2015 Elite Series field will be largest ever.

[Basscat7]

2015 Elite Series field will be largest ever
Monday, December 22, 2014

2015 Elite Series field will be largest ever

B.A.S.S. this morning announced the field for the 2015 Bassmaster Elite Series. The 113-angler field will be the largest in the series' 10-year history and features 13 newcomers, some true rookies and some proven veterans from the FLW Tour.

The field was 112 anglers at the start of the 2014 season.

The roster was finalized after B.A.S.S. advised anglers several months ago that it would use certain requalification criteria in order to cull competitors so as to maintain a manageable field size and make room for qualifiers from the Opens.

Mark Menendez, Cliff Pace and Kevin Ledoux are set to return to Elite Series competition after taking exemptions in 2014. Pace and Ledoux missed last season due to injury while Menendez missed the last two seasons while recovering from injuries and suffering the death of his wife.

Five-time FLW Tour winner Brent Ehrler, who qualified via the Northern Opens, headlines the crop of newcomers. Others who will make their Elite Series debuts in 2015 are: Brandon Coulter, Seth Feider, Micah Frazier, Ken Iyobe, Carl Jocumsen, Koby Kreiger, Jordan Lee, Matt Lee, Stephen Longobardi, Paul Mueller and David Williams.

Randy Allen, who fished the Elite Series in 2008, is back for a second go-around after qualifying through the Central Opens.

Those not returning in 2015 are Glenn Browne, Rick Morris, Jamie Horton, Jeremy Starks, Pete Ponds, Tracy Adams, Grant Goldbeck, Joel Baker, Michael Simonton, Trevor Romans and Byron Haseotes.

The 2015 Elite Series kicks off March 19-22 at the Sabine River in Orange, Texas.

The list of 2015 Bassmaster Elite Series qualifiers is below (bold denotes newcomer/rookie):

> Randy Allen
> Casey Ashley
> Scott Ashmore
> Josh Bertrand
> Tommy Biffle
> Stephen Browning
> Brandon Card
> Brent Chapman
> Hank Cherry
> Jason Christie
> Rick Clunn
> Keith Combs
> Brandon Coulter
> John Crews
> Cliff Crochet
> Mark Davis
> Ott DeFoe
> Kurt Dove
> Boyd Duckett
> Brent Ehrler
> James Elam
> Paul Elias
> Edwin Evers
> Todd Faircloth
> Seth Feider
> Micah Frazier
> Shaw Grigsby
> Greg Hackney
> Charlie Hartley
> Kevin Hawk
> Matt Herren
> Kenyon Hill
> Brett Hite
> Davy Hite
> Timmy Horton
> Randy Howell
> Michael Iaconelli
> Ken Iyobe
> Kelley Jaye
> Carl Jocumsen
> Alton Jones
> Kelly Jordon
> Steve Kennedy
> Mike Kernan
> Kotaro Kiriyama
> Gary Klein
> Koby Kreiger
> Jeff Kriet
> Bobby Lane
> Chris Lane
> Russ Lane
> Kevin Ledoux
> Jordan Lee
> Matt Lee
> Brandon Lester
> Jared Lintner
> Stephen Longobardi
> Bill Lowen
> Justin Lucas
> Aaron Martens
> Billy McCaghren
> Mike McClelland
> Mark Menendez
> Jared Miller
> Yusuke Miyazaki
> Ish Monroe
> Andy Montgomery
> Chad Morgenthaler
> Paul Mueller
> David Mullins
> John Murray
> Britt Myers
> James Niggemeyer
> Takahiro Omori
> Cliff Pace
> Brandon Palaniuk
> Chad Pipkens
> Clifford Pirch
> Keith Poche
> Jacob Powroznik
> Cliff Prince
> Matt Reed
> Skeet Reese
> Derek Remitz
> Marty Robinson
> Dean Rojas
> Scott Rook
> Fred Roumbanis
> Zell Rowland
> Bradley Roy
> Joseph Sancho
> Casey Scanlon
> Bernie Schultz
> Terry Scroggins
> Morizo Shimizu
> Kevin Short
> Fletcher Shryock
> Dave Smith
> Brian Snowden
> Gerald Swindle
> Randall Tharp
> Dennis Tietje
> J Todd Tucker
> Jonathon VanDam
> Kevin VanDam
> Byron Velvick
> Greg Vinson
> David Walker
> Nate Wellman
> David Williams
> Jason Williamson
> Boo Woods
> Chris Zaldain