Nine Of Top 25 Have Made Big Moves Up Points List

(Editor's note: This is part 2 of a 2-part analysis of the statistics compiled by the Top 25 in the FLW Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) race.)

Right off the top of your head, can you name the two anglers who finished among the Top 10 in the 2006 FLW Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) race and are also in that group this year with one event to go? Here's a hint: Neither has ever won a tour-level event.

Here's a stronger hint: Both are native Californians, but one now resides in a neighboring state. Give up? Okay, the answers are Michael Bennett and Gabe Bolivar.

The 23-year-old Bennett ended up 6th in the points last year, and he's 10th right now. He actually led the list after the first three events, but back-to-back finishes in the 80s have pushed him to the bottom of the Top 10.

The 31-year-old Bolivar, who now lives in Arizona, was 7th in the 2006 final tally, and that's exactly where he sits on the 2007 chart. He's finished in the Top 40 in four of the five tournaments, and among the Top 27 in the last three.

The only other anglers from last year's final Top 10 who appear in this year's Top 25 are a pair of Arkansans – Ray Scheide (4th last year, 24th right now) and Larry Nixon (8th, 15th).

Following is a look at the movements that the current Top 25 have made in the AOY race and the BassFan World Rankings presented by Tru-Tungsten since last year.

AOY Standings

Nine of the current Top 25 are at least 75 places ahead of where they finished last year. That group is headed by No. 21 Ron Sheffield, who's climbed 180 places, but that number needs an asterisk because he fished only two Tour events in 2006.

His primary focus last year was the FLW Series after his move over from the Bassmaster side.

The biggest move by an angler who fished all six '06 events has been made by No. 23 Aaron Hastings, who's jumped 142 places. The winner of the season opener at Travis finished above 113th just once last year.

No. 6 John Sappington is next with a 123-place improvement. He's followed by No. 22 Chad Morgenthaler (up 99 spots), No. 25 Jack Gadlage (87), No. 19 Tracy Adams (81), No. 13 Chris Baumgardner (78), No. 18 Ken Wick (77) and No. 8 Jacob Powroznik (76).

AOY leader Jay Yelas was 35th on last year's final sheet. Shinichi Fukae, currently in 2nd, was 15th and Mark Davis (3rd) was 60th.

Bennett, Nixon and Scheide have backslid a bit. No. 16 Bryan Thrift is the lone rookie in the Top 25, so he doesn't have a 2006 number for comparison.

Interestingly, this year's Tour standings compare a lot more favorably to last year's final Series list than they do to the '06 Tour standings, with six Top 10 members in common – Yelas, Fukae, David Dudley, Andy Morgan, Powroznik and Luke Clausen. Dave Lefebre, who topped the Series points, is 20th this year on Tour.

Also, Mark Davis (3rd in the current Tour standings) was 23rd in the Series points, and Darrel Robertson (currently 17th) was 12th in the Series.

World Rankings

The Rankings encompass a 2-year period, so a struggling angler who suddenly gets hot can make big a upward movement as poor finishes are bumped out and replaced by good ones. At the same time, it's a lot tougher for an angler who's been consistently solid over that stretch to make a dramatic rise.

In essence, the nearer the top you are, the tougher it is to get higher.

Hastings' 2006 struggles were noted earlier, and he didn't fish at the tour level in 2005. Therefore, he started this year at No. 364, but his victory and a couple of other decent finishes have catapulted him a whopping 224 spots up to No. 142.

Similarly, Bolivar didn't fish tour events in '05, but his ledger from the past 2 seasons is sparkling, and he's thus climbed 195 spots to 45th.

Then there are others who simply had bad years in '05, but have had those finishes go by the wayside in favor of their better ones this year. Sappington, who's jumped 140 places to 72, is the poster boy for that group.

Others who've made big upward moves are Baumgardner (up 96 spots to 39th), Gadlage (up 86 to 127th), Davis (up 72 to 20th) and Furusawa (up 72 to 52nd).

Yelas' 19-rung jump is significant, considering he started the year in 27th. Same with Morgan's move from 15th to 4th, Fukae's from 11th to 5th and Dudley's from 25th to 10th.

Only two have gone backwards – Clausen from 20th to 23rd and Lefebre from 16th to 28th.

Notable

> Anthony Gagliardi, the 2006 AOY, is 44th in this year's race and runner-up Matt Herren is 37th. Jim Moynagh (3rd in '06) is 40th, Scott Martin (5th) is 55th, Cliff Pirch (9th) is 69th and Tom Monsoor (10th) is 93rd. The other members of last year's Top 10 (Scheide, Bennett, Bolivar and Nixon) are among this year's Top 25.

> To read part 1 of this story, click here.

– End of part 2 (of 2) –