Only 12 remain
By Brian Brasher
BASS PRESS RELEASE
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| Fred leads stingy bracket format tournament. (Photo: BASS) |
The
first round of the Mossy Oak Fishing Bassmaster Classic Bracket on Carters Lake
was a one-day tournament to determine the seeding for three separate
competitions that will each send an angler to the 2019 Bassmaster Classic
presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods.
With that
one-day tournament in the history books, the stakes will now get higher every
moment until the Classic Bracket concludes Friday.
After Tuesday’s
opening round, 15 anglers were allowed to weigh their five biggest bass with
the Top 12 advancing to the upcoming three-day, bracket-style competition. The
anglers qualified in the following order: 1. Fred Roumbanis (16 pounds 1
ounce), 2. Greg Vinson (13-10), 3. Keith Combs (12-6), 4. Ray Hanselman Jr.
(10-0), 5. Chris Lane (9-12), 6. Gerald Swindle (9-10), 7. Mike McClelland
(9-0), 8. Chad Pipkens (8-8), 9. Adrian Avena (6-13), 10. Shin Fukae (6-11),
11. Dustin Connell (5-5) and 12. Scott Rook (5-4).
Marty Robinson
(4-12), Takahiro Omori (1-15) and Bill Lowen (0-0) were eliminated.
“Today’s goal was
just to advance,” said Hanselman, of Del Rio, Texas. “I just wanted to try and
fish clean and make sure I made it into that Top 12. I figured a little
something out (during Monday’s practice round), and it helped me today. But
there aren’t a whole lot of places to do it on this lake.”
Starting
Wednesday, the weights will go back to zero, and six matches will be held from
8-11 a.m. ET, pitting No. 1 vs. No. 12, No. 2 vs. No. 11 and No. 3 vs. No. 10.
Then during the afternoon session from 12:30-3:30 p.m., three additional
matches will pit No. 4 vs. No. 9, No. 5 vs. No. 8 and No. 6 vs. No. 7.
