Jacob Powroznik has been a phenomenally consistent tour pro for several years, and in 2014 he started adding victories to his ledger. Those factors, combined with his recent Top-5 finish in the Bassmaster Classic, have combined to push him to the top of the BassFan World Rankings.
Powroznik, the 36-year-old Virginian who’s about to begin his second year on the Bassmaster Elite Series after a long run on the FLW Tour, moved up five places in the first edition of the Rankings for 2015. He supplanted Jason Christie in the top slot.
Powroznik has finished either 2nd or 3rd in tour-level Angler of the Year races in each of the past three seasons. He picked up his initial tour win last May at the Toledo Bend Elite Series and also prevailed in the Angler of the Year Championship in Michigan in September.
Christie (No. 2), Andy Morgan (No. 3) Bryan Thrift (No. 4) and Cody Meyer (No. 5) all moved down one spot in this edition. Powroznik’s lead over Christie is slightly more than 10 points.
Brett Hite and Classic winner Casey Ashley each moved up three places to 6th and 8th, respectively. Sandwiched between them is reigning Elite Series AOY Greg Hackney.
The ultra-steady Todd Faircloth dropped one position to eighth and Keith Combs retained the final Top-10 position.
In other notable movements, Wesley Strader (the 3rd-place finisher at last week’s Lake Toho FLW Tour) gained 12 slots and now sits at No. 13. Skeet Reese was up 13 places to No. 16 and Mark Davis climbed 13 slots to No. 20.
The next event that will impact the rankings is the Sabine River Elite Series, which runs March 19-22.