The real gift through three days of the Elite Series 2025 season-opener at the St. Johns River has been the rediscovery of Rick Clunn’s magic.
We didn’t have much time to forget about him. After all, he just “retired” last fall. I didn’t think he’d go away from public view, but I have to admit that when I heard he’d be a commentator on LIVE I had mixed expectations. Clunn has always been quiet and contemplative, and at least from my perspective an introvert. He’s blessed us with a number of major nuggets of wisdom, but their meaning has often been intensified by the fact that they’ve been sparse and well-timed. Not necessarily a prime candidate for the mile-a-minute pace of all-day live coverage.
I was wrong. It’s been incredible.
As someone who has interviewed Clunn, spent time in his boat, and tried to read anything available about him, I thought I understood many of the factors that made him such an accomplished and historically significant angler. However, listening to him express wonderment about how Brandon Card controls his boat in the wind, or how Bill Lowen chooses and fishes his jigs, I was hit over the head by the fact that his true strength is his humility. Even after all he’s won, and all of the accolades he has rightfully earned, he’s still ready, willing and able to learn – and he’s still amazed by both what we know and what we don’t know about the canvas he’s painted upon.
It’s what makes him not only an exceptional tournament fisherman, but also a remarkable human being. More anglers – and more people — need to be like Rick Clunn, open to new information, even information that contradicts their most-strongly held beliefs. At a time when our sport sometimes seems overly fractured and dissonant, the more we can channel his humility, the stronger we’ll be.
Enough with my pontification (thanks, Bowman). Time to tell you what I saw, thought and heard on Day 3 from Florida’s largest river, flowing from south to north:
Waterworks – In the grand tradition of Skeet Reese and Todd Faircloth, Bill Lowen (1st, 63 pounds, 10 ounces) cries – sometimes in desperation, sometimes as a means of expressing joy. I write that not to disparage any of those three anglers, but rather to celebrate the fact that in this sport even stone cold killers operate in a crossfire hurricane of emotions. I once brought tears to Lowen’s eyes when I asked about his family at a Classic media day, but the crying situation I remember most occurred in 2009 at Oneida. Lowen realized that he’d made a cast with more than five bass in his livewell and self-reported the violation, which cost him his day’s catch, and in turn knocked him out of the 2010 Classic. “It was a dumb mistake, but I had no trouble turning myself in,” Lowen told Mike Suchan. “I slept with a clear conscience that night. So, in that respect, it was all good.” He later admitted, however, that he cried like a baby in the boat. But for that mistake, he would’ve ended up with a streak of nine straight Classic berths. Tomorrow, Lowen may win his second Elite Series title. If so, he may cry tears of a different kind. Just as the sport needs more of Clunn’s inquisitiveness and sense of wonder, it also needs more raw emotion. Bill Lowen – with or without another trophy – is good for the sport.
Multiple Twenties – The field has produced 12 bags of 20 pounds or more over three days, including six the first day and three apiece on Days 2 and 3 (including John Garrett’s 31-6 limit today). Bill Lowen remains the only angler to have topped 20 twice. He’s also one of only three anglers who’ve topped 15 every day, including Shane LeHew (4th, 53-5) and Brock Mosley (5th, 52-6),
Big Ups – Cory Johnston (7th, 49-9) was the only angler in the Top 10 whose weight went up every day.
Free Falling – John Cox (6th, 49-14) was the only angler in the Top 10 whose weight went down every day.
Rising Stock – The big movers today included: Garrett, who rose from 30th to 2nd; Cory Johnston, who rose from 37th to 7th; and Jake Whitaker, who rose from 30th to 9th.
Limits Down – Over the first two days, the Top 50 anglers weighed in 96 out of a possible 100 limits. In fact, 31 of the anglers who failed to make the cut also caught limits on Day 1 and Day 2, all the way down to 87th place. Today only 38 of the Top 50 caught a limit. But remember, strikes are for show and spares are for dough. No one made the Top 10 with fewer than 15 fish. Wes Logan, who had only three yesterday, missed the cut by 6 ounces. Seth Feider, who fell one fish short of a limit today, missed the cut by 1-14.
Oh Canada – After two days of being the top Canadian angler in the field, Evan Kung (16th, 46-1) was passed by both Cory (7th, 49-9) and Chris Johnston (15th, 46-8) today. As far as I can recall, however, he remains the first Evan in Elite Series history. We’ve had an Edwin, and now we have an Easton, but no Ernies, Edgars, Ernests, or Elijahs.
Rough for the Rookies – None of this year’s class of Elite Series rookies made the cut to Sunday, which seems shocking after last year’s group made it look easy. Then again, Garrett is the only sophomore fishing for the Happy Gilmore check tomorrow.
Title Holders – Gerald Swindle (10th, 48-10) is the only past AOY fishing the St. Johns tomorrow. No past Classic winners will be competing.
Best of the 2024 Rookies? – Last year’s rookie class was exceptional, but much of their available media oxygen was gobbled up by Trey McKinney. That makes sense – not only did he become the youngest winner in Elite Series history, but he also earned the Dakota Lithium Rookie of the Year award and made a legit run at Progressive Insurance AOY. McKinney, who is still a few days short of his 20th birthday, may still turn out to be a Hall of Famer, but it’s starting to look like Garrett may have a bead on being the best of the bunch. He too won an event last year, and finished 33 points behind McKinney in the AOY/ROY race. The last check he missed was at the St. Johns last year, and he now has four Top 10 showings in 10 Elite tournaments.
What Does ROY Mean Long-Term? – Following up on the McKinney/Garrett intrigue, it pays to note that since the start of the Elite Series in 2006, only two Rookies of the Year have won the Classic: 2011 ROY Ott DeFoe won in 2019 and 2013 ROY Hank Cherry won in both 2020 and 2021. No past ROY has won AOY. Past ROYs in the top ten this week? Jay Prezekurat (2022 ROY; 3rd, 54-5) and Jake Whitaker (2018 ROY; 9th, 49-1).
Random Punctuation Question – Why doesn’t “St. Johns” have an apostrophe?
John Garrett offered up the understatement of the young year — “It was just a really special day.”
Hunter Shryock – “I did not put the yoga pants back on.” After catching 19-10 in them yesterday and rising to 12th, he caught four fish for 8-3 today and fell back to 29th place.
Drew Benton — “As with anything in Florida, the X factor is always the weather.” This week it bit him. After catching 21-2 on Thursday, he caught a limit for 8-3 yesterday and four for 7-1 today and ended up 44th.
Age is nothing but a number — “I caught every one of them Livescoping,” said 55-year-old Gerald Swindle. Today he caught his second consecutive 17-5 limit and rose from 18th to 10th. It’s his best Elite finish since he came in 11th at Okeechobee in 2023.
Matt Herren (40th, 37-2) — “I never turned a graph on on the front of my boat – first time I’ve done that in three years.”
Don’t Go Changing — “I think you’re beautiful the way you are,” said Justin Hamner (47th, 35-4) to Dave Mercer, shortly after Taku Ito (37th, 37-11) promised the Bassmaster emcee that a Japanese miracle elixir would make him look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
