LAST CAST
Since 1996 when the Walmart FLW Tour debuted , three pros have garnered nearly half of all the Angler of the Year titles . Andy Morgan , David Dudley and Clark Wendlandt have each won three AOY titles to account for nine of the AOY trophies handed out in the Tour ’ s 21-year history .
During that time , I ’ ve had the privilege to spend a lot of time with each of them , and what I find so compelling is how similar Dudley , Morgan and Wendlandt are in terms of character , drive , intensity , obsession with the outdoors and the way they carry out their fishing business .
For starters , all three pros are dedicated outdoorsmen , spending the majority of their time outside where they are constantly exposed to nature ’ s daily and seasonal rhythms . The pursuit of wild game , either through fishing or hunting , consumes them day in and day out . You can name a weather scenario or seasonal condition , and the chances are good that these three guys have fished or hunted in it – a lot . No by Rob Newell
THREE PROS , NINE AOY TITLES
book , video or Google search can provide that sort of insight into the natural world .
“ So much of fishing involves playing the weather and changing with it day to day , sometimes hour to hour ,” says Dudley . “ The only way you can learn that is to spend thousands of hours outdoors , seeing how weather changes affect fish and wildlife .”
Dudley , Morgan and Wendlandt also have a long history in tournament fishing . They were all competing in tournaments before FLW was founded . As a result , they have fished just about every region of the eastern half of the United States . No matter whether they ’ re in the Ozarks , the Northeast , Florida or Texas , they have a feel for what to look for and what techniques will work .
With the experience to do it all on the water , interestingly , all three seem determined to catch fish their way . They don ’ t chase dock talk or worry about how or where other ( continued on previous page )
ILLUSTRATION BY JOE MAHLER
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FLWFISHING . COM I DECEMBER 2016