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   BassFan Rookie of the Year Race
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9/16/2007
Remitz Wins By Landslide





With the conclusion of the recent Toho Bassmaster Elite Series, Derek Remitz cemented his domination of the BassFan Rookie of the Year (ROY) race and clinched the title by a landslide. Remitz, who hails from Minnesota but now lives in Alabama, finished 61st at Toho.

BassFan's Rookie of the Year award was the first of its kind in the sport, and remains the only such award that measures strictly true rookies who fish either the Elite Series or FLW Tour.

The Rookie of the Year Award confirms what many fans of the sport already know – Remitz had a sensational season that delivered him from obscurity into the national spotlight. His peers began to call him "Wolverine" after he recorded three Top 5s in his first four events. They said he was relentless. Fans dubbed him "Lamb Chop" – in reference to his mutton-chop-style sideburns.

Remitz led every edition of this year's Rookie of the Year race, and won by a final 35-plus-point margin.

"I really couldn't imagine doing this well," Remitz said. "There were lots of ups and downs, but overall it was a good season."

He added: "Winning the BassFan Rookie award is cool. It helps quite a bit. It shows the most consistent rookie. It's not as big of a deal as Angler of the Year, but it's cool to know you're the Rookie of the Year."

Asked to name the most important factor in his success this year, he said: "Just trying to learn whatever I could in the little bit of time we're out there (for practice), then fishing as hard as I possibly could."

Remitz was the only rookie to fish this year's three Bassmaster Majors (which didn't factor into the Rookie Race).

FLW Tour rookie Bryan Thrift, of North Carolina, didn't fish Toho, but based on movement around him, climbs one spot to finish the Rookie Race in 2nd. Thrift finished 2nd at the Travis FLW Tour to start the year.

South Carolina BASS rookie Casey Ashley finished 83rd at Toho and slips one spot to finish the Rookie Race in 3rd. Highlights of his season include a win at Smith Mt., plus a Top 12 cut at Clarks Hill.

New York BASS rookie Matt Sphar improved significantly as the season wore on. He finished 29th at Toho, but in the end, drops one spot to finish 4th in the Rookie Race.

An 8th-place finish at Toho helps Texas rookie James Niggemeyer climb three spots to finish the Rookie Race in 5th. He relocated to Texas several years ago from California.

Remitz joins these previous BassFan ROY winners: California's Jared Lintner (2006), Pennsylvania's Dave Wolak (2005), Japan's Shinichi "Shin" Fukae (2004), California's Mike Reynolds (2003) and Ohio's Frank Scalish (2002).



    Current ROY Standings (9/16/2007)


Click a column heading to re-sort. Click an angler's name to view his or her profile.
Place
Prior Sort by Prior
Angler
City
State
Boat/Motor
Tour
Points
1     
1     
Derek Remitz
Grant
AL
Triton/Mercury
MULTI
166.286 
3     
2     
Casey Ashley
Donalds
SC
Triton/Mercury
BPT
127.500 
4     
3     
Matthew Sphar
Pavilion
NY
Bass Cat/Mercury
BASS
124.714 
2     
4     
Bryan Thrift
Shelby
NC
Ranger/Mercury
BPT
130.725 
6     
5     
Jason Williamson
Aiken
SC
Nitro/Mercury
BASS
120.357 
7     
6     
Scott Campbell
Springfield
MO
Triton/Mercury
BASS
119.500 
8     
7     
Marty Robinson
Lyman
SC
Skeeter/Yamaha
BPT
116.643 
5     
8     
James Niggemeyer
Van
TX
Ranger/Yamaha
FLW
121.286 
10     
9     
Bryan Hudgins
Orange Park
FL
Ranger/Mercury
BASS
110.071 
13     
10     
James Kennedy
Lacombe
LA

BASS
106.214 
9     
11     
Andy Montgomery
Blacksburg
SC
Nitro/Mercury
BPT
114.417 
14     
12     
Matt Amedeo
Clinton
OH

BASS
102.786 
11     
13     
Hank Cherry
Lincolnton
NC
Bass Cat/Mercury
BASS
109.458 
12     
14     
Glenn Delong
Bellville
OH
Champion/Mercury
FLWT
107.500 
15     
15     
Craig Dowling
Grant
AL
Legend/Mercury
MULTI
93.467 
16     
16     
Frank Meyer
Marianna
FL

FLWT
80.325 
17     
17     
James Davis, Jr.
Ferriday
LA

FLWT
72.200 
18     
18     
Matt Arey
Shelby
NC
Ranger/Evinrude
BASS
71.092 
19     
19     
Vu (Ted) Nguyen
Lake Havasu City
AZ

MULTI
59.850 
20     
20     
Jim Short
Ocean Pines
MD

FLWT
59.058 
21     
21     
Mike Todd
Norman
OK

FLWT
58.108 
22     
22     
Monte Knight
Quitman
MS

MULTI
55.733 
23     
23     
Mark Mauldin
Cleveland
TN
Ranger/Yamaha
FLWT
51.300 
24     
24     
Chris Slopak
Hot Springs
AR

MULTI
44.492 
25     
25     
Fred Contaoi
Lakeport
CA

MULTI
40.850 
26     
26     
David Hayward
Sylvania
OH

FLW
25.333 
27     
27     
Randy Sanford
Carriere
MS

FLWT
25.017 
28     
28     
Alex Ormand
Bessemer City
NC

FLWT
24.225 
29     
29     
James Schneider
Albany
NY

FLW
23.275 
30     
30     
Jerry Goble
Sherrills Ford
NC

FLWT
22.008 
31     
31     
Mike Hastings
Buda
TX

FLWT
20.108 
32     
32     
Scott Dameron
Beckley
WV

FLWT
17.733 
33     
33     
Hub Bechtol
Austin
TX

FLWT
16.308 
34     
34     
Jacky Roberts
Georgetown
TX

FLWT
13.458 
35     
35     
Patrick Anderson
Buda
TX

FLWT
11.717 
36     
36     
Shannon Shuler
Ypsilanti
MI

FLWT
9.975 
37     
37     
Lynn Green
Lenoir
TN

FLWT
9.658 
38     
38     
Brian Penso
Houston
TX

FLWT
7.442 
39     
39     
Bob Kujan, Jr.
Belton
TX

FLWT
6.967 
40     
40     
Tony Dadante
Derby
NY

MULTI
5.383 
41     
41     
Jack Faulkner
Jacksboro
TN

FLWT
4.117 
42     
42     
Quint Bourgeois
Knoxville
TN

FLWT
2.692 
43     
43     
Eddie Ball
Newport
TN

FLWT
1.267 
44     
44     
James Dills
Maynardsville
TN

FLWT
0.633 


About the ROY Race
The BassFan Rookie of the Year Race/Award recognizes the best rookie in all of tour-level professional fishing for the current year or season. Unlike the league rookie races, only true rookies are eligible: To qualify as a rookie for the BassFan race, a tour angler cannot have fished the pro (boater) side of any Bassmaster or FLW tour/series-level event before.

  • BassFan Rookie of the Year Race points are calculated using a methodology loosely similar to the BassFan World Rankings (points based on finish with bonuses given for winning and finishing high). Only regular-season events count. Championships do not.
     
  • The BassFan Rookie of the Year Race was created in 2002 as the first rookie race in professional bass fishing. Like Rookie of the Year awards in all sports, it recognizes top-performing newcomers to the professional ranks.

Everything on BassFan.com, including BassFan Radio and the various BassFan ranking methodologies, is copyright BassFan LLC except where noted (notably photo credits). Members of accredited media may use BassFan content with few restrictions (see the Media Center page for more details). Any use of BassFan content not explicitly permitted by BassFan is a breach of copyright law and will be prosecuted as such.


 

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