The spotlight is shining brightly on the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. And as it should.
Meanwhile, another AOY race is heating up. That is the Toyota Rookie of the Year race. Coming into the final event the title appeared to be Jamie Hartman’s to lose. After all, he was leading the standings with 701 points. Second place was Dustin Connell with 678 points.
Hartman, a native New Yorker, is a smallmouth expert. Not so much for Connell, whose skills are more aligned with largemouth and dialing into spotted bass on the rivers of his native central Alabama.
BASSTrakk now shows Connell in second place of the tournament with a 5-bass limit weighing 21 pounds. Meanwhile, the livewell of Jamie Hartman is dry with no keepers in the boat.
Keep in mind this tournament runs three days and not the normal four of a regular Bassmaster Elite Series event. So there isn’t much time to lose ground. Now, there is a possibility the ROY race could unfold like the drama of its AOY counterpart.