Rick Clunn

Rick Clunn (1946—) Rick Clunn’s five-decade career as a professional angler stands as a model of longevity, innovation and on-the-water success. Indeed, even two decades after his 2001 induction into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, Clunn continued not only competing at the sport’s highest level, but also winning on the Bassmaster Elite Series trail. While he wasn’t the first angler to win two Bassmaster Classics – that was achieved by fellow 2001 Hall of Fame inductee Bobby Murray – he was the first to win four.

Along with the Classic wins, Clunn’s other achievements are numerous and legendary. He was the first competitor to win back-to-back Classics, achieving that feat in 1976 and 1977 on Lake Guntersville and the Kissimmee Chain, respectively. He also earned the Bassmaster Angler of the Year title in 1988, and won two U.S. Open titles on Lake Mead as well as the Red Man All-American. The Classic titles alone would have made him a shoo-in for the Hall, but his 12 other B.A.S.S. wins, and three FLW Tour victories just cemented his undeniable case. He also appeared in five Forrest Wood Cups and at one point qualified for 28 consecutive Bassmaster Classics.

While the wins and titles speak for themselves, Clunn’s other major influence on the competitive angling world has been to explore and expand the “mental side” of the sport. He has examined and utilized influences and techniques from a variety of walks of life, and developed an “Anglers Quest” curriculum aimed at sharing what he’d learned. He also took advanced classes in wilderness survival to further hone his understanding of the natural world.

Clunn was born in California and subsequently called New Mexico and Missouri home, but he is best identified with Texas, where he learned to fish under the tutelage of his father Holmes Clunn, and at the side of his “brother,” fellow Bassmaster pro Randy Fite. First, he fished local and regional tournaments as a member of the Pasadena Bass Club, but the growing national bass scene tempted him and eventually he had to decide whether to leave a comfortable job working as a computer programmer for Exxon in order to chase his dreams. In 1974 he traveled to Lake Sam Rayburn, where he finished 24th in his first Bassmaster tournament, earning $275. Meanwhile, he continued to guide on Lake Conroe, and honed his skills even as his bank account dwindled. While he fished both the 1974 and 1975 Classics, he was struggling to break through financially until he won the first of his four Classic trophies in 1976.

When Clunn won his third Bassmaster Classic championship, on the Arkansas River in the summer of 1984, he blew away the field with a three-day catch of 75 pounds 9 ounces, beating his nearest competitor by over 25 pounds. As he stood on the stage to collect his trophy, flanked by future Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, he talked about how he was the living embodiment of the American success story: “Only in America can we follow our dream of chasing little green fish,” he said.

That wasn’t the end of the line for Clunn, not by any stretch of the imagination. Six years later he mounted a furious final-day charge using crankbaits of his own design to win Classic number four on Virginia’s James River, in the third consecutive year that B.A.S.S. visited the historic venue. Indeed, while Clunn has rightfully been known for his attention to the psychological aspects of competition, he has repeatedly been at the forefront of tackle development as well. He was influenced heavily in his square bill use by Fred Young’s original Big O crankbait, and along with other East Texans like fellow Lake Conroe guide Zell Rowland he was instrumental in the revival and popularization of the Pop-R. Those two techniques later led to the RC series of crankbaits and to the Rico topwater from Lobina Lures, respectively. He was also a pioneer of clear-water spinnerbaiting; one of his U.S. Open wins came burning a translucent-skirted lure where few others would have thought to try that.

Clunn continued to compete effectively well past the age when most of his peers either saw their skills atrophy or retired, or both. He won a Bassmaster Elite Series tournament on Florida’s St. Johns River in 2016, just a few months shy of his 70th birthday. Indicative of the immense respect he received from his competitors, many younger anglers who did not qualify for the cut days stayed around to see him hoist the trophy, and several vied to carry his weigh-in bag to the holding tanks. After the victory, he implored the crowd to “Never accept that all of your best moments are behind you.” Indeed, those words proved not only inspirational, but also prophetic. Three years later, on that same fishery, Clunn hoisted the trophy once again, this time marking his 16th B.A.S.S. win.