In 3 weeks, and for the first time in pro bass fishing history, the championship of one of the two top pro leagues will not be decided in a "man vs. the rest of the field" format. The 2002 FLW Championship will instead make use of a new college basketball-style bracket format.
Good? Bad? It remains to be seen. For sure it will be different. And because of that, it takes a little looking into to understand it.
The Details
The 48 pros fishing the championship are seeded according to their regular-season points (Angler of the Year points). Then they are grouped into initial match-ups and brackets like the NCAA basketball tournament: No. 1 vs. No. 48, No. 2 vs. No. 47 and so on.
The pros in the initial match-ups compete head-to-head in the two-day opening round -- which is head-to-head in weights only: just as in all other tournaments, anglers can fish wherever they want.
On day 3, the 24 pros who win the initial match-ups will start at zero and fish against the other winners in their brackets.
After day 3, the field is cut to 12. Then those 12 anglers are re-seeded based on their total weights for the first 3 days. The two pros who are 11th and 12th based on that are done for the tournament. Only the Top 10 fish on day 4.
But on the final day, only two anglers will be fishing for the outright win: the pros seeded 1st and 2nd will compete for the win and the big money. Anglers seed No. 3 and No. 4 will compete for 3rd and 4th place, and so on. All the pros start day 4 at zero.
What do the pros think about this format? Their opinions will be up soon.
Notable
- Big Slot Limit -- Cross Lake, scene of the BFL All-American in June, has a brutal 14-17 inch slot limit. The pros have voiced concern about the slot to FLW Outdoors, and this apparently led to two rumors: 1) a one-tournament repeal of the slot; or 2) moving the championship to the Red River. FLW Outdoors president Charlie Hoover said only that: "We're going to have the tournament on Cross Lake. The Red River is out of the question." If the slot stays, more strategy might be required.
- Black Cat Factor -- Last year's FLW Championship was canceled because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. This year's championship starts on Sept. 11. And two days later it's -- you guessed it -- Friday the 13th.
> Bracket 1 -- FLW Angler of the Year and BASS Masters Classic champ Jay Yelas vs. a rookie -- Oklahoma's Harmon Davis.
> Bracket 3 -- Master flipper/pitcher Dean Rojas vs. the versatile Takahiro Omori.
> Bracket 4 -- Two Kellogg's guys: Clark Wendlandt vs. Alvin Shaw.
> Bracket 6 -- The consistent Mike Wurm vs. red-hot Randy Blaukat.
> Bracket 8 -- Battle of the shallow-water experts: Bernie Schultz (spinnerbaits) vs. Mark Pack (jigs).
> Bracket 11 -- The Group of Doom: Rick Clunn, Paul Elias, Tom Mann Jr. and Larry Nixon.
> Bracket 12 -- Alton Jones' jigging ability vs. Craig Powers' shallow-water cranking ability.
The Brackets
Bracket 1
1. Jay Yelas
48. Harmon Davis
24. John Sappington
25. David Fritts
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Bracket 2
2. Kevin VanDam
47. Marty Stone
23. Kevin Vida
26. Jim Tutt
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Bracket 3
3. Dean Rojas
46. Takahiro Omori
22. Guido Hibdon
27. Chuck Economou
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Bracket 4
4. Clark Wendlandt
45. Alvin Shaw
21. Tommy Biffle
28. Tracy Adams
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Bracket 5
5. Sam Newby
44. Scott Martin
20. Joel Richardson
29. Wes Thomas
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Bracket 6
6. Mike Wurm
43. Randy Blaukat
19. Dion Hibdon
30. Keith Williams
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Bracket 7
7. David Dudley
42. Gerald Swindle
18. Chris Baumgardner
31. Roger Crafton
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Bracket 8
8. Bernie Schultz
41. Mark Pack
17. Gary Klein
32. Dale Teaney
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Bracket 9
9. Andre Moore
40. Bill Chapman
16. Aaron Martens
33. Rob Kilby
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Bracket 10
10. Greg Hackney
39. Kim Stricker
15. Wesley Strader
34. Brent Chapman
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Bracket 11 -- "The Group Of Doom"
11. Rick Clunn
38. Paul Elias
14. Tom Mann Jr.
35. Larry Nixon
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Bracket 12
12. Pat Fisher
37. Stanley Mitchell
13. Alton Jones
36. Craig Powers
What's your take on this format? Click here to let us know.
