Although a closer finish than he wanted, Clark Wendlandt was proud to add a Bassmaster Angler of the Year title to his resume, which he said stands as the most special accolade in his career.
“This the most coveted for all the fishermen,” he said. “You ask the anglers, and 95% would say that’s the award they’d rather win. There’s no trophy in bass fishing that compares to it. Maybe the fans don’t say it, but the fishermen would say this is the one we want the most.
“It’s different than the Classic. That’s just one event, a huge tournament, but it’s still just one. This is a full season, so I had to fish better than everybody else for a full season.”
Wendlandt finished the nine Elite Series events with a three-point margin to add the Bassmaster award to his three AOY crowns with FLW. That it came down to the final moments wasn’t in Wendlandt’s dream script, but he did have to climb over two others in the final event to regain the top spot he had held several times in the season.
David Mullins led going into the season finale, the Toyota Bassmaster Texas Fest benefiting Texas Parks and Wildlife, with 623 points, and Austin Felix, who won Rookie of the Year, was second with 618. Wendlandt was third at 607. When Mullins finished 47th at Fork to total 677 AOY points and Felix (68th) fell out of contention, Wendlandt went on to fish Day 3 needing to finish 31st or better.
Things got razor thin. As others topped his weight, Wendlandt fell from his Day 2 19th-place standing and, at one point, was 30th, prompting Bassmaster TV’s Mark Zona to offer a worrisome “Ay-yi-yi.” But Wendlandt landed his fourth fish late to finish with 7 pounds, 4 ounces, giving him 28th at Fork and a narrow AOY victory, 680-677.
“Days 1 and 2, I maximized what I had,” Wendlandt said. “I used up my fish to get in position. The last day, I basically just had to go fishing because I didn’t have any more fish.”
As anglers do, Wendlandt had made his calculations.
“I had figured it up. I felt like 4 pounds, I had a shot. Six or 7, I pretty much could win,” he said. “I was in 19th place, and I was figuring I had 8 pounds on 30th place. I knew I didn’t need a whole lot. If I got to 7 pounds, then I had 15 pounds on 30th place and not that many guys could pass me.”
While he narrowly missed qualifying for the Classic in his first Elite season last year, Wendlandt started the 2020 season well with a 16th on the St. Johns River. He scored consecutive eighth-place finishes on Lake Eufaula and the St. Lawrence River to take the points lead. A slipup at Lake Champlain (46th) dropped him, but he regained the top spot with a fourth at St. Clair, where he vied for the victory.
The difficult Southern Swing in the fall transition period began well with 21st at Guntersville and 17th at Santee Cooper, which helped Wendlandt build a 35-point lead. However, disaster befell him at Chickamauga Lake, where he zeroed on Day 1 but landed an important fish on Day 2 to finish 81st in the event and secure 20 points. Anglers do not earn points without weighing in a fish.
While that fish has been pointed out as his saving grace, Wendlandt, like past AOY winners, said there were a number of critical fish that propelled him. He landed three fish late at Guntersville on Day 2 to stay in the event, then a 3 1/2-pounder on his last cast on Day 3 gained spots in the AOY standings. The same thing happened with a 4-plus fish at Santee Cooper, also on his last cast.
“That was kind of a recurring theme of the year,” he said. “When I needed a key bite, I got it.
“When you look at key fish, the 3-14 at Chick means the most, even though it’s Chick and I’d love to quit talking about Chick because it’s not that much fun to talk about. That one was worth the most points, but if you really look at it, when you only win by 4 points, every fish you caught during the year was important. Every one that went to weigh-in was really important.”
Wendlandt said he likes to consider another factor in his winning season.
“I think just the consistency,” he said. “I can remember every fish I caught last year. I can go back through every single one, but it was a lot of good finishes, that’s what really stands out to me. If you really want to look at my career stats, consistency’s the thing I’ve had more than anything else. I’m not going to have bad, bad tournaments very often. Chick was an anomaly.”
At 54, Wendlandt becomes the oldest AOY by eight years. Gerald Swindle was 46 in 2016 when he took that record from Roland Martin, who won his ninth and final AOY at 45 years old in 1985. Wendlandt said that accolade doesn’t hold much meaning for him.
“Not one single thing. I’ve been asked that a lot of times,” he said. “I’m like, ‘That’s OK.’ I’m going to try to win it next year, so maybe I’ll make it nine years.”
Being only the 25th person to win one of the 51 AOY titles given by the top B.A.S.S. circuit is a different story.
“That’s pretty significant,” Wendlandt said. “It’s the most coveted award in bass fishing. I knew the significance of it. I didn’t know there were only 24 more. I’m proud to be No. 25.”
Wendlandt is also in some rarefied air as he’s the sixth angler to win AOY titles in both FLW and B.A.S.S. “It sounds good,” he said. “It feels good.”
Like Rick Clunn, the angler who inspired him to make a living in the sport, Wendlandt isn’t of the thought that his best moments are behind him. He wants more, specifically, a Classic crown, another AOY and certainly an Elite Series tournament win or two.
“If I had one thing to do past this, I‘d like to win tournaments,” he said. “I want to win AOY next year. I can say that right now, but when the year starts next year, I’m not saying that. Nobody else is either. You just don’t want that baggage on you. ‘Hey, I’m going to win AOY.’
“I’d love to. If I have the opportunity, I’m going to fight for it as hard as I can fight. It takes a special season to get to that point.”
Yes, 2020 was rather special.