After not qualifying for the BASSMASTERS Classic this year -- the first time he hadn't in his entire career -- Rick Clunn decided to change his approach to tournaments. Not because what he'd been doing wasn't working anymore, but because with the Classic streak over, he could.
His main goal boiled down to mastering the mental discipline required to stop fishing for keeper limits and points. In other words, fishing every event to win it.
But as BassFans know, fishing for the fish you need to win is a lot harder than it sounds. For example, what happens mentally when you're 6 hours into a day of practice and you don't have a bite -- especially when you know people have been catching 10-12 pound limits?
Judging by his win last week at the BASSMASTER Central Open at Sam Ray Reservoir, Clunn is already well on his way to mastering the answer to that question, and here's what he had to say about his progress thus far.
"I've pretty much used (the Opens) to change the way I approach practicing," Clunn said. "Essentially, I'm concentrating on locating the type of fish that will win the tournament. Every tournament I've fished this fall, that's what I've done.
"But it's not something you just change. You can't change 29 years of the way you fish overnight. It takes a lot of discipline and constantly reminding yourself every hour about what you're trying to do, and not regressing to finding a limit of fish."
De-Programming Is Tough
The hardest part is getting back to a clean mental slate, Clunn said. "The de-programming is the hardest part -- getting out of all the old habits you've developed over 29 years. I've had to go on full alertness so I don't fall back into the same mental ways of fishing."
To illustrate how hard it is to make that change in a tournament situation, he sketched out the following scenario. "You think, 'Okay, I have to try to figure out how to catch big fish.' But halfway through the first day of practice (you have nothing so you think), 'Dang, it's not working so I better go and fish for a limit.' Then you spend 90 percent of your practice doing that.
"That's what I want to change. I want to fish for the fish that will win the tournament, no matter what size they are," he said. "You have to have a clear idea of what that is going in, and then be disciplined doing it. Don't bail until the tournament starts and you feel like you did everything you could to achieve that goal.
"You can never bring this down to one variable, a magic pill," he added. "There's no such thing. You're addressing many things at all levels. You have to address the mind, body and spirit. All have to be addressed to make a quantum leap, a paradigm shift, in the way you fish."
School Might Have Helped at Rayburn
If that sounds like the words of a teacher, Clunn has been in that mode recently. Last month was his outdoor school, and he feels that teaching it helped him win at Rayburn.
"I'm asked the reason I put on these schools, why I'm willing to give up this information that hasn't been written about or talked about," he said. "It's because I move the bar up for the way I perform when I'm teaching.
"When I get into teaching more, for some reason I get better myself. I just finished the school a couple of weeks before I went to Rayburn, and I know it had to do with me being in a right state of mind for that event."
As far as how he feels about winning, he said: "It never hurts." Asked why he wasn't more enthusiastic, he replied: "It's like the old Zen master said: never overreact to your failures and your victories."
2003: Classic Out of Mind
Though some tour pros seem to be weighting the Classic's importance more than ever, others are not. Clunn said his goal next year is "not to even think about the Classic," though he doesn't criticize other anglers for doing it. "That is a very legitimate concern. It's just not where I want to be.
"I don't want to spend the whole year (fishing) for a big climax at the end. Too many things can be done and accomplished in all those other events," he said. Besides, if he's successful at changing his approach, he said he will make the Classic.
"I can't sit there and let (the Classic) be the controlling factor any longer. I can't go back to fishing for limits, to practicing for limits and fishing for points. I'd said that my main goal was to make the Classic (every year). But it's not my main goal any longer. Now it's to get better at what I'm doing."
Spring Emphasis Also Requires Change
Next year's heavy spring/spawn tournament load also will require Clunn to change.
"Over the years, tournaments have gotten away from my strengths," he said, principally cranking in summer and fall. "My whole early career was based on winning the Classic, which was held in the fall. I studied that time of year harder than any other time.
"But now we're removed from fall events except for the Opens, and that just means I'll have to change. I'll have to cultivate those (spring) times of the year. I'll just change with what the program is."
But it's not like spring has been dry for Clunn. He said: "I have won my share of tournaments in April and May, and January and February aren't bad for me."
