Rook off the bubble, for now

Scott Rook adding another 2-pounds. Slower morning than yesterday but remaining confident he will get 'em again today.
Scott Rook came into this event ranked 51st in Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points. He knew it was do-or-die if he was going to qualify for next month’s AOY Championship, which includes only the top 50 from the regular season final standings.
“I told my wife if I don’t catch 20 pounds (Thursday) I might as well go home because I’ll be out of it,” Rook said. “I knew that. But, of course, I needed to move up a little in AOY, and a 25-pound stringer certainly helps that.”
Yeah, his 4th-place 25-pound, 11-ounce bag certainly did that. If the tournament ended yesterday, Rook would be in 31st place in the AOY standings, going from bubble boy for the AOY Championship to a possible automatic Classic berth. 
But AOY points aren’t earned until the standings are final. He knows he’s got to catch a big stringer again today. So far, he’s struggling. BASSTrakk showed him with two 2-pounders at 10 a.m. Rook handled the pressure well yesterday. He’s fishing among a group of anglers, where everybody sees what everybody else is catching.
“You can’t go out there and put that pressure on you to perform,” he said. “Just go out there and fish. That’s all you can do. I took my time. You can’t panic in that situation. Everybody around me was catching 4-pounders.
“I think I was doing something a little bit different than what a lot of them are doing.”