2022 Tours - Bring'Em On
Posted by Pete Robbins on Jan 19th 2022
This offseason hasn’t been quite as short as the COVID-addled 2020-21 gap, but it still seems brief. It seems like we were just filling out the final Classic berths last week and now everyone is getting ready to head to Florida. That’s fine for fans like me, who look forward to the dulcet tones of Tommy Sanders and Mark Zona to signal that all is right in the world.
Of course, there are multiple top tours now, and while I don’t begrudge anyone the right to make a living as they see fit, from a fan’s perspective, the whole deal is just a little bit less compelling than it used to be a decade ago. Two tours out of sync with one another and too much to watch make it all hard to follow for those of us with daytime obligations.
The other big change we have is the progress of the fields. In the 80s and 90s, it seemed like there were distinct “generations” of anglers – the young guns, the up-and-comers in their 30s, those in the prime of their career and those on the way out. Now, instead of those typically clear-cut distinctions, we have all sorts of “micro-generations.” Just as an Ott DeFoe ages into mid-career, he’s replaced by a Jordan Lee, who in turn is replaced at the top of the heap by a Justin Wheeler. I know that Wheeler is technically older than Lee, but his bright star shone a bit later. And then, just when you think they’re the next prodigy, they’re immediately replaced by the likes of Patrick Walters. Again, I know that’s not a clean progression, because it mixes and matches tours, but the point is that any given angler only gets to be the latest and greatest thing for a fraction of a hot minute.
We won’t really know the storylines until the season gets moving in earnest, but until then, here are a handful of anglers I’ll be watching in 2022:
Kevin VanDam
Despite the occasional rumors of his demise, VanDam has gotten no less driven or less potent in recent years. He’s still a beast, and until someone definitively proves otherwise still the greatest to ever play the game. Nevertheless, the gap between him and his closest competitors, as well as his VORP, has diminished significantly. This is not 1991, when there were tour level competitors who fished “just for fun,” or even 2011, when there were Elites who were not even in his solar system. Now if you’re on one of the major tours it’s all but guaranteed that you can flat out catch them. No one gets there by accident. I have no idea if retirement from tournament fishing is in his sights, but I guarantee you that he has at least one really dominant run left in him, if not central, if the planets line up right.
Rick Clunn
I’m starting to get the feeling that Clunn will never retire, and that B.A.S.S. will keep him around as long as he’s sentient and able to get the boat to the ramp. Nevertheless, he’s truly in uncharted territory – he’ll be 76 before the season ends. Last year was not a good one for him, with only one finish better than 50th, and six of 80th or worse. Again, don’t bet against him. They’re starting off at the St. Johns River, where he won as recently as 2019. As I inch toward Social Security, I’m starting to rely more on his idea that you should “never assume that your best days are behind you.”
Patrick Walters
Walters came out of the college game bearing short-shorts and an ability to compete anywhere at any time. He’s not yet 28 and he has two Opens wins and a Lake Fork Elite Series Century Belt – and has made a charge at AOY each of the past two years. He’s straight out of the Jordan Lee mold, a stone cold killer, just a little bit more corporate than his counterpart from Alabama, who seems to have done ok for himself.
Jonathan Kelly
As I look down the Elite Series rookie list, I don’t know who will excel, but if recent years are any precedent I think we’ll be aware that one or more of these guys will be identified as a superstar in the making (if not fully-made) by midseason. Could it be the Pennsylvania rookie Kelly? After all, he came out on top of the highly-competitive Northern Open standings last year and showed no mercy on the field (8th at the James River, 9th at the St. Lawrence). It’s just so hard to say how it’ll all shake out, simply because his track record at BASS is so short. When it comes to picking the ROY, I tend to shy away from expecting the guys who’ve toiled in the Opens for years and finally make the Elites. Conversely, I gravitate to the ones who make it look easy.
Jeff Gustafson
For some reason, I’ve expected Jeff Gustafson to become a super-super-star for a number of years now. I don’t mean to imply that he hasn’t been great – the Elite win and three Classic qualifications speak for themselves – but rather that I expected him to win multiple events and maybe a title or three. Perhaps it was his relationship with the Lindners that put him in such high esteem, but I just have a feeling that the continued success of his running crew, which includes the Johnstons and Seth Feider, is going to snowball and benefit all of them. I haven’t worked with him much, but I’m hoping to ingratiate myself so he’ll take me ice fishing on Lake of the Woods.
Shin Fukae
After a decorated career at FLW, Shinichi Fukae briefly stopped off at the Elite Series before heading for the Bass Pro Tour during the mass exodus. Many pundits and fans semi-snarkily stated that on a tour where “every legal fish counts,” the finesse guru would mop up. He’s continued to catch fish, but not at title-earning levels. He’s still young and still beyond dedicated, so there’s no reason to think that he won’t make a charge at wins and titles – perhaps it’s just that his visibility has taken a hit because he’s not super-active on social media. He and Takahiro Omori remain the only two Japanese anglers in the BPT field, while there are now four on the Elite Series. Obviously, that doesn’t directly affect their performance on the water, but it might impact their marketability stateside and at home.
Mike Iaconelli
Ike is back at BASS. That’s a win for Ike. That’s a win for BASS. It’s likely a win for fans, too, because no amount of Ike is too much Ike. None of us will be surprised when he wins an event or two, just as none of us will be surprised when he does something outrageous and/or controversial. Simply put, he puts butts in seats and keeps it interesting. Judging from the Northern Opens, he still has a lot in the tank and no one is a better teacher or promoter. Can you believe that it’s been nearly two decades since he won his lone Classic, or that it’s been more than that since Tim Tucker quoted someone as calling him “the Yankee that even the other Yankees don’t like”?
Aaron Martens
Obviously I know that Aaron is no longer with us. It’s a sad state of affairs that the fishing pundits (myself included) have outlined and explored repeatedly. And while I don’t mean to imply that he can or will ever be replaced. However, we need to find someone as universally loved, as universally curious, and as unrelentingly innovative. That may take three or four people, and it may take a while. By the time it happens, six more generations of superior anglers may come along.