Bruce Mathis, Feb. 7, 2008

How the Angler of the Year points system works

In response to one of my recent e-mail blasts, several WBT Anglers have asked me to explain how the Bassmaster Angler of the Year points standings work. In an effort to try to explain, here we go.

The system awards 300 points to the winner of each tournament, with a five-point decrease per position through fifth place, which receives 280 points. There is a four-point decrease from sixth (276) to 10th (260), a three-point decrease per position from 11th place (257) to 15th (245), a two-point decrease per position from 16th (243) through 99th (77), and finally a one-point decrease per position 100th (76) through the remainder of the field.

Anglers who finish in a tie receive points based on a formula that adds the points of the affected positions and divides the total by the number of anglers tied for the position. The resulting number represents the number of points awarded to each angler. Example: three anglers are tied for 10th place. This means that places 10, 11 and 12 are affected. Tenth place points (260), 11th place (257), and 12th place (254), totaled = 771points divided by 3 = 257 points. So each angler tied for 10th place receives 257 points.

Five bonus points are added to an angler's total for each day s/he leads a tournament, including the final day. Anglers who do not catch a fish in a tournament do not receive any Bassmaster Angler of the Year points.

Bassmaster Angler of the Year points accumulate over the number of tournaments in the series for the year.

The Angler of the Year Point Breakdown

In 2008, WBT Anglers must fish, or pay to fish, all four regular season tournaments to be eligible to qualify for the 2008 WBT Championship. After the fourth tournament is concluded, each angler will be allowed to drop the points from their lowest point tournament. The remaining three tournaments' points will then be totaled for the final season standings. The top 20 Pros and top 20 Co-anglers will qualify for the 2008 WBT Championship in Hot Springs, Ark., on Lake Hamilton, October 23-25.

Now that I have thoroughly confused some of you, if you have questions, please e-mail me at bruce.j.mathis@bassmaster.com.