Bassmaster Elite St. Johns River

[Jrob78]

1 minute ago, Montanaro said:

 

I never thought Marks bass was 10

 

Looked 8.5 to me when he caught it.

I thought the exact same thing.

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, Montanaro said:

 

I never thought Marks bass was 10

 

Looked 8.5 to me when he caught it.

Probably so , I was just surprised it wasnt pushing thirty .

 

[OCdockskipper]

The reports of the death of the Elite series at the hands of BPT have been greatly exaggerated...

 

It may have been a perfect storm of the right fishery at the right time, but I haven't seen that many 30 lb bags since Falcon Lake back in 2013.  The weights were higher than any other Elite series at St. Johns and there were a bunch of fish that went over 8 lbs.  Would have the old Elites, the current BPT guys, done any better?  They gave up their chance to say they could when they all left.

 

If I could write a script for the next 13 months, I would have Jordan Lee win the 2019 Classic in Tennessee for a three-peat & an invite to the next Classic.  Clunn would go on to have a good enough year to qualify for the 2020 Classic (I think it would be stretching it to give him a shot at the AOY).  This being the 50th Classic, returns to the site of the 1st one, Lake Mead.  Lee has a great tournament and leads into the final day, but Clunn stuns everyone by having a bigger day 3 and winning his 5th Classic.  The expectation of three guys with 4 Classic titles (Clunn, KVD & Lee) is shattered, now Clunn has 5 Classics and those guys with multiple titles no longer have a way to qualify for another.  Unless of course, they leave the BPT and re-qualify for the Elite series...

 

If the 50th Classic is at Mead and Clunn does indeed qualify, don't forget he won a pair of US Open's there.  It can be a tough fishery and many of the pros from East of the Rockies have never fished it.

[Montanaro]

Its premature to say bass death is premature

 

This thread just now reached 2 pages and it was explosive.  Last few years the first couple BASS tournys had 4 or 5 page threads.  Id also like to see basslive viewing numbers.  Bpt had 2.2 million on their Sunday round.

[SWVABass]

Pretty cool to see Clunn whack them again. I remember people on this site complaining about him last year. He might not be the best onscreen personality but still knows how to get it done.

 

crews also had an awesome final day big sack that he had was impressive as well. With the exception of Latuso kinda mailing it in, looked like his water was blown the final ten had an awesome day. I won’t even look and say what coulda been, the new grew of elites produced this week and it will be interesting to see how they do in GA next week.

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, Swbass15 said:

Pretty cool to see Clunn whack them again. I remember people on this site complaining about him last year. He might not be the best onscreen personality but still knows how to get it done...

I was one of those.  Clunn is a bit of a curmudgeon, which is his prerogative at the age of 72 and his choice to avoid a weigh in when he hasn't done well is a bit selfish (although some say he does it in order to not take the spotlight away from those who have fished well).

 

All that said, he still has a skill level that is unequaled by most.  He has done a great job of discarding what he grew up doing (catching 10 - 15 two pounders per day) to what is now required (catching 5 three to four pounders per day).  Compare that to others from his era (Fritts, Klein, etc) and the accomplishment is noteworthy.

 

Speaking of Klien, I was an official at TexasFest last year and at the end of the officials meeting, the Elite anglers started showing up for their meeting.  Clunn had something to ask Trip Weldon and after he did, he walked past a few of us officials.  One man in his mid 50's, who I found out later was a huge fan of Clunn's, was a bit starstruck at seeing him in person.  He held out his hand and said "Hello Mr. Klein, hope you do well tomorrow".  Without missing a beat, Clunn shook his hand and said "Thank You, but I am Rick Clunn, not Gary Klein".  The poor official looked white as a ghost when he realized his verbal slip.

[SWVABass]

@OCdockskipper he has seemed to make that switch well. I have heard he does not like being in the spotlight and that seemed a little obvious when Mercer tried to talk to him on stage today.

 

Speaking of Klein I think he just caught a 13+ lmb in Texas that went to the sharelunkers program seems like they both still got it

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, Montanaro said:

Its premature to say bass death is premature...

All the boys take a look at the new girl in town when she first shows up...?

 

The past two weeks really showed the difference in the two tours.  Both were down in Florida, but due to the format differences, one produced great numbers of bass while the other produced more lunkers.  In the long run, I believe that difference will make the Elites stay the number one tour because it showcases skills that most of us don't have.  I would take a guess that most of the people on this board have never weighed in a 30 lb bag of 5 fish, but nearly all of us have had days where we found a school or two of bass and caught 60 - 80 lbs total for the day.  If it is something I can do, I'd rather go do it than watch it.

 

I can't find who said it, but a member on this board wrote that the whole BPT situation is as if MLB players did a reality show where they played softball (MLF) and then when that was done, decided to play softball for the rest of their careers instead of baseball.  I can't think of a more apt description.

[Dwight Hottle]

Pretty cool to see Rick Clunn pull off the win at age 72. Just goes to show your only as old as you think you are. 

[WRB]

Clunn wins the event with 98+ lbs at age 72 was amazing.

Tom

[Log Catcher]

Glad to see Rick Clunn winning again.

[scaleface]

...and catches the biggest bag of the event on the final day.

[Jrob78]

So the top 10 ended up being 5 previous Elite Series guys, 3 FLW guys and 2 rookies. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out at the end of the year. The new guys, for the most part, held their own.

 

This next one will be telling as it's the 2nd of a back to back and many of these guys probably aren't used to fishing hard for what could be 15 days in a row with a day or 2 off in the middle and a 10 hour drive between events. At any rate, I will follow the Elite Series and the BPT equally close and am excited for both. The FLW tour on the other hand....

[Gundog]

Rick Clunn   Well deserved win. Wish I could have watched. 

[Catt]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

Clunn wins the event with 98+ lbs at age 72 was amazing.

Tom

 

Big fish came on a Gatortail Worm! ?

 

3 hours ago, Swbass15 said:

Speaking of Klein I think he just caught a 13+ lmb in Texas that went to the sharelunkers program seems like they both still got it

 

13.79# 

 

 

[Oregon Native]

Met Rick at a Federation Nationals many years ago...was a great supporter.  He has some unique ways....we all do though!!  So glad for his "W".

Also thought it was interesting that he was using mono … 

[flatcreek]

Rick Clunn winning Big at 72.Brings the phrase "Respect your elders" to mind.Great win!

[TnRiver46]

On 2/10/2019 at 5:22 PM, OCdockskipper said:

The reports of the death of the Elite series at the hands of BPT have been greatly exaggerated...

 

It may have been a perfect storm of the right fishery at the right time, but I haven't seen that many 30 lb bags since Falcon Lake back in 2013.  The weights were higher than any other Elite series at St. Johns and there were a bunch of fish that went over 8 lbs.  Would have the old Elites, the current BPT guys, done any better?  They gave up their chance to say they could when they all left.

 

If I could write a script for the next 13 months, I would have Jordan Lee win the 2019 Classic in Tennessee for a three-peat & an invite to the next Classic.  Clunn would go on to have a good enough year to qualify for the 2020 Classic (I think it would be stretching it to give him a shot at the AOY).  This being the 50th Classic, returns to the site of the 1st one, Lake Mead.  Lee has a great tournament and leads into the final day, but Clunn stuns everyone by having a bigger day 3 and winning his 5th Classic.  The expectation of three guys with 4 Classic titles (Clunn, KVD & Lee) is shattered, now Clunn has 5 Classics and those guys with multiple titles no longer have a way to qualify for another.  Unless of course, they leave the BPT and re-qualify for the Elite series...

 

If the 50th Classic is at Mead and Clunn does indeed qualify, don't forget he won a pair of US Open's there.  It can be a tough fishery and many of the pros from East of the Rockies have never fished it.

I have seen that lake, some competitors might get lost!