Fishing News - 7/22/03
From BassFan.com
BassFan Rookie of the Year Will Be Fishing Classic
NEW ORLEANS, La., July 23, 2003 -- Only one person can be the best rookie in any professional sport, and this year in the sport of bass fishing it's Modesto, Calif.'s Mike Reynolds. Reynolds won the 2003 BassFan Rookie of the Year Race by having the best overall finishes (the formula
is close to an average) of any rookie fishing the Bassmaster and/or FLW tours.It was a tight race near the end of the season, but in the end Reynolds beat Platter, Okla.'s Jeff Reynolds (no relation), a fellow BASS rookie, by less than a point. Alabama FLW rookie Matt Herren still had a chance to win going into the last event of the tour regular season, but couldn't pull it out.
Asked how he feels about winning, Reynolds said: "It's huge. Believe me, I wanted that rookie of the year, and I checked BassFan on the computer all the time.
"It means a lot to me. It's quite an accomplishment. It means that I had
a quality year my first year on the tour, and I beat a lot of good fishermen. It should also help me with my sponsors."Even though Reynolds is new to the national tournament scene, California tournament anglers know his name. The 37-year-old former truck driver has fished full-time for the last 5 1/2 years, and until this year that was entirely in the West: WON Bass, BASS Invitationals, BFLs, "everything," he said. "I fished (tournaments) on weekends no matter what." He lives near the California Delta, and several lakes – including Don Pedro, Shasta and Oroville – are within a few hours of his house.
He fished well enough to qualify for the Bassmaster Tour, and this year decided to take the plunge, as other well-known western anglers have done. "I've been thinking about doing it for a long time, and when ESPN bought BASS I figured it was time to go," he said. "The money was going up, they had a couple of California tournaments and I was ready for the big-time. But the two California tournaments were the big hook."
Reynolds finished 20th in the BASS points, and thus qualified for the
2003 Bassmaster Classic, which will be held here next week. He is one of several tour rookies to qualify for the event.__________
Other notable rookie performances:
> Not only did Oklahoma's Jeff Reynolds do well this year, fellow Oklahoman Tim Carroll also fished well. Carroll was a two-tour rookie this year, and though he didn't do well on the Bassmaster Tour, he finished an amazing 5th in the FLW Tour points. He wound up 12th in the BassFan Rookie of the Year Race.
> Two Alabama FLW rookies finished in the Top 10 of the BassFan standings: Trussville's Matt Herren was 3rd and Birmingham's Todd Ary was 10th.
Fellow Texans Matt Reed (Madisonville) and Lance Vick (Mineola) finished
8th and 9th.> Notable one-staters include Illinois' Chad Morgenthaler (4th); Florida's Terry Scroggins (5th); Tennessee's Jay Kendrick (6th) and Mississippi's Pete Ponds (7th).
> BASS rookie of the year Mark Kile was not included in the BassFan Rookie Race because he was not a "true rookie" as he'd previously fished the pro side of an FLW Tour event.
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2003 BassFan.com Rookie of the Year Race -- Final Standings
1 Mike Reynolds Modesto, CA 107.4 BASS
2 Jeff Reynolds Platter, OK 106.6 BASS
3 Matthew Herren Trussville, AL 98.01 FLW
4 Chad Morgenthaler Coulterville, IL 97.8 BASS
5 Terry Scroggins Palatka, FL 96.6 BASS
6 Jay Kendrick Ooltewah, TN 95.9 BASS
7 Pete Ponds Madison, MS 95.6 BASS
8 Matt Reed Madisonville, TX 94.6 BASS
9 Lance Vick Mineola, TX 88.7 BASS
10 Todd Ary Birmingham, AL 87.45 FLW
11 Luke Clausen Veradale, WA 78.25 BASS
12 Tim Carroll Owasso, OK 77.56 Both
13 Dennis Kolender San Diego, CA 75.88 BASS
14 Chris McCall Jasper, TX 75.53 FLW
15 Shonn Blassingame Sunset, TX 71.63 BASS
16 Jeremiah Kindy Benton, AR 69.72 FLW
17 Jim Eakins Nixa, MO 69.56 FLW
18 Jason Barber Gunbarrel, TX 69.38 BASS
19 Casey Iwai Laveen, AZ 68.63 BASS
20 Rick Taylor Holland, MI 68.25 BASS
21 Kyle Mabrey McCalla, AL 67.75 BASS
22 Jason Quinn Lake Wylie, SC 67.5 BASS
23 Dave Lefebre Erie, PA 67.35 Both
24 Jimmy Reese Witter Springs, CA 67 BASS
25 Brennan Bosley Benton, AR 64.86 FLW
26 Sean Hoernke Quitman, TX 60.17 BASS
27 Marcel Veenstra Newtown, PA 57.48 FLW
28 Chris Price Church Hill, MD 55.17 BASS
29 Jody Cordell Flowery Branch, GA 55.03 Both
30 Randy Yarnall Womelsdorf, PA 54.33 BASS
31 Mike O'Shea Thousand Oaks, CA 50.75 BASS
32 Jarrett Edwards Del Norte, CO 50.63 BASS
33 Charles Hammack New Caney, TX 49.88 BASS
34 Morizo Shimizu Osaka, Japan 49.59 Both
35 Jason Kilpatrick Satsuma, AL 48.98 FLW
36 Boyd Duckett Demopolis, AL 48.83 BASS
37 Russ Moran Murfreesboro, TN 48.82 FLW
38 Ken Sheets Festus, MO 47 BASS
39 J. Todd Tucker Moultrie, GA 44.5 BASS
40 Charlie Weyer West Hills, CA 41.11 Both
41 Vince Ingle Maryville, TN 41.01 FLW
42 Greg Hoskinson Louisville, KY 40.33 BASS
43 Coby Carden Shelby, AL 38.17 BASS
44 Eric Nethery Acworth, GA 38.13 BASS
45 Al Little Greensboro, NC 37.53 FLW
46 David Foshee Pensacola, FL 33.67 BASS
47 Scott Sills Dahlonega, GA 33.09 FLW
48 Timothy Carini Shirley, NY 32.33 BASS
49 Neil Vandebiezen Portage, MI 30.4 FLW
50 Rich Tauber Hollywood, CA 29.29 FLW
51 Gabriel Bolivar Ramona, CA 28.13 BASS
52 Fred Hill Roxboro, NC 28.03 FLW
53 Steve Geffs Carmichael, CA 27.88 BASS
54 Troy Thraen Old Hickory, TN 23.91 FLW
55 Tommy Swindle Warrior, AL 22.17 FLW
56 Bill Berry Terre Haute, IN 21.17 BASS
57 James Fredieu St. Martinville, LA 15.36 FLW
58 Bob Izumi Milton, ON 15.04 FLW
59 Steve Sennikoff Forney, TX 11.17 BASS
60 Ted Pate Alexandria, AL 7.83 BASS
61 Eddie Waits III Pine Bluff, AR 7.6 FLW
62 Willie White Powder Springs, GA 4.59 FLW
63 Evalyn Duncan Lakeland, FL 3.8 FLW
64 William Smith Powell, OH 0 BASS
64 Michael Hall Annandale, VA 0 BASS
