2015 Toyota Angler of the Year Championship on Sturgeon Bay Day 2: Greg Hackney Leads as Anglers Stress.

Making the Bassmaster Classic is Everything!

By Steve Wright

bass press releaseSE

DOOR COUNTY, Wis. — The lack of drama in the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year race is more than compensated for at the other end of this Sturgeon Bay measuring stick.

Hackney leads event but eyes on Classic spots.
(Photo: BASS)

All the theatrics center on the final berths for the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic from the AOY point standings. And it’s quite the spectacle.

Mike Iaconelli is the perfect example of how treacherous the footing can be around the 40th-place Classic cutoff mark. He felt horrible when he came off the water with only four bass weighing 11 pounds, 7 ounces Thursday, after experiencing a two-hour loss of fishing time due to mechanical problems.

Iaconelli entered the tournament 45th in AOY points, so anything less than a stellar day would drop him even lower, right? As Iaconelli boated to the service yard for further work on a balky oil pressure system, he got a text message from his wife, Becky, telling him that he was 27th in the tournament and had moved up to 38th in the unofficial AOY standings.

“I’m like, ‘That’s not possible. Are you sure?’” Iaconelli recalled.

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Chad Morgenthaler Wins the 2015 Bass Pro Shops Southern Open on Lake Tohopekaliga!

Morgenthaler rallies from 9th to win at Toho.

By Louie Stout

BASS PRESS RELEASE

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Standard opinion among the anglers fishing the Bass Pro Shops Southern Open presented by Allstate was that the tournament couldn’t be won on Toho.

If you wanted big bass, Kissimmee was the place to fish.

Chad Morganthaler proved them wrong, spending all three days on the host lake and rallying from ninth place to win the season opener.

Chad didn't waste time locking into Kissimmee
and avoided the crowds to win and be the
first 2016 Classic qualifier.
(Photo: Shaye Baker BASS)

In a tournament laced with some of Florida’s top anglers, the Coulterville, Ill. veteran pro sneaked into the back door with a big sack on a day when the front runners struggled.

His last day catch of 22 pounds, 3 ounces was more than enough to carry him to the top and give him a 52-7 total.

Kissimmee expert Bobby Lane Jr., who had the second biggest bag of the day (14 pounds), finished second with 48-13 and Todd Auten of South Carolina was third with 48-1. Gerald Swindle of Alabama and second-day leader Brandon McMillian rounded out the top five.