Tommy Biffle of Wagoner could be on the comeback trail.
Courtesy BASS/Seigo Saito
Lake Michigan was a mixed bag for Oklahoma’s Elite anglers working to qualify for the 2013 Bassmaster Classic at Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees.
Wagoner’s Tommy Biffle did just what he needed to do at the tournament based out of Green Bay, Wisc. Terry Butcher of Talala did exactly what he didn’t want to do, Ardmore’s Jeff Kriet held steady, and Fred Roumbanis of Bixby may have lost his grip on a chance for a 2013 Bassmaster Classic appearance.
With just one tournament left in the regular season some are holding on by a thread and need a great finish at New York's Oneida Lake in August.
Last week Ken Duke, BASS historian and senior editor at Bassmaster Magazine, said he’s guessing anglers will need to accrue about 464 Angler of the Year points to make the Classic cut.
Anglers are awarded one point for each place above last place that they finish in each of the eight regular-season tournaments. Ninety-eight will compete at Oneida.
With double-qualifications and win-and-you’re-in factoring into final results the 464-point mark is purely a guess – but it is a well-educated guess.
Also keep in mind that any one of Oklahoma’s 10 Elite anglers could still win the last regular season Elite tournament or one of several Open series tournaments and land a slot in the Classic under the win-and-you’re-in rule. It happened for young Jonathon VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich. at Green Bay. With just 305 AOY points he is well out of the points race, but his win Sunday puts him in the Classic.
Here’s how Oklahoma’s top 5 ranked anglers stand right now:
After this weekend Edwin Evers is in 9th place with 496 points. He’s made the Classic, no question. The only challenge for him now is to jump up into the Top 8 to earn a slot in post-season action.
Jeff Kriet stands at 26th place with 411 points. He needs a top-45 finish, which is very doable for Kriet on Oneida. Odds are fair he’ll hold steady or move up and make it into the Classic. He took second place at Oneida in 2009.
Tommy Biffle is on pace to make a record comeback and qualify. He was in 56th place last week. After an 8th place finish Sunday he is in 38th place for the season with 385 points. That puts him 79 points shy of that magical 464, so he needs to be at least in the top 19 at Oneida. The man is known for his comebacks – and he took 8th place at Oneida in 2009 and 16th there in 2008.
Terry Butcher’s ranking suffered this week. His 91st place finish at Green Bay was a killer and dropped him from 23rd place to 40th. He has 380 AOY points. To make the magic 464 he needs to be in the top 14 at Oneida. In 2009 he took 10th place on the same lake and took 9th place there in 2008. If his performance there holds, he still could just make it.
Fred Roumbanis was in 57th place last week, right there with Biffle. His 32nd-place finish at Green Bay moved him up to 50th in AOY standings. But with 351 points it is mathematically impossible for him to make it to 464 in one tournament.
Then again, he could win or he could finish well and get into that ballpark of the unknown close to 464.
That final points race can be interesting indeed.
