Casey Ashley wrote a column this week for Bassmaster.com about his strategy for the Toyota Angler of the Year Championship. He enters the tournament in 14th place. He can’t win AOY and he’s unlikely to fall out of the Classic cut. So Ashley said he just going to go out, fish hard and try to win this event. That’s not unusual to hear from a guy who makes his living competing. But he did say one interesting thing— Ashley said if he pulled into an area and one of the leaders was there, Lucas or Bertrand, he’d turn around and get out of the way. I heard that same sentiment from several anglers at registration. Nobody wants to influence this two man race or hurt their chance of a career changing AOY trophy. As evidence of that we noticed Jason Christie peel away when Justin Lucas pulled in near him this morning. That might have been coincidence, or Elite class.