A Veteran Angler Tells It Like He Sees It

Some might even call him a "philosopher," of sorts. Regardless of what you call Rick Clunn (right), one thing is certain. As one of the sport's oldest competitors, the four-time Bassmaster Classic champion has seen professional bass fishing grow from its free-for-all infancy to a tech-driven 21st Century juggernaut. And his observations from a decade ago on how technology has and could have changed the game are, as some put it, "intriguing."

"GPS is the most powerful, addictive force in professional fishing," said Clunn in an interview at the time. "It's the one thing that has the potential to change everything about the sport."

He noted that the ability to save hundreds of pinpoint locations and even synchronize them with certain trolling motors was "something we never would have dreamed of in the beginning.

"They are, no doubt, a tool that never will go away and that has added a level of precision to the sport unlike anything else," he explained. "The benefits are obvious, but the drawbacks are seductive."

During his interview, the veteran Clunn described a conversation he had had with a young angler, who detailed a bad run on a regional tournament trail. When he asked the young fella what his problem was, the angler said, "My spots didn't hold up. My GPS sort of betrayed me."

In his response, Clunn cautioned the young man not to give up his instincts for the sake of convenience.

"You can have both," he said, "but you have to walk a very fine line."

Clunn further expressed concern that young competitors will become extremely proficient technically but lose the "it factor" of the great anglers of the past and present.

"Instead of learning minute details of things like seasonal patterns, water conditions, weather factors, and ecology," he said, "I fear we will have people who simply get the GPS coordinates, which are so easily obtainable, and run the numbers until they find fish. There is an art to fishing, and there is potential for some of that to be lost by total reliance on GPS."

Clunn, who always has been known to find locations others passed by, could have faced a very different1984 Classic had GPS been at play.

"It certainly is ushering in a whole new era of fishing, for better or for worse," he said.

Sometimes technological advances would have changed the game in a negative way in earlier tournaments. For example, take the 1983 U.S. Open, which Clunn won chiefly by fishing a Rebel Pop-R in a unique, lightning-fast fashion, instead of the slow "chug-chug-sit" cadence with which most anglers are familiar.

Soon after that tournament, the lure was discontinued but then renewed a few years later. According to Clunn, though, something was different about it, due to new manufacturing techniques and design.

"The lure just didn't fish the right way for that fast-paced technique any longer, so I could not have performed the same way in that tournament with the later models," he said.

Clunn went on to note that new manufacturing processes and different components that enable mass production often skimp on details.

"And sometimes, you actually improve overall quality, but with certain very specific techniques, those advances can have a negative impact," he continued.

A more recent innovation that Clunn suggested would have been a game changer at any point in time is shallow-water anchoring systems, such as the Power-Pole and Talon.

"If I would have had my Power-Poles from day one," he said, "I have no doubt that I would have won six or seven more tournaments. The greatest mistake you can make is not repeating the exact cast you just made to catch a fish. First off, bass are often together, so there very well could be another there. With Power-Poles, you can click the button to put them down when you get bit and maintain optimum position."

A similar technology used by most anglers is Google Earth mapping.

"That's definitely a mind-blowing change and one that is a plus," said Clunn. "I mean, anglers still have to study and understand what certain things mean in the environment, so from that perspective, it's a little different from GPS. There is no doubt it would have changed things had it existed in the beginning."

In earlier days, Clunn used to fly over areas before tournaments to look for grass and other key fish habitat.

"Now you can do that simply by getting on a computer," he said. "The only advantage flyovers had was we used to be able to do that right up close to tournament time, and we could get an idea of water levels, clarity, current vegetation growth, etc. Google Earth isn't updated all the time, so it isn't always accurate, but it gives you a mind-blowing look at areas we never dreamed possible back in the early days."

Clunn pointed out that anglers today may have too many choices and too much detail with all these technological advances.

"For example, take the Sabine River system site out of Orange, where the Elite Series tour opened in 2013. You have virtually unlimited fishing areas, with hundreds and hundreds of square miles of potential habitat," explained Clunn. "When you have the ability to microanalyze areas, you can overdo it. The key is taking a balanced approach."

Clunn knows change is inevitable and believes those who embrace it, while remaining highly aware of nature and the fundamentals of fishing, will be the future greats in the sport.

"Technology is great, but in the long run, it cannot replace awareness," he asserted. "If you can feel subtle weather changes, discern particular water changes, or simply feel something is about to happen, that is awareness, and I have said that is more valuable than intelligence. The angler who gets that aspect and is in tune with technology will go far.

"Just because something is new doesn't mean it's better," Clunn continued. "Some innovations are game changers; others are just hype. Technology in and of itself is neutral. In the end, it's the angler who chooses whether to master it or to let it master him."