Winning the Bassmaster Classic or winning Bassmaster Angler of the Year, which is better?  When I say winning Angler of the Year, I don't mean the Angler of the Year Championship tournament, I mean winning the AOY race in the overall standings (like Swindle did last season).  Winning the classic is pretty good but winning AOY shows consistency over a full season in multiple tournaments.

That's a tough call. 

Many would say that the AOY is harder to attain and they may be right. 

But there are some really good sticks, who did win one or several AOY's, but never won a single classic; despite many many, many years of qualifying & fishing the event.

The following is a list of famous BASS anglers who are Non-Classic winners along with the number of classics they competed in:

Bill Dance 8 

Greg Hackney 13 

Shaw Grigsby 15 

Jimmy Houston 15 

Gerald Swindle 15 

Zell Roland 16 

Arron Martins 17

Tommy Biffle 19

Gary Klein 30 !

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

Like A-Jay said it is a tough call. You have to be consistent to win the AOY but you don't have to win. 

 

The classic you have to be consistent to make the classic then you have to win the classic. 

 

On the flip side you have to be more consistent than 100 or so other anglers fishing in all different types of conditions, lakes, and areas of the country to win AOY. Not to mention you're fishing for LMB, SMB, and spots. 

 

I'll just say both are extremely difficult. If you've done one or the other you are extremely good. If you've done both you're great. If you've done both multiple times you're not human! 

Hmmmmm.....when you mention which is better if it were me I would imagine I would take the one that puts more $$$$ in the bank.  Could be a healer and lead to help a person to focus on other goals.   (Classic)

I would take the $300k for winning the classic, plus your sponsor worth shoots through the roof even more so than from winning the aoy.  Winning the classic also means that the xxxx bassmaster classic champion will pretty much precede your name forever.

This question dates back to 1979 and that year's Classic. Here's a little history on the debate the first time it came to the forefront. Fun to see the question still debated nearly 50 years later 

 

1979 Debate I

 

1979 Debate II

Definitely the Classic. Pro anglers need big time sponsorships to keep fishing. You need big money to travel, not only for tournaments but also to practice on these lakes. Also with a $10,000 entry fee, that needs to be covered. AOY doesn't bring the big sponsors like the Classic. 

If I were a Pro, I'd rather win the AOY.

4 hours ago, Gundog said:

Definitely the Classic. Pro anglers need big time sponsorships to keep fishing. You need big money to travel, not only for tournaments but also to practice on these lakes. Also with a $10,000 entry fee, that needs to be covered. AOY doesn't bring the big sponsors like the Classic. 

It would be interesting to see how long those sponsorship contracts would be for after a classic win. Aaron Martins and Gerald Swindle are both big names and both have a ton of sponsors quite a few have been long term sponsors. Neither have won a classic, both have won a couple AOY's, and Swindle has never one and Elite title surprisingly enough. 

 

In T9's links he posted Roland Martin said sponsors like AOY's over Classic wins because it shows consistancy and you're going to get more exposure through the year. 

 

Everyone has their own opinion including the anglers themselves! They can't even agree. What would be interesting to know is what would a big name sponsor prefer? That's the opinion that really matters. 

Which one makes them more of a household name? I would say more people know the names of Classic winners more then they know AOY. 

To me it is like would you rather win MVP or the Super Bowl.  I am taking the Super Bowl and the classic title myself.  

AOY , I think is a more prestigious title . A person an luck into a population of fish to win the classic . 

10 hours ago, scaleface said:

AOY , I think is a more prestigious title . A person an luck into a population of fish to win the classic . 

you aren't lucking into a population of fish for 3 days when there are the top anglers in the world trying to luck into those same fish.  

From what I have read and from knowing a couple of Elite Series anglers as friends, the AOY title is respected more by the anglers themselves and the Classic title is for the public.  Neither one is something to sneeze at!!  

The Classic is up for grabs for anyone to win if they can qualify for it.  Look at the recent wins.  Casey Ashley won because he was on his home waters.  Edwin Evers also won because he was on his home waters.  Jordan Lee was out of it after the first day and got lucky with a few big fish to win.  Same with Randy Howell, got lucky and found fish stacked and caught a bunch of good ones.  Then you look at a couple other recent ones like Cliff Pace and Chris Lane.  You really don't hear their names much anymore.  Well you hear about them but they aren't making much noise in many tournaments.

 

I think the AOY is much more prestigious because it shows that an angler can fish many types of different water and can string together a bunch of good finishes in a row.