ESPN

Being on the bubble in the Bassmaster Elite Series used to signify one thing: 36th place in the season-long Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year points competition. But 2009 is a double-bubble season.

While the top 36 will earn tickets to the Feb. 19-21 Bassmaster Classic on Lay Lake out of Birmingham, Ala., only the top 12 will qualify for the postseason and the new Sept. 10-18 Toyota Trucks Championship Week. The postseason includes two events in Alabama: Sept. 12-13 on Lake Jordan and Sept. 17-18 on the Alabama River out of Montgomery.

The upshot is that even if a pro's AOY standing might be making him feel easy about a 2010 Classic spot, he will still feel the pressure to get to the top 12. The postseason determines the winner of the AOY crown and its $200,000 prize.

Right now, on the bubble in 12th place for AOY is Mark Tucker of St. Louis.

With three tournaments remaining in the regular season, Tucker is just four points behind James Niggemeyer of Van, Texas, and Kevin Short of Mayflower, Ark., who are tied for 10th. Tucker is also 12 points behind Michael Iaconelli of Runnemede, N.J., who is more secure in ninth place. On the other side of the bubble are two pros within 10 ticks of Tucker.

So Tucker is feeling the squeeze. While he knows this week's SpongeTech Tennessee Triumph on Kentucky Lake out of Paris, Tenn., could be pivotal for him, he said he's trying not to dwell on his position in the AOY race.

"You have to look beyond that and try to stay focused, go one day at a time," he said. "You don't want to put more pressure on yourself by thinking about where you are. As long as you make the Classic, that's the key thing."

After missing out on the Classic two years in a row, Tucker really wants it in 2010; it would be his seventh Classic appearance.

Not that the postseason isn't one of his goals.

"The biggest benefits are getting more Angler of the Year money by being in the top 12, and the exposure you get from those last two tournaments," he said of the postseason. "It helps your sponsors. They deserve as much exposure as you can give them."

Fishing fans can catch expanded television coverage chronicling the two postseason events on The Bassmasters on Sept. 27 at 2-4 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

If Tucker hangs on, he could reprise or exceed his heretofore glory seasons of 2004 (36th in AOY standings), 2005 (12th) and 2006 (28th). This year, he said, he feels capable of a strong finish.

"The last two years I had a torn rotator cuff and a torn bicep," he said. "I couldn't fish like I wanted to, or as hard as I needed to fish. I had surgery last September, and now I can be out all day and work hard."

Randy Howell of Springville, Ala., would be more than happy to take over Tucker's position on the bubble. Howell is in 13th, one of the two pros less than 10 points away from catching Tucker — nine points away, to be exact.

During practice before the Wednesday kickoff of the Kentucky Lake tournament, Howell said the fishing was slower than he anticipated, and that AOY was on his mind.

"I'm trying not to get nervous or anything close to it," he said. "My goal is to keep moving up, keep climbing into the top as fast and as high as I can go."

Given his success this season, does Howell feel he has a berth in the bag for his ninth Classic? Or does he worry about a fall from grace?

"No, I never even think about it — well, I try not to," he said. "I try to look up, and never look down. You start looking down, it can mess with your head. All I need to see are the 12 places ahead of me."

On the other all-important bubble are two pros from Alabama. Tied for 36th place are Gerald Swindle from Warrior and Russ Lane from Prattville.

Lane is well aware of his position on the bubble for the 2010 Classic. He knows what he needs to do for the remaining three Elite events.

"The difference it will make will be in some of my decisions on the water," he said. "I will need to be sure I catch a solid limit every day, not go for only the big fish. I need three solid tournaments. I believe I will make it to my third Classic in five years."

Lane said he talked with Swindle recently, but the subject of their tie didn't come up. Kentucky Lake strategy was the topic — a discussion Lane didn't regard as odd to have with a direct competitor for a Classic spot.

"We were comparing notes," Lane said. "We've got three tournaments to go, and we can't do anything about how others do. And I think we'd both rather help each other out a little bit than feel we are against each other."

BASS EMPLOYEES WALK THE WALK

Following the many examples set by BASS Federation Nation members across the country, BASS employees recently organized and carried out a cleanup project on Florida's Wekiva River.

The 60 volunteers swept a section of the river that flows through Wekiwa Springs State Park in Apopka, Fla., about an hour's drive from BASS headquarters in Celebration, Fla. The Wekiva River has earned national and state designation as a Wild and Scenic River.

Manning six canoes and three kayaks, some employees culled trash from the river's banks. Others donned gloves and walked miles of park trails to snag litter before it washed into the river. Still others pitched in to replant the park's butterfly garden with flowering bushes and plants native to the area.

For the butterfly garden, BASS donated about 80 native plants selected from a list provided by the park, said Margaret Fish, one of the BASS employees who organized the daylong project.

"Everybody worked for hours," she said. "Many people commented on how beautiful the park is. We enjoyed our part in keeping it clean and beautiful."

While the Wekiwa project was not modeled after a particular BASS Federation Nation project, the employees' effort carried on a long tradition of BASS members' advocacy for the nation's aquatic resources.

NEW TERRITORY

The anglers who compete on the Academy Sports + Outdoors Women's Bassmaster Tour will be breaking ground this week when they compete on Arkansas' Lake Maumelle near Little Rock, a fishery that is new to BASS. The June 4-6 event was moved to Maumelle because of a small craft warning for the Arkansas River, the original fishery for the third of four regular-season WBT events.

At Maumelle, the pros will try to advance in the 2009 Toyota Tundra WBT Angler of the Year standings. After the fourth event, the top 20 pros will qualify for the WBT Academy Sports + Outdoors Championship, Oct. 16-18 on the Red River out of Shreveport-Bossier City, La.

From the championship, one angler will emerge as the AOY. She will win a Toyota Tundra and become the second woman to qualify for a Bassmaster Classic. She'll have a berth in the Feb. 19-21 Classic on Lay Lake out of Birmingham, Ala.

Coverage of the Maumelle event will be provided Thursday-Saturday at Bassmaster.com, including live, streaming video of the weigh-in, real-time leaderboards, photo galleries and results, beginning each day at 3:30 p.m. ET.

WEIGHT GAINS

The Ramada Worldwide Winning Weight contest is pulling tons of players before the start of this week's SpongeTech Tennessee Triumph, the June 3-6 Bassmaster Elite Series event on Kentucky Lake out of Paris, Tenn. Players are invited to submit their guesses at Bassmaster.com or by texting to RAMADA to 4ESPN (43776). There's no cost to play.

The person whose guess is closest to the tournament's winning weight will receive fishing tackle, a Ramada fleece pullover, a gear bag filled with autographed items and 5,000 Wyndham Rewards points.

After all eight regular-season Elite events, one grand-prize winner will be randomly selected to receive a $1,000 shopping spree from Bass Pro Shops.

TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS

"Just because I have a reputation as a power fisherman doesn't mean I can't fish with a spinning rod and light line." — 2008 AOY Kevin VanDam, in his May Bassmaster.com blog on how he swung his victory at Smith Mountain Lake, his 15th BASS win

KEEP YOUR HEAD

"You can't win a big tournament without fish. But you can't win it without the right mental attitude, either." — 2005 AOY Aaron Martens, on his BASS Insider blog after his early May win on Lake Guntersville

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