caldwell also would probably like to forget Douglas, as he finished 160th and plummeted from 36th to 79th.
Other notable moves in the top 50 over the weekend include Rodger Beaver (46th to 34th), Shane Lineberger (50th to 42nd), David Kilgore (78th to 47th) and Brian Hensley (82nd to 48th).
Check back Tuesday for the Regional and College updates, and Wednesday we will breakdown the favorites for the FLW Tour event on Beaver Lake in our Data Overload series.
