Reese Still Dominant, Ehrler And Thrift Ascend

Although 2010 was a topsy-turvy year for business in the sport of pro bass fishing, the pros pretty much went about their own business and fished a full slate of events in their respective leagues.

BASS again offered eight full-field Bassmaster Elite Series events, while FLW Outdoors offered its six-stop FLW Tour.

The Elite Series made a western swing for the second time in 4 years, then focused largely on the Southeast, alongside stops in Oklahoma and Virginia.

The FLW Tour skipped Beaver this year, but visited two Ozarks venues, along with repeat visits to Norman, Guntersville and Ft. Loudoun–Tellico. Its Red River opener was canceled due to weather.

The recent Forrest Wood Cup at Lake Lanier in Georgia marked the end of the 2010 Tour season, and with it comes the final edition of the BassFan World Rankings.

Skeet Reese ends the year ranked No. 1, with Kevin VanDam again ranked 2nd.

But there was lots of movement throughout the Rankings, including a brief appearance by Brent Ehrler in the No. 1 position.

What follows is a look at some of the most notable climbs and falls this year in the Rankings.

The Top 10

1. Skeet Reese -- 234.329
2. Kevin VanDam -- 210.098
3. Brent Ehrler -- 204.648
4. Tommy Biffle -- 202.197
5. Bryan Thrift -- 199.042
6. Cliff Pace -- 184.017
7. Andy Morgan -- 178.160
8. Aaron Martens -- 177.842
9. Greg Hackney -- 176.604
10. Gary Klein -- 175.559

This was the first season since 2005 that VanDam failed to secure the No. 1 spot in the end-of-year Rankings, and only the second time he's failed to do so in the 9-year history of the Rankings. Reese simply dominated the regular season this year, and his six Top 5s, which included two wins, is a stunning statistic.

VanDam clinched his third consecutive BASS Angler of the Year (AOY) title in the post-season, but the two post-season events don't affect the Rankings and Reese still enjoys a massive lead, currently at more than 24 points.

VanDam, meanwhile, not only clinched the AOY, but won the Bassmaster Classic and the Kentucky Lake Elite Series. If not for some inconsistency in the middle of the season, VanDam would likely be much closer to Reese.

Brent Ehrler, who ends the year ranked 3rd, was one of the big stories of 2010. He won two FLW Tour events and moved ahead of Reese into the No. 1 spot for a brief time during the spring. But like VanDam, Ehrler exhibited some inconsistency. A 4th-place finish at the Cup, however, helps Ehrler gain back one additional spot in the final Rankings.

Tommy Biffle slips one spot due to Ehrler's return to 3rd, but Biffle still improved considerably this year. Remember that he began the season outside the Top 10 at 11th.

Bryan Thrift improved more than Biffle, however, as Thrift began the year at 16th and ended the year at 5th. Thrift recorded three Top 5s (one of which was a win), plus an additional Top 10 across just five FLW Tour events.

It's an interesting comparison between Thrift and Reese: Reese scored a Top 5 in 75% of the Elite Series regular-season events, whereas Thrift scored a Top 5 in 60% of the FLW Tour regular-season events. Reese scored a Top 5 in five consecutive events, however, while Thrift did it three times in a row.

Cliff Pace ends the year ranked 6th, which is well above his 41st-place rank to start the year.

Andy Morgan finds himself back inside the Top 10 with a final rank of 7th. Morgan hasn't won in a while, but is notoriously consistent and has missed a check just twice over the previous two years. His final rank marks a seven-spot improvement over the course of the season.

Perennial Top 10 angler Aaron Martens ends the season ranked 8th – a one-spot improvement since February.

After a few slump years and a 19th-place rank a year ago, Greg Hackney's back inside the Top 10 with a final rank of 9th.

Veteran Gary Klein has been much more consistent over the past 2 years and benefits with a 13-spot climb this season to a final rank of 10th.

Other Notable Improvements

There was plenty of movement outside of the Top 10 that's worth talking about. First, the good news.

> Terry Butcher makes a huge 76-point climb over the course of the season and is now ranked 11th.

> Mark Rose is hot. A lot of his success has come at the AAA level, but two FLW Tour runner-up finishes over the past 2 years help him a lot. He's up 17 spots over the year to a final rank of 12th.

> Edwin Evers came on strong. He trailed Reese in the BASS AOY race for a long while this season and logged three Top 10s and four other Top 20s. He improves 12 spots this year to a final rank of 14th. He's the highest-ranked two-tour pro at the end of the season.

> Scott Suggs nets a 42-spot improvement across the season. He's ranked 30th in this final edition.

> Three Elite Series pros made absolutely massive improvements – Russ Lane (105th to 17th), John Crews (141st to 23rd) and Derek Remitz (128th to 31st). Of the three, Crews was the only one to post a win this year (California Delta).

Notable Drops

Now the bad news.

> Mike Iaconelli is nowhere near the form he showed several years ago, and after starting the year ranked 8th, Ike finishes at 13th and outside the Top 10.

> Todd Faircloth likewise falls out of the Top 10 and ends the year ranked 19th.

> Both Luke Clausen (5th to 15th) and Clark Wendlandt (6th to 16th) fall out of the Top 10.

> Dean Rojas sort of fell apart through the second half of this season with a 64th-place average finish over the final four events. That hurts him and he ends the year ranked 36th, down 23 spots from where he started.

> It's a similar story for Alton Jones, who just couldn't put it together this year and falls all the way from 4th to end the year ranked 38th.

Notable

> Click here to view the full BassFan World Rankings. Note that columns can be sorted on the Rankings page by clicking individual headings.