2010 Moments To Remember

(Editor's note: BassFan will suspend feature publication during the holidays as it does each year, although important, breaking news will still be reported. The staff wishes everyone a joyous holiday and we'll be back after New Year's.)

What a difference a year makes. A year ago, FLW Outdoors had either scuttled or shaved many of its offerings, while B.A.S.S. plodded along in survival mode. At the same time, the Genmar Holdings bankruptcy auction was fast approaching, and everyone wondered what 2010 would bring.

Then there was the sport itself – some pros dancing atop the cliff of financial ruin, others seeking redemption or first blood on the tours.

In retrospect, 2010 as a whole breathed new life into a tired sport. New management at FLW Outdoors, new owners at B.A.S.S., a seemingly healthy future for several boat brands and plenty of drama on the tours kept fans in the game.

The sport thus looks toward 2011 with hope. But before we cross that calendar line and declare the new season started, here's a look back at some of the memorable highlights from the tumultuous year 2010.

New Co-World Record (January)

After a lengthy certification process, the IGFA certifies Manabu Kurita's 22-pound, 4.97-ounce Lake Biwa behemoth as a tie for the world-record largemouth bass. Despite the status of his fish, Kurita struggles to profit from it and later in the year decides to sell the mount in order to keep fishing for a "true" record.

Ranger, Stratos, Champion Purchased By Platinum Equity (January)

On January 9, longtime Genmar chairman Irwin Jacobs lost three bass-boat brands to Platinum Equity through a bankrupcty auction. Platinum, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, took control of Ranger, Stratos and Champion.

Immediately, questions arose about the future of FLW Outdoors, since Jacobs (who also owns FLW) said many times that the goal of FLW Outdoors was to sell Ranger boats. But as it turned out, Platinum continued its programs with FLW Outdoors through a multiyear sponsor agreement.

There's also immediate concern about the Champion brand, which in many ways competed with Ranger. Platinum, through its new Fishing Holdings subsidiary, scuttles Champion as a separate brand and moves its hulls into the Stratos line. All three brands are now manufactured in Flippin, Ark.

FLW Cancels Red River Tour Stop (January)

It's rare for FLW Outdoors to outright cancel an event, especially a tour-level event, but dangerous navigation conditions at the Red River forced the league to cancel its first Tour event of the season. Angler of the Year (AOY) will now be decided across five events instead of six.

Fishburne's Return (February)

B.A.S.S. announces in early February that Fish Fishburne will return to the Bassmaster Classic stage and play a role at the weigh-in festivities. This gets fans buzzing. Fish ultimately plays a secondary, crowd-oriented role. And when B.A.S.S. replaces emcee Keith Alan 10 months later, it chooses Dave Mercer. Not Fishburne.

KVD Wins Ice Classic: Battle of Beeswax

B.A.S.S. survived the first few years of its new winter Bassmaster Classic format, but the field arrives this time at Lay Lake and witnesses skimmed-over bays and arctic-like temperatures. There's only one creek with biting fish – Beeswax, where most local tournament fish are released. The Classic becomes the Battle of Beeswax with leaders fishing within sight of one another. Reigning AOY Kevin VanDam triumphs and hoists his third Classic trophy while fellow Beeswax combatants Jeff Kriet and Todd Faircloth finish 2nd and 3rd respectively. The water does warm just enough by day 3 for local Russ Lane to run and gun, but his charge is too little, too late.

Ehrler Wins Back-To-Back, Reaches No. 1 (March)

Brent Ehrler continues his western dominance with a win at the Shasta Western FLW Series, then wins the Table Rock FLW Tour. He climbs to the rank of No. 1 in the world, but stays there only a brief time. Ehrler will win again in May at Ouachita and record the oh-so-rare mark of two FLW Tour victories in a single season.

Crews' Final Flip (March)

It made for the best possible TV, and tugged at the heartstrings of every BassFan. Far from home at the California Delta, Crews ropes a 5-pounder on his very final flip of the tournament and edges homer Skeet Reese by a single ounce.

"There's a lot of emotions, for sure," Crews tells BassFan. "It's pretty amazing. I thought Skeet was going to win it. I knew he was going to catch 17 to 20 pounds and I thought I had 17 or 18. Then when I was putting my fish in the bag, my heart jumped up a little bit. It was like, wait a minute, I might have a pretty good sack here. I could be close to 20."

Thrift's Streak (April)

Brian Thrift brings it home at Norman in March to notch his first tour-level win, but that win is sandwiched between two other FLW Tour Top 5s – a remarkable accomplishment.

Reese Caps Streak (May)

Skeet Reese goes on a mind-bending tear and records five consecutive Top 5 Elite Series finishes, two of which are wins. The first win is at Smith Mt. in April, the second at Guntersville in May. His streak has yet to be judged against history, but it's right there with Denny Brauer's late-'90s tear.

ESPN Dumps The Outdoors (May)

ESPN confirms that effective Jan. 1, 2011, it'll shutter its long-running outdoors block. The news fuels speculation that ESPN will sell B.A.S.S. and sets several long-running shows into a scramble mode to find new networks.

KVD Wins KY (June)

After a slump that actually put him outside of Classic qualification, VanDam climbs back up, then slams home a win at Kentucky Lake. A 6th-place finish at the final event of the season a week later puts him in position for an AOY title in the post-season.

River Blowout Relocation

B.A.S.S. suddenly changes venues at its final regular-season event and the field has a single day to practice Ft. Gibson. Local Tommy Biffle heroically yet predictably prevails, but the event triggers a chain of controversy among the pros. If all information was off-limits, how were some pros able to find isolated offshore hotspots so quickly? they ask. A storm quietly brews.

FLW Expands?! (June)

Amidst predictions that FLW Outdoors would downsize further, the league surprises everyone with an aggressive, expanded 10-event 2011 FLW Tour schedule that wraps in the former FLW Series as Opens. What the media and public doesn't know is that a major sponsor will be announced about a month and a half later (see Walmart below).

Ranger, Triton Merge (July)

In a sign of just how small the bass-boat market has become, Brunswick sells its Triton boat brand to Platinum Equity. All of which means the two largest bass-boat brands and once-fierce competitors – Ranger and Triton – are now married under a single roof in Flippin, Ark.

VanDam Edges Reese Again (July)

VanDam triumphs on the same waters for the second year in a row over the same angler: He edges Skeet Reese in the post-season to earn his sixth AOY title. For the record, VanDam sandwiches his Classic victory between two AOY titles. Wow.

B.A.S.S. Sale Confirmed (August)

On August 3, ESPN announces a memorandum of understanding to sell B.A.S.S. to Don Logan, Jerry McKinnis and Jim Copeland. The news excites the industry.

The Pickens, Walmart Plan (August)

FLW Outdoors stuns the sport a week later when Irwin Jacobs addresses the Forrest Wood Cup field and announces that Walmart's back onboard, and that billionaire philanthropist T. Boone Pickens is now an equity partner in the organization. Again, the news delivers yet more hope and promise for 2011. Shortly after, then-president and CEO Charlie Evans is relieved of duties at FLW Outdoors and the era of new management under Trisha Blake and Kathy Fennel begins.

Hawk Swoops in for Kill (August)

Youngling Kevin Hawk proves that hard work can pay off. After relocating from California to Georgia solely to practice for the Cup, Hawk triumphs at Lake Lanier and wins the Cup. The event might come to be viewed as pivotal in the sport's history – GPS combined with modern graphing technology and time on the water allows Hawk to catalog and study thousands of waypoints. A blueprint for future championships?

Both Leagues Make Format Changes (October)

FLW announces a revised logo policy that lets anglers wear their own logos on the final TV days of competition, provided they don't compete with a long list of FLW-exclusive categories. Tackle remains an open category, which is a boon for many pros.

A short while later, B.A.S.S. announces a new Classic qualifying structure to begin with the 2012 Classic. Short version: Win and you're in - meaning, if you win an Open or Elite Series event, you earn a Classic berth. Also for 2012, only the Top 73 in the Elite Series points will be invited back onto the tour.

B.A.S.S. Sale Closes

Nov. 1, 2010 marks the official close of the B.A.S.S. sale. ESPN is fully out of the outdoors game and new owners Don Logan, Jerry McKinnis and Jim Copeland begin their era of ownership. The sport looks toward 2011 with renewed optimism.