With his 19th-place finish at the Potomac River, Jay Yelas became the first FLW Tour pro to maintain the lead in the Angler of the Year (AOY) race through the subsequent tournament.
Four anglers have done stints at the top through the first five events of 2007. Aaron Hastings was No. 1 after his season-opening victory at Travis, Dave Lefebre took over after Fort Loudoun-Tellico, Michael Bennett jumped into the lead after Norman, and Yelas ascended following the Beaver event (his second consecutive runner-up finish).
Bennett is now 10th in the points. Lefebre is 20th and Hastings is 23rd.
Yelas will enter the season finale at the Detroit River with a 26-point advantage over 2nd-place Shinichi Fukae. That means if he finishes 26th or better (which he's done in four straight events), he'll win his second FLW Tour AOY no matter where anybody else ends up.
He also won in 2002, but he came from behind in the final tournament to edge Kevin VanDam for that one.
> To view the updated AOY standings, click here.
