We're nearing BASS' second postseason, a two-tournament playoff that will determine the 2010 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year.
The format and the venue will be the same as last year. The top 12 anglers from the Angler of the Year standings will be competing. Their point totals have been adjusted from the regular season to reflect wins and set them up for the postseason. Here's where they stand now:
|
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
6.
7.
8.
9.
|
Angler
Skeet Reese
Edwin Evers
Cliff Pace
Derek Remitz
Kevin VanDam
Terry Butcher
Tommy Biffle
John Crews
Gary Klein
Greg Hackney
Aaron Martens
Russ Lane
|
Points
216
201
187
185
185
184
182
181
177
177
177
177
|
Points for each event will be awarded as follows:
|
Place
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
|
Points
50
45
40
36
32
28
25
22
19
16
13
10
|
Some quick math will tell you that all 12 of the finalists still have a chance to win Angler of the Year, though Skeet Reese is the clear favorite. We'll post odds for each of the qualifiers in the coming weeks. Until then, bring yourself up to speed on the race with these factoids:
• Skeet Reese posted the highest points total (through eight events) in Elite history with 2,116. The second-best total after eight events was 2,048 by Kevin VanDam in 2008.
Five anglers headed for this year's postseason also made it last year: Skeet Reese, Cliff Pace, Kevin VanDam, Tommy Biffle and Gary Klein. Four of the other seven are Classic bound. Mark Menendez (50th), Alton Jones (56th) and Randy Howell (57th) fell on tough times.
• Edwin Evers is back with a vengeance. After a lackluster 2009, when he finished 44th and missed the Bassmaster Classic for the first time in years, Evers is second going into the postseason and has a shot at his first AOY title.
• Kevin VanDam and Skeet Reese are the only anglers to finish in the top 12 each year of the Elite Series (2006-2010). In fact, VanDam has never been worse that sixth and Reese has never ranked lower than seventh.
• Tommy Biffle has finished in the top 12 in four of the five Elite seasons. Edwin Evers, Todd Faircloth, Greg Hackney, Michael Iaconelli and Aaron Martens have made it three times each.
• Terry Butcher, John Crews, Russ Lane and Derek Remitz are all fishing in uncharted territory. None of them has ever ranked so high in the AOY race before.
• Russ Lane of Prattville, Ala., will be on his home waters during the postseason. The lifelong Alabaman has logged more hours on Lake Jordan and the Alabama River than the rest of the qualifiers combined. Unfortunately for Lane, he's tied for last place going into the competition and may have dug too deep a hole to have a realistic shot at AOY.
• The Toyota 12 have won nine AOY titles among them (five for KVD, two for Klein and one each for Martens and Reese). VanDam, Reese and Martens account for five of the last six titles.
• The average age of the Toyota 12 is 38.91 years. The youngest angler in the field is Derek Remitz, who will be 28 years, 1 month and 1 day old at the end of the competition. The oldest angler in the field is Gary Klein, who will be 52 years, 9 months and 19 days old when it's all over. The average age of an AOY is 35.63.
• If either Klein or Biffle win AOY, they will become the oldest ever to win the title and the first angler to win in his 50s.
• Kevin VanDam, the "Kalamazoo Kid," is the third oldest angler in the field at 42 years, 9 months and 16 days.
Check back with us for more on Toyota Trucks Championship Week as the events near.