MY WORST DAY OF BASS FISHING
Worst Days of Fishing for Rick Clunn and Ken Cook
 Editor's
Note: You're supposed to have fun when you fish for
bass. When you go bass fishing, you don't expect to
find yourself chained to a wall in a medieval dungeon
to learn how much torture you can endure. However, many
anglers earn their living professionally fishing for
bass. Their vocations and jobs mean they have to go
to work when they don't want to, fish in bad, nasty
weather and endure sickness, disaster and disappointment
as parts of their jobs, although most of us think of
bass fishing as recreation. You may think that you've
had a bad day of fishing before or fished in a really
bad bass tournament. But once you read the experiences
of some of America's best bass fishermen and learn what's
happened to them on their worst days of fishing or during
the worst tournaments they've ever fished, your bad
day of bass fishing may not seem so bad.
 Rick
Clunn: Rick Clunn, a nationally-known angler from Ava,
Missouri, has won the Bassmaster Classic four times,
more than any other angler. Clunn, the 1988 Angler of
the Year, has earned over $1-1/2 million in BASS all-time
winnings and remains the only angler to win the Classic
in two consecutive years. "In 28 years of professional
tournament bass fishing, I'd never lost a full day of
competition because of a mechanical problem," Clunn
explains. "I was fishing a major bass tournament
on Lake Champlain out of Detroit, Michigan. From the
takeoff, I started running toward Lake Erie. I didn't
realize when I was going down the Detroit River that
my engine had sucked in some foam from the river. The
engine would still run, but it wouldn't push the boat
any faster than idle speed. When I decided I couldn't
get the boat to run any faster, I headed back to the
launch site. However, the Detroit River had a current
that ran downriver toward Lake Erie. So, I had to come
back against the current. My boat barely had enough
power just to fight the current.
"I got very frustrated because I was on one of
the greatest fisheries in  the
world and not only could I not compete, I couldn't even
fish. For eight hours, I was as miserable as a fisherman
could be as my boat barely eked back to the launch site.
I knew I didn't have a chance to finish in the money
in this tournament, and there was nothing I could do
to make my situation any better. I honestly can say
I've never had a worse day of bass fishing in my life
than idling along the Detroit River and not being able
to fish."
Ken Cook: Fifty-seven-year-old Ken Cook of Meers, Oklahoma,
the 1991 Bassmaster Classic champion, has won over $642,000
on the BASS circuit. "My worst day of bass fishing
occurred when I fished in the 1983 Bassmaster Classic
in Cincinnati on the Ohio River," Cook remembers
vividly. "My elbow was really hurting that first
morning of the tournament. So I took some Motrin, but
I didn't realize that you're not supposed to take it
on an empty stomach. I got so sick at my stomach that
I was laying on the casting deck of the boat  throwing-up
blood. I thought I was about to die, but I continued
to fish. However, I didn't catch a single keeper bass.
To kick me when I was already down, a reporter fishing
from the back of my boat pulled out an old Hellbender
crankbait. There's no way on earth that a Hellbender
would have been appropriate to fish at our location.
But that guy caught a 16-inch bass, and I didn't catch
one. I was dog-sick and disgusted with myself. Then
this press guy caught a bigger bass than I did on a
lure that anyone in his right mind wouldn't have had
in his tackle box or even thought about casting. Needless
to say, I didn't take Motrin the next day. Without question,
that was the most miserable day I ever spent in a bass
boat."
TOMORROW: MORE WORST DAYS OF BASS FISHING WITH MARK
DAVIS
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