Now that the dust has settled and the waves have calmed after the Angler of the Year Championship at Lake Michigan concluded on Monday, the field for next year's Bassmaster Classic has come more into focus.
There are still three events remaining – Lake Norman Southern Open, B.A.S.S. Nation Championship and the new Bassmaster Team Championship – that will determine the final spots in the Classic, but the majority of berths have been claimed. Below is a rundown of who's headed to Lake Hartwell next February.
2015 Bassmaster Classic qualifiers
(* denotes double qualifier; # denotes Classic berth to Elite Series AOY points since Mark Tyler didn't fish all Central Opens; ^ denotes Pace received injury exemption)
Automatic berths
> Lake Seminole Elite Series: Brett Hite*
> St. Johns River Elite Series: Chris Lane*
> Table Rock Lake Elite Series: Mike McClelland*
> Toledo Bend Elite Series: Jacob Powroznik*
> Lake Dardanelle Elite Series: Jason Christie*
> Lake Chickamauga BASSFest: Jacob Wheeler
> Delaware River Elite Series: Mike Iaconelli*
> Cayuga Lake Elite Series: Greg Hackney*
> Lake Amistad Central Open: Andy Young
> Red River Central Open: Stephen Browning
> Arkansas River Central Open: Mark Tyler #
> Lake Toho Southern Open: Van Soles
> Lewis Smith Lake Southern Open: David Kilgore
> Lake Norman Southern Open (Oct. 2-4):
> Douglas Lake Northern Open: Ott DeFoe*
> Lake Champlain Northern Open: Shinichi Fukae
> Detroit River Northern Open: Chad Pipkens
> Bassmaster College Classic champion: Brett Preuett (University of Louisiana-Monroe)
> B.A.S.S. Nation Division champions (Nov. 6-8):
> Bassmaster Team Championship winner (Dec. 10-13):
> 2014 Bassmaster Classic champion: Randy Howell*
> 2013 Bassmaster Classic champion: Cliff Pace^
2014 Elite Series AOY Points
> Todd Faircloth
> Aaron Martens
> Mark Davis
> Keith Combs
> Skeet Reese
> Jared Lintner
> Dean Rojas
> Casey Ashley
> Justin Lucas
> Randall Tharp
> Gerald Swindle
> Matt Herren
> Brandon Palaniuk
> Chad Morgenthaler
> John Crews
> David Walker
> Scott Rook
> Edwin Evers
> Paul Elias
> Cliff Crochet
> James Niggemeyer
> Brandon Lester
> Morizo Shimizu
> Bill Lowen
> Bobby Lane
> Brian Snowden
> Andy Montgomery
> Clifford Pirch
> Takahiro Omori
> Kevin Short
