It’s do or die for a number of anglers hoping to get into the season-ending Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship.
Yusuke Miyazaki is the first man out of the cut at 51st, just five points back of the line. Finishes in the 60s last month on the St. Lawrence and Cayuga Lake dropped him from 34th in the standings.
“Kind of a disappointment, the last two tournaments in New York,” he said. “I’m like a bubble guy now.”
Miyazaki would like to burst it with a high finish at the final regular-season event, the Cherokee Casino Bassmaster Elite at Lake Tenkiller, Sept. 19-22. That event will finalize the field of 50 who advance to the AOY Championship event on Lake St. Clair, Sept. 28-Oct. 1, where the AOY title will be decided as well as berths to the 50th Bassmaster Classic on Lake Guntersville.
“Of course I want to go to the AOY Championship, but more I want to go to the Classic,” he said. “I really want to fish St. Clair, and I really want to fish Guntersville. There are two of my favorite places, so I don’t want to miss them.”
Being honest, Miyazaki said he hadn’t checked exactly how many points he needed to get inside the cut, but he’s got a good idea what he needs to do. After eight events, Miyazaki has 450 points, just five behind 50th-place Tyler Rivet.
“I understand I need to finish as high as I can, a top 20, maybe even top 30 and I can fish St. Clair,” he said. “If I can get inside the top 20, there’s more chance to fish the Classic.
“Of course, in this business, I can’t catch them every time, but I need to work as hard as I can.”
Originally set for Fort Gibson Lake in mid-May but rescheduled due to dangerously high water, the event was moved to Tenkiller Lake due to an issue with the dam. B.A.S.S. moved the venue last week to avoid the potential that officials might force the event to be cancelled.
It’s a slight curveball, but Tenkiller, with 12,900 acres and 130 miles of shoreline, is considered the premier smallmouth fishery in the state and reportedly has a greater overall population of bass.
“Everybody has the same conditions,” Miyazaki said. “I just have to try my best. With two and half days of practice, I hope to find some key things.
“If I can win, that’s really, really incredible, but my goal is a top 20. I think if I get the top 20, I can fish the AOY Championship and try for the Classic.”
Pressure to perform isn’t among his concerns now, but it might be.
“I’ve been fishing a long time so I don’t feel much pressure, but tournament time it may be happening,” he said. “Today I don’t have much pressure.”
Whatley going for broke
Brad Whatley said he’s not feeling pressure, but he will be going for broke in hopes of making it to St. Clair. He needs a major climb from 55th in the AOY standings, 21 points out of the top 50 cut.
“I felt pressure in the last two, and I did terrible in them,” Whatley said. “I’ve almost got to treat it like a Classic. I’ve got to go in shooting for the win, basically all or nothing. There’s no trying to survive, because surviving it not going to do me anything. I’ve got to treat this like the Classic, win or bust.”
Like many other Elites, Whatley said the event should produce fluctuation in the AOY standings, and that’s just what he needs.
“No doubt, I’m hoping for that,” he said of anticipated hot and high water conditions. “You can see some guys who have done well all year bomb, and some guys who have bombed all year do well.”
Whatley has 434 points and needs to pass five anglers to get inside the cut to fish Lake St. Clair.
“It’s a tough battle I have ahead of me,” Whatley said. “I’m not a guy who gets down, frustrated, but I’m never out of it. I feel there’s always a chance. I’m probably going to go in fishing more loose than I have all year and let the cards fall where they may.”
Don’t shank it
While Scott Canterbury hopes to hold or increase his 17-point lead on the field and win the prestigious Elite Series AOY title, the battles to get to the AOY Championship and the Classic will also be of great interest at Tenkiller Lake.
The close proximity of anglers at the Top 50 cut line will have all finishing inside it ecstatic, and those outside will have their seasons end. Rivet stands as the last man in at 50th, and there are eight anglers within 27 points, a reasonable range of supplanting him, although they will have to pin their hopes on others falling.
Illinois angler Chris Groh, 42 points outside the cut in 60th place, has realized even a victory at Tenkiller won’t be enough to propel him past 10 others and into the 50 cut. His disappointment is evident in his column, “Disgusted with my results.”
Anglers like Mike Huff, who jumped from 49th in the standings to 38th with a successful New York swing, go into the final regular season event feeling more positively. Yet they’ll be plenty of sweating at Tenkiller among those around that 50 cut, as well as those on both sides of the current Classic cut of 42nd.
Clark Wendlandt stands as the last man in the Classic at 42nd with 475 points, but he has a cushion of only eight points over 43rd. Another eight points separate the next seven anglers to Rivet, so one or two places can mean making it, and that can come down to ounces.
Kelley Jaye is the first man out of the Classic cut after falling eight spots with his “New York struggles.” He penned a second column, “Lots on the line in Oklahoma,” where he offers an appropriate analogy on what it’s like to be a bubble boy. He said his family is no longer discussing his chances of qualifying for his first Classic as not to add pressure.
“It’s like I’m a field goal kicker,” he wrote, “and they don’t want to get inside my head, fearful that it’ll result in me shanking the kick.”