It’s been a busy week for those watching the rankings. Particularly for those watching the top spots.
Brent Ehrler’s lead over Kevin VanDam shrunk despite a good showing at Guntersville, while Michael Simonton now reigns in the Minors.
Every tournament has its favorites to win. Some look at local pros as the favorites. Others go by past performances. Yet others simply go on hunches.
We go by numbers, and we have plenty of them. Hence the series “Data Overload.”
Before every Majors event, we want to use our database of stats to figure out who really are the favorites at any given event. We want to know if locals really hold the edge, or if time of year makes a difference with certain pros. We don’t want opinions. Just stats.
Are you ready? Then let’s start crunching.
Double dipping may be a reality of our sport, but it’s not anymore in our Minors World Rankings.
After fans voiced the want for a Minors World Rankings that didn’t include Major-level professionals, we listened and created separate rankings — one without the pros, and one will everybody.
If there is one thing that is always true about the sport of tournament fishing, it’s that it is constantly changing. The same could be said about our World Rankings.
When we decided on a two-year time period, we didn’t want those years to start in January and end in December. We wanted it to be a revolving two years, meaning the rankings have the capability to change every day, just like the sport.
Check out the latest rankings, where Kevin VanDam has moved to No. 2, and various other anglers have shuffled with the dropping of a Majors event.
Judging by the number of emails, comments and calls we have received since we launched, there seems to be a segment of the fishing population that isn’t convinced about our rankings … actually, make that one aspect of our rankings.
That Kevin VanDam is the No. 3 ranked angler in the world right now.
Like we said from the start, we weren’t looking to defy conventional wisdom or stir up a crazy debate. We simply wanted to create a fair and accurate ranking system, and that system ranked VanDam No. 3.
Baffling, surprising, crazy, downright idiotic – yeah, we have heard all these things from fans in regards to VanDam not being the top angler. But trust us, the numbers don’t lie. In fact, we’ll prove it.
Welcome to Bass Rankings, tournament bass fishing’s authority for angler rankings and stats.
As tournament bass fishing continues to grow and expand, anglers’ interest in how they stack up against one another only continues to grow with it. While there have been a few attempts at ranking tournament anglers, they have been limited to the top-level professionals and how they were ranked. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the tournament-fishing population has been neglected.
That all changes now.
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.
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.
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.
Let us start by saying that we were just as surprised as you.
Now, before ranting that there is no way KVD isn’t No. 1 or questioning our mental make ups, let us explain.
When we formulated our rankings, we weren’t looking to defy conventional wisdom or stir up a crazy debate. We simply wanted to create a fair and accurate ranking system; a system that used a simple formula much like how a baseball player’s batting average is calculated. Take the number of tournaments at a certain level an angler fishes over a set time period, figure out the percentage of anglers he or she beats in those tournaments, and the average percentage of anglers beaten determines the angler’s ranking.
Just as a baseball player with a .330 batting average for a season is technically a better hitter than one with a .320 batting average, the numbers don’t lie. They are simply fact. As is the fact that Kevin VanDam has beaten 77.8 percent of the field on average during the same two-year time span, which places him as – cue gasps and profanities – the third best angler in the sport right now.
For the first time ever, anglers fishing minor-level events – BASS Opens, FLW EverStarts and their corresponding championships – can see how they stack up against one another. Meanwhile, fans can monitor this list in an effort to uncover and follow rising stars that are about to make a splash in the professional ranks.
Well, bass anglers and fans, welcome to the future.
In a sport dominated by men, it’s easy to forget that there are plenty of talented female anglers out there. We wanted to give them their due.
Ladies, consider yourselves ranked.
After eight years, the team behind Bass Rankings has made the tough decision to suspend the site indefinitely.
Learn more