who is the gtreatest

[thetr20one]

I know Rick Clunn won the Greatest Angler award. I was just wondering how the vote would go down around here!

[Guest muddy]

Hey I can't vote, I do not know enough about tournament fishing.

[thetr20one]

why do you have to fish tourneys to vote? all these guys have taught a thing or two to everyone that fishes for bass!

[Guest muddy]

OK I have 2 tied for first Bill Dance and Al Linder, but you left him off your list :-/

[jrhennecke]

As far as tournament fishing I have to go with KVD.  He has accomplished what he has against in my opinion tougher compotition than the others.  

As far as teaching the sport I would have to agree with Muddy.

[thetr20one]

Thats why I put the other box up there too. I knew I had to forget at least one or two really great anglers. I am huge fans of the linders! The Linders and Bill Dance by far have taught me the most!!!

[Bass XL]

KVD 100%.

[South FLA]

KVD followed closely by Roland Martin, he was the king of the 70s/80s BASS tournaments.

[gobig]

In my mind its a toss up between Clunn and KVD but I went with KVD because of what he has done in such a short time.

[RobbyZ5001]

I think Clunn... he was ahead of his time. Great bass fisherman and smoking hot wife.

[Mattlures]

All those anglers on your list are great and are in a class of their own, right below Butch Brown and Mike Long. Actualy Mike L is on step up from Butch so all the guys on the list are 2 steps down. But hey they are the greatest at catching small bass.

[Catt]

With out a doubt Rick Clunn

4 Classic titles says it all  

Total Entries: 335  

Times in the Money: 235

1st place: 14

2nd place: 13

3rd place: 11

Top 10: 98

Top 20: 152

Top 50: 251

We'll see where KVD is when he reaches 62  

[Guest muddy]

All those anglers on your list are great and are in a class of their own, right below Butch Brown and Mike Long. Actualy Mike L is on step up from Butch so all the guys on the list are 2 steps down. But hey they are the greatest at catching small bass.

 Please I am not being disrespectful here, but I asked a question a while back that went unanswered. I respect those guys and look forward to their catches, especially one you left out FISH CHRIS. They have learned how to catch big fish in the area they live in. They are way beyond all others fsihing those fisheries and targeting huge bass. But how would they do on a circut like the pros. How would they do boating the biggest fish in differnt fisheries, with all kinds of structures, bodies of water and types of water( Lakes, rivers etc...) vs the Pro?

 I think when talking about specialists, expoliting what is where they live the Cali big guys rule. However best Bass  anglers, have to go to the tourny guys because they do it consistantly all around the country.

[Grey Wolf]

All those anglers on your list are great and are in a class of their own, right below Butch Brown and Mike Long. Actualy Mike L is on step up from Butch so all the guys on the list are 2 steps down. But hey they are the greatest at catching small bass.

Please I am not being disrespectful here, but I asked a question a while back that went unanswered. I respect those guys and look forward to their catches, especially one you left out FISH CHRIS. They have learned how to catch big fish in the area they live in. They are way beyond all others fsihing those fisheries and targeting huge bass. But how would they do on a circut like the pros. How would they do boating the biggest fish in differnt fisheries, with all kinds of structures, bodies of water and types of water( Lakes, rivers etc...) vs the Pro?

I think when talking about specialists, expoliting what is where they live the Cali big guys rule. However best Bass anglers, have to go to the tourny guys because they do it consistantly all around the country.

x2

[ba7ss3in]

What he is doing at this time and on the different bodies of water, I can't say enough. He is very consistent.

[roadwarrior]

With out a doubt Rick Clunn

4 Classic titles says it all

Total Entries: 335

Times in the Money: 235

1st place: 14

2nd place: 13

3rd place: 11

Top 10: 98

Top 20: 152

Top 50: 251

We'll see where KVD is when he reaches 62

I'm with Catt if you are talking about "Tournament" fisherman. I'm with Matt if you talking "bass" fishermen only. But if the question is "Greatest Angler",  it's Al Lindner hands down!

I voted "other".

8-)

[Olebiker]

But if the question is "Greatest Angler", it's Al Lindner hands down!

This is awfully hard for a Southern boy like me to admit, but I agree with RW.  Al Lindner is the best.

Back in the early days he fished a lot of BASS tournaments and did really well.  He decided that tournament fishing was not for him and went back North to focus on educating anglers.

[Guest muddy]

If we are talking all around angler, at least one that everyone knows it has to be Al Linder. Don't let that Mook Babe Winkelman here you say it, he's convinced it's him

There are guys I fished with in Louisiana , who although unknown, would outfish anyone anywhere.

   I bet you Rolo and Catt would fit into this category 8-)

[VA BassHound]

I would say Roland Matin and this is why:

19 BASS titles (BASS record)

92 Top 10 BASS finishes

19 Top 10 FLW finishes

19 Second Place finishes

132 Top 20 finishes

25 BMCs

BASS Times in money: 184

BASS Total Entries: 278

BASS Total Weight: 7,065-6

BASS Career Winnings: $1,052,367.10

Career Earnings: Over $1.5 million

9 BASS AOY titles (BASS record)

25 BMCs fished

[Tin]

Bassnbrett    

I don't think you could compare KVD and Clunn at all. Two different time periods when bass fishing was much different imo. Look at the fishing pressure differences and technology differences. In the past 10 years I would have to say KVD though, before that Clunn and Martin.

[Cajun1977]

im gonna go with roland also...i think clunn is great and yes he was ahead of the field mentally, but the 4 classics dont do it for me, wasnt he only fishing against 16 other anglers in the earlier classics?

[Ky_Lake_Dude]

Of all time Rick Clunn or Roland Martin. I mean Clunn has 4 classics and MArtin has 9 AOY titles. I believe KVD is going to be the best we have ever and ever will see. I believe KVD will break Clunn's classic record and Martin's 19 tournament win record but I dont think the 9 AOY will ever be touched.

[Catt]

Compare all of Roland's stats to Rick's & you'll see Clunn hands down

Clunn's classic wins

1976 Classic: 25 entrants, Martin missed the cut

1977 Classic: 26 entrants, Martin 4th closest ever to a win

1984 Classic: 40 entrants, Martin 40th

1990 Classic: 41 entrants, Martin 23rd

Career Total Weight: 9,257 lbs 13 ozs

B.A.S.S Career Winnings: $1,876,794.50

FLW member since 1997

FLW Total Entries: 60

FLW Career earnings: $ 880,000

FLW tournaments won: 3

FLW Top-10 finishes: 20

Career Earnings: $ 2,756,794.5

Martin's FLW Career: $86,300

FLW member since 1996

FLW Total Entries: 26

FLW tournaments won: 0

FLW Top-10 finishes: 4

[Mattlures]

I just love stirring the pot on the greatest angler debates. To me big fish are more impresive than tournament wins but thats just my opinion. Just cause guys like Clunn or KVD win a bunch of T's does not make them better bass fisherman. It makes them better Tournament fisherman. Between Mike and Butch they have caught more bass over 10lbs than all current touring pros combined. I dont have the #s but I am pretty sure of it. I think Butch is around 1000 and Mike is up there also. Mike also has about 60 bass over 15lbs and holds many lake records. Oh and Muddy to partialy answer your question. Mike fishes the Won bass and a few other circuts in so cal and dominates them. He has won a bunch of team tournaments fishing by himself or with his kid. The only guy who can compete with him is his best friend John Kerr and they fish one circut as partners. Of course they have won AOY like 8 years in a row. Its kind of funny. They often beat 2nd place by 8-10lbs. Either of them could compete on the big stage. John Actualy won his first Major he fished in. The US open. John traveled to another state and fished against a ton of big names and beat them all in his first time out.

As for the master of small fish (tournament anglers) Clunn is the legendary best and KVD is the current king.

Just for the record I do know those Top Tourny guys are monster studs. They deserve the credit they get. I would just like to see a couple of the big Trophy hunters getting their due also.

[cart7t]

Like him or not,  I'm going with Roland.

Bassmaster Classic wins aside, I personally believe the AOY award is more telling of just how good a guy is.  Couple that with all of Martins overall wins and his record is stellar.

In his prime, he was tough to beat and consistantly won regardless of where he was fishing.  If you put him up againts KVD and Clunn today, all things equal, I'm betting he'd probably win the majority of T's.  He was just that good.