Biggest ups and downs during Mille Lacs

Gerald Swindle cemented his legacy last week by winning his second Toyota Bassmaster AOY title. But he wasnât the only winner, or loser for that matter, during the course of the week. Hereâs a look at some of the more notable winners and losers in the race to make the Bassmaster Classic.

All Captions: Steve Bowman

Dave Lefebre came into the event on the hot seat. Sitting 39th in AOY points, tied with Keith Poche in points, he was a single ounce away from being the first man out of the Classic. Whether that was a wake-up call, or perhaps Lefebreâs smallmouth experience kicked in, doesnât really matter.

Lefebre finished the event in third place with 67 pounds of smallmouth and it shot him up to 31st in the AOY points and into the ranks of anglers who are no longer in the bubble category.

Brent Ehrler, like Lefebre, had a fire lit under him coming into the event. A dismal La Crosse event had moved Ehrler out of the Classic, dropping him to 41st in the standings.

He put together a plan that not only allowed him to catch almost 70 pounds of smallmouth, but the largest smallmouth of the event, a 6 pound, 10 ounce beast. All those heavy weights moved Ehrler into 34th place in the standings and into his second Bassmaster Classic.

Boyd Duckett was an unlikely candidate to be included in this conversation three weeks ago. He was sitting in 44th in the AOY standings after La Crosse, which was up from 51st after the Potomac.

With such a mad rush of anglers fighting for points in the 35th to 45th positions, Duckett appeared to have too much ground to make up. But a 12th place finish in the championship moved him to 37th place and in to the Classic for the eighth time.

Randy Howell could very well go down in history as the angler who put together some of the more amazing final-day comebacks in bass fishing. Few need to be reminded of the 2014 Bassmaster Classic.

And going into this seasonâs AOY Championship it looked as if Howell had his work cut out for him. He sat in 42nd place. But after two days of competition had dropped to 44th, desperately needing a huge jump on the final day to get in the Classic.

Howell produced that with a final-day 25-pounds plus on Championship Sunday and slipped into the Classic in 38th place in points.

Anytime you have anglers moving up the standings you have to have those who are coming down. Ish Monroe leads that group. He started the AOY Championship in 32nd, comfortably in the Classic ranks. But with everyday he slipped a little more down the list.

Going into the final day of Mille Lacs, he was still in the Classic in 38th position, but strong performances by Randy Howell and Boyd Duckett, along with a few others, dropped Monroe to the âfirst-man outâ category. Luckily for Monroe, the winner of the Northern Open #3 the week after the AOY Championship didn’t fish all three Northern Opens. This spot went back to the Elite ranking, and it moved Monroe back inside the Bassmaster Classic cutline.

Keith Poche dropped just a little after the AOY Championship but it could prove to be a huge move. Poche started the event in 40th place, with the same amount of points as Lefebre, but down one spot after losing a tiebreaker. Still he was the first guy out.

But after the AOY (where he finished 31st) heâs now the second guy out sitting in 41st. The difference in the two places is this: With three Opens left there is the potential of making the Classic three times, if an Elite anglers wins one and is already qualified or anyone wins one who isnât Classic qualified. Good thing for Poche two of those Opens are in his home state of Louisiana.

Fred Roumbanis kicked himself all the way home from Mille Lacs. On Day 1 of the event, Roumbanis caught a small keeper, but was certain a limit wouldnât be a problem. Rather than chance having the fish expire in his livewell, Roumbanis let the keeper go.

He finished the day with four fish instead of a limit. That one fish cost him a Classic berth. Roumbanis started the event in 31st in the points. But has fallen to 42nd after the AOY Championship. The 2-pound keeper would have netted him five additional places. He missed the Classic by three points.

Chris Lane is another angler who had a long trip home. He was in the Classic going into the La Crosse event, but fell to the bubble going into the AOY Championship in 38th.

Three sub-par days there put him in 38th place in tournament standings at Mille Lacs, which dropped him to 44th overall and without a shot at making the 2017 Classic.

Itâs hard to place Tommy Biffle in the loser category. The Oklahoma pro did not make the Classic but he gave one valiant effort. Biffle started the event in 48th in the AOY points race, needing a top finish in the event and a lot of help from his competitors in the form of some terrible catches.

Combine those facts with this being a smallmouth event and Biffle being the sportâs most formidable shallow-water largemouth anglers and few thought Biffle would even be a factor. He finished the event, though, in fourth showing all the naysayers the renowned flipper and pitcher can do other things. He finished the event in 43rd in the standings.

Andy Montgomery got through this event by the skin of his teeth. He started the Mille Lacs slugfest on the bubble sitting in 37th place, just two positions inside the Classic ranks. After three days of competition he is now in 39th and headed to the Classic.

But to give you an idea of close it came: If Ish Monroe had caught 4 ounces more of bass at Mille Lacs, the two anglers would be swapping places, with Monroe in and Montgomery out.