Who's the best pro angler right now?

[Hower08]

You would have to look at it like football. Rushing yards etc...... 

 

Break it down into

limits weighed in,

big bass of tourney,

# of tourneys won and

# of top 10 or 15 finishes for the season 

 

That would tell you who the most consistent angler is which in turn should truly equal the best. Or just look at AOY standings although I believe this is about how they score for it. Which is how it pretty much gets scored in any club I have fished 

[Brad Reid]

My links didn't work in a prior post, not sure why but quoting from it now . . . and I put VanDam stats and info in bold print.

 

I must say, I was shocked to see how dominant KVD has been, even since his last Classic victory. 

 

Here, summarizing KVD from that source from 2012 to last year:

 

The man with more B.A.S.S. victories (25) and career earnings than anyone has also proven over the past seven years that regardless of the format he's competing under, he’s a force to be reckoned with.

A another site analysis of the results of every Major League Fishing Summit and Challenge Cup events held since the organization launched in 2012 revealed that VanDam is just as dominant in the every-fish-counts-catch-weigh-release format as he has been in traditional tournament setups, perhaps even more so.

With the completion of the 2018 Challenge Cup held in Natchez, Miss., and Vidalia, La., won by (you guessed it) VanDam, MLF has held 13 Cup events. Each event has three stages to it – Elimination Round, Sudden Death and Championship. That’s 39 possible rounds of competition.

Despite missing one event due to a scheduling conflict, VanDam has competed in 32 of the 36 rounds he’s been eligible for, posting a series-best 10 first-place finishes, meaning every time he hits the water for a round of Cup competition there's a 31 percent chance he's going to prevail. He is the only MLF angler to advance to the Sudden Death round in each Cup event he’s competed at and his three Cup titles also lead all competitors.

 

That consistency has allowed him to pile up some astonishing statistics. Here’s a sampling:

 

> His 531 total fish are far and away tops among Cup anglers. Aaron Martens is 2nd with 400 and Martens has competed in all 13 Cups.

> VanDam’s 930.1875 pounds is also first among Cup anglers. Martens’ 702.625 is the next best total.

> VanDam far exceeds the average production during a given round of Cup competition. He averages a series-leading 16.59 fish and 29.07 pounds each time he puts on an MLF jersey for a Cup event. The series averages are 11.43 fish and 20.05 pounds. The average weight of a bass caught in Cup competition has been 1.754 pounds and VanDam is nearly even with 1.752.

> VanDam has qualified for the Championship Round at eight of the 12 Cup events he’s been at. Only three other anglers (Martens with seven, Brent Ehrler with six and Edwin Evers with five) have made it to at least five final rounds.

> He’s caught 40 or more pounds in nine different rounds and has recorded three of the top four individual round weight totals in Cup competition. His two best single-round weights have come in Championship rounds.

> VanDam’s weight total at the 2014 Summit Cup (190.5625 pounds) is more than 40 pounds better than the next best single-event total (Martens had 147.625 at the ’17 Summit Cup).

> VanDam is one of two anglers to crack the 40-pound mark in all three rounds at a single event. He and Greg Hackney both did it at the 2014 Summit Cup at Alpena, Mich. Here’s the kicker: VanDam also did it at the 2012 Challenge Cup at Lake Amistad, MLF's inaugural event.

> VanDam is the only competitor who’s caught 40 fish in a single round, logging an even 40 during the Championship round of the 2016 Summit Cup at La Crosse, Wis.

> He’s one of six competitors in the 30/50 Club, those who’ve caught 30 fish in a single round and amassed 50 pounds in a single round. The others are: Mike Iaconelli, Ott DeFoe, Todd Faircloth, Martens and Ehrler.

 

Here’s a rundown of the top 5 anglers in several key statistical categories for the MLF Cups (min. 13 rounds):

 

Total Fish Weighed 
1. Kevin VanDam: 531 
2. Aaron Martens: 400 
3. Edwin Evers: 345 
4. Brent Ehrler: 326 
5. Greg Hackney: 303

Fish Per Round 
1. VanDam: 16.59 
2 (tie). Martens: 13.79 
2 (tie). Mike Iaconelli: 13.79 
4. Evers: 12.78 
5. Hackney: 12.63

Total Weight 
1. VanDam: 930.1875 pounds 
2. Martens: 702.625 
3. Ehrler: 623.0615 
4. Hackney: 587.6875 
5. Evers: 565.51

Weight Per Round 
1. VanDam: 29.07 pounds 
2. Hackney: 24.49 
3. Jacob Wheeler: 24.37 
4. Martens: 24.23 
5. Iaconelli: 24.21

Highest Per-Fish Average Weight 
1. Wheeler: 2.031 pounds 
2. Ish Monroe: 2.0104 
3. Jason Quinn: 1.946 
4. Greg Hackney: 1.9396 
5. Kelly Jordon: 1.918

Biggest Individual Fish 
1. 8-05 (Bobby Lane – 2015 Challenge Cup) 
2. 8-02 (Kelly Jordon – 2014 Challenge Cup) 
3. 7-09 (Shaw Grigsby – 2016 Challenge Cup) 
4. 7-06 (Takahiro Omori – 2013 Challenge Cup) 
5. 7-05 (Boyd Duckett – 2016 Challenge Cup)

Most Fish Caught – Single Round 
1. 40 (VanDam – 2016 Summit Cup – Championship) 
2 (tie). 39 (VanDam – 2014 Summit Cup – Championship) 
2 (tie). 39 (Evers – 2017 Summit Cup – Elimination) 
4. 37 (Martens – 2017 Summit Cup – Elimination) 
5. 34 (Iaconelli – 2017 Summit Cup – Elimination)

Highest Weight – Single Round 
1. 88.00 pounds (Martens – 2017 Summit Cup – Elimination) 
2. 82.4375 (VanDam – 2014 Summit Cup – Championship) 
3. 74.5625 (VanDam – 2016 Summit Cup – Championship) 
4. 66.9375 (VanDam – 2014 Summit Cup – Elimination) 
5. 62.125 (Ehrler – 2014 Summit Cup – Elimination)

 

A better question might have been who is the second best.

 

Brad