As Rick Clunn approaches his landmark 500th Bassmaster tournament, he had an epiphany about his career – it hasn’t just been about him.
Always self-aware, the 77-year-old discounted much of the hoopla surrounding him, but he’s appreciative of the 30,000-foot view his 50th year afforded him.
“I don’t like a lot of attention because my grandma always told me, ‘Don’t toot your own horn. Let your actions and performance tell who you are,’” Clunn said. “This is almost too much attention in that respect, but in the same time, there’s been a benefit I didn’t expect.”
Examining his six decades of tournament fishing, Clunn discovered something wonderful and wistful. He likened the process to that of a football player watching postgame video and seeing how all the other players interacted.
“When I’m in the game, I only see the part that I’m playing,” he said. “When you watch a video, you see everybody’s contribution.
“I see living an incredible dream. But I also see — I can’t change it, I wouldn’t change it — I saw I was so focused that I missed a lot of great people along the way. This reflection allows me to realize how important they were. In many cases, I’ll never get to tell them how important they were to my success.”
Clunn also feels like he missed out connecting more with fans. Oh, he’s met many, but he’s not had the pleasure of thanking them all. Clunn vividly recalled the 1984 Classic, where he was on stage with two future U.S. presidents and delivered his famed “little green fish” homily. There in Pine Bluff, Ark., Clunn gained superstar status with the third of his four Classic titles.
“That was the first one I had people yelling for me,” he said. “I felt like a rock star every fish I pulled out of the livewell. Their energy would lift me off the floor. I felt like I was starting to float. It was just the energy of the crowd.
“Everybody in that crowd, even though we’re different in so many ways, we’re all just people who love to fish. I really now am starting to appreciate them more than I ever have, even though I’ll never get to meet but a few.”
For Rick Clunn, thank you Bassmaster fans.
For those fans, thank you Rick Clunn. You’ve been a source of knowledge and inspiration to so many for so long.
Jerry McKinnis, a good friend of Clunn, offered this perspective after Clunn rocked the world by winning the St. Johns Elite in 2016 at 69, the oldest by seven years.
“In all sports, like baseball and football, etc., the Stan Musials and Ted Williams have been gone for some time. Today’s players have only heard about them. Never seen them … Bass fishing is different. Our ‘Babe Ruth’ is right here, right now, playing every day, just like everyone else.”
Quite coincidentally, Clunn’s 500th event is this week, the MAXAM Tire Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River. It’s the venue of his resurrection, where he uttered his latest mantra of not accepting your best moments are in the past. In 2019, he proved it by repeating as champion there, eclipsing his age record at 72.
Yet that time, on stage holding two monster bass before hoisting the blue trophy, there was a loneliness in his eyes. A longing because his family wasn’t there. His wife and son, Sage, had been last-second arrivals in 2016, watching his feat that made him “bona fide” in their minds, another of his favorite phrases the past few years.
The icon had long held immeasurable respect of fellow anglers. Fans selected him the greatest angler of all-time. But winning for his family meant the most.
What Clunn accomplished in his career is amazing, two-time Classic champion Hank Parker said. He said Clunn perhaps didn’t have the natural ability of some others, but he was the hardest working angler he ever saw.
“He’s an awesome fisherman. He’s got a lot of ability, but he works,” Parker said. “He worked to become one of the greatest fishermen in the history of the sport, and he’s still at it.
“If people don’t know his history, they need to watch The Cast and learn, because he is The Man.”
The Daily Limit has reported on incredible occurrences of Clunn, who I’ll call the “most interesting man in the world of fishing.” Articles have run a gamut, from getting off the BarcaLounger to embark on his career, to pawning a rifle to get to his first Classic win, to riding on Air Force One.
In my first meeting with Clunn, his fan selection as ESPN Greatest Angler came up. He dismissed the accolade, saying that it just can’t be quantified. To do that, Clunn offered the unfeasible proposition of putting all the best anglers, all in their prime, on the same body of water. It just can’t happen.
The Zen Master of bass fishing approaches most everything with considered thought. Ask one question and he’ll offer a monologue. His stories are the stuff of legends, so let’s dive into a few.
First, Clunn almost didn’t jump into the tournament scene, but comments from his father-in-law became the impetus. After hearing laments that he “coulda” beaten this or that PGA golfer, Clunn didn’t want to grow old on the sidelines wondering the same. There would be “No armchairs for Clunn.”
In the early days of the Classic, anglers competed on mystery lakes. In 1976, the plan was to board a plane in New Orleans, but things were going so poorly that Clunn didn’t have the money to travel there. Pawning his deer rifle allowed him to make the flight to Lake Guntersville, where he won his first Classic to get his career rolling, all after his Classic pawn.
In the 1977 Classic on Lake Toho, Clunn became the first repeat Classic champ. Determining winning tactics for those mystery venues made him a legend of the fall. Clunn’s third Classic, won by the still-record margin, was 1984, and his fourth came in 1990 on the James River. It’s a given he awarded the Classic precedence over the Angler of the Year, although he did win the 1988 AOY.
“I’ve always said the Classic is more important. There’s no argument there. If you win an event to quickly change your career, it was the Bassmaster Classic, not Angler of the Year,” he said.
Day 3 of the 2016 St. Johns Elite was special for Clunn, his big bag drawing competitors’ respect of Clunn. Fourteen years after his previous win, Clunn had a Ruthian blast in becoming the oldest Elite winner. It spawned his “best moments” line and made him bona fide.
Then there are touching occurrences like his interactions with a mystery youth making collect calls, and his humanity when he and his son rescued a donkey stuck in the mud as they camped overnight on Lake Mead.
The Daily Limit’s favorite Clunn story came after the death of President George H.W. Bush, a huge B.A.S.S. supporter. Clunn flew on Air Force One with Bush to fish Ray Scott’s lake. At 30,000 feet, Bush was picking Clunn’s brain on which lures might work. In his wild ride with H.W., Clunn offered interesting and humorous exchanges, complete with his imitation of Dana Carvey imitating H.W.
Bass fishing is better for having Clunn as an ambassador, so again, thank you Rick Clunn.
