No one has rocketed up the AOY standings in the second half of the season like Chad Pipkens. He appeared dead in the water after finishing 110th during BASSFest at Kentucky Lake. It was his second 110th-place finish of the season, and it left him 93rd place in AOY points.
But once the Elite Series tour moved north, closer to Pipkens' hometown of Holt, Mich., he has been the hottest angler on the tour. Yes, even hotter than Aaron Martens. And Pipkens didn't have a smallmouth bass fishery to rely on when he finished third at Chesapeake Bay. He was able to fish his smallmouth strength at Lake St. Clair, where he finished fourth. That zoomed him up 27 places in the AOY standings, from 59th.
With a Classic berth within arm's length, but still on the bubble, Pipkens probably needs a 36th place finish here to wrap up his comeback. BASSTrakk currently shows him in 11th place with a 13 1/2-pound limit so far today.