Wendlandt Laments Lost Opportunity For 3rd AOY

Clark Wendlandt won FLW Tour Angler of the Year (AOY) awards in 1997 and 2000. He had a good shot at a third such title in 2008, and he comes into the new year with a tinge of disappointment that he couldn't close that deal.

"I really feel like that one kind of got away from me," said the Texas veteran who ended up 7th on the '08 points list. "I had a fairly good year and then I got to the last tournament at a place I really like, and it turned out all I would've needed was a 33rd-place finish.

"It seems like that one slipped through the cracks."

That final regular-season event he referred to was, of course, the Detroit River, which started with a bevy of anglers in contention for the AOY and concluded with David Dudley sliding up from 5th place to grab the crown. Wendlandt had finished 8th there a year earlier, but this time plummeted all the way to 96th.

Memories of the previous year ended up haunting him.

"I fished St. Clair again (instead of Lake Erie) and got caught up in some areas that might not have had as many fish as the year before. If I'd moved around more in practice, I would've been better off. But there were some fish there and I thought I could make it work.

"Also at that place, a couple of pounds makes a pretty big difference, and I felt like I gave away a pound or 2 a day. I had 17 pounds the first day, but (the penalties for) a couple of dead fish really hurt me."

Fire Still Burns

Wendlandt said he wants to win his third AOY as much as he wanted his first. But he's quick to point out that a season consists of more than just a quest to compile points.

"I probably want to win it as much as ever," he said. "To me, it's the most prestigious award in bass fishing and it's definitely the one I enjoy winning the most.

"But I don't think you can set your sights to where that one big goal is your only goal. There's a lot that goes on in a year of fishing, and winning it usually means you fished every tournament well."

He believes that his skills and decision-making abilities are superior now compared to when he won his last AOY more than 8 years ago.

"Oh yeah, I think I'm a lot better angler, but I don't know how much of that knowledge is translated into good tournament finishes. So much of tournament fishing is about confidence and momentum – when a good fisherman a ton confidence going, he's going to do well.

Every decision you make is the right one and you're never second-guessing yourself. Even if you have a bad practice, you know you can work something out during the tournament."

He's been on both sides of that coin – in addition to his AOY season, he had a near disastrous 2005 campaign that was salvaged somewhat by a runner-up finish in the finale at the Potomac River.

"When you're doing poorly, every time something bad happens you have the attitude like, 'Oh no, here we go again.' A lot of this sport is mental, and those mind games can hurt you.

"When I had my quote unquote slump, I started fishing the Strens to get some momentum going in the right direction. There were still some rough patches here and there, but there were some good things, and they started snowballing into good tournaments."

Excited About '09

Wendlandt looks toward to the upcoming season with great anticipation. He likes the rule changes FLW Outdoors has instituted for the Tour (most significantly, tournament fields will be reduced by about 25%), and he loves the schedule.

"I think it's really going to be good," he said of a slate that includes stops at legendary venues such as Guntersville, Table Rock, Kentucky Lake and Champlain. "I think it's the best schedule we've ever had, by far.

"I think FLW has realized that the anglers enjoy the chance to catch big bags and we like going out and figuring things out on a good fishery. It's a big deal to us and it's a big deal to the co-anglers, and it's set up to be the best we've ever had."

Another change this year is the chance to qualify for the Forrest Wood Cup directly through the FLW Series points races. The past 2 years, the Top 30 in the Eastern and Western divisions got together at the Fish-Off and had to win a head-to-head matchup to secure a Cup slot.

"To me, it's a 10-tournaent season with more or less two chances to excel. Back in the days when I fished both BASS and FLW, I'd always seem to do a lot better on one or the other.

"Last year ended up being just kind of a good, steady year, and I'm sure hoping this one's going to be better."

Notable

> Wendlandt moved up six places this year in the BassFan World Rankings – from 33rd to 27th.

> How uncharacteristic was his 2005 slump? He finished 100th or worse in each of the first four events that year. He hadn't done that even once in the 18 full-field, tour-level events leading up to that point and is currently riding a streak of nine straight finishes in the top half of the field.