Rick Clunn’s Secrets to 40 Years of Professional Fishing
OutdoorHub 07.17.14
A four-time Bassmaster Classic winner, Clunn has been competing at the highest level of tournament fishing for 40 years. And He is showing no signs of slowing down. This year he has finished in the money four of the six Elite Series tournaments. He finished in fourth place at Lake Dardanelle and had a second place finish last year on Falcon Lake.
When asked what one thing Clunn contributes to his 40 years of success he says, “Having a passion for the sport and being in love with what I do. Passion leads to not being afraid of working hard to do your best. When energy and matter come together it forms passion. Passion leads to dedicating your life to learning everything you can about the art and science of fishing.”
Clunn’s passion for tournament fishing is stronger than ever, which is evident in his bid to qualify for his 33rd Bassmaster Classic this year. With two more events to go on the Elite Series circuit, a couple of decent finishes should cash him his ticket. Yet, he is still such a strong competitor that nobody would be surprised to see his name on the list of 12 who get to fish on the final day of either of those tournaments.
Considered by many to be the most prominent fisherman in the history of tournament fishing, Clunn has used his knowledge of the prey to develop and design a line of Luck-E-Strike square bill crankbaits. The success of these baits has led to the design of the next generation of square bills, which is called the Freak. The Freak brings the benefits of shallow water square bills to deep water.
Clunn states, “Tournament fishing is the catalyst to perfecting the tools of our trade. Tournament anglers are always striving to excel and trying to create a better tool. 95% of all innovations in fishing have come from the tournament world. We have taken old baits and perfected them into new baits. Often times, it takes several years for an old bait to go through the transformation of becoming a different and better tool. The RC square bill and RC Freak are examples of how Luck-E-Strike and I have taken a concept and applied it to a new idea. The Freak has the benefits of a shallow running square bill into a deep water application.”
One of many reasons Clunn chose to partner with Luck-E-Strike was that he felt they were committed to listening to his suggestions about how baits should be made. Clunn states, “Luck-E-Strike is a big company with a small company feel. They put the time in to listen to suggestions about what I and other Luck-E-Strike pros suggest in order to make better baits. We are constantly on the water using the baits and trying to make a better tool for our trade. ”
When asked what single innovation in regards to fishing techniques he thought has changed fishing in his 40 years he replies, “None. There rarely are new techniques thought up. Fishing techniques evolve over time. So each new technique is built from past techniques and then adapted to become better. The connection with the past is ever growing and changing. ”
Clunn feels that techniques are rarely new but adaptions of old techniques. He sees most of the significant changes in fishing happening with innovations in the equipment fishermen use and not in actual techniques. Again, there is a connection because when the equipment changes it allows fishermen to adapt their techniques accordingly.
“The biggest changes that have affected fishermen are improvements to the trolling motor and depth finders. Trolling motors freed up our hands and allowed us to focus more on fishing. Depth finders opened the world of offshore fishing and the technique we applied to shallow water were adapted. Before most fishermen were bank beaters,” says Clunn.
According to Clunn, the future of fishing looks bright due to the advent of college and high school fishing. Clunn states, “I’m really optimistic about how college and high school fishing has grown by leaps and bounds in just the last few years. It is a great way to get kids involved in the outdoors. Fishing is one of the last vehicles that connect the masses to the outdoors. As we get kids and the younger generation involved there is a chance to save what is left. We teach kids the value of the outdoors and we tend to protect what we value.”
For more information on Luck-E-Strike or Rick Clunn contact Joe Wieczorek via email joe@themediagroupinc.com or phone 847-812-7396.
