Rick Clunn Skunked At BP Elite - St. Johns River , FL. !?!

[ChrisD46]

Who would have ever thought that the great Rick Clunn who has enjoyed two fairly recent titles at the BP Elite - St. Johns River Tournament in Florida would whiff two straight days not landing any measurable bass for 00 total weight , finish dead last (99th) and miss the weekend cut !?!   What ever patterns RC was running obviously were not working out for him ...*That's big league tournament bass fishing for you !!

[TnRiver46]

I believe I read in another thread that he didn’t zero, instead caught some small ones and decided not to weigh in so he released them 

[scaleface]

Basstrakk had him listed with two small bass on day two . He didnt bother weighing them .Hes done this before 

[ChrisD46]

That happens sometimes , RC is still a class act and I hope he bounces back at the next tournament stop . 

[Tim Kelly]

Glad to hear that. I wondered whether something had happened that made him drop out of the event. 

[Captain Phil]

Florida fishing can be like that.  One day you're culling five pounders and the next day you can't get a bite.  I once won a local tournament when I was near last place on the first day and no one caught a fish on the second day but me.  Don't get a big head when you win around here because your luck can turn on you fast.

[A-Jay]

Glad he's OK and not wishing bad luck on anyone but it just goes to show (once again) 

that even The Zenmaster makes some bad calls on occasion.

Offers hope for us mortals. 

#iamahack

A-Jay

 

[scaleface]

It really sucks for the guys who chose him in Fantasy fishing . They lose 100 points because of him not weighing those two little bass in on day two . That could cost somebody   a major prize at the end of the year .  He should make an appearance and humbly weigh his dinks in . If he cant do that , after all he is a legend , then maybe he should just retire .

[MN Fisher]

14 minutes ago, scaleface said:

It really sucks for the guys who chose him in Fantasy fishing . They lose 100 points because of him not weighing those two little bass in on day two .

Yep - I'm in the bottom because of that. Come on Rick, at least show up to the weigh-in...it's like he had a tantrum because he didn't catch a good bag and he decided to 'take his toys and go home'.

 

I know it might be a little petty of me, but he's not going on my fantasy list anymore.

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, MN Fisher said:

I know it might be a little petty of me, but he's not going on my fantasy list anymore.

I learned that lesson too , a few years back . The fans wat too see him too . Being the St. Johns has been good to him , the least he can do is make an appearance and tip his hat .

[Catt]

Y'all kidding right ?

 

Ya think he should abuse his equipment,  abuse his tackle, & abuse his body, so y'all can gain a few points in a "Fantasy" game!

 

This isn't a team sport, it's a individual sport, & sometimes ya gotta cut your losses & move on to the next tournament.

[scaleface]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

Ya think he should abuse his equipment,  abuse his tackle, & abuse his body, so y'all can gain a few points in a

I didnt know weighing in fish was abuse of equipment . Ronnie Moore with BASS was talking about it and you could hear in his voice that he was disappointed . Its not a team sport but it is an organization. 

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, scaleface said:

I didnt know weighing in fish was abuse of equipment . Ronnie Moore with BASS was talking about it and you could hear in his voice that he was disappointed . Its not a team sport but it is an organization. 

Disappointing the fans by not even showing up at the weigh-in...wonder what his sponsors are going to think about that.

[bowhunter63]

As long as Rick is breathing there’s always a chance. Might not have been in a real good mood. It happens 

[Catt]

34 minutes ago, scaleface said:

Its not a team sport but it is an organization. 

 

Clunn is an individual that help make the "organization" what it is!

 

31 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Disappointing the fans by not even showing up at the weigh-in...wonder what his sponsors are going to think about that.

 

His sponsors know his abilities & trust his decision making.

 

7 minutes ago, bowhunter63 said:

As long as Rick is breathing there’s always a chance. Might not have been in a real good mood. It happens 

 

Ya gotta know when to hold em & ya gotta know when to fold em.

[BigAngus752]

This discussion about Clunn is interesting.  In every other major league sport we would EXPECT that an athlete, or multiple athletes in any contest, to be petty, childish, and generally poor sports.  It happens constantly in NFL, NBA, and MLB.  Those athletes like Walter Payton, Peanut Tillman, Kurt Warner, Coach Tony Dungy, they are the exception to the atypical celeb athlete.  But in professional fishing it makes the news when someone throws a tantrum or has a bad day and acts foolish.  I think that's wonderful and it's even better that fishing is becoming more popular.  These guys are usually setting a great example for the rest of us.  

[gim]

3 hours ago, Catt said:

Y'all kidding right ?

 

Ya think he should abuse his equipment,  abuse his tackle, & abuse his body, so y'all can gain a few points in a "Fantasy" game!

 

This isn't a team sport, it's a individual sport, & sometimes ya gotta cut your losses & move on to the next tournament.

Professionals in any sport that have fantasy games based on their results don’t care about who has them in the fantasy league or what points they get. It happens in football all the time. They make the best decision based on what their team needs to do to win. It sucks if you picked him in fantasy fishing but to blame him for making that decision because you picked him is ridiculous. Especially if he has done this before in a previous event. I can assure you that he doesn’t care if he got you no points.

[HaydenS]

I wish he would have weighed those fish so I could've gotten some fantasy fishing points!?

[Ski]

Top 10 fishing tomorrow.

[jbsoonerfan]

I stopped playing fantasy sports when I realized the guys playing didn't give a rip if ol JB won or not.

[OCdockskipper]

6 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Clunn is an individual that help make the "organization" what it is!

 

His sponsors know his abilities & trust his decision making.

 

Taking how it affects Fantasy Fishing out of the equation, I see two potential reasons why Clunn choose not to weigh in:

1. He didn't want to take stage time away from those who were having a good tournament;
    
2. He didn't want to cross the stage having done poorly.

 

If it was the first reason, then that could be considered admirable.  When Clunn had a big bag in 2016 on day 3, he inconvenienced the other participants by waiting to weigh in last (so his family could make it there).  No one minded, giving extra attention to those who are having a good tournament is expected.  So it does seem that may be his M.O., only take up stage time when he has produced.

 

However, if it was the second, he is being selfish.  There are plenty of fans who go to the weigh in to get a glimpse of the pros in person.  For him to deprive them of that is very short sighted.  Yes, it must get tiring smiling with fans, but it comes with the territory.  If you don't want to deal with the fans, go back to guiding on Lake Conroe.

 

As far as Clunn helping make B.A.S.S. what it is, I disagree.  Had he never left that job at Exxon to fish professionally, B.A.S.S. would have still moved on without him.  Without B.A.S.S., only those who hired him as a guide would have known his name.  Clunn deserves all the accolades he has earned, but a little humility and appreciation for the organization that gave him a platform to accomplish all that would be nice.

 

It might be something about older folks in the public eye.  I have met both Clunn and Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson in the past decade and both were very gruff & short.  I didn't ask for an autograph, picture or any of their time.  For Brunson, I just started to open a door for him at the WSOP (he was using his crutch at the time) and was met with a sharp "Don't, I got it".  For Clunn, I was talking with Trip Weldon at BassFest when Clunn came up to ask Trip something.  When he was done, Rick looked at me & I said "Good luck tomorrow".  He just gave me a blank look and walked away.

 

Maybe they are just grumpy old men...  

[Logan S]

I'm really surprised he chose not to weigh, every point is valuable to those guys - For the classic and re-qualifying for next year (though Clunn could use legends exemptions if needed).  I know he's getting older and all, but I have to imagine the Classic is still important to him?  I watched a lot of the coverage today but not all, did they actually say he dumped his fish?  I'm wondering (hoping) if it was something like he had a couple fish but was late to weigh in or something.  

 

I don't care about the fantasy aspect at all...I'd just be really surprised if he willingly decided not to get the points.  

[scaleface]

Fantasy Fishing is run by BASS . Its a big deal . Ronny Moore often has updates during the coverage . He was almost apologetic when Clunn just screwed over 40 percent of the participants . I imagine there will be a rule change on the scoring of Fantasy Fishing next season  so this doesnt happen again . By the way , I benefited from him not showing up . I got 267 points more than the 40 percent who selected him  .

1 hour ago, Logan S said:

I'm really surprised he chose not to weigh, every point is valuable to those guys - For the classic and re-qualifying for next year (though Clunn could use legends exemptions if needed).  I know he's getting older and all, but I have to imagine the Classic is still important to him?  I watched a lot of the coverage today but not all, did they actually say he dumped his fish?  I'm wondering (hoping) if it was something like he had a couple fish but was late to weigh in or something.  

 

I don't care about the fantasy aspect at all...I'd just be really surprised if he willingly decided not to get the points.  

Hes done this on at least two other occasions . 

[DitchPanda]

2 hours ago, Logan S said:

I'm really surprised he chose not to weigh, every point is valuable to those guys - For the classic and re-qualifying for next year (though Clunn could use legends exemptions if needed).  I know he's getting older and all, but I have to imagine the Classic is still important to him?  I watched a lot of the coverage today but not all, did they actually say he dumped his fish?  I'm wondering (hoping) if it was something like he had a couple fish but was late to weigh in or something.  

 

I don't care about the fantasy aspect at all...I'd just be really surprised if he willingly decided not to get the points.  

Well this is what I was gonna say. I would sure think he would like to make the classic again...if so why dump points? If its not important to him to make the classic he needs to hang it up. Kinda the point of the elite series.

[Miabucman]

On 2/13/2021 at 3:55 PM, HaydenS said:

I wish he would have weighed those fish so I could've gotten some fantasy fishing points!?

Me too! lol