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Norman,
OK. – In baseball, a few pitchers last until their early forties, but most flame out long before that. In the NFL, the average running back is washed up by thirty. Female Olympic gymnasts? It’ll be several years until most of them can legally order a beer.
Fishing knows no such age restrictions. On any given day, both the 18 year old and the 80 year old can win. But day in, day out, at the highest levels of the bass game, it’s the guys in their thirties and forties who win out. Take a look at this year’s top ten or top twenty in the angler of the year standings and you’ll see that proved true in 2008.
The top five average just under 40 years old.
The next five average 36 years old.
The next ten also average 36 years old.
Among the top 20, Fred Roumbanis was the youngest. He turned 30 on November 6th of this year. Classic winner Alton Jones and Mark Davis are the oldest at 45. Scott Rook at 21st is 47. You won’t find an angler over 50 on the list until you get to veteran pro Gary Klein (51) at 23rd.
But the “geriatric crowd” (Shaw Grigsby’s words, not ours) had some quality achievements this year. The following are our top six:
The Record
Paul Elias (born May 19, 1951), had an otherwise lackluster year, finishing 79th overall in the AOY race, but for one week he was king of the world. While fishing fans and media focused on the possibility of relative youngsters like Aaron Martens and Byron Velvick winning at Falcon, Elias quietly rolled to a record-setting victory – if indeed a 6 ½ pound average over four days can ever be quiet. It was his first BASS win since 2004 (that year’s Mississippi Open) and his first BASS tour-level win since he was victorious at Okeechobee 20 years earlier.
He won the event on two stalwart lures – an oversized Mann’s Jelly Worm and a discontinued pattern deep-diving crankbait – that were around before some of his competitors were born.
Denny’s Back (and Knee)
For Denny Brauer (born February 3, 1949), it was a bittersweet year. He was within sight of Classic qualification until the second day at the season-ending Oneida tournament, but ended up missing the big show. He didn’t earn his 17th BASS victory, and for an angler who has often said that winning is all that matters, that had to hurt. But for the first time in several years, the emotional hurt was stronger than his physical pain. After a knee replacement during the last offseason and multiple back surgeries over the past decade, Brauer fished as pain-free as he has been in a long time.
The result was three top twelve finishes – 10th at Amistad, 10th at Clarks Hill and 12th at Old Hickory – and an announcement that retirement is not coming any time soon.
Klein Keeps Rolling
Of all the over-50 pros, Gary Klein (born October 11, 1957) may appear to be the most ageless. Maybe it’s the fact that he stays fit and trim, maybe it’s just that he’s been around so long but never seemed to fit into a particular clique, but Klein continues to be a one man wrecking crew on the water.
He was the top-finishing member of the over-50 crowd in the AOY race and his season featured two Sunday appearances on vastly different waterways – a 6th place finish on Amistad and a 7th on Erie, along with a near miss (13th) at Falcon. |
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He’s due to win another one. Will it happen this February at the Red River, a body of water where he has done well historically?
Grigsby’s Heart
Klein’s running buddy, Shaw Grigsby, was the second highest finishing member among the elder statesmen. His 30th place position in the AOY race qualified him for his eleventh Classic, and his first since 2003. Like Brauer, he has had some health problems – in Grigsby’s case, he needed triple bypass heart surgery that curtailed his 2004 season – but he seems to have reacclimated himself to the rigors of life on the road.
Like Klein, he had two top twelve appearances in 2008, a 10th place finish at Wheeler and an 8th place check on the inland sea of Erie.
Clunn Returns
No angler’s name is more synonymous with the Bassmaster Classic that Rick Clunn, who to date has appeared in 31 big shows, winning an unmatched four of them. But this year he came close to missing it. After qualifying for every Classic from 1974 through 2001, Clunn did not make it from 2002 through 2004. He fished the Classic again in 2005, 2006 and 2007, before missing 2008’s derby on Hartwell.
His chances didn’t look good. After the 7th Elite Series tournament of the year, at Wheeler, he sat in 69th place in the Angler of the Year standings. But a 9th place finish at the next tournament (Kentucky Lake), followed by a 5th in the subsequent one (Old Hickory), moved him within striking range at 43rd in the AOY race. Ultimately, he ended the season in 38th, just outside the cut, but due to Bobby Lane double-qualifying through the Southern Opens, he moved inside. Then he made it on his own through the Central Opens.
While many of his peers were happy to see Clunn make it back to the Classic, those competing couldn’t have been terribly thrilled to see him within the field.
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First Timer
Big Dave Smith has competed in BASS events since 1991, and while he has cashed some checks, he’s never threatened to win a tour-level event. Some would say that he doesn’t need the money – after all, he runs a successful trophy-making company – but like all competitors at the highest level he’s probably not satisfied with anything less than stellar finishes.
Smith had made the top twelve four times before at the Open/Invitational level, but prior to this year his best Elite Series finish was a 19th place result at Grand Lake in 2006. But this year he finally cracked the final cut with a 12th place performance at Clarks Hill. Additionally, he matched that previous best 19th at Wheeler.
Making the year even sweeter, Smith joined fellow pros Kelly Jordon, Lance Vick and David Walker on the winning team at the 2008 Toyota Texas Bass Classic at Lake Fork. |
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