As the world mourned President George H.W. Bush last week, Rick Clunn recalled some memorable interactions with him, and he believes Bush should receive more credit for helping professional bass fishing.
Clunn and Bush crossed paths several times, but those limited encounters offered Clunn some unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, including surreal trips on Air Force One and fishing with the First Couple on B.A.S.S. founder Ray Scott’s lake.
Clunn spent enough time with Bush to discern that the 41st president of the United States was a “truly good man far above his position of power and influence.” And it was Bush appearing at B.A.S.S. events that put a national spotlight on bass fishing, Clunn said.
“Our sport kind of came bona fide after Bush came to the 1984 Classic,” Clunn said. “Bass fishing became more of a legitimate career.”
Visiting fairs and kissing bass
Bush’s first visit to a Bassmaster Classic actually occurred at the 1979 event on Lake Texoma. Bush, who had served in Congress and as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was working on his first presidential campaign, and he even hired Scott to chair his Alabama efforts.
Clunn was coming off a spectacular run, becoming the first man to win back-to-back Classics (1976-77), and he was second in 1978. He was in the mix again at Texoma, eventually finishing third, and he most likely would have won if not for a late penalty, something he laments to this day.
Clunn didn’t even meet Bush at Texoma, but he said the Texas oilman turned politician was appreciated for focusing the national spotlight on the Bassmasters.
“The Classic had been a secretive deal, but that was the first time that any major media showed up,” Clunn said. “The Washington Post, The New York Times, all these big papers that had never been at a Bassmaster Classic before.
“Then in 1984, he came to the Classic in Pine Bluff, Ark. It was one of our first drive-up weigh-ins, and the crowd went nuts. Of course, he was vice president and Bill Clinton was the governor. Here’s two big politicians, both of them standing on each side of me. That, all the sudden, I felt bona fide.”
The photo of a triumphant Clunn with two future presidents on the weigh-in stage holds high status in the 50 years of B.A.S.S. At that time, Scott’s organization was growing in small increments before Bush’s major boost.
“Historically, I think it was one of the more important things that gave us greater credibility with the fans, of course, but it also gave us credibility with the corporate world that we never had before.”
Scott and Bush developed a great friendship, and Bush legislation while Reagan’s vice president (1981-89) and as president (1989-1993) benefitted fishing greatly. Bush also got to fish, and sometimes he’d go to Scott’s private lake in Pintlala, Ala., south of Montgomery. Sometimes he’d bring guests.
Picking out lures at 30,000 feet
It wasn’t long before Clunn would win his fourth Classic that he received a call from Scott before New Year’s Eve in 1990. He said Bush wanted to fish with him.
Clunn was told to meet the President at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston and then fly to Montgomery aboard Air Force One then travel with the presidential convoy for their outing on Scott’s lake.
“My mind is just spinning, going back and forth,” Clunn said. “Air Force One? What? What, what, what, what? It was just surreal. This is not really happening.”
Clunn chatted with Forrest Wood and another of Scott’s friends in the plane’s media area before reaching 30,000 feet. Then Bush invited them to his office.
“He was behind this giant desk. The only other startling thing was back in the room behind him – Barbara Bush was folding laundry,” Clunn said.
The men spoke a bit before Bush picked up a big tackle box, set it on the desk and opened it up. Telling the tale, Clunn got rather animated for this next description. When speaking as the president, Clunn sped his voice, sounding somewhat like Dana Carvey doing his famous impression of Bush on SNL.
“All the sudden, you can see this transformation – ‘OK, OK, alright. What do you think we’re going to throw? What do you think we’re going to use? Will this work?’” Clunn said, imitating Bush. “The phone rings, and he switches back. Remember this is New Year’s Day. ‘Yes, this is President Bush. Ambassador so-and-so from Somalia, I want to wish you a Happy New Year and a prosperous year.’ Then he puts the phone down, ‘You think this will work here?’ Then there was another call. This went one for an hour.”
As the plane started its descent to Montgomery, Clunn said he came to the realization just how unusual his day was. Not only was he flying on Air Force One, but “the most powerful man in the world is asking me what lure to fish with.”
Labels are lazy
Clunn doesn’t like labels – Democrat, Republican, etc. – because they’re a “lazy copout.” He formulated that theory from guiding in Texas. One day he might take out a bar owner from Austin, and the next day it might be the CEO of Exxon. While they were widely different, on his boat they were just guys trying to catch a fish.
“I vote for who I think the good man is,” said Clunn, who voted for H.W. but not his son. “I didn’t vote for Junior because Barbara told me not to. She didn’t tell me directly, though.”
He was just remembering her wish and heeding her words. On the flight, while Bush didn’t want to talk politics, Wood and the other man broached the subject, asking Bush which of his politically involved sons might follow him into the White House.
“He didn’t even get a chance to answer,” Clunn said. “Barbara was back there folding clothes, and she goes, ‘We do not need another Bush as president of the United States.’”
Point taken. It’s understandable that all the criticism a president endures is more difficult on family members. At Bush’s funeral, George Jr. said the negative comments about his father were the only unfavorable aspect of him being president. Barbara experienced that with her husband and then her son.
Labeling turned on Clunn once he was fishing with Bush. He kept calling the president by his first name before catching himself and apologizing – “Good one, George. I’m sorry, Mr. President.”
“He finally says, ‘Rick, today you’re not the world champion angler. And I’m not the President of the United States. We’re just two guys who love to fish.’
“There went those labels. That’s one of the things I’ve always admired about fishing. At least for a brief moment in time, it can erase so many of these things that are probably not as important as we try to make them. We’re just another human sharing the outdoors with someone who loves it as much as you do. He just naturally made you feel comfortable.”
On the water with Secret Service
Bush even made Clunn feel comfortable despite being surrounded by the watchful eyes of the Secret Service. Clunn said there were agents every hundred yards or so on shore, and behind them in the woods were camouflaged soldiers with automatic weapons.
There were even frogmen swimming near the boat, and Clunn recalls Bush’s answer when he asked why.
“‘Well son, they’re afraid if the boat sinks, they’re going to have to save me.’ I started laughing, ‘What about me, George?” He said, ‘Son, you’re on your own,’” Clunn said.
The Bushes were married for 73 years. Barbara passed in April, and it’s been said H.W. didn’t want to spend a Christmas without her. Clunn said their love was evident, even when trying to outfish one another.
“She caught the biggest fish of the day,” Clunn said. “We heard her hollering and screaming. ‘George, look!’ She and Ray were holding it up.
“George yells back, ‘Man that’s wonderful, honey!’ He turns to me and goes, ‘We’ve got to catch a bigger one now or I’ll never hear the end of it.’”
Yes, fishing levels things out. Bush had a lifelong love of fishing. He was a fellow angler and loved the outdoors, as well as being a caring human. Clunn, who helped Bush’s campaign with outdoorsmen, knew he was a good man from one particular act at the 1984 Classic. Clunn’s father had fallen ill on Day 1 and was in a coma, and Bush offered to fly Clunn back home on Air Force Two.
“He showed that same kindness on Ray Scott’s Lake,” Clunn said. “That’s what impressed me how good of a man he was. He had tremendous power, which could have affected any human being. Through all of it, he maintained that integrity.
“Most of the time listening to him it was, ‘I messed up sometimes.’ But when he talked about success, it was always ‘We. We had a lot of success.’”
Bush might not be responsible for the milestone of the 1984 Classic, when fire marshals had to close the doors of the Pine Bluff Convention Center as fans tried to jam their way inside. The media also came, and the enormity of the Classic grew.
“In 1984, we took a big step because of him,” Clunn said. “From a tournament perspective, it just blew everything else away. I made the little speech about green fish (“Only in American can we follow our dream of chasing little green fish”) and later on George Bush used that same speech – he quoted me in front of Congress. The effect that Bush had on our sport is historically valuable.”