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