Between the two tours, the points races, victories, Top 10s, Bassmaster Classic and Forrest Wood Cup Qualification, and all the other measures used to assess performance, it's easy for a fan to get lost.
A glance at the points races is an easy way to see who had a good year and who didn't. And consecutive Classic or Cup appearances is a good measure of consistency (although there's some digging involved to unearth those strings).
But there's also the BassFan World Rankings – the only true, multiyear, statistical measure in the sport. Each edition of the World Rankings shows an angler's current position, his position in the prior edition, and his position at the start of the year. Columns can be sorted by heading to quickly reference improvement across a few weeks, or the entire season.
With a look at this season in particular, several pros stand out for their improvement. More specifically, within the Top 50, nine pros climbed the Rankings by 40 or more spots over the course of this season.
Here's the summary look at those nine pros.
Tommy Biffle: 58th to 11th
Biffle turned up the heat this year with a win at Wheeler, a 4th at the Mississippi River and an 8th at Oneida. He's nearly always strong at Oneida (he won there in 2006), and his Wheeler and Mississippi performances show just how strong he is on rivers. A few sore spots (like a 102nd at Kentucky Lake and a 98th at Erie last year) kept him off a final landing spot inside the Top 10.
> Net gain this year: 47 spots
Mark Menendez: 96th to 17th
It was a monster year for Menendez, who won at Dardanelle, backed that up with an 8th at Wheeler the very next week, then posted an 8th at Guntersville a month later. He checked in every event except one (Smith Mt.), and all that after fairly a consistent 2008.
> Net gain this year: 79 spots
Kevin Short: 72nd to 26th
Mr. Pink's year was highlighted by a win at the Mississippi plus some all-around strong fishing. Some of the inconsistency that plagued him in 2008 reared its head again this year, and he missed three checks of a possible eight. He's headed to his second Classic though, and if he can continue the pace next year, and avoid some of that inconsistency, he should climb even higher.
> Net gain this year: 46 spots
Scott Martin: 74th to 31st
Martin set himself up for a climb last year when he scored a runner-up finish at Ft. Loudoun–Tellico. He did put up a few clunkers this year – 128th at Table Rock and 102nd at Beaver – but a win at Champlain was huge, and he it followed up with a 12th at the Pittsburgh Cup. If he can keep up the pace, he might climb quickly next spring when he begins do drop a few rock-bottom finishes from early 2008.
> Net gain this year: 43 spots
Mark Hardin: 81st to 31st
Hardin's otherwise consistent year was marred by a 109th at Kentucky Lake. Aside from that, his worst finish was 56th. His peak was a 3rd at Champlain and he narrowly missed the cut at Beaver. His 68th at Pittsburgh was a massive disappointment, but poor finishes in championships don't hurt and angler's rank per se, since anglers simply receive bonuses for championship finishes (in other words, the World Rankings don't penalize a pro for fishing a championship).
> Net gain this year: 50 spots
Dave Lefebre's late-season tear started at Beaver – traditionally his worst venue.
Shad Schenck: 91st to 40th
Schenck's 2008 was certainly forgettable with three finishes worse than 100th, but 2009 was an entirely different story. After a lackluster start (64th, 73rd, 70th) he rallied to post finishes of 36th, 12th and 15th.
> Net gain this year: 51 spots
Byron Velvick: 141st to 42nd
There was a time when Velvick simply had too much going on. He anchored BassCenter, still worked the angles to capitalize on his Bachelor fame, and the angler within was never able to materialize. With all that behind him, he's fishing the best he ever has and he notched a significant career mark this season with three consecutive Top 12 cuts (Smith Mt., Kentucky Lake and Guntersville).
> Net gain this year: 99 spots
Takahiro Omori: 84th to 44th
Omori's had some problems the past few years with up/down finishes. He certainly didn't escape that trend this year, but he did put the pedal down at a few venues and turned good finishes into great ones. His season highlights were a 3rd at Wheeler, an 8th at the Mississippi and a 12th at Oneida. Wheeler marked his first Top 12 cut since back in 2007.
> Net gain this year: 40 spots
Dave Lefebre: 145th to 50th
A runner-up finish at last year's Murray Cup, plus a late-season tear this year propelled Lefebre up the Rankings. His late-season run started with a 28th at Beaver (traditionally his worst venue), continued with a 16th at Kentucky Lake, then peaked with a 6th at Champlain and an 8th at the Pittsburgh Cup.
> Net gain this year: 95 spots
Notable
> Too bad for Lefebre that the World Rankings don't incorporate the Eastern FLW Series. He finished 2nd in the points there this year, 4th the year before and 8th in 2007. Prior to the east/west split, he won the FLW Series points title (2006).
> Two other notable World Rankings climbs: Shaw Grigsby, Jr. and Gerald Swindle improved by 38 spots this year (to 28th and 35th respectively).
