There are three anglers fishing on Semi-Final Saturday that are fighting for the Top 50 in Toyota Angler of Year. Jesse Tacoronte (49th), Ed Loughran (53rd) and Steve Kennedy (56th) are all in a pretty tight battle with possible movement today. Here is how it all shapes out:
Tacoronte is seven points ahead of 50th position, nine ahead of falling out in 51st. Meanwhile Ed Loughran is eight points behind the 50th position and Steve Kennedy is 11 off the pace. The two anglers sitting on the sidelines watching it all go down are Jay Yelas (50th) and Bernie Schultz (51st). All options are in play as only one can make it, both can make AOY and neither can make AOY.
Tacoronte is 23rd coming into today, Loughran in 22nd, and Kennedy in 26th. They all have plenty of ground to move up and some decent ground to fall back if they have a tough day.
Kennedy started the week one point ahead of Loughran, but currently trails him by four spots in the event. That has given Loughran a three-point cushion on Kennedy. In case of an AOY points tie, Loughran has the pounds and ounces tiebreaker between the two of them.
As of 1 p.m. ET, Loughran is up to 11th in the event while Kennedy and Tacoronte are below 26th place. Right now he is in position to sneak into the Top 50. If Tacoronte (29th) falls to 31st, he will miss the AOY because he will fall below Jay Yelas’ point total. Yelas isn’t fishing today and is locked in at 499 points.