Bass Brackets - The Winners are...

Dean Rojas - The Road to Victory
The First Annual Bass Brackets Champion 

Round 1
Location: Lake Guntersville
Opponent: Chris Lane
Results:
(10) Dean Rojas 11th Place (75.4 lbs)  
( 7) Chris Lane 81st Place (30.7 lbs) 

In round one Rojas was faced with a tough challenge. He was matched up with Chris Lane on his home water of Lake Guntersville. Rojas averaged almost 19-poinds of fish a day routing Chris Lane who struggled with the home water jinx.   

Round of 32
Location: Sacramento River
Opponent: Timmy Horton
Results:
(10) Dean Rojas 3rd Place (78.2 lbs)
(15) Timmy Horton 8th Place (69.3 lbs)

One of the biggest upsets in round one was Timmy Horton over 2014 Bassmaster Classic Champion Randy Howell.  Horton, a fifteen seed ousted Howell, a second seed, on the same body of water Howell won the Classic just 14 months earlier. Rojas met up with Horton in round two on the Sacramento River.  Horton rallied for the second straight event but fell just five spots and nine pounds short of beating Rojas.

Sweet 16
Location: Lake Havasu
Opponent: Jason Christie
Results:
(10) Dean Rojas 6th Place (61.7 lbs)
(4) Jason Christie 65th (25.8 lbs)

Rojas headed home for the sweet 16. FIshing on his home body of water, Lake Havasu, Rojas was head to head with one of the hottest anglers over the past five years, Jason Christie. Rojas utilized his third straight Top 12 finish in route of Christie. 

Elite Eight
Location: Kentucky Lake
Opponent: Bobby Lane
Results:
(10) Dean Rojas 46th Place (46.3 lbs)
(12) Bobby Lane 56th Place (33.8 lbs)

Bobby Lane, a twelve seed, had already survived a gauntlet of superstar anglers; Justin Lucas, Brandon Palaniuk and reigning Bassmaster Angler of the Year Greg Hackney. While the final results show an over twelve pound margin of victory, that includes Rojas' third day total.  At the end of two days, Lane's final day, Rojas edged Lane by a mere 5-ounces, the closest margin of victory in the entire Bass Brackets game.  

Final Four Round
Location: St. Lawrence River
Opponent: Brent Ehrler
Results:
(10) Dean Rojas 28th Place (49.6 lbs)
(1) Brent Ehrler 31st (48.3 lbs)

After a short Elite Series break, the anglers headed north to Upstate New York, about as far from the West Coast as you can get and still be in the Continental United States. That's where two West Coast fishing ledges met up in the Final Four, Dean Rojas and Brent Ehrler.  At the time of the event Rojas was leading the Elite Series Angler of the Year standings and Ehrler was leading the Elite Series Rookie of the Year standings  In an epic battle where Ehrler led after day 1, and Rojas rallied on day two to take the lead. Ehrler went out on day 3 and charged back into the contest before Rojas rallied late and held Ehrler off. besting him by 1.3 pounds and three places in the standings.

Championship Round
Location: Chesapeake Bay
Opponent: Mike McClelland
Results:
(10) Dean Rojas 63rd Place (12.10 lbs)
(7) Mike McClelland 81st Place (9.0 lbs) 

The finals pitted Rojas against Mike McClelland on Chesapeake Bay. McClelland survived a gauntlet of big names in route to the finals, but did so without making a single top twelve during Bass Brackets events. McClelland did finish 2nd on the Sabine River, but that event was prior to the kickoff of Bass Brackets competition.  In fact, McClellands highest finish during a Bass Brackets competition round was 39th on Lake Gunstersville.  In a shocking turn of events neither angler caught them very well at Chesapeake Bay, but Rojas secured the first annual Bass Brackets championship with his two day total of 12-pounds, 10-ounces. 

Congratulations to Dean Rojas, you've won absolutely nothing, but the same can't be said for Vince Stuccio.  Mr. Stuccio won a $1000 Gift Card to Monster Fishing Tackle for winning the first Bass Bracket challenge.  

Thank you to everyone for participating, get ready for Bass Brackets 2016 - starting in March of next year!  

What About Martens?

It's true Aaron Martens has just completed the best year in Bassmaster Elite Series history. So how did he not win Bass Brackets?  The answer is simple, there is more to it than having a great year. It's about the matchup and beating that one person he was heads up with. While it didn't happen, an angler could finish second, but lose in Bass Brackets if the angler he is matched up with wins the tournament. Likewise, an angler could finish 90th and win in Bass Brackets if they are fishing against someone who finished in 95th.  

For Martens his Bass Brackets season ended abruptly at the first round of Bass Brackets, on Lake Guntersville.  Martens, a number one seed, was matched up against a sixteen seed, Kelly Jordon. Jordon, considered one of the best big fish anglers on tour, had an excellent Lake Guntersville event where he put over 26-pounds in the boat on the first day. He backed that up on the second day while Martens had his worst event of the season finishing in 66th place. Jordon fell in round two to Gary Klein on the Sacramento River. 

What if?

Had Martens not been ousted by Jordon in the first round, how would he have done?  In round two, the Sacramento River, Martens finished second and would have slid past Klein. Round Three would have pitted him against another red hot angler in Jacob Powroznik on Lake Havasu. Since Martens won that event, he would have taken Powroznik out and moved on to face Mike McClelland in the Elite eight. 

The Elite Eight was held on Kentucky Lake. While McClelland's 89th place finish was enough to move past Gary Klein who finished 97th, it wouldn't have held up against Martens.  Martens finished the event in 15th place which would have advanced him to the Final Four. 

In the Final Four Martens would have faced Ott Defoe on the St. Lawrence River.  Defoe, one of the strongest anglers under 30 years old, finished the event in 78th place. Martens just missed the Top 12 cut and finished the event in 13th place. Unlucky 13th would have been good enough to move Martens to the Finals against eventual winner Dean Rojas. 

Proving that 13 is just a number and fishing isn't luck, Martens went ahead and won the Chesapeake Bay Elite Series event. The win would have given Martens the chance to hoist the first ever imaginary Bass Brackets trophy over his head. We guess, since we actually don't have a Bass Brackets trophy,  he opted to just win the Elite Series event and hoist that trophy instead. In addition, he probably prefers the $100,000 check over the pat on the back we would have given him!   

So while Dean Rojas did his job by eliminating his competition in each week, he can extend a thanks to Kelly Jordon for eliminating Aaron Martens before he got on a roll towards the best ever Elite Series season.  We suggest Rojas split his Bass Brackets check with Kelly Jordon. Oh wait, there is no check - a pat on the back for Jordon will have to suffice.