When the 2011 BASS event on Lake Murray dropped off — an event Evers finished in the top 10 and Kevin VanDam finished 29th — it took Evers’ top average with it. Now, Evers is sitting in third and KVD is back in first, with Andy Morgan, fresh off an 11th at the FLW Tour event at Eufaula over the weekend, firmly at No. 2.

Quietly, Morgan has been on a tear. He’s finished in the top 15 in seven of his last eight events going back to last year. Plus, he’s about to drop a mediocre Red River event from 2011. So we may be seeing a new No. 1 this week.

As for the rest of the Eufaula fallout, Bryan Thrift’s second-place finish bumped him two spots to fifth, while Jacob Wheeler’s continuing slump dropped him outside the top 10 to 12th. Brent Chapman took his place at No. 10 thanks to a boost from the Murray event dropping.

The teens got a little jumbled, but most of the same anglers are still there except for Jay Yelas, who slipped to 21st. And who moved into the top 20? The one and only Skeet Reese, who now resides in 18th.

There was only one big move in the 20s — Stacy King continuing his fall down the rankings. This week he slipped 10 more spots to 37th. Meanwhile, Ish Monroe jumped up to 25th, and Shinichi Fukae slipped to 29th. However, Matt Arey did climb into the top 30 after his top 25 at Eufaula.

The 30s were where it really started to get interesting. The notable climbs included JT Kenney (42nd to 33rd), Robbie Dodson (46th to 34th), Bill Lowen (45th to 36th), Stetson Blaylock (50th to 38th), Justin Lucas (48th to 41st), Todd Hollowell (61st to 45th), Cliff Pace (54th to 46th), Clent Davis (57th to 48th) and Dan Morehead (62nd to 49th).

There were also some noteworthy falls, with Greg Vinson (33rd to 40th), Koby Kreiger (35th to 42nd), Michael Iaconelli (38th to 52nd), Scott Suggs (39th to 47th), Jim Moynagh (41st to 50th), John Voyles (43rd to 63rd), John Crews (47th to 55th) and Terry Scroggins (49th to 56th).

Minors

Jeff Michels firmed his grasp on the No. 1 spot in the Minors-Only Ranking over the weekend.

One of the best anglers in the state of California made it three-straight top-10 finishes and five of his last six with a seventh at the FLW EverStart on the California Delta.

But while there was no movement in the top spot, there was plenty behind Michels thanks to that event, the BASS Open on Logan Martin Lake and tournaments dropping off. The top 10 is a jumble, with nearly every angler switching spots and Chris McCall dropping off completely to allow Kent Ware into the top 10.

Phil Marks dropped a 2011 EverStart and skyrocketed from 57th to 12th, and Ken Mah requalified for the ranking after dropping off last week. He now sits in 13th. Greg Gutierrez falling from 15th to 36th was the only other notable move in the top 25.

Check back Wednesday for the Regional and College updates.

The FLW Series made stops there in back-to-back years, and the Elite Series used to head down the every couple years at the start of the century.

Basically, what we’re saying is we have some data to look at (which is nice compared to the last couple lakes). So let’s start crunching.

Before he won the 2011 FLW Tour event on the Red River, Jon Cox’s claim to fame (outside of the state of Florida, at least) came at Eufaula in 2010, when he finished seventh in the FLW Series event. A little more digging and you realize he’s actually got quite the impressive history there. In four Minor events his worst finish is 30th and best is third. Not too shabby, right there.

Bryan Thrift finished second in the 2010 FLW Series event at Eufaula, but it’s not even his best finish there, as he also won an EverStart there in 2005. His other two finishes are a 25th and 31st, so it’s a pretty safe bet he’ll be one to watch.

Tom Monsoor and his swim jigs have done some damage in both of those FLW Series tournaments, catching his third- and 33rd-place stringers in the two events. But no one may be happier to go to Eufaula than Koby Krieger. He has five top 10s there in Major and Minor events, with a pair of wins. Throw in the fact that he’s on fire with four straght finishes of 14th or better, and I’m certainly getting him on my fantasy team.

The next three best anglers there only fished the two FLW Series events, and the results were OK. Scott Suggs had a pair of top 25 finishes, Scott Martin made a top 10 in 2009 and David Dudley finished 16th in 2010. No idea what to make of that.

Some other pros with averages north of 800.000 include Chris Baumgardner (848.058), Todd Auten (837.034), Wesley Strader (819.915), Dave Lefebre (814.261) and Greg Bohannan (807.103).

A day after Edwin Evers took the top spot in the Majors Ranking, Michels ascended 10 places to reign in the Minors. How did he do it? Well, his worst tournament in the last two years dropped off, and without it weighing down his average, his average jumped from an 814.067 to an 886.145. That’s how.

That same tournament caused another top 10 move, as it’s departure also meant the departure of Ken Mah, as he no longer had enough tournaments in the last two years to qualify for the rankings.

In fact, all the notable events in the top 25 occurred due to tournaments dropping off and not because of the FLW EverStart on Lake Wheeler.

Women

There were few moves after the LBAA on Old Hickory. But Kim Bain-Moore continues to close the gap on No. 1 Pam Martin Wells.

Martin Wells has been atop the Women Ranking almost since Bass Rankings launched, so that fact that Bain-Moore is closing in is noteworthy and something to watch the rest of the season.

Check back Wednesday for the Data Overload on Lake Eufaula.

How did this happen? Obviously, Evers won at the Alabama River, which on it’s own is impressive. But when you look back two years you realize his margin for error was slim, as last week he dropped a second-place finish at West Point Lake. So in essence, Evers replaced a second-place finish with a first-place finish this weekend. Remember, Bass Rankings doesn’t award bonus points for win or anything; it’s all on average percentage of the field beaten.

At the same time, Kevin VanDam, the former No. 1, finished seventh at that same West Point event, and he basically replaced it with a 32nd this weekend. Hence his average dropping and him slipping to No. 2.

Now, later this week a 2011 event on Lake Murray is going to drop off, and in that event Evers finished in the top 10 and VanDam finished 29th. Will that tournament dropping off be enough to make Evers reign be a short one? You have to check back later this week and see.

As for the rest of the Majors Ranking, there were a few more noteworthy moves courtesy of the Alabama River (and West Point dropping off).

Brent Chapman had been slipping in recent updates, but after his second-place finish over the weekend he jumped seven spots into 14th. Meanwhile, Jason Christie nearly did the exact opposite, falling from 15th to 20th. And how about Skeet Reese? Back-to-back good tournaments and he’s up six more spots to 23rd.

Bill Lowen didn’t have such a banner weekend as he dropped a 12th-place finish and replaced it with a 72nd, killing his average and dropping him 20 spots in the ranking to 45th. Gerald Swindle also headed in the wrong direction, slipping from 31st to 40th.

On a more positive note, though, Aaron Martens broke out of his slump and moved up six spots to 29th, and Michael Iaconelli dropped on of his worst tournaments to climb 10 spots to 38th. John Crews also moved into the top 50 (in 47th) after this weekend.

Check back Tuesday for Minors and Womens updates, and Wednesday for the Data Overload on Lake Eufaula.

There was a stretch when many considered him the best angler in the world. And there was a more recent stretch when Skeet Reese wasn’t even in the discussion for the top 50 in the Majors Ranking.

Now, Reese is steadily climbing his way back, with his win this weekend at the BASS Elite Series event at West Point Lake giving him quite the boost. His 13th-place finish at Bull Shoals got him back in the top 50 for the first time in nearly two years, and now with his victory, he’s in the top 30, sitting in 29th place.

As for where Reese wants to be, the top 10 was pretty quiet this week, with Todd Faircloth rejoining the club in 10th being the lone movement among the top anglers.

A year after winning the Angler of the Year title, Brent Chapman has not been able to reclaim his 2012 magic, and his 83rd over the weekend dropped him out of the top 20 into 21st. Behind him is Keith Combs, who was one of the few anglers in the top 30 to climb, even if it was just two spots. Meanwhile, Greg Hackney fell five spots to 27th.

The 30s were a lot better for the Elite Series pros, as Dean Rojas (37th to 32nd), Greg Vinson (39th to 33rd) and Aaron Marten (48th to 35th) all climbed. The lone exception was Terry Scroggins, who slipped from 35th to 45th.

Minors

He won’t be there for long, but Brandon McMillan can now say he was a top 10 Minors-Only angler.

The Florida pro didn’t fish the lone Minor event this weekend — and FLW EverStart on Pickwick  — but he did drop at EverStart from 2011 to buoy his average enough to get him into the No. 6 spot. The problem is, McMillan now fishes the FLW Tour, so it won’t be long before he fishes enough Major events to nix him from the Minors-Only Ranking.

As for guys who fished the Pickwick event, Mark Tucker was the lone angler in the top 50 who competed. Unfortunately, the Missouri angler finished 49th and fell from 17th to 31st in the rankings.

Check back Wednesday for the Regional and College updates.

Friday, May 3, 2013 — Anglers don’t want to wait to see standings and rankings. For Professional Anglers Association anglers, the wait is now over.

For some time, the PAA and Bass Rankings have been working together to track the PAA’s Angler of the Year standings and rank its anglers. That cooperation finally came together recently when the PAA launched the Rankings section on its website, FishPAA.com.

Click here to read full story.

That means we have a new No. 1 in Johnny Patterson, and he’s not going anywhere with how he’s been fishing. He took 11th over the weekend at Guntersville to solidify his place at No. 1.

That wasn’t the only noteworthy move in the top 10 this week. Brock Taylor finished 13th at Lake Hartwell, which just so happened to be his fourth event. That allowed him to debut at No. 3. It was also Doug Workman’s fourth event, and his third-place finish allowed him to debut at No. 11.

While Hartwell was one to remember for the above two anglers, Jerry Kotal would probably just assume forget it. It’s not that he had a bad tournament, finishing 18th, but he dropped eight spots to 25th because of it. Tough break.

Time to talk about another tournament, this one on Lake Stockton. Joseph Brantley finished 20th there, allowing him to debut at No. 20 in the rankings.

At the Potomac, Robert Grike finished 73rd, killing his average by five percentage points and dropping him from 22nd to 60th. Bob Noble had an equally forgettable tournament at Eufaula, finishing 49th and falling from 29th to 78th in the rankings.

Other notable moves in the top 50 include David Gnewikow slipping from 34th to 50th, Michael Smith debuting in 39th, William (Bill) Kramer falling from 40th to 66th, Thomas Helton dropping an event and catapulting fro 108th to 40th, Matt Stanely moving up from 56th to 42nd, Dick Shaffer following suit in moving from 58th to 44th and Matthew Armand jumping from 77th to 49th.

Not a single change in the top 20. Not one. But once we hit 20 we started to see some movement.

Trevor Romans’ kicked off the movements as his 49th at the Red River slipped him a couple spots to 23rd. Nothing too noteworthy there, like say, James (Philip) Crelia’s 85th in the same event dropping him 11 spots to 34th.

Chris Johnston started strong at Smith Mountain, but he ended up finishing third after his shad-spawn bite dwindled. Still, the finish was more than enough to jump him 11 spots from 37th to 26th.

Tom Belinda was nine spots behind Johnston in the final standings at Smith Mountain, but he’s only three spots behind in the rankings as he climbed seven spots to 29th this week.

Moving back to the Red River, Lendell Martin certainly had a tournament to forget. Prior to the event he was in 34th in the ranking. Then he finished 107th and promptly fell to 54th in the rankings. Josh Bertrand finished one spot worse than Martin in the same event, but he had enough tournaments on his resume to soften the blow, as he stayed in the top 50 after falling from 27th to 45th.

Joshua Wagy finished out the top 50 movement, as his 17th at Smith Mountain jumped him 15 spots into the top 50, as he now resides in 48th.

Check back Wednesday for the Regional and College updates.

Still, someone always figures them out. Take Brandon Medlock. The Florida angler finished third at Toho and debuted at No. 6 this week in the Regional Ranking.

Meanwhile, Blake Ellison earned a top 20 at Grand Lake, but that actually hurt his average and slipped him from fourth to ninth. As I’ve stressed before, it’s ridiculously hard to be at the top of this ranking. Just ask Jim Folks, who was in 13th until he finished 55th at Toho and dropped to 41st.

Some notable rises and debuts in the top 20 include Don Demott debuting at No. 15, Donny Bass debuting at No. 16, Troy Oliver debuting at No. 19, and Stephen Dyer rocketing up to No. 20 from 42nd.

Only, there’s been one angler that hasn’t changed — Kevin VanDam at No. 1.

Last year, the No. 1 spot was a game of musical chairs where every tournament seemed to send a new contender to the top. This year, it’s been KVD firmly planted there, and his average actually increased in the last week thanks to his 19th at Bull Shoals and the dropping off of a 33rd at Toledo Bend from 2011.

However, Edwin Evers also raised his average in similar fashion and now resides in second. The only problem is he’ll have to fish remarkably well to stay there, as his next three Major events to drop off are all top 15s.

Todd Faircloth had been climbing the rankings this year, working his way up to No. 7 last week. His 47th at Bull Shoals took care of that, though, as he dropped to 13th.

The 2011 FLW Tour on Lake Chickamauga also dropped last week, which provided a nice boost to a couple anglers, such as Cody Meyer. If the young California pro hadn’t finished 118th at Okeechobee to start the season, he could be contending for the top spot right now. Still, he climbed back into the top 10 in eighth. And Jason Christie rests one spot out of the top 10 in 11th after the last two weeks.

The next notable move in the ranking is courtesy of Dean Rojas, and it’s not a good one. He lost his win at Toledo Bend, and when combined with his 82nd at Bull Shoals, he dropped 15 spots this week to 36th. Meanwhile, Greg Hackney is the yin to Rojas’ yang this week, as Hackney ditched his 90th at Toledo Bend and replaced it with an 11th to climb 13 spots to 22nd.

Other notable moves this week include Ron Shuffield (43rd to 29th), Tom Monsoor (25th to 31st), Koby Kreiger (40th to 32nd), Matt Arey (42nd to 33rd), Terry Scroggins (47th to 34th), Glenn Browne (50th to 35th), JT Kenney (33rd to 41st), Scott Canterbury (34th to 44th), Skeet Reese finally getting back into the top 50 (80th to 42nd), Robbie Dodson (31st to 45th), Chad Grigsby (41st to 53rd), Randy Howell (44th to 56th), Brandon Card (45th to 52nd) and Russ Lane getting back into the top 50 (52nd to 48th).

Minors

A couple top 10s at the FLW EverStart on Lake Texoma over the weekend produced the only real news in the Minors-Only Ranking this week.

Chris McCall took fourth in his home state to debut in fifth in the ranking. Not too shabby.

Also impressive was Troy Lindner of California taking third to help him debut in 41st.

Check back Wednesday for the Regional and College updates.