The BassFan World Rankings are brought to you by BustinBass.
The conclusion of the recent Oneida Bassmaster Elite Series marked the end of the 2009 tour season. Although the Top 12 in the Bassmaster Elite Series will fish the newly created BASS Championship Week in September, those events will not affect the BassFan World Rankings.
Below is a look at the final 2009 edition of BassFan World Rankings, as updated after Oneida.
VanDam Unstoppable
Kevin VanDam ends the year ranked No. 1 again – a familiar spot for the most dominating angler of the modern era.
VanDam's 26-point lead is simply massive.
In the 8 years since the Rankings were first published, VanDam has finished the season ranked No. 1 all but once (2005).
His accomplishments this year include a win at Smith Mt. Lake, two 2nds (Dardanelle and Kentucky Lake) and an 8th at Amistad. Another way to look at it is he finished within the Top 10 in 50% of the Elite Series events this year, and finished 1st or 2nd 38% of the time.
He leads the Toyota Tundra BASS Angler of the Year (AOY) race heading into Championship week.
He also leads all anglers in the career winning list, and is quickly closing in on the $4 million mark.
Battle For 2nd
FLW Tour pro Brent Ehrler and Bassmaster Elite Series pro Skeet Reese have flip-flopped each other at 2nd throughout the year. Ehrler finishes the year ranked 2nd, with Reese 3rd. The battle has generated quite a bit of controversy among BassFans, most of whom write to say Reese should be ranked 2nd.
Although the Rankings formula is statistical, and cannot be manipulated by human hand, the controversy is notable because it mirrors the ongoing discussion of which tour is more difficult – the Elite Series or FLW Tour.
That's for the public to decide, but Ehrler's accomplishments can't be understated. The FLW Tour fielded 200 boats in 2008, and roughly 150 boats this year. Across both years and the eight regular season events that currently count toward Ehrler's rank, he's recorded three Top 10s, plus five more finishes of 15th or better.
Reese displayed similar power. Across the 21 regular-season events that count in his rank, Reese scored five Top 10s, plus four finishes of 17th or better. Again, however, those must be measured against 100-odd boats (vs. 150 to 200 for the FLW Tour).
Reese, of course, added a Classic win to his scoresheet this year.
Ultimately, the World Rankings are nearly impossible to predict, and relative finishes are a poor measure because anglers are also affected by how they fare against other ranked anglers.
Rest of the Top 10
Alton Jones retains his 4th-place rank in this final edition.
FLW Tour pro Luke Clausen didn't fish Oneida, but improves a spot to finish the year ranked 5th.
Clark Wendlandt, who won his third FLW Tour AOY award this year, climbs two spots in this final edition to the rank of 6th.
Todd Faircloth continues to fish well. He began the year ranked 2nd, slipped to 9th, but moves up two spots to end the year ranked 7th.
Mike Iaconelli has torn it up lately, but a disappointing 54th at Oneida doesn't help him. He drops three spots in this final edition to 8th, despite 2nd-place finishes in both the Bassmaster Classic and Forrest Wood Cup.
Aaron Martens turned in a mind-boggling 93rd at Oneida, which dropped him out of the BASS Championship week, and he slides two spots to end the year ranked 9th.
After a 15th at Oneida, Mike McClelland retains his 10th-place rankings.
Other Notable Movement
There was significant movement outside the Top 10 in this final edition.
An 8th at Oneida helps Tommy Biffle improve 5 spots to 11th, but he can't quite crack the Top 10.
A 3rd at Oneida was the third Top 10 this season for Dean Rojas, and he moves up seven spots to end the year ranked 13th.
A 6th at Oneida marked Steve Kennedy's third consecutive Top 10. He moves up nine spots to 18th.
Forrest Wood Cup champion Greg Hackney also moves up nine spots (to 19th). A 7th at Oneida certainly helps Hack.
Bobby Lane lost his day-1 weight at Oneida due to a culling error. He went on to finish 97th and drops 10 spots to end the year ranked 22nd.
Former BASS AOY Gerald Swindle's on the upswing. His final three finishes of the year were 9th, 11th and 9th. He improves a whopping 24 spots to end the year ranked 35th.
Oneida runner-up Jeff Kriet leaps up 33 spots to 49th.
Like Lane, Bill Lowen also lost his day-1 weight at Oneida on a culling error, and he's down 22 spots in this final edition to 65th.
Oneida winner Chad Griffin, a rookie, is still well below the radar, but he does climb 50 spots in this edition to 182nd.
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