Fantasy: Evers again, plus Ledoux

For the third tournament in a row, Edwin Evers was the best pick in Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing. Except this time, he has some company. Kevin Ledoux tied with Evers for having the biggest points difference in his bucket.

WADDINGTON, N.Y. — This column is becoming a broken record. For the third tournament in a row, Edwin Evers was the best pick in Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing.

Except this time, he has some company. Kevin Ledoux tied with Evers for having the biggest points difference in his bucket.

Here is the perfect team:

Bucket A: Edwin Evers, 315

B: Alton Jones, 295

C: Mark Davis, 276

D: Brandon Card, 285

E: Kevin Ledoux, 268

Total: 1,439

No Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing player had a score anywhere close to that.

Bucket A: Evers

If you didn’t choose Edwin Evers for the St. Lawrence tournament, you just haven’t been paying attention.

He was the best pick at Havasu, and then he was the best pick again at BASSfest.

And then, he told you to pick him for the St. Lawrence in this column.

But 89.4 percent of players didn’t listen, and those players ended at least 35 points behind in Bucket A.

Evers was the third-most popular pick in the bucket, but by quite a margin. Aaron Martens was the favorite, chosen by 27.2 percent of players. Martens performed well, earning 251 points, but that’s still a far cry from the 315 posted by Evers.

The next-most-popular was Kevin VanDam with 23.6 percent. He ended more than 100 points behind Evers with 193.

The closest you could have gotten to Evers was by picking any of the other three Bucket A anglers who made the final-day cut: Skeet Reese, 280; Jacob Powroznik, 272; or Keith Combs, 264.

Owners of Shaw Grigsby got excited on Day 1 when he took the lead, but he suffered a big defeat on Day 2 when he didn’t even make the cut. However, his 0.5 percent of owners were blessed with his bonus points — 5 points for leading on Day 1 and 40 for catching the biggest bag of the tournament. He ended with 168 points.

Gerald Swindle was the worst pick of the bucket with 87 points. He was owned by 0.8 percent.

Bucket B: Jones

Alton Jones, who finished runner-up in the tournament, earned 295 points for his scant fans. He was owned by only 0.6 percent of players.

Greg Hackney was the next-best pick with 290 for his 8 percent of owners.

The heavy favorite in B was Mike Iaconelli with 37.4 percent. He didn’t disappoint, earning 260 points.

The second favorite was Jonathon VanDam at 26.4 percent, but he delivered only 113 points for his players.

The worst pick of the bucket was Davy Hite, owned by 0.3 percent with 65 points.

Bucket C: Davis

Mark Davis, who dominated in last year’s Fantasy Fishing at the beginning of the season, topped Bucket C with 276 points. He was owned by 5.3 percent of players.

His comrade in the Top 12 was Josh Bertrand, owned by 4.6 percent of players, who earned 257 points for fans.

The heavy favorite in C was Brandon Palaniuk, owned by 45 percent of players. He delivered 237 points.

The next-highest-owned angler was Brett Hite at 17.5 percent. He left his owners hanging with only 91 points.

The worst pick was Kotaro Kiriyama, who earned only 63 points for his 1.5 percent of players.

Bucket D: Card

Brandon Card was the strongest pick in Bucket D, but he was owned by only 1.6 percent of players. For those who had the faith, he earned 285 points.

The next-best pick was Seth Feider with 254 points for his 6.2 percent of believers.

Mark Menendez had only a small group of owners — only 0.7 percent — but his big bass on Day 2 earned them an extra 40 points, giving them 243 overall.

The favorite in the bucket turned out to be a letdown. Todd Faircloth, owned by 25.1 percent of players, ended with only 115 points.

Casey Ashley was the next-highest pick with 18.7 percent. He earned 217 points. Takahiro Omori was the third-most-popular pick with 12.9 percent, and he ended with 221 points.

The worst pick of the bucket was Fletcher Shryock with 77 points for his 5.7 percent of players.

Bucket E: Ledoux

Kevin Ledoux was by far the strongest pick of Bucket E with 268 points, but at only 0.1 percent of owners, almost no one reaped that benefit.

Ledoux’s supporters earned 35 points more than anyone in the bucket. The angler right behind him was the favorite of the bucket, Paul Mueller. He was owned by 31.9 percent of players, and he earned them 233 points.

The next-highest percentage pick was Chad Pipkens with 20.5 percent. He earned 211 points for his owners.

The worst pick of the bucket was Scott Ashmore with 61 points for his 0.5 percent of players.

The buckets for Chesapeake are now open, so go set your team!