Spring 2020
®
CLAUSEN: It definitely made me question fishing;
because I wasn’t sure I would be able to continue. It shed light that I wasn’t as young as I used to be and how quickly things can go away. It made me appreciate what I do a lot more.
WB: With a season under your belt on MLF, how are
you enjoying the new format?
It is one of the most exciting things that’s happened in my career of 22 years. It is the best chance we have to grow the sport and grow it into a spectator sport. The number of fishing fans hasn’t really changed over the past couple of decades and that means the sport needs to be exposed to more people (that don’t necessarily fish themselves) to grow the fans. It is the best way to grow the advertisers and non-endemic advertisers, which is what needs to be done to grow the sport.
There was a real lapse in new anglers in the mid-2000’s and that was kind of scary. I think the growth of MLF will be a big factor in industry growth. We need to have that spectatorship of fans that don’t fish, as well as ones that do, like other sports such as golf or basketball have.
WB: Before we sign off, we love big fish stories, tell us
one of your biggest or most memorable.
CLAUSEN: My biggest is an 11 1/2 pounder from
Toho on a stickbait. I really learned from this fish. I was kind of just wasting time in practice. I was a bunch of 1 1/2 pounders in an area, just having fun in a place that I decided I wasn’t going to fish in the event and then there it was! I landed an 11 1/2 pounder. It showed me you really just don’t know when a big fish is going to come!
I also learned something from my most memorable day. I was at Clear Lake, fishing an event complaining and griping that I couldn’t catch any “good fish”. I thought this because I was balance-beaming five pounders and just couldn’t get anything better.
It was just one of those things that reminds how special the West is. Coeur d’Alene, Potholes… all of it… when I think about some of my best days of fishing, it seems that they tend to be on this side of the Country. •
page 22
https://www.armybassanglers.com/