Rick Clunn broke into the tournament world more than 40 years ago with his first win on the Bass Master Trail and he’s never looked back. Clunn was a guide on Toledo Bend Reservoir when he decided to give tournament fishing a try. The young gun burst onto the scene with a bravado and self-confidence rarely seen by a young professional at the time. Clunn had different ideas on how to fish and he took the fishing world by storm.

After winning three world championships in the Bass Master’s Classics in the fall back in 1976, 1977 and 1984 BASS actually moved the tournament to a different time of year. He was so dominant in the fall that they had to level the playing field. Imagine that!

Clunn wasn’t through yet and won another championship in 1990.

Last Sunday Clunn seized the day again and let the world know that he’s not through blazing a trail yet. The wise old pro from Ava, Missouri sat in 8th place when the final day of the BassMaster Elite Series Trail began with little hope of wining the tournament. Little hope for most anglers that is.

Clunn crushed the field with a 5 fish limit of bass that weighed 34 pounds and 14 ounces which vaulted him to first place with 98 pounds and 14 ounces! Clunn had not one, but two 9-pound bass in his creel.

“Never accept that all of your best moments are in your past,” said Clunn after becoming the oldest winner on the BassMaster Tournament trail back in 2016.

It’s little wonder that the master angler is still winning tournaments and breaking down barriers in a sport where many are washed up by 40 years of age. To compete on the national tournament trail in all types of water, weather and against a plethora of young energetic anglers is hard for a young man, but for a 72-year-old man it’s almost impossible.

But Clunn has been doing the impossible all his life. When he was young, he let everyone know that nobody was too young to have success. Throughout his career Clunn kept setting the bar high with 123 top 10 finishes and now winning his 16th National BASS tourney to go with others he won on other trails is astounding.

Never too old, that’s the message Clunn gives us now. You’re never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream. If Rick Clunn said it, then you can take it to the bank. He’s proven his mettle time and again and he’s an inspiration to us all, young and old who aspire to do great things and dream big dreams.

In 1988 Clunn won the Angler of the Year title on the B.A.S.S. trail. In 2001, he was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame but that might have been a bit premature as he’s still winning tournaments 18 years later.

The bass fishing trailblazer is 72 years, 6 months old and he’s still keeping the pressure on the young guns. By winning the Power-Pole Bassmaster Elite at St. Johns River in Palatka, Florida this week Clunn has once again signaled to the world that he’s still blazing new trails and is a force to be reckoned with. Imagine sitting in eighth place after a grueling week battling the weather, water, bass and young anglers and hitting a home run on Championship Sunday with a tournament-best limit of five bass that weighed 34-14 with a 9-14 lunker! That’s vintage Rick Clunn- coming up big in the crunch time. Never count a person out just because of their age. It’s a lesson we should all remember.

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comast.net.