A few more spots in bass fishing’s most prestigious events were sewn up recently.
Still, so much remains to be settled, namely the Angler of the Year races for both pro tours as those will largely determine the balance of the fields for each tournament. Here’s an overview of the anglers who have locked up spots in the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup and 2013 Bassmaster Classic and how the balance of the fields will be filled.
Forrest Wood Cup
Here are the anglers who have locked up berths in the Forrest Wood Cup, scheduled for Aug. 9-12 at Lake Lanier in Georgia. The remainder of the 46-person field will consist of the top 35 finishers in the FLW Tour Major points standings so it is feasible for there to be several double qualifiers. David Dudley is the only double qualifier so far as he won the Angler of the Year (AOY) award last year and also finished 5th in the FLW Tour Open points. That opened the door for Thanh Le, who finished 6th in Open points, to fish the Cup. If there are additional double qualifiers, the spots will be filled via the 2012 FLW Tour Major points standings, starting with 36th place and so on.
> Scott Martin -- 2011 Forrest Wood Cup champion
> David Dudley -- 2011 FLW Angler of the Year (Double qualifier)
> Dan Morehead -- 2011 EverStart Series Champion
> Shinichi Fukae -- 2011 FLW Tour Open Champion
> Dave Lefebre -- 2011 FLW Tour Open Runner-up
> Glenn Browne -- 2011 FLW Tour Open 3rd place
> Scott Suggs -- 2011 FLW Tour Open 4th place
> Thanh Le -- 2011 FLW Tour Open 6th place
> Gilbert Gagner -- 2012 TBF National Champion
> Brian Maloney -- 2012 BFL All-American Champion
> Ryan Patterson -- 2012 FLW College Fishing Champion
Bassmaster Classic
So far, eight anglers have clinched spots in next year’s Classic, scheduled for Feb. 22-24, 2013 at Grand Lake in Oklahoma. Chris Lane, this year’s Classic champ, is the first double qualifier as he also won the Harris Chain Southern Open. If he maintains his current position among the top 28 in points, he’ll qualify three ways.
The balance of the field will consist of winners from the four remaining Elite Series events, the top 28 anglers from the 2012 Elite Series points standings, the winners of the five remaining Bassmaster Open tournaments (one Southern, one Central, three Northerns) provided the winners have fished all three of the divisional events, six regional champions from the Federation Nation, the Weekend Series champion and the College Series champion.
> Chris Lane -- 2012 Classic champion/Harris Chain Southern Open winner
> Alton Jones -- St. Johns River Elite Series winner
> Ish Monroe -- Lake Okeechobee Elite Series winner
> Brandon Palaniuk -- Bull Shoals Lake Elite Series winner
> Jeremy Starks -- Douglas Lake Elite Series winner
> Brent Chapman -- Lewisville Lake Central Open winner
> Casey Scanlon -- Table Rock Lake Central Open winner
> Tracy Adams -- Lake Norman Southern Open winner
