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Every sport has “the one”. In 2005 ESPN fans selected Rick Clunn as the greatest bass angler of all time. It was close, with Roland Martin, Bill Dance, Denny Brauer and Kevin Van Dam not far behind.
That’s why he was selected by fishing fans as “the one.” But who will be the next One, and how will they get there?I was talking to the Founder of Heartland Trails, Ralph Haggard, and Ralph was admitting his head tilts when Rick talks because he’s trying to soak up every word. Because you have to. You can’t help it.
Basketball had Michael Jordan. Golf has Tiger Woods. Baseball had Barry Bonds.
Okay scratch that last example, we all know Barry’s thrown a few sinkers down the bass before the big weigh in.
Maybe Ted Williams and his legendary focus on hitting is a better example. But in every sport, including bass fishing, someone who has taken it to a higher place. Each one reached the pinnacle of their sport not just because of their physical abilities alone, but instead because of the focus of their minds eye.
The masters of sports, whether they use a bat and ball or a rod and reel, are the masters of their minds. Rick harnessed his mind and took it to a place where the rest of us tilted our heads. That doesn’t mean we can’t learn from his example. Your head will slowly tilt back upright if you take the time to decipher the quotes that come from Rick Clunn’s mouth. Here’s vintage Clunn speak , “Whether you have the approval of others must be ignored. Being happy and in harmony with the rest of creation comes only when you pursue your heart felt dreams. Real dreams are dynamic. There is no final destination. It is your art form, which gives you the creative ability to give back to creation. There are no limits!”
Rick throws these little nuggets out like darts. You could literally take a whole day and think about those six sentences and what they mean in relation to your fishing career, and I think you should. Most guys would hear that kind of “hippie beads and sunflower seeds” talk and dismiss Rick as a little “flaky”. They’re missing the boat. Performing at a high level in any sport can have an other-worldly feel to it.
There have been a lot of guys that could jump as high as Michael Jordan. But there’s only one Michael Jordan. It was his mind that took him to a place where creativity enabled him to literally perform magic on hardwood. Trust me, you can find a guy that can jump over a car in downtown Kansas City, but he’s not gonna be Michael Jordan. Unless he can harness his mind, he’ll be making 50 bucks a pop jumping Hyundai’s in parking lots.
As Rick broke it down in his Art of Angling, “For me casting is much the same as shooting a basketball. Most great shooters shoot the best when little conscious thought appears to be involved. Pure shooters or casters seem to work best when working from a level free of conscious thought where they achieve a perfect rhythm between mechanics and intuitive action.” It’s about finding the zone and seeing things others ignore. Tiger Woods and you and I do not see a golf course the same way. Trust me.
You and I see grass. He sees infinite possibilities. He sees the impossible. You and I see a ball washer. Ralph said Rick Clunn once told him that the next dominate force in the sport will be a person who has complete focus on the water. An angler who can peacefully concentrate and achieve close to perfection of thought, timing and angle on every cast. Perfection on the water. Even Clunn will admit he sometimes loses focus for a few minutes in every tournament no matter how hard he tries. We all do. But it is that pursuit of perfection that sets us apart as the future of angling. We all fall short, but it’s the effort that makes the journey worth it.
Van Patrick made a career of doing Comedy and Talk Radio in Minneapolis, Nashville and Kansas City. Before that he spent a lifetime bass fishing the lakes and strip pits of his boyhood home of southeast Kansas. He currently hosts tournaments on Smithville Lake and sometimes still talks to chickens.
But something sets Rick apart in the eyes of the fans. I call it the” head tilt.” It’s the way your head tilts sometimes. You’re not even aware that “the tilt” is happening. When Rick talks, my head slowly tilts to the side like a dog is listening to master intently but not really grasping completely what master is saying.
Maybe you remember trying to explain to your Mom what Rock-n- Roll was all about when you were a teen. I guarantee you’ve seen “the tilt” then and the faraway thousand mile stare. The head tilt and dead eyes a chicken gives you when you talk to it (why you’re talking to chickens is your business, I had one as a pet).
