DETROIT (July 14, 2007) - Jay Yelas of Tyler, Texas, added to his already impressive list of career accomplishments by winning his second Angler of the Year title Friday at the FLW Tour's final 2007 qualifier, the Open bass fishing tournament on the Detroit River.
This is the second Angler of the Year win for Yelas, who has also earned BASS Angler of the Year honors and a Bassmaster Classic title. Yelas' first angler of the year title on the FLW Tour came in 2002 when he upset points leader Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., in the final event of the season. Yelas now join's Clark Wendlandt of Leander, Texas, as the FLW Tour's only other two-time angler of the year winner. Wendlandt earned his titles in 1997 and 2000.
"It's quite an honor," said Yelas, who has amassed more than $1.75 million in carrier winnings and 62 top-10 finishes in FLW Tour and BASS competition. "These guys are the best fishermen in the world. When you do the math, I have to realize I won by just a small margin. If one of the fish I'd caught during the year would have weighed half a pound less, I might not have won."
Yelas, 41, earned the title with 1,074 out of a possible 1,200 points after successfully fending off Shinichi Fukae of Mineola, Texas., who surged to the Angler of the Year lead on opening day of the Open but fell back on day two to finish the season in second place with 1,054 points.
Along with the Angler of the Year title, which annually goes to the sport's most dominant bass angler, Yelas earned $65,000, including a new Ranger boat powered by Yamaha and $25,000 cash.
Yelas began his professional bass-fishing career in 1988. He immediately made his mark in the Western United States, winning the Bass Fishing League Colorado River Division points title and the league's Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. In 1990, Yelas qualified for the BFL All-American in Buffalo, N.Y., and finished sixth. He also claimed two BASS victories in the early '90s and made a run at the BASS Angler of the Year title in 1994 and 1995. In 1997, he joined the FLW Tour and finished the season ranked 45th.
This year Yelas started the FLW Tour season off with a 78th-place effort on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. He then finished sixth on Fort Loudoun Lake in Knoxville, Tenn., before earning back to back second-place finishes on Lake Norman in Charlotte, N.C., and Beaver Lake in Rogers, Ark. He earned a 19th-place finish on the Potomac River in Washington and wrapped up the qualifying season with a 25th-place finish on the Detroit River in Detroit this week.