As we approach the end of the Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing season, you are in one of two boats: One is having ground to make up, and the other is playing it safe and hoping some players at the top gamble on some long shots and miss.
I’m in the first boat, so I’ve chosen a couple of ‘sure things’ and a few solid underdogs.
Chesapeake Bay offers some intriguing matchups and not a ton of history, but we do have some stats on these guys from the fisheries nearby. Here are my picks and my daughter Maggie’s picks as well. (My son, Sam, is at Packers training camp in Green Bay, so his only pick for anything right now is Aaron Rodgers.)
Bucket A: Evers
I am never one to pick against momentum, and Edwin Evers has it in spades. It would be hard to argue against an Evers pick. Look at the run of momentum Greg Hackney went on last year. Evers is doing it right now.
I told you a couple of weeks ago why Jacob Powroznik was basically a must-start in almost every event, and he came in with another Top 10. Since then, he has also finished 13th in the Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Northern Open presented by Allstate. So if you are playing it safe, take Powroznik. He will not let you down.
If you have a ton of ground to make up and are willing to gamble, take Cliff Pirch at just under 0.5 percent. He placed high near here a couple years back.
Maggie feels like Justin Lucas is the way to go, and Lucas is one of my sneaky good picks too. She told me “off the record” that because he is not ranked 1 or 2 or 3 right now, it was the fair thing to do to pick Lucas.
Bucket B: Iaconelli
Easy money is on Mike Iaconelli here. He showed he can fish tidal waters and is at home in this area of the fishing world. I know he is being picked by almost 60 percent of the field, but if you pick a guy who does not beat Iaconelli in this bucket, think of the ground you will lose.
If you need to make up ground, choose Chris Lane or Boyd Duckett.
Maggie has Brandon Palaniuk.
Bucket C: Rook
I am going with Scott Rook. He finished 25th here a while back and then had a Top 10 last year in this area, so he knows how to catch them, and he should be confident fishing this water. At 3.1 percent he is a solid value pick who could easily win his bucket and make up ground on many of the higher percentage guys.
If you want to play this one safe, choose Jonathon VanDam.
Maggie has her tried-and-true favorite angler, Morizu Shimizu. He is going to win one of these times, and she will be able to say, “I told you so!”
Bucket D: Pipkens
With ground to make up, Chad Pipkens and Nate Wellman are good options.
Wellman won here some years back, but it was a single spot that held most of his fish and God only knows if that log is still there.
Pipkens continues impress and has cashed checks in five of his last six events. He also had some success on the Delaware last year. Plus, at less than 4 percent ownership, he has tons of upside.
Playing it safe? Go with Casey Ashley and the 25 percent of folks picking him.
Maggie agrees with me on Pipkens.
Bucket E: Short
Paul Mueller is the safe pick. He has 41-plus-percent of the vote … which is exactly why I am picking against him.
I just need my one guy to beat that one guy and I make up ground on 41 percent of the field. Kevin Short has some solid history, and he just made a major announcement to retire, which should allow Short to fish somewhat in the moment.
Maggie picked Carl Jocumsen to have a good event.
Good luck to you!