Angler of the Year comes down to the wire

Tim Dieter entered the day as the leader but knew he had the likes of Steve Seipp, Tracy Adams, and Dave Flury Jr breathing down his neck. Tim, with a good boat start number, did what any of us would have done and raced to the most consistent fall wingdam in pool 12, looking for a solid bag and a decent shot at landing a big fish. Every dam has its day, and Tim struggled to get the bites. He did manage to get a couple for the livewell and one for the photo card. Steve and Dave, like most of the field of 22 boats, also struggled to find their bites. They also managed only a few fish. Tracy gambled on the long run, to Bellevue after being told by the Lock Master that there would be barge traffic late morning through the afternoon. It took some time for Tracy to find his fish, but once he did, he caught his limit quickly. Ready to go back north, the first barge had already come to the lock. Once that first barge was locked down, Tracy was allowed to lock back north. That limit of fish and lack of a big fish bite for the other 20 anglers allowed Tracy to claim a second-place finish in the Solo Championship for a four-point improvement to his AOY total, vaulting him to a one-point advantage and his second Angler of the Year title. Tim did hang on to second place in AOY points and claimed Angler of the Year Runner-up!