Four-time Bassmaster Classic champion Rick Clunn will embark on his 39th season as a professional angler when the 2011 Bassmaster Elite Series season kicks off at Florida's Harris Chain of Lakes in March. From a preliminary perspective, he likes this year's schedule better than those of recent years because it will take the field off the beaten path.
Familiar venues such as Kentucky Lake and Guntersville are absent this time around. They've been replaced by lakes like West Point (Georgia) and Toledo Bend (Louisiana), which haven't hosted events on B.A.S.S.' premier circuit since before the inception of the Elite Series in 2006.
"Some of those places we've gone to too often at the same time of year," he said. "I don't mind it when they change the season that we're going, but we've been to Guntersville over and over at the same time and everything's become a community hole.
"Everybody's in each other's way and in the locals' way and everybody's doing the same stuff. It's not good for the locals and it's not good for us."
The 64-year-old legend is particularly looking forward to the mid-April event at Toledo Bend, where he fished his first tournament of any kind in 1969. He's competed there many times since, but not at the tour level since 2003.
Memories are Vivid
Clunn's competitive career got off to quite an inauspicious start in that one-day Pasadena (Texas) Bass Club event of 41 years ago: He didn't get a single bite.
"I was fishing out of a runabout that didn't have a trolling motor," he recalled. "I had a 4 1/2-horsepower motor on the back, like a walleye fisherman. It was the worst boat you could've had on Toledo Bend and after one tournament I knew I needed to trade that in and get a bass boat.
"You've got to be aware that at that time, that lake was nothing but an inundated forest and the only places that were open to me (to fish) were some of the running lanes. The wind was blowing about 40 miles an hour and I was scared to death of the timber because I was sure that if I touched any of it, I'd knock a hole in the boat. It was probably the most stressful tournament I've ever fished."
Needless to say, things improved from there.
"I was way out of my element at first and I doubt if I caught more than about half-a-dozen fish that whole year. But I won the Angler of the Year (for that club) the next year, so I showed that I was a pretty fast learner."
Springtime Woes
What Clunn hasn't been in recent years is a fast starter. He's always done his best work after the entire spawning ritual was in the books, and his lackluster early finishes over the past few seasons on spawn-oriented schedules have resulted in mediocre placements on the final points list.
The 32-time Classic qualifier will sit out this year's edition – the second one in a row he's missed – after a 70th-place finish in last year's points. He made the '09 Classic through the Central Opens, which are contested during his preferred time of the year.
"Spring fishing has always been my challenge and I haven't done very well with it," he said. "It'll still be a challenge this year – those two events in Florida in March will be spawn/post-spawn events and I'll have to try to fight my way through those tournaments. I've tried to get better at them, but my performance doesn't show it.
"I haven't lost my confidence and I don't want this to sound like an excuse, but there's no question that my strengths are the summer and fall, and nowadays we have no fall events and very few in the summer. I'm hoping that B.A.S.S. will change that and give us a few summer events. I think it would be good for the industry."
Only Two Choices
Another thing that Clunn sees as good for the industry is the change in B.A.S.S. ownership from Disney/ESPN to the triumvirate headed by Jerry McKinnis.
"I'm excited about the circuit this year, but I'm even more excited about the bigger picture. We haven't had anybody running it who genuinely cared about the anglers since at least Ray Scott.
"There are only two people who I'd have been excited about buying B.A.S.S. and one of them bought it. The other one would've been (Bass Pro Shops founder) Johnny Morris. What Jerry and his group are going to accomplish is yet to be seen, but I know he genuinely admires the anglers and it's good to have somebody who cares about the sport."
Notable
> Clunn finished 9th at last year's opener at the California Delta, but ended up no better than 67th in the next four tournaments. Predictably, he warmed up when the weather got hot, logging two money finishes in the last three Elite events, followed by a 3rd at the ultra-brutal U.S. Open and a Top 15 at the PAA Tournament Series event at Table Rock.
> He's designing a square-bill crankbait for Luck-E-Strike that's along the lines of his renowned RC models produced by Lucky Craft. "I have a lot of people tell me they love that (RC) bait, but they can't afford to buy it," he said. "In reality, the Lucky Craft is a tool for serious tournament fishermen. The Luck-E-Strike bait will be marketed for guys who can't justify spending that kind of money, but still want a good bait."
> He said he hopes Kevin VanDam wins another Classic soon to equal his record. "I told him last year not to take too long to win No. 4, because then we could go head-to-head for No. 5. The one goal I still have is that fifth Classic."
