Fantasy: You should have chosen Evers

Edwin Evers' 40-point big-bag bonus and his 5-point Day 1 leader bonus pushed him head-and-shoulders above anyone in his bucket.

LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. — Edwin Evers earned big Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing bonus points on Day 1 of the Bassmaster Elite at Lake Havasu presented by Dick Cepek Tires & Wheels, and then he went on finish in third place. Players who picked him did best. His 40-point big-bag bonus and his 5-point Day 1 leader bonus pushed him head-and-shoulders above anyone in his bucket.

Here’s the perfect team:

Bucket A: Aaron Martens, Clifford Pirch, 305 points

B: Brent Ehrler, 251

C: Edwin Evers, 335

D: David Williams, 280

E: Takahiro Omori, 285

Total: 1,456

No Fantasy Fishing player achieved a score that high.

A: Martens, Pirch

Bucket A may have been the toughest Bucket A to choose from in the history of Bucket A.

Thankfully for fans of Aaron Martens and Clifford Pirch, the two anglers tied at 305 points, putting Martens’ 20.3 percent of owners and Pirch’s 11.6 percent at the top.

The most popular pick in the bucket was Dean Rojas, who was the next-highest-scoring angler. He earned 276 points for his 43.5 percent of owners.

The next-best angler to pick was Justin Lucas. He was owned by only 2 percent of players, but he delivered 229 points.

See how stacked Bucket A was? All four of those pros were in the Top 12.

The bucket had a couple of other popular picks who disappointed. Three big names — Mike Iaconelli, Kevin VanDam and Skeet Reese — had middling ownership numbers (3.3 percent, 5.8 and 4.8, respectively) and middling Fantasy Fishing scores to go along with them (167 points, 159 and 131, respectively).

B: Ehrler

Very few people lost big points in Bucket B.

In this case, the sheeple were right. Brent Ehrler was the pick by 42.9 percent of the bucket, and he was the best with 251 points.

Other popular picks were Bobby Lane and Greg Hackney at 9.5 percent each. They scored 205 and 189 points, respectively.

The hardest hit were owners of Todd Faircloth, 9.1 percent, at only 139 points and Mike McClelland, 7.8 percent at 119 points.

Every other angler in the bucket was a low pick, around 3 percent or fewer owners.

If you didn’t pick Ehrler, you would have done well with Jeff Kriet, 2.6 percent, at 237 points; Dennis Tietje, 0.1 percent, 227; or Randy Howell, 2.7 percent, 221.

C: Evers

Edwin Evers paid huge dividends for the Fantasy Fishing players who had faith in him.

He only had 11.4 percent of owners, but with a high finish and a big-bag bonus, he earned a stout 335 points. And that was such a huge difference from second place in the bucket (Gary Klein, 3.1 percent and 257 points) that you can pretty much just kick yourself for not choosing Evers.

The sheeple pick here was Brett Hite at 54.6 percent, and he took all of his anglers down the tube with only a 61-point showing. In fact, Hite was the worst pick of the entire bucket.

That means the difference between Edwin Evers’ owners and Brett Hite’s was an astounding 274 points.

D: Williams

You may not know David Williams, which would explain the 0.1 percent ownership for this rookie. But he produced best with 280 points.

Three other Top 12 competitors were in Bucket D, too: Jonathon VanDam, Brandon Palaniuk and John Murray. VanDam was owned by 4.2 percent of players and earned 264 points, Palaniuk earned 260 points for his 24.9 percent of players, and John Murray, owned by 15.9 percent, delivered 254 points.

Josh Bertrand was a favorite in this bucket with 19.9 percent, and he ended with 215 points.

E: Omori

Takahiro Omori was the best pick in Bucket E with 285 points. He was owned by 19.2 percent of players.

Right behind him in points was the most popular pick of the bucket, Classic champ Casey Ashley. Ashley was the favorite with 23.1 percent of players, and he earned 272 points.

The biggest disappointment in the bucket was Kevin Hawk, owned by 10.7 percent of players. He earned 149 points, which put his owners more than 100 points behind the 48 percent of players who had chosen the two most popular picks (Omori and Ashley).