Photo: Garrick Dixon
Photo: Julius Morgan
Monroe won a tiebreaker with Andy Montgomery and Keith Poche, who also finished the regular season with 380 points. Monroe had more total weight on the full field days (Thursday and Friday) of the eight regular season events to earn the 50th spot at Sturgeon Bay.
Photo: Shaye Baker
Photo: James Overstreet
Menendez made a push at the end of the season with a 36th-place finish at the St. Lawrence River followed by placing ninth at Chesapeake Bay. That put him 36th in AOY points.
Photo: Steve Bowman
Photo: James Overstreet
Entering the St. Clair event, Kriet was inside the Classic cut at 35th, but he finished 84th and fell 13 spots.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: James Overstreet
JVD has lived on the edge all season, best exemplified by coming from 52nd place after two days at Lake Havasu to finish ninth.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: Seigo Saito
Shimizu made four checks in a row, from Lake Havasu (33rd) to Chesapeake Bay (14th), finishing higher in each event than he had in the previous one.
Photo: Seigo Saito
Photo: James Overstreet
Iaconelli held his spot on the bubble at Lake St. Clair. It was his face-splat at the tidal waters of Chesapeake Bay (95th), where he expected to excel, that put him here.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: James Overstreet
Kennedy is trying to rebound from a horrid start – 91st at the Sabine River and an unthinkable 102nd at Lake Guntersville.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: James Overstreet
DeFoe was another victim at Lake St. Clair. His 92nd-place finish there dropped him 17 places in the AOY standings, from 26th.
Photo: Seigo Saito
Photo: James Overstreet
Like Steve Kennedy, Murray is trying to come back from a lousy start, when he was 63rd at the Sabine River and 101st at Guntersville.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: James Overstreet
Like Ott DeFoe, Swindle fell 17 spots in the AOY standings at Lake St. Clair from 24th.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: Chris Mitchell
Faircloth wasn’t even thinking about the Classic after missing the cut for five tournaments in a row. One of the most accomplished and consistent anglers on the Elite Series, since 2004 Faircloth has only once gone two B.A.S.S. tournaments in a row without earning a check.
Photo: Steve Bowman
Photo: Steve Bowman
The 45-year-old Elite Series rookie from Knoxville has put himself in contention for the Classic by finishing in the Top 40 in three of the last four tournaments.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: James Overstreet
Rook is trying to earn his 10th Classic berth. That appeared unlikely after the St. Lawrence River, when he was 63rd in the AOY standings.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: James Overstreet
Robinson got off to a solid start by finishing 18th at the Sabine River and 22nd at Lake Guntersville, but he’s been hanging around the Classic bubble for a while now after finishing 50th, 70th and 56th in the last three Elite Series events.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: James Overstreet
Bertrand had finished 42nd or better in four Elite Series events in a row, including 11th place at the St. Lawrence River.
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Photo: Garrick Dixon
The 1995 Bassmaster Classic champion is trying to qualify for the 19th time in his stellar career.
Photo: Gary Tramontina
Photo: Seigo Saito
McCaghren is trying to reach the Classic for the second time. His last appearance was in 2010.
Photo: Ronnie Moore
Photo: James Overstreet
Card is trying to qualify for his second Classic. He finished 39th at Grand Lake in 2013. If he does so, it would be after a horrendous start to the season, when he was 103rd at Lake Guntersville and 105th at the Sacramento River – two zeroes in terms of AOY points.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: Wes Moody
Not even Angler of the Year Aaron Martens has been as hot as Pipkens lately. Pipkens finished third at Chesapeake Bay and fourth at Lake St. Clair. And he’s needed every bit of that to rescue a train wreck of a season.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: Garrick Dixon
Hite has rescued a roller-coaster season with, finally, some consistency at the end. He was 107th at Lake Havasu, third at Kentucky Lake, then 92nd at the St. Lawrence River.
Photo: Chris Mitchell
Photo: Seigo Saito
Lester doesn’t have to do much at Sturgeon Bay, but he’s got to be concerned a bit about the way his season has closed – with finishes of 67th, 66th and 68th, after placing ninth at Kentucky Lake.
Photo: James Overstreet
Photo: James Overstreet
Elam is listed here only because he’s an X-factor in determining Classic berths. He qualified for the Classic with his win in the Central Open at Fort Gibson last week, provided he competes in the final Central Open at Table Rock in October.
Photo: Seigo Saito