On Championship Saturday the winner will be determined for the Basspro.com Bassmaster Central Open. Today the first four Opens anglers to potentially receive invitations to the 2021 Bassmaster Elite Series will be known. It’s all unofficial, though, until B.A.S.S. officials do the math and double check everything.
Here is the possible lineup for the Bassmaster Central Opens, based on their points ranking from the top down.
1. Greg Hackney
2. Jason Christie
3. Kenta Kimura
4. Darold Gleason
Based on pure speculation, Hackney and Christie might accept the invitation as pros desiring to move over from the other league. Kimura, an Opens angler since 2013, would be another logical angler to accept the invite, given his sponsors and longtime track record,
Of everyone on the prospect list, nobody wants to get in more than Gleason. I spent time with him yesterday after the weigh-in working on other content projects, and he was clearly obsessed with getting in. He won’t get in easy, nor is he a shoo-in for the invite.
The only other angler fishing today that could close in on Gleason is Spike Stoker, currently in sixth place in Central AOY points, but seventh on the official tournament leaderboard. Meanwhile, Gleason is 44th and likely sweating bullets,