Day 4: Clunn on St. Johns

Rick Clunn started Championship Sunday similar to how he finished Day 3…catching big bass.

This fish was actually his second fish of the day, the first coming on practically his first cast and this one coming soon after.

The first few of minutes of his morning were a flurry.

But the right kind of a flurry, putting quality fish in the boat before the sun could burn through the clouds.

There was very little time to settle in before he was hooking up with another keeper.

All of them caught on a homemade bladed jig with a long trailer. Clunn would work the bait around the pods of eel grass to get bit.

And the fish that were biting seemed to be in the 3- to 4-pound range,

And some were heavier with a wad of grass coming aboard. But all these bites took place in a span of less than30 minutes.

They came so early and it was so cloudy that it was almost too dark to capture on film and video.

But there was just enough light for Rick Clunn to put on a show.

Those first three fish weighed in at well over 10 pounds total. And when the flurry stopped, he was able to take off his raincoat and get down to business.

That business included working precisely the bladed jig around little pockets in the grass line of Lake George.

While most of the anglers who had spent the week on Lake George were pitching to beds, Clunn was winging casts and working visible cover in shallow water.

It wasn’t just blind casting either. The 69-year old angler worked hard to cover every inch of the water he was fishing.

It was easy to see the intensity in his face as he worked and shot long casts across the grass beds.

And occasionally he would tense up and set the hook.

This would be his fourth fish of the day.

And it put up a fight that took Clunn racing from the front deck to the driver’s seat.

All the while you could tell this fish was not the ordinary keeper.

Clunn would fight the fish to the seat, keeping its head down.

Then get to the edge where he would start hand lining the fish closer.

Once close enough, Clunn made a grab for the big fish.

Trying to get his hand under the brute to pull it in.

And it looked for second that he had it all under control.

The big bass, though, had other ideas as it began to wiggle free.

The fish then made a jump for it.

Flipping up and out of Clunn’s grasp.

The splash to the side left those watching wondering if he had lost the fish.

But the fish stayed close enough for Clunn to make another grab for the fish.

This time Clunn’s grab was true and he hauled in one of his largest fish of the day.

The big fish would be his fourth keeper and give him over 15 pounds in less than an hour of fishing.

At this point, Clunn had won the tournament. But there was no way he would ever believe that.

He holds up the fish to show the Bassmaster Live audience and the spectators around him.

And then gets back to work, thinking he would need much more to have a chance to close out the tournament.

The intensity and work started all over as he covered every piece of cover he could see.

His fifth fish would take an hour or more before it would show up.

But Clunn looked like he thought a giant would bite on every cast.

And at times, he appeared a little worried that the fish weren’t biting as well as they did the day before and the first hour of the day.

The fifth fish would finally bite.

But by mid-morning he filled out his limit, giving him close to 18 pounds at the time.

And there would be other bites.

All of them putting up a good fight.

But in the case of this small bass, not big enough to help.

The fish, though, indicated that keepers were still around.

And willing to bite Clunn’s homemade bait, that it gave everyone watching the idea that something bigger would show any moment.

All Clunn had to do was keep working and stay focused.

By midday, that better fish would show up.

While it wasn’t a giant.

It was big enough for everyone watching to catch their breath for a moment.

And give Clunn a little breathing room of his own.

The fish would allow him to cull for the only time of the day, and provide him with his eventual 19 pound stringer. After the cull he would move back to his initial starting point.

Only to find a guide boat netting a 9-pound fish for a client.

While the scene seemed disheartening at the time, Clunn later said, “I wouldn’t have caught that fish anyway.”

He was too focused on the shallow area closer to the bank.

And hoping while he kept working, that the wind would pick up and create more bites in the shallows.

Eventually it did but the fish would not move in before Clunn had to leave.

He finished the day near Palatka after spending most of his day with a backdrop of Spanish moss that framed one of the more significant victories in the 69-year old angler’s career.