Happy New Years to all Western Anglers,

We wanted to introduce to you a collaborative new system that will rank the West's Professional Anglers. Read below from the Press Release currently up on the Westernbass.com homepage.

Keep checking for more information and developments regarding this new service for the Western Angler.

Thanks,
Charley Almassey
Dan O'Sullivan
The W.A.R. Report

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Rocklin, Calif., January 1, 2008 – Every sport has its own ranking systems; from the BCS in College Football, to the AP poll in College Basketball to the Power Rankings in the NFL and NBA. Starting January 1, 2008, professional anglers in the Western United States will have their own ranking system.

The W.A.R. (Western Angler Ranking) Report is a system of ranking the more than 750 pro anglers who have entered any or all of the three professional level tournament circuits in the West in the past two seasons.

Pro Anglers who have competed in the FLW Series National Guard Western Division, FLW Stren Series and WON Bass Northern and Southern Pro / AAA Draw circuits in the 2006 and 2007 seasons will be compiled, and given a score based on their results. At the close of each 2008-sanctioned event, points will be added to them in order to come up with the top professional tournament anglers in the Western United States for the past three years. In 2009 and beyond, The W.A.R. Report will be kept as a three year running total, with the oldest equal result dropping off as a new event finishes.

Each pro angler will receive one point per finishing position of a W.A.R. sanctioned event, with the first place position receiving the highest amount of available points. The W.A.R. Report will then tabulate the fields based on strength of field of the individual tournament circuit. FLW Series National Guard will receive the highest weighting for strength of field, followed by FLW Stren Series and WON Bass Northern and Southern Divisions.

The W.A.R. Report is a collaborative effort between co-founders, Charley Almassey, West Coast Inland District Manager for West Marine; Dan O’Sullivan, Contributing Writer to Westernbass.com and BASS WEST USA, and Senior Writer for BASS ZONE .com.

Westernbass.com will be the exclusive Internet home for The W.A.R. Report; anglers will be able to access The W.A.R. Report directly from a link on the Westernbass.com index page.

The W.A.R. Report is designed to remove speculation as to who the best professional tournament angler is in the Western United States. The W.A.R. Report is also designed to be a pure ranking system based on the angler’s continued performance on the biggest stages available in the West.

“We are looking forward to helping bring the pedigree of the Western Angler to a more intense spotlight,” Almassey and O’Sullivan said. “The Western Pros work very hard at their craft, and we want to help highlight their efforts to the whole of the region, as well as the rest of country.

The pair said that their main objectives are to highlight consistent performance, as well as continue to grow the sport of Professional Bass Fishing “The W.A.R. Report will be the measurement for head to head comparison of angler results, which will result in higher visibility and marketability for the Western Pro Angler,” they remarked. “We expect that the result will be increased exposure for the anglers, as well as increased interest in the sport from anglers in general.”

The first edition of The W.A.R. Report will be published the evening of Monday, January 13, 2008, the day after the opening event of the FLW Stren Series 2008 season. It will include both, The WON Bass and Stren Shasta Lake results.

Keep checking Westernbass.com for more info on The W.A.R. Report, The Official Ranking System of the Western Professional Angler. For more information contact Dan O’Sullivan at: danobass@sbcglobal.net