It’s that time of year again where we start ramping up the Malone’s Marine Marshall Bass Super Series Team of the Year race. It going to come down to one tournament and someone is going to walk away as Team of the Year Champions. Arguably now a more coveted title than the winning The Cup. But before we dig into this years Team of the Year race, let’s dive into some history of the points race that was created in 2021.
The history of the Marshall Fishing Team of the Year race
2021 was the first year the Marshall Super Series really put emphasis towards the Team of the Year points race and it has kind of evolved since then. In 2021 we didn’t think much of it other than we wanted to create a qualification standard for The Cup. Didn’t really think of much of who won but as the season went on in 2021, it was very fascinating who was at the top of the leaderboard. From the first winner in 2021, each year it has been very interesting to see who stacks up at the top and it creates a different vibe at the tournament. And by vibe, you can tell the guys at the top are thinking about it and it effects the way they fish and their decision making on the water.
2021
In 2021, Tim and Tyler Cline won their first of two Team of the Year titles with a total of 448 points. Which for now, will go down as the lowest amount of points to win the Team of the Year title unless something catastrophic happens at Stonewall in September. Albeit, the lowest amount of points to win it, they hold the largest margin of victory by 17 points over second place finishers in 2021, Dylan and Brian Fitzgerald.
Tim and Tyler never had a finish worse than 21st in 2021. Below is their finish at each stop.
East Lynn Stop #1 – 5th place
Summersville Stop #2 – 21st place
Sutton Stop #3 – 4th place
Summersville Stop #4 – 20th place
Kanawha River Stop #5 – 7th place
“I can’t point to one thing that was the key to our consistency, but a multitude of things. One of the biggest keys was knowing when to stick to a spot or when to go and changing or slightly modifying a bait to get a limit.” Tyler told us back in 2o21 in an article. “For the last couple of years we have always been consistent in our club just about always getting a Top 5, so I guess it just followed us over for our first year fishing the full Marshall Bass Trail.”
2022
In 2022, the Cline’s proved they were on top of the fishing game in West Virginia. They pretty much rolled through the season racking up Top 10 after Top 10. The duo in the 2022 never finished outside the Top 10 and their worst finish all season was 9th. They also never missed the money in 2022 and amassed $4,065 in the matter of 5 tournaments as well as a $1,124 Team of the Year bonus. Grand total: $5,189 in a season. Not too shabby.
Before the 2022 season started we reached out to the Cline’s talk about their expectations for 2022. They pretty much nailed everything they wanted to do.
“Our main goal this year on the Marshall Trail is to continue the consistency and go after a win. It sure would be nice to win a regular season event, but at the same time just to complete a good limit and have a shot during The Cup to win it would be an achievement over last season,” Tyler told us. “We had a target on our back last year for Team of The Year and I’m sure it will be there this year at the start, but we’ll be trying to defend that title of Team of The Year”
And they pretty much did what they wanted to do it in 2022. Not only did they win just one regular season event, but they won two back-to-back. Being the first team to ever win back-to-back with the Marshall Series. While they may not have got The Cup, they did defend their Team of the Year title last year just like they said.
But the more entertaining story of the 2022 season was just how close the Team of the Year race came down too. It came down to the final tournament of the season to determine the winner. The Cline’s trailed Mike Sample and Lloyd Coleman all season before finally jumping at the final event. After the third event the Cline’s trailed Samples and Coleman by 7 points even with a win on Summersville. Then the Cline’s would capture their second victory in 2022 to try to catch Samples and Coleman at the fourth event and still trailed them by 3 points after the event.
It was then the Cline’s prospered in the final event of the season to finish 5th and take home the 2022 Team of the Year win after Samples and his new partner, Luke Stewart finished 16th in that event. The Cline’s would finish with 482 total points. The highest amount of points to win the Team of the Year and they will hold that record even after 2023.
“To win it back-to-back fishing with my dad means the world to me,” said Tyler Cline. “It feels good to have that kind of season, to be competitive all season, and be able to finish the job in very tough conditions against the best anglers in the state.”
Tim and Tyler’s 2022 season
Sutton Stop #1 – 9th place
Stonewall Stop #2 – 7th place
Summersville Stop #3 – 1st place
Summersville Stop #4 – 1st place
Burnsville Stop #5 – 5th place
2023 Team of the Year race
At the beginning of the 2023 season it looked as if Brian and Dylan Fitzgerald could do no wrong and wanted a taste of what their close friends Tim and Tyler Cline had accomplished in 2021 and 2022. The Fitzgerald’s have been previous winners on the Series back in 2019, but winning another event isn’t the ultimate goal for the duo. They’ve been so close to capturing a Cup win in previous years, but the duo wants to win the Team of the Year Title worse than anything.
The Fitzgerald’s started off with two wins to begin their season and started with 200 points. They racked up just a little over $3,066 in just two events, but Dylan would have to sit out Stop #3 at Stonewall. Brian recruited Hunter Fitzgerald (Dylan’s brother) to fill in for the event and the duo came away with an 11th place finish. What some would call surviving.
Fast forward, there was a lot of hype for the Fitzgerald’s to do well on the Kanawha River. A place where they have won tournaments before and a place where Dylan has won his fair share of money. But it was another tournament that the Fitzgerald’s just survived to stay alive in the points race. They finished 14th, but lost the points lead and now trail Mike Samples and Luke Stewart by 2 points.
When asked how they were feeling for Stonewall, Dylan described it in one word … “Clueless.”
“The weights have been good all summer coming from Stonewall so the fish are biting,” said Dylan. “In my opinion, September is one of the toughest months out of the year to fish so I think it’ll be a little tough for sure. We have pre practiced a little bit and have struggled. We’ve caught some fish but really struggling to get on any sort of pattern. Our goal is to just to go into this one with an open mind and just go fishing. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. Whoever wins it between the Top 3 really deserves it.”
Samples and Stewart will now look to redeem themselves after missing the Team of the Year title in 2022 when leading it going into the final event. Last year they led by 3 points going into Stop #5, this year they will lead by 2 points. Samples and Stewart have had nothing short of a consistent season never missing the Top 10 and only missing one check. While they haven’t scored a win this season, they have cashed in a little over $700 to at least cover their entry fees. But the money isn’t the goal instead proving to be the best fishermen in West Virginia means much more. Samples at one point wasn’t sure if he would be able to attend the event, but recent report has him competing at the final tournament.
“We are ready to get back at it for sure,” said Samples “We’re excited it’s on Stonewall. The lake has been putting huge weights all year and hopefully that stays true for this tournament.”
Charlie Hanshaw and Jeffrey Hanshaw have always been around the Marshall Series but have never completed a full season on the Series. This year they have stepped up to the plate to fish every event and at no surprise to anyone have found themselves in position to win the Team of the Year title. While they are trailing the points lead by 3 points they have had nothing short of a remarkable season. The only tournament finish that left a thorn in their side was a 19th place finish at Sutton to start the season. Since, the Hanshaw’s haven’t missed a Top 5 and have racked up $1,515 in winnings in just three events.
“Team of the Year is really the best measuring stick on consistency,” said Charlie. “Going into the year we knew we would get a slow start at Sutton due to only one of us was going to be able to fish with no practice due to work conflicts. But we thought we could make up ground with a summer tournament on the Kanawha where the points would fluctuate a lot. We are looking forward to Stonewall in September but we know given the caliber of fishermen and the successes those teams have had with the Marshall Series over the years, we are going to have to have true focus to win that event and hopefully take home the Team of the Year Title.”
The 2023 Cup Cut Line and re-qualification for 2024
But more important when considering the leaders you also got to consider just getting into this years 2023 Cup. As of the last tournament held on the Kanawha there have been 36 teams fish all four events. Impressive to say the least. And there are teams that have fished all four events who could still be in trouble for not qualifying for the 2023 Marshall Fishing Cup.
There is four teams outside of the cut line who still have a shot to slide into the 2023 Cup. On the cutline is Chad Simpson and Scott Toney who are only 1 point out of the 2023 Cup with a total of 216 points. Followed by Joshua Phillips and Justin Phillips who got invited into the Series after Stop #1 are a little further back with only 199 points. Chris White and Hunter White have fished three events so far and have scored 198 points. Finally rounding out those who are on the outside looking in is Brian and Joey Harper who have a total of 187 points.
The final event of the season will be exciting for two reasons.
1) Team of the Year winner
2) Whose going to make The Cup and who isn’t.
As the years have rolled by it has gotten more difficult to qualify for the year end event. This year might just be the toughest it has ever been to get in. From 38th in the points with 225 points, Ryan and Ricky Nottingham down to John Beeson and Brian Hilman with 217 points. Those teams from 38th to 44th are going to need to catch them to stay in contention for the 2023 Cup. Once you are past 37th those guys will just need to maintain. They don’t have to light the world on fire but a good majority of them are still going to need at least weigh-in to be safe.
Re-qualification for 2024 didn’t pan out exactly how the Marshall Bass Super Series had expected but as with anything the Marshall Team always figures out a way to make it right. As of now there will only be 44 teams able to re-qualify for 2024 from the Super Series. As well as 3 teams from the Marshall Bass Open Series giving them a total of 47 teams for 2024 unless other decisions are made to invite others in to make it a 50 boat field again.
