Wendlandt Says This AOY Title Was The Toughest

Clark Wendlandt, today at the Champlain FLW Tour, clinched the third FLW Angler of the Year (AOY) title of his 17-year career.

He previously won the title in 2000 and 1997.

He's not the first angler to win three titles. Roland Martin won nine of them with BASS, and Kevin VanDam has won four with BASS and one with FLW.

Wendlandt, however, is the only pro to ever win three FLW AOY titles. The veteran from Cedar Park, Texas was noticeably nervous – perhaps "tight" is a better description – throughout Champlain. He entered the event in a heated points battle. He trailed leader Brent Ehrler

by 3 points, but enjoyed a 2-point edge over Luke Clausen and a 21-point edge over Andy Morgan.

But with title in hand, Wendlandt appeared more relaxed. In the Q&A that follows, he talks about winning the title, and what it takes to keep winning titles as the sport grows ever more competitive.

BassFan: Now that it's over, and the trophy's yours, how do you feel?

Wendlandt: It was a good year, and I feel great about it. It's probably relief (that I'm feeling). I had quite a bit of anxiety – I felt quite a bit of anxiety going in. So it's a little bit relief, and a whole lot of satisfaction.

What was going through your head out there today? Was there ever a time when you were confident you'd won?

I definitely didn't think I had it wrapped up, because it's not hard to go out here and catch 20 pounds. And Luke was fishing smallmouths and obviously was catching some big ones the first 2 days. I knew he could catch 20, and if he catches 20, I still need to catch 15.

I had a pretty good day. My fish were all about the same size, but I fished pretty loose today. I don't know exactly why, but I didn't feel that tight.

You played it safe yesterday and didn't run to Ticonderoga. Did you go there today?

Yes, I made the run down there. Part of my thinking was, I can stay real conservative and stay up north and try to catch 11 or 12 pounds. But I thought that wouldn't be very smart.

Last year for AOY, going into the last tournament, I was in about 3rd and had a good shot. If I'd finished 33rd I would have won. That's been eating at me ever since last year. I put a lot of pressure on myself this week.

When you look at who was around you in the points, there were two younger western pros – Ehrler and Clausen. Compared to your previous titles, do you think it's tougher to win now than in the past, given the hot crop of young anglers out there?

I've got some different thoughts on it. I think what's going to happen is not just the western guys, but the youth movement as a whole is about to take over the sport, and is about to take over FLW.

I don't want to be negative about BASS in any way here, but BASS doesn't have the ability to put youth in their tour like FLW.

FLW has a clear avenue to come up through the co-angler side. BASS doesn't really have that. I think the best fishermen in the sport will be the guys coming up. If the older guys don't stay on the cutting edge, they'll get passed up.

When Jay Yelas won the title a few years ago, he did it with a lot of swimbaiting, and noted how important it was to keep up with trends to stay on top. Have you been working with everything new that comes along?

Yes, absolutely. I'm doing every possible thing I can to stay on the cutting edge of techniques. What's kind of going on is, I'll take those techniques, and some of them fit me and some don't. If it's just a new finesse technique that comes out, I probably won't worry about it. But if it's something that fits the way I fish, and I like to power-fish, I'll use it.

I love spinnerbaits and I love swimbaits, but they're all just tools. And I think, like you said, you have to stay up with it all – what the young guys do.

The truth is it's never been any different. Young guys are always coming up and doing well because they're fired up and licking their chops about bass fishing. The older guys get their success, then sit back on their haunches and figure they'll be able to catch them better.

When you went through your slump, that coincided with the time when the FLW Tour schedule really drifted toward high-pressure, tough, finesse fisheries. Do you think a different scheduling philosophy this year was a factor in your title?

I don't really want to minimize the fact that I won down to just that, but I really think the schedule and the smaller field, and especially the limited practice, lend themselves to the best fishermen rising to the top.

But I think you need to go to all the places. You need to have some tough tournaments. I don't think they should all be slugfests. I think the schedule this year was a good mix.

When you look back over your career, was this your best season ever?

I think so, and the reason I say that is because I think it's harder to win AOY this year than last year, or in 2000 when I won it, or in '97.

The only reason is some of the things we already talked about – feeling complacent or not putting every ounce of yourself into it. I'm not saying I put every ounce of myself in, but I know I have to work hard at it to keep up.

That's the way it should be. I think Kevin (VanDam) works hard at it. He doesn't just show up and fish. He works hard at it.

And I have one more thing to say. We've talked about a lot of different things, but as I said onstage today: I want none of the credit for myself. I put all the credit to God. Without God in my life, I'm nothing. I'm not even a good fisherman. I really believe in that.

That's something you talked a lot about as you were coming out of your slump.

That really was a big part of it. I told somebody today that I'm more excited about tournament bass fishing than I've ever been. I'm really excited about it. I know that in life, I can't do anything without God. I just can't. I know that for sure.

So I've been broken through the slump and now coming out of it, I know He's going to take care of things. All I need to do is go out and put the effort into it. It doesn't mean I'm going to win. I can't control the outcome. All I can do is just put all the effort into it.