Three Busy Weeks Create Plenty of Shuffling

It has been a BUSY few weeks in our sport!

Since our last story update, there have been five major-level events:

• MLF Bass Pro Tour on the Kissimmee Chain, won by Jordan Lee
• BASS Elite Series on the St Johns River, won by Rick Clunn
• FLW Tour on Lake Toho/Kissimmee Chain, won by Buddy Gross
• MLF Bass Pro Tour on Lake Conroe, won by Edwin Evers
• BASS Elite Series on Lake Lanier, won by Paul Mueller

Needless to say, there’s been plenty of shuffling in our rankings. Almost no angler is in the same spot as he was a couple weeks ago. We say “almost” because there are two who haven’t changed, and they happen to be at the top.

Bryan Thrift and Jacob Wheeler continue to hold down the top two spots in both our one- and two-year rankings. Thrift finished 26^th while continuing his record-setting streak of consecutive limits. Meanwhile, Wheeler has a had a slightly tougher go in the transition to the BPT format, finishing 27^th and 64^th, respectively. So he’s lost some ground on Thrift for the top spot.

At the same time, Brent Ehrler (third), Evers (fourth) and Lee (fifth) continue to gain ground. The three have combined for two victories and five top 10s, with the “worst” finish between them being Ehrler’s 21^st at Kissimmee. Needless to say, the three have acclimated quite well to the new format.

They aren’t the only ones whose tournament-organization switches have proved to be the right moves thus far, particularly when it comes to former FLW Tour pros. Jeff Sprague is currently third in BPT standings (and ranked 38^th), while Chris Johnston, Scott Canterbury and Brandon Cobb are first, second and seventh in the Elite Series standings (and ranked 84^th, 60^th and 20^th), respectively.