BACKLASH
Q&A
CLARK REEHM
Huntington, Texas
What do you pride yourself on
most as an angler?
My consistency. If you look at my fin-
ishes, I’m between 21st and 70th a
whole lot. That means I’m cutting a lot
of checks or I’m one mistake, missed
fish or missed execution from getting
paid.
That’s a very businesslike way of
approaching things.
That’s because it’s a business. My wife
asked me the other day if I’d rather win a
tournament or cut a check in every event,
contend for the Angler of the Year and
make the championship. I told her win a
tournament, but not just because I haven’t
done that. It’d be because I’d make more
money – $100,000 for winning versus
$70,000 ($10,000 per tournament) – and
I’d probably get more sponsors.
88
So does it bother you that you
haven’t won a tournament yet?
Yes and no. Every guy is different.
Some guys are hypercompetitive, and
winning to them is winning a trophy.
That’s what drives them.
For me, it’s a straight-up business. So
cutting a $10,000 check is winning. I feel
good, especially when I’ve scratched out
a check when I had nothing.
Do you ever fish to win or just for
checks?
I don’t do either.
Care to explain?
It took me a long time to realize you
have to quit gambling. That’s not how you
win. That rarely pans out. The guys who
win tournaments stay steady and catch
their fish. It seems simple, but it’s not.
I think I’m going to need a little
more explanation.
At this level, you know whether
you’re on fish to win or just “check fish.”
With either, you don’t win or get a check
unless you’re able to exploit those fish
for all they’re worth.
Take last year. I’ve never been on win-
ning fish so many times in a season as I
was in 2017. But random things happen.
You lose a key fish, or you don’t execute
one day like you should. So you don’t
win. So many things have to go right to
win even when you’re on winning fish.
I’ve been close, and it will happen.
What’s it going to be like when you
finally hold that trophy?
You see guys go crazy on stage, but I
don’t think that will be me. It’s like when
you’re fishing. You don’t get the adrena-
By Sean Ostruszka
line rush when you’re fighting the fish; it’s
when you get the bite. So once I take the
lead I’ll be excited, but if I’m already in the
lead when they announce me the winner
I’ll be quiet. Part of it will probably be that
I can’t believe it. I’ll be speechless.
That may be the first time you’ve
been speechless in your life.
It may be. I’m a talker.
Have you ever been speechless?
You’d have to ask my wife. I’m sure I
have been when I’m getting scorched.
You’re even chatty on the water.
Oh, I love to cut up out on the water.
I don’t do it to get in people’s heads. I
just like to have a good time out there.
That’s why you’ll see me wave cam-
era boats closer or talking with people
on their docks. We’re ambassadors for
the sport. I want that kid on the end of
the dock to enjoy the sport, and if me
talking with him can do that then I will.
Do other pros like it?
Most do, but some guys don’t. I had
one pro once tell me never to talk to
him again out on the water. But I’ll
always be honest with guys. All I ask is
that they’re honest with me.
FLWFISHING.COM I JANUARY 2018