Happy hunting ground
Top 15%
average finish here
American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest is their spot: an average finish in the top 15% across 2 visits.
- 2 visits
- best finish 52nd
- average top 15%
Shoulda' Gone Fishin'
Shoulda' Gone Fishin' is a competition barbecue team with 6 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2024 and 2025. Their best overall finish is 10th of 27 at the Smoke on the Ohio (2025). They are ranked #1747 of 6,477 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1550
peak 1550 · rated over 6 contests
Contests
6
in the data
First seen
Mar 15, 2024
latest Nov 5, 2025 · 1.6 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
0 reserve
Category wins
0
1 podium
Overall top-10s
1
17% of 6 contests
Avg finish
top 30%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Current form
685.18 ▼
last 5 Master vs avg 685.74 (-0.56)
Walk rate
67%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±7.14
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 174.18 · weakest Brisket (168.65)
Road miles
1,541
across 6 mapped stops · furthest 498 mi
Schedule strength
71%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1590)
Purse competed for
$168K
listed at 6 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 6 state-championship entries
Master avg
685.74 / 720
6 Master contests · 0 GCs
Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Shoulda' Gone Fishin', each with one reason worth a look.
57 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#1,744 of the rated field
- Contests
- 13
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1550
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Shoulda' Gone Fishin')
One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Shoulda' Gone Fishin' has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.
⚔ Head-to-head#1,756 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 43%
- Peak
- 1550
Their last contest in the data was back in 2021, 4 years before Shoulda' Gone Fishin''s most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#1,753 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 0%
- Peak
- 1550
Careers of much the same size, 6 contests to 6, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#1,751 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 80%
- Peak
- 1550
4 straight overall top-10s says this rating is a moving target.
⚔ Compare careers#1,752 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 13%
- Peak
- 1553
This is the highest they've ever been rated, 8 rated contests in — a team sitting at its own career peak.
⚔ Compare careers#1,739 of the rated field
- Contests
- 8
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 63%
- Peak
- 1550
They were already cooking in 2016, 8 years before Shoulda' Gone Fishin''s first contest.
⚔ Compare careersFamiliar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)
| Opponent | Meetings | Ahead | Behind | Win rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JANKY LEG BBQ | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
| ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0% | ⚔ compare |
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 175.4172 | 167.9772 | 170.94 | top 45% |
| Pork Ribs | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 175.4288 | 169.6684 | 171.98 | top 33% |
| Pork | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 179.4400 | 168.5256 | 174.18 | top 23% |
| Brisket | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 173.1544 | 162.8344 | 168.65 | top 43% |
“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.
By field size and state
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 42% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 0 | top 24% |
Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)
| Contest | Visits | Best | GCs | Avg finish | Last visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | 2 | 52 | 0 | top 15% | Nov 5, 2025 |
| Smoke on the Ohio | 2 | 10 | 0 | top 42% | Sep 12, 2025 |
| Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship | 2 | 28 | 0 | top 33% | Mar 14, 2025 |
More numbers
Contests a season
3
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
KS
2 of 6 contests · 3 states in all
Contests visited
3
3 of them more than once
Opponents faced
735
finished ahead 914 times, behind 269
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20254 milestones
- First overall top-10 Smoke on the Ohio
- Career-best single call (Pork)179.4400 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Peak power rating (1550) American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
- Most recent contest American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
20244 milestones
- First tracked contest Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship
- First call Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score688.5488 Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship
- Career-best overall score693.6688 American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +15.3 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Oct 30, 2024 |
| +11.8 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest | Nov 5, 2025 |
| +8.1 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship | Mar 15, 2024 |
| +6.1 | Smoke on the Ohio | Sep 12, 2025 |
| +4.5 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship | Mar 14, 2025 |
Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
How entries end (by meat)
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 67% | top 30% | 96% | 95.3% |
| 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67% | top 29% | 96.3% | 95.2% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 5, 2025 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 76 / 401 (691.3944) | 247 (167.9772) | 167 (170.8228) | 6 (179.4400) | 85 (173.1544) |
| Sep 12, 2025 | Smoke on the Ohio 🏅 Mt. Vernon, IN | 10 / 27 (678.6968) | 12 (169.6800) | 11 (169.6684) | 13 (168.5256) | 7 (170.8228) |
| Mar 14, 2025 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship 🏅 Lebanon, TN | 35 / 100 (688.5032) | 65 (170.2744) | 15 (175.4288) | 22 (175.4172) | 65 (167.3828) |
| Oct 30, 2024 | American Royal World Series of Barbecue - Open Contest 🏅 Kansas City, KS | 52 / 444 (693.6688) | 79 (175.4172) | 102 (173.7028) | 115 (172.5716) | 95 (171.9772) |
| Sep 13, 2024 | Smoke on the Ohio 🏅 Mt. Vernon, IN | 13 / 28 (673.6576) | 12 (169.7144) | 12 (170.8344) | 10 (170.2744) | 15 (162.8344) |
| Mar 15, 2024 | Smoke on the Shores BBQ Championship 🏅 Lebanon, TN | 28 / 93 (688.5488) | 36 (172.5716) | 31 (171.4172) | 2 (178.8572) | 65 (165.7028) |