Greatest Angler Debate travesty!!! 2025

Landis76 reply :

That show is a complete joke. Mark Davis and Larry Nixon out before Bill Dance or even Denny Brauer? ? ? If Dance isn't voted out by next week, I am writing to the show. My top ten goes like this:

1) RICK CLUNN

2) Roland Martin

3) Larry Nixon

4) Kevin Van Dam

5) Mark Davis

6) Gary Klein

7) Denny Brauer

8) Jay Yelas

9) Hank Parker

10) Bill Dance

Will reply :

It was actually the public that voted on the rankings. You are not the only one that feels some anglers may be to high or to low. During the countdown show on ESPN 2 the commentators also don't care for the ratings (Skeet Reese).

Landis76 reply :

I know that the people voted. If the "real" fishermen voted, the list wouldn't look like the way it does.

Fatdaddy150 reply :

Larry Nixon #6 no way. This guy should have been number 4!!

Marty reply :

I haven't been following it, but I thought it was a joke from day 1, starting out with 35 anglers, about 30 of whom had no business being on the list.

Of the ten, I eliminate Parker and Dance because they haven't fished competitively recently. I eliminate Van Dam, Yelas and Davis because they haven't been at it long enough, Klein because he doesn't have enough on his resum é, leaving Clunn, Nixon, Martin and Brauer as the only viable candidates.

Fatdaddy150 reply :

Easy there Marty what has Brauer done that KVD, Yelas, and Davis hasn't? Infact I think they have done as much if not more, less time. I think that makes their accomplishments that much more impressive.

Chris reply :

I think at the end they should have the pro's vote who should be the greatest angler and see if they pick the same people as the public.

Fatdaddy150 reply :

SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA CHRIS!

Landis76 reply :

Quote
Of the ten, I eliminate Parker and Dance because they haven't fished competitively recently. I eliminate Van Dam, Yelas and Davis because they haven't been at it long enough, Klein because he doesn't have enough on his resum é, leaving Clunn, Nixon, Martin and Brauer as the only viable candidates.

Whoa, that is crazy. Those last three are the best of the best but KVD, Yelas and Davis are absolutely incredible.

KVD:

BMC titles: 1

BMCs fished: 14

FLW Championships Fished: 3

BASS Titles: 7

2ND Place BASS Finishes: 5

Top 10 BASS Finishes: 51

FLW Top 10 Finishes: 7

BASS AOY 1992

BASS AOY 1996

BASS AOY 1999

2001 FLW AOY

2002 ESPY Awards winner

2004 BASS Elite 50 Points Champion

Mark Davis: (and this doesn't even include this years E50s)

BASS titles: 4

BMCs fished: 13

BASS Top 10 finishes: 38

FLW Top 10 finishes: 4

BMC titles: 1

1995 BASS AOY

1998 BASS AOY

2001 BASS AOY

Jay Yelas:

1 BMC win

50 BASS top 10 finishes

14 BMCs fished

5 BASS titles

2002 BMC winner

2002 FLW AOY

2003 AOY

2003 ESPY Award

You cannot deny these stats!

Landis76 reply :

oh I almost forgot.

Gary Klein doesn't have enough on his resume? ?

BMCs fished: 22

FLW Championships fished: 6

BASS Titles: 8

BASS AOY 1989

BASS AOY 1993

I WISH I had a resume like this!!!

Phishn_Phool reply :

Like the old story says "On any given day..............."

5bass reply :

My list (now).....Nixon should've been 3rd or 4th

1. Clunn....just because of all the Classic titles

2. Martin....dont like him,but cant deny the dudes accomplishments

3. Van Dam....he's catching up quick

4. Dance....what could've been?

5. Brauer....should have been 8th or 9th(just b/c if they aint hittin a jig,he aint catchin much)

I believe that one day KVD will overtake the number 1 spot,he's got alot of fishing left to do.I'm not a big fan but the guy can flat out put bass in the boat.

The younger guys accomplishments are much more impressive just because the competition these days is so much tougher.150+ anglers in every tournament.....

GobbleDog reply :

Bill Dance may have been pretty good back in the day, but I think he should lose points for his crappy tv show.

"Look at me! I'm in a private stocked little pond, that nobody else in the world can fish! And my lures are catching fish by the barrel! Amazing!" :

BD reply :

I watched it this weekend too.

I think Larry Nixon should be #1.

Opinions, everyone has one.

CBedo reply :

I think you could make a good arguement for Nixon being number one, but on my list I have him three behind Clunn and Martin .

The fact that the public voted him so low probably doesn't bode well for Rick Clunn. He's not flashy and hasn't been in the public eye the last couple of years.

On the flip side of that, that's probably good for Roland Martin and KVD.

My two cents (probably not worth even one cent).

Landis76 reply :

Quote
Bill Dance may have been pretty good back in the day, but I think he should lose points for his crappy tv show.
"Look at me! I'm in a private stocked little pond, that nobody else in the world can fish! And my lures are catching fish by the barrel! Amazing!" :

AMEN. And everyone says, "What could have been?" But these anglers are being measured on accomplishments, not what could have been.

Muddpuppy reply :

If Denny Brauer can fish competitivley with a bad back he has got to be a true fisherman. So I give him points for that. Jay Yelas just bought out all the really good colored Horney Toads at a small shop that I go to, so I will have to deduct a few point from him. But since he still patronises these smaller places, I guess I will have to give them back plus some.

Raul reply :

I 'm very much with Marty 's choices and also with the way his process of elimination works. Personally I think that Clunn is the most consistent of them all, look at the stats and here 's always in the list and that has been for a long time.

Landis76 reply :

Quote
I eliminate Van Dam, Yelas and Davis because they haven't been at it long enough,

Jay Yelas has been fishing professionally for 18 years and Mark Davis has been fishing professionally for 23 years!! These guys are not the new kids on the block. Denny Brauer has only fished 2 years longer than Davis so why would he be in and not the other guys? Sorry to rant.

Muddpuppy reply :

I haven't seen the show, so is the concept based on who has caught the most fish professionaly or who has made the bigest impact on professional fishing? Some of the people named that are getting culled out really helped in makeing pro bass fishing and bass fishing in general what it is today. Fishing 23 years ago was a little different than fishing today.

ball_coach_1 reply :

If they would have clarified what makes for the 'greatest angler', that would have made it less complicated. Of course, that is probably why they didn't clarifiy.

I grew up a big Larry Nixon fan, so my heart is with him, but I would probably rank him third. And I believe if they did this debate 10 years from now it would be Kevin Van Dam hands down.

BUT...it has to be either Rick Clunn or Roland Martin.

How can you argue with those two guys' career statistics? Clunn with that many wins and Classic championships, and Martin winning angler of the year 9 times....come on, these others don't touch that. My top four, if I HAD to choose:

1. Roland Martin (that is hard to type)

2. Rick Clunn

3. Larry Nixon

4. Kevin Van Dam

abelfisher reply :

Hey, I have to admit, Bill Dance is my sentimental favorite. Whether he is the best or not is debatable. I don't know much about the statistics of these finalists and such so I can't argue with most of you on this subject. The only thing I can argue with is the logic used in a few instances regaridng who should and who shouldn't be on the list. First, the contest is for "the greatest angler of all time" The fact that some may have not fished competitively recently so they should not be on the list is flawed logic. That would be like saying a Larry Bird or Michael Jordan shouldn't be considered for basketball because they have not played rfecently, just doesn't make good logic. Hope this makes sense.

D.Taylor reply :

I wouldnt put Roland Martin in my top 5. FOr the simple reason it is well known the entorague he used to have prefish for him. I'm sure the others had it as well. When my mom fished a Bassn'Gal tourney in the 80's or early 90's she herd he would have 200 guys at the ready to prefish a given lake.

Since the no info rule has came in you kinda hear some remarks about the real fishermen will come out in reference to the Pro's that always had all the help.

JMO

Marty reply :

I have Brauer ranked high because of his career earnings; I know he was first at one time, don't know if he still is.

Klein may have a good resum é, but he lacks a Classic. Whether it's fair or not, competitors in individual sports, such as golf and tennis, are judged disproportionately on their "majors."

Landis76 reply :

Quote
I wouldnt put Roland Martin in my top 5. FOr the simple reason it is well known the entorague he used to have prefish for him. I'm sure the others had it as well. When my mom fished a Bassn'Gal tourney in the 80's or early 90's she herd he would have 200 guys at the ready to prefish a given lake.

I had heard about Martin having people prefishing for him. I had not heard it was 200 though. That seems to be blown out of proportion. My questions are, how could he find that many people at each tourny, how could afford to pay these people for their time and how could he have time before the tournament to narrow down the pattern out of the two hundred fishermen? Also I really don't think he would be considered in this debate if he was so notorious for this practice.

D.Taylor reply :

If he wasnt considderd in this debate then people would want to know why. Then BASS couldnt tell them why cause it would look like slander or bashing of one of its legends. It would take away credibility of the sport.

I doubt he even paid them. I know a guy who brauer called a few times and fished with a time or 2. It was all a prestiege thing bragging to his buddies that he got to fish with brauer or he called me tonight.

Roland wasnt the only one that done it. he was just the most blantant from what I understand.

Landis76 reply :

Quote
If he wasnt considderd in this debate then people would want to know why. Then BASS couldnt tell them why cause it would look like slander or bashing of one of its legends. It would take away credibility of the sport.

Good point.

HoosierAngler reply :

Clunn and Martin would be my top 2 and Nixon and Brauer would be my next 2. Dance doesn't even belong in the top 10, him and his "I catch 5lbers on every sponsor product"show. Put him on competitive waters and watch him struggle to catch keepers

Pond-Pro reply :

I think that Rick Clunn should get the award. He was great years ago and he is still great today. Bill Dance will probably win because of him being the most known of and popular among the general public. The GAD on Bass Saturday is very interseting. The GAD in Bassmaster also cleared some things up for me.

I won't be too upset if Bill Dance wins. He is a great guy and has improved our sport.

Marty reply :

I do not like Roland Martin and I don't profess to have any knowledge about his getting help before tournaments. However, he still has to go out and catch those fish.

But the overriding factor, in my opinion, is his longevity. Here he is in his mid-60s, and still competitive 35 years after starting to fish BASS. That longevity, in addition to his wins and high finishes, demands that he be on the list of finalists.

Chris reply :

I wonder who is next to get the boot this week.

Chris reply :

If you want to play the money game here is the top 10

1) Denny Brauer $1,889,176.71

2) Rick Clunn $1,627,544.53

3) Larry Nixon $1,579,658.58

4) KVD $1,450,108.33

5) Jay Yelas $1,312,607.00

6) Shaw Grigsby $1,259,855.23

7) Gary Klein $1,239,343.97

8 ) Ron Shuffield $1,047,521.00

9) Roland Martin $1,038,067.16

10) George Cochran $1,018,121.30

AOY From 1971-2005

Roland Martin 9

Bill Dance 2

Larry Nixon 2

Hank Parker 1

Denny Brauer 1

Gary Klein 2

Mark Davis 3

KVD 3

Jay Yelas 1

Jimmy Houston 2

I just thought this was interesting

mac7373 reply :

I would like to see Bill Dance named the Greatest Angler just to watch Skeet Reese squirm in his seat and whine for the next 10 years about it. That guy is such a joke...what a baby. He's just upset that Gary Klein wasn't ranked higher.

If I was to just pick the ones I felt deserved it just based on competitive angling production...in no order it would have to be Martin, Clunn, KVD, and Nixon or Davis.

If you go by who popularized the sport and made it what it is today...made it something worth having this debate about. Without question Martin, Dance and Parker and maybe even KVD.

Landis76 reply :

Quote
If I was to just pick the ones I felt deserved it just based on competitive angling production...in no order it would have to be Martin, Clunn, KVD, and Nixon or Davis.

Heck yeah

BassChaser57 reply :

Is this the greatest angler debate or the most popular angler debate---I think the Latter!!!

roadwarrior reply :

Ray Scott has a pretty good piece in this month's BASSMASTER magazine. He sums it up pretty well, the Greatest Angler debate really boils down to Roland Martin and Rick Clunn.

I'm still voting for Bill Dance.

Landis76 reply :

Yeah I read that. I thought it was pretty good. Even though he is a pompous jerk. :

Boo reply :

Rick Clunn is too fruity for me, too much Philosphical crap(I misspelled it didnt I). Roland Martin is too cocky. I would pick Brauer or Nixon, they seem humble and their great fisherman.

guest reply :

I dont tournament fish so I have no idea what it takes to be the greatst angler on those terms.If we judged people by how much money they made then Miles Davis,Muddy Waters,Professor Longhair,Ernie Banks,Duke Snider,Joe Nammath,Muhamed Ali,Jim Valvano and John Thompson and Oscar Robertson would be on nobodys list based on todays money standards.Yet all those guys changed their music and sports forever and were visonaries So in that respect can we not include Al Linder,Bill Dance and Tommy Mann whose were the first names I ever was able to associate with greatness in the ealy days of BASS I know I still learn a lot reading or viewing reruns of material from these men

guest reply :

Dance shouldn't even be considered. He is such a poser. I don't know who he greased to keep him on the air.

I heard he does his entire season of shows in 2 weeks on his private pond! whew--boy you are good!

I am with Gobbledog and Alandis- down with Dance!

Landis76 reply :

Next time you see one of his shows, watch how he plays his fish...he's got the rod behind his head ???

ball_coach_1 reply :

I agree with Roadwarrior...the piece on Clunn and Martin this month is Bassmaster is worth the one page read. I have posted my thoughts on this topic before (somewhere above).

But to hear the news this morning having KVD now out and ranked #5? Come on man, it is officially what we all knew in the outset...a lot of people voting on ESPN that know nothing of the sport, and I would now not be shocked if Bill Dance does win the vote. Martin, Clunn, and Van Dam...the top three...now another spot is open at the top for the rest left. Probably now Martin, Clunn and Dance, and wouldn't bet against Dance now taking the vote.

Landis76 reply :

Yeah, to even consider that Dance is better than KVD totally absurd. ABSOLUTELY RIDUCULOUS! :

earthworm77 reply :

Alandis, I pretty much agree with your list. The only thing I may switch is Van Dam. I think he needs to fish another 10 years to be included as an all time great. He is awesome, just needs more time. IMHO.

Chris reply :

If it was up to me here is my top 6

1) Roland Martin

2) Rick Clunn

3) Denny Brauer

4) Larry Nixon

5) KVD

6) Mark Davis

Landis76 reply :

Brauer out?!?!?!?!?!?

I think Dance sold his his soul to get this high on the rankings.

This debate is a joke.

Landis76 reply :

Dance out! FINALLY! :

flippin4it. reply :

I really like chris's pick's.But there is no way I could put them in any order.BUT! If i had to pick one ,it would be Brauer! I love pitchin' and a flippin'.Brauer has a couple of video's that i learned alot from.KVD also has an awsome pitchin' and flippin' video through BPS.

flippin4it

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