About the Rankings

0

The Bass Rankings World Rankings are the most comprehensive and accurate multi-year rankings of the world’s tournament bass anglers, from the professionals to the amateurs.

Why

Bass Rankings’ goal since its inception has been two-fold.

First, while there is no denying that professional anglers on the major tournament circuits are the faces of the sport, there are far greater numbers of skilled tournament anglers that are neglected by only ranking top-level pros. Many of these anglers are extremely talented, yet for various reasons they are unable to compete full-time. We wanted to give this vast population a way to compare itself against one another, or against the top-level professionals.

Second, previous ranking systems were designed to create singular rankings that were limited to how they ranked anglers. While they accomplished their goals of ranking anglers over a set and current period of time, we wanted to know more. We wanted to see how current anglers compared to past, who was the hottest angler on a given tour’s history, or who was the best angler on a given lake. While our ranking formula would stay the same, we wanted to be able to alter the parameters to show not one set ranking, but an infinite number of rankings based of varying time periods, tournament circuits, states or even individual lakes. This adaptability allows, for the first time, anglers and users to see how they stack up any way they want and finally give an answer to any debate about who is the best.

Categorizing Anglers

In order to accurately rank anglers of all tournament levels, Bass Rankings first had to categorize them. By that, we mean figuring what exactly constitutes a “professional” tournament angler versus an “amateur” tournament angler. Here is a breakdown of the six current categories of tournament anglers on this site, along with explanations. Note: Individual anglers can change categories season to season based on the level of tournaments he or she fishes in a given season.

Major: Anglers who fish as boaters in a minimum of eight tournaments in a 2-year span on the following tours/events: BASS Elites, Bassmaster Classics, FLW Tour Majors and Opens (formerly the FLW Series), Forrest Wood Cups, PAA Series, and PAA TTBC events.

Major Co-angler: Anglers who fish as non-boaters in a minimum of six tournaments in a 2-year span on the following tours/events: FLW Tour Majors and Opens (formerly the FLW Series), and Forrest Wood Cups.

Minor: Anglers who fish as boaters in a minimum of six tournaments in a 2-year span on the following tours/events: BASS Opens, FLW EverStarts and corresponding championships.

Minor Co-angler: Anglers who fish as non-boaters in a minimum of six tournaments in a 2-year span on the following tours/events: BASS Opens, FLW EverStarts and corresponding championships.

Women: Anglers who fish as boaters in a minimum of three tournaments in a 2-year span on the following tours/events: BASS WBT, LBAA Women’s Tour and corresponding championships.

Women Co-Angler: Anglers who fish as non-boaters in a minimum of three tournaments in a 2-year span on the following tours/events: BASS WBT, LBAA Women’s Tour and corresponding championships.

How

Here’s a brief overview of what’s involved in calculating the Bass Rankings World Rankings.

  • The rankings are based on angler performance in his or her respective level.
  • Events and point distribution are weighted based on size of field. Points are on a 1000-point scale per event and will be awarded based on the percentage of the field that the angler beat. For example, if an angler beat 99.4% of the field he will have earned 994 points for the event.
  • There are no bonus points.
  • Championships are treated equal to regular-season tournaments.
  • The Bass Rankings World Rankings methodology ensures that anglers who fish only one tour or series are not at a disadvantage versus anglers who fish more than one.
  • The rankings use data from the current and immediately prior years only (a rolling 2 calendar years), and are updated after each tournament in the angler’s respective level.
  • The rankings are not an indication of who is/was the best bass angler ever. They simply state who currently is the best angler in the world. However, using Bass Ranking’s Custom Search (see below) allows the opportunity to compare pros over time, allowing users to make their own conclusions.

Custom Search

Bass Rankings provides an accurate World Rankings for six levels of anglers. However, the rankings don’t end there.

Bass Rankings has included a Custom Search option, which allows users to compare anglers beyond the calculation for the World Ranking. While the World Rankings uses a set formula over a 2-year period and set events, Custom Search allows the user to compare anglers over greater or shorter time periods, by varying tours or even by the lakes they fish. Here is a rundown of how users can use Custom Search to rank and compare anglers on their own:

Start Date/End Date: Want to see who is the best angler over a 5-year period? Who was the best between 2000 and 2003? Who is the best angler in the month of May? Who is on a hot streak or who is slumping? Who is the most consistent? This criteria allows you to expand or shrink the time period to see how anglers compare against one another.

Level: Choose the level of anglers you would like to see ranked.

Threshold: Choose the minimum number of qualifying events that an angler must have participated to be included in the results. (Think of it as a minimum number of ‘at-bats’ a player needs before he can start being compared to others.)

State: Choose a specific state to see who is the best local angler, or how touring pros fair state to state.

Lake: Think you’re the best angler on your lake? Choose a specific lake to see how anglers stack up.

Share.

About Author

Sean cut his teeth in the journalist world as an award-winning sports reporter, editor and freelancer for various Chicagoland newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times and Daily Herald, eventually crossing over into editing and freelance writing in the Outdoor industry. In addition to his position as Editor for BassRankings.com, he is also a freelance outdoor writer and lure designer. He resides in the Chicago suburb of Lockport. An avid Bass and Muskie fisherman, his fishing influence began on ponds and lakes in northeast Illinois and has since expanded to a multitude of species across North and Central America. His passion for the sport is rivaled only by his love for building fishing lures, with a number of his designs being used by top professional anglers and produced by various lure companies today. Google+

Comments are closed.

Bass Rankings Suspends Site


After eight years, the team behind Bass Rankings has made the tough decision to suspend the site indefinitely.
Learn more