Fantasy: Martens earned a perfect score

Aaron Martens dominated the tournament, but you know what else he dominated? Fantasy Fishing.

CECIL COUNTY, Md. — All players of Bassmaster Fantasy Fishing had a chance to earn huge points in the Huk Performance Gear Bassmaster Elite at Chesapeake Bay because all five buckets held a Top 10 finisher. But unless you chose the less popular picks in the buckets, you didn’t get to reap the benefits.

Here’s the perfect team:

Bucket A: Aaron Martens, 400 points

B: Bill Lowen, 295

C: Davy Hite, 280

D: Chad Pipkens, 290

E: Carl Jocumsen, 260

Total: 1,525

No one got a score even within 150 points of that.

Bucket A: Martens

Aaron Martens dominated the tournament, but you know what else he dominated? Fantasy Fishing.

And by “dominate,” we mean he beat up on everybody else for the whole season. He not only got the 300 points for winning, he also got every single Fantasy Fishing bonus point available — a feat no angler has achieved in this season or even last season.

Martens got 5 points for each day he led, so that’s 20. He also got the 40-point big bag and 40-point big bass bonuses. That’s 100 extra points for the smart people who picked him.

For the 13.5 percent of players who chose him, he earned 400 points. Four hundred! Incredible. Good move, Martens owners.

But you poor souls who chose anyone else … you’re at least 124 points behind all the Martens pickers. Bernie Schultz was the closest Bucket A angler to Martens with 276 points. He was chosen by 0.2 percent of players. Greg Hackney was the next-closest with 268 points for his 11.9 percent of owners.

The most popular pick of the bucket was Jacob Powroznik with 22.6 percent of the vote. But his zero on Day 2 hurt him and his players, big time. He made a solid recovery on Day 3, earning a total of 233 points for his fans.

The worst pick of the bucket was Micah Frazier with 73 points, but his ownership was so low, it registered at zero percent.

Bucket B: Lowen

Bill Lowen was the star of Bucket B, and he was also the star on the morning of Day 4. He made a huge charge for the win, and it looked like he was going to pull it out. But in the end, he finished in second place. His 2.5 percent of owners got 295 points.

Right behind him were Gerald Swindle with 1.7 percent of the vote and 285 points, and Russ Lane, 0.3 percent, 272 points.

The most popular pick of the bucket was Mike Iaconelli by far, at 55.7 percent. But wow, what a catastrophic Day 1 he had. He caught nothing all day, leaving his huge base of owners panicking that they would walk away with zero points. However, on Day 2, he caught a couple, jumping that 0 up to 85.

Still, that’s a 200-point overall loss for most of the players in this bucket. If your angler came in anywhere ahead of Iaconelli, you made up good ground.

The worst pick of the bucket was Shaw Grigsby with 61 points for his 1.4 percent of owners.

Bucket C: Hite

Davy Hite made a charge for the win on the final day and pleased his small group of believers — 1.7 percent — with 280 points.

Not far behind him were Mark Menendez, 1.3 percent, 264 points; Brent Chapman, 5.1 percent, 257; and Andy Montgomery, 11.6 percent, 254.

The favorite of the bucket was also the worst pick: Tommy Biffle. The 20.2 percent who were counting on his flipping skills ended with 71 points. The second-favorite was Jonathon VanDam at 16.3 percent, with 89 points.

Bucket D: Pipkens

Chad Pipkens was the best pick in Bucket D with 290 points for his 2.9 percent of followers.

He beat the next-best angler, Bradley Roy, by nearly 50 points. Only 0.2 percent owned Roy, and those players got 243 points.

The favorite in the bucket turned out not to be a good pick at all. Casey Ashley was the highest pick with 19.0 percent of owners, but he ended nearly 200 points behind Pipkens with 95 points.

The second-favorite pick was Todd Faircloth at 18.4 percent. He earned good numbers for his fans with 241 — still a good bit behind Pipkens, but far ahead of most other players.

The worst pick of D was Kotaro Kiriyama at 0.4 percent with 64 points.

Bucket E: Jocumsen

Australia’s favorite angler, Carl Jocumsen, did the best in Bucket E. Only 1.1 percent of players got to enjoy the fruits of his labor, but his small army earned 260 points.

The closest angler behind him was JTodd Tucker, 4.3 percent, with 221 points.

The favorite of the bucket was Paul Mueller with 37.1 percent. With 37.1 percent of the vote, he earned 183 points.

The worst pick of E was Kevin Ledoux — who, just two weeks ago, was tied for the best pick overall — with 64 points. He was owned by 2.2 percent of players.

 

The buckets for St. Clair will open soon, so get ready to set your team!