Who’s going to win the Bassmaster Classic? According to our fans, it could be a face-off between Edwin Evers and Aaron Martens.
That’s about as significant as any of these conflicting polls telling you which candidate is going to win the Iowa caucuses. But still, it’s fun to think about.
Here’s the deal. We’ve been polling our followers on Twitter and in the Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing group on Facebook in a bracket-like structure. Each day for a week, we asked fans to choose the Classic winner among a group of three or four pros, then put the top picks in a final match-up at the end of the week.
The winner? Split. Twitter says Martens, Facebook says Evers.
What about Jason Christie? Don’t worry about him yet. We haven’t gotten there.
The first week, we focused on the pros who make up Bucket A in Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing. This week, we’re focusing on Bucket B (which Christie is a part of). Buckets are chosen based mainly on anglers’ finishes in the 2015 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race. Anglers who were not part of the Bassmaster Elite Series in 2015 are in Bucket E.
The first vote was among Casey Ashley, Aaron Martens, Justin Lucas and Dean Rojas. Martens won both races.
“This is a trick question,” said Facebook group member Thom McCollum, “because obviously it’s going to be Martens. No question at all.”
“I really want to see Aaron win, but he always has that second-place luck,” said Spencer Oemig (@thebeardedone91) on Twitter. “Hope that changes this year.”
Martens earned 53% of the Twitter vote and 49% of the Facebook vote. Lucas came in second in both polls.
The second contest was among Jacob Powroznik, Chris Zaldain, Brent Ehrler and Greg Hackney. Ehrler won Twitter, and Hackney won Facebook. Both were within a few votes of each other.
Nick Griffith on Facebook said it was between Ehrler and Zaldain. “While all these guys could pull it out, I like the Cali guys due to their ability to be versatile.”
The third vote was among Jordan Lee, Brandon Palaniuk and Edwin Evers. Evers won both contests, 49% on Twitter and 64% on Facebook.
Sean Devos on Facebook used the last two Classics as backup for his answer of Oklahoma native Evers.
“Two years ago, the Classic was at Guntersville, and Howell won,” said Devos. “Last year, Casey Ashley won on Hartwell and was the hometown favorite.”
Then we put the top anglers from the three previous contests up for a vote.
On Twitter, the contest was among Martens, Ehrler and Evers. Martens won again, with 43%.
“A fool wouldn’t vote for Aaron Martens,” said Dominick (@fishingwithdom). “Simple dominance in the sport. You can’t hold him back.”
Not so, according to Facebook, where the final vote of Bucket A was among Evers, Martens and Hackney. There, Evers took the prize.
“Evers is fishing in his backyard,” said Bobby Sanders. “He’s my pick.”
Ultimately, after multiple polls, we’ll end up with a fan favorite. We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, vote on Twitter or in the Fantasy Fishing group.
