2009-2010 FLA Team of the Year Brian Clark and Chuck Dehlinger
Well, another season of the Florida Lure Anglers is behind us and it was quite a season filled with some of the most difficult skills challenges due to weather and format that the club has seen since its inception in 2003.
I had a chance to sit down with the Team of the Year champions Brian Clark and Chuck Dehlinger to get some feedback on the spectacular run that ended with their goal of winning the title being realized. I have enjoyed sharing a boat with each of these guys in tournament conditions and knew going in that they had the mental toughness to make a run at the award this season after coming close the past 3 years. Personally, I know of no greater honor in inshore saltwater fishing than winning the club's point race because of our format which rewards anglers who are consistent and have the skill set to master catching 3 different species using artificial lures only against some of the best anglers in the Southeast.
For the season, they made the "top 3" in 5 tournaments including 2 wins and 2 second place finishes. This type of power made it impossible for the other teams who were in contention coming down the stretch to catch up with Chuck and Brian. Congrats again guys!
What was the high point of the season for you personally?
BC: The high point of the season for me was going into the May tournament knowing that we pretty much had the season wrapped up. That is kind of when reality set in. It was a great feeling to have been in the lead for almost the entire season. We honestly went into this season planning to take it easy and even miss a couple of tournaments to focus on some other types of fishing. But, after we won the flounder tournament and realized that we were in the lead, we decided to go at TOTY full bore.
CD: The high point of the season for me was the flounder tournament win. In our early years in the club, we always struggled to catch flounder. For us to come full circle and win our SECOND all flounder event (We won a flounder event in St. Auggy) really made me feel like we have made large strides in our ability to learn how to find winning flounder, and catch them.
What about the low points?
BC: Definitely the 2 redfish tournament. That was the only tournament where we didn’t weigh a limit. The conditions were brutal, but we tried some kind of out of the ordinary spots and tactics and it didn’t work out. It was a frustrating day. I was sick during that one too, so I didn’t have the mental enthusiasm and power I usually have.
CD: Same here - this was a point in the season where it was time to step up and remain in first place or get caught and have to fight. We failed miserably but the silver lining was that the event actually helped us by giving us a lesser points total to drop. For me, this was the point where we decided we were not going to lose our grip on 1st place and we would try much harder for the remainder of the year. We got complacent a little bit.
You guys have been knocking on the door for the past 3 seasons - what do you think pushed you over the top this year?
BC: We have been working very hard over the last couple years to narrow down specific spots to target for each species. That way, we don’t have to fish 300-yard grasslines to find fish. Rather, we pull up to a spot and know within 10 minutes if it is worth fishing there. Our flounder fishing really has put us over the edge as well. It’s a species that shows up regularly and I feel like we can usually get a nice flounder within a couple hours when we need to (except for the 2nd day of the championship.)
CD: Just as in business, you need the proper tools to succeed. To me, that starts with the boat. Upgrading to the Maverick in January of 2009 was a vital part to our success. The boat allows us to make runs, try spots we normally wouldn't spend the time to get to, and still allows us to fish shallow and handle any conditions thrown our way. The second part of it to me was mostly mental. We game planned like we had never game planned before, and that didn't necessarily mean getting on the water. We came up with contingency plans based on what happened with our original plans, and we ALWAYS got the limit first. Sometimes we got lucky and got a big trout early, or that perfect red in the trout spot, but most of the time we knew that might happen. Then when things went our way, we made sure to give ourselves every opportunity to take advantage by keeping fish alive, making sure we were back on time, spending time focusing on what fish gave us the best opportunity to upgrade, etc. The third part and most important part in my mind is our confidence. We told ourselves in preparing for every single tournament that there was no reason why we shouldn't win. After the second event of the year, we told ourselves anything other than Team of the Year would be a total failure
Were there any particular tournaments or kicker fish that factored into your success?
BC: 2 come to mind – the flounder tournament and the trout tournament. We won the flounder tournament for the 2nd time in the club’s history so that was a nice win. Plus, Chuck caught a stud that day and we ended up catching 15-20 flatties throughout the day. During the trout tournament, while we didn’t win, we took what we had learned during pre-fishing and used our knowledge to apply it to the deteriorating weather conditions. While we had a great weekend pre-fishing the weekend before, the weather had changed dramatically, and the fish weren’t in the same spots. Yet, we were able to apply what we learned and catch fish nearby, but in deeper water with a much slower retrieve. We watched other boats nearby struggle.
CD: Two events were noteworthy for me. The March Slam Tournament comes to mind first. We were getting some heat with some of the chasing teams gaining some ground. We needed another win to keep that lead and we came in and won the tournament by almost two pounds. That reinforced that we meant business and it boosted our confidence to a level where we knew we could retain the lead for the remainder of the year. The January trout tournament was a big confidence booster as well. In pre-fishing, we absolutely KILLED it. We caught some great trout and felt like it was ours to win for certain. We put time into practicing in the freezing cold so we were used to it on tournament day. Tournament day came and it was even colder following a big front. Our patterns were not working from just a couple days before and we had to "re-invent the wheel" to get the job done. We didn't think we would do well with our weight but ended up in third place. We focused on the lesson learned here and that was that we did not give up, we tried new patterns and used our contingency plan and the contingency plan worked well.
Share a little about your tournament planning strategy.
BC: We talk for weeks about our strategy and go back and forth until we have a float plan we both like. We try different things per-fishing to narrow down choices. We talk about what baits each one of us will throw, and we always have a backup plan.
CD: Our tournament planning starts the Monday following the previous tournament. When one is over, we immediately move our focus to the next one. Brian and I email each other daily about our plans, spots we want to try, tides we think are best, and contingency plans in case our "A" plan doesn't pan out. Most of the time we are able to pre-fish, at least the weekend prior. I always try to get out a day or two before to see similar tides, similar weather patterns, and where the fish are holding. That has helped me tremendously in tournaments, knowing what the wind has done to a certain spot, or that one spot will be blown out, or one will be muddy, or the current won't be right until x:xx time, etc. I think going out the day before, even if you don't fish much, is a key to success on tournament day, even though we did not do it as much this year.
We are not big networkers. We don't share a ton of information with people and people don't share a ton of information with us. We have mostly learned what to do on our own and that has given us the ability to trust ourselves and have confidence in our own abilities. Have there been some friends or other anglers that we have fished with who have helped us learn new things? Certainly, for me they are Bob Morris, Scott O'Brien, Ron Schurr, J.D. Nobles and Zach/Angel Isbell just to name a few. Absorbing the things that those people have done to be successful has helped us learn what we need to do.
How about prefishing?
BC: We honestly spent less time pre-fishing this year than we have in previous ones. However, the fish were in our normal spots and we noticed big fish were in the spots. We always pre-fish at least a couple times for the tournaments but not much this year the day or 2 before the tournament. We concentrate mainly on narrowing down spots, specifically for reds and trout.
CD: Depending on the format coming up, pre-fishing for me does not consist of a ton of actual fishing. I learned this from JD Nobles and from traveling the state to fish redfish tournaments. When I pre-fish for reds, I only want to catch one in each particular spot to see that they'll eat on whatever tide, spot, or situation I'm finding them in. I look mostly, running around on the troller or poling real slow to try and see what they're doing. Once I figure that out, I put the boat in the right place to make it happen. I feel like some of our better skills are finding bigger trout in pre-fishing. We had a decent amount of success with trout this year and pre-fishing is key. Trout move a lot, even on a shoreline you may catch them frequently. Knowing where they go when they go deep, shallow, or are feeding or are not is the key, especially in those times of year where the weather patterns can change from day to day. I like to know how to catch them different ways on different lures so I try that while I'm out and I only try to catch a couple fish. I think groups of trout are just like reds and will figure out pressure quickly.
We fish for redfish, trout, and flounder throughout the year - what lures were most effective for your team?
BC: For trout, we have been exclusively using large hard baits that suspend in the water column, especially during the winter. This has been the key to locating bigger trout for us. For flounder, Chuck uses a spinnerbait and I use a jerkbait on a weighted hook. That duo seems deadly in the shallow waters we target. This also allows us to target redfish, but catch a flounder if needed, as bycatch. For reds, nothing in particular but we did catch several on the deeper lures we were using for trout. This accounted for at least one of the nice reds we weighed this year.
CD: I'm not much of an experimental guy when it comes to lures. I predominantly stick to lures and kinds of lures that have worked for me for long periods of time. Brian is much more experimental in that regard. I'd say my favorite hard lures to use are Rapalas. I think the build quality is second to none and the lures are proven and tested. I like skitterwalks for top water and I like most of their diving and suspending baits as well. I like the Husky Jerks in the winter time because they are trout killers and are very easy to get in the strike zone and keep them there. For plastics, I'm sure we use what everybody does. I like Gulp! jerkbaits and shrimp in natural colors. I like paddle tail plastics for reds and curly tail plastics for trout and flounder and I'm not crazy picky about the brand, moreso the action. I can put scent on them to make them smell so I will buy a lesser known brand if I think it will look good in the water. One of my favorite baits to throw for reds/flounder is a spinnerbait. If I'm in the grass, I like an inline from Bayou Buck or Slayer. For an elbow'd spinner, Slayer wins hands down. The hardware is superior and the action has been researched and perfected. They can not be beat for a flounder bait in my opinion.
Any other equipment or tackle that gave you an edge?
BC: Chuck’s boat to some extent. It’s been nice to have the option to run faster and longer.
CD: Some other items that are important for me are good sunglasses and light fishing rods. I don't throw long rods for the most part because they are heavy. I like a G-Loomis rod because I can throw them all day long without bothering me. We also spare no expense when it comes to tackle and preparation. We ALWAYS have new leader. We always have new hooks. We always have new line. We don't want to miss any opportunities from laziness, lack of preparation, or tackle failures.
Any funny stories to share?
BC: I’ll think about that one…
CD: Man, just about every tournament we spend half the time doubled over laughing our asses off! We joke around a lot. We poke fun at other people on the water a lot and we always have a good time. We have also learned not to stress out, not to freak out because it makes you make bad decisions. We try to keep the mood light, which is something I saw that Bob Morris did while tournament fishing years ago that lead to success for him. We have a good time every time so it's hard to pick out something in particular.
Obviously, bad stories are part of the tournament game - what happened during the season that had a negative impact?
BC: Fernandina tournament – the motor was having some issues in the morning and we had to ditch our gameplan of running back to Jax. We stayed local and still managed to catch a limit to boost us into 7th place. We only caught one flounder that day, but it was what we needed.
CD: I always stress about something happening in the morning that prevents us from fishing, so I'm always up early, ready to go. For one of the St. Augustine events, my trailer came off the truck while in route to the ramp. The spare tire busted off the trailer and rolled down the road and my trailer slammed into the back of my truck, leaving a nice battle scar.
How much do you feel luck played into your season?
BC: Luck played into our season a bit. Our normal spots were holding large fish this year, particularly trout and flounder.
CD: Luck is part of fishing, period. Even the best fisherman need a little luck. Whether it's breaking off a fish or the fish getting in the net. Whether that redfish is 26 1/2" or 27 1/2", whether that trout is five pounds or 16". Those are the things that separate winning from losing in a fishing tournament and those can be things you have little control over at times. Sometimes no matter how hard you prepare and focus, things just don't seem to go your way. We've all been there and we've all had those kinds of days. We try to put ourselves in the right position to get lucky and our attitude is, "why not us?"
How much do you attribute to skill?
BC: I honestly attribute a lot of it to skill. Chuck and I fish well together and we don’t do 2 things the same. We are typically fishing different methods and we were pretty even this year on numbers of fish put in the boat. There were some tournaments where Chuck accounted for most of the fish, and vice versa. That diversity helps a lot. There were also a couple times this year where we pulled into a spot right after someone else had fished it and pulled out good fish. That says something to me about skill.
CD: I attribute a lot of it to skill as well. We know what it takes to win and what we have to do to win. We prepare to give ourselves the best opportunity and we try to be in the right place at the right time. I think skill plays a large part because at some point, somebody has to get the job done. As the person who is typically controlling and driving the boat most of the time, I have learned what Brian is best at and what I need to do to put him in the best position to be successful. I am always trying to make sure he has the best opportunity to use his skills to the best of his ability and I know he will get the job done. We fish a little differently, which can be a great thing because if one of us isn't catching them, the other one probably is. There are times when I catch everything and times when I can't get a bite and Brian catches our bag. I have always thought that was an advantage to us as a team, that we fish with a little different styles so we can see what is working.
What was the high point of the season for you personally?
BC: The high point of the season for me was going into the May tournament knowing that we pretty much had the season wrapped up. That is kind of when reality set in. It was a great feeling to have been in the lead for almost the entire season. We honestly went into this season planning to take it easy and even miss a couple of tournaments to focus on some other types of fishing. But, after we won the flounder tournament and realized that we were in the lead, we decided to go at TOTY full bore.
CD: The high point of the season for me was the flounder tournament win. In our early years in the club, we always struggled to catch flounder. For us to come full circle and win our SECOND all flounder event (We won a flounder event in St. Auggy) really made me feel like we have made large strides in our ability to learn how to find winning flounder, and catch them.
What about the low points?
BC: Definitely the 2 redfish tournament. That was the only tournament where we didn’t weigh a limit. The conditions were brutal, but we tried some kind of out of the ordinary spots and tactics and it didn’t work out. It was a frustrating day. I was sick during that one too, so I didn’t have the mental enthusiasm and power I usually have.
CD: Same here - this was a point in the season where it was time to step up and remain in first place or get caught and have to fight. We failed miserably but the silver lining was that the event actually helped us by giving us a lesser points total to drop. For me, this was the point where we decided we were not going to lose our grip on 1st place and we would try much harder for the remainder of the year. We got complacent a little bit.
You guys have been knocking on the door for the past 3 seasons - what do you think pushed you over the top this year?
BC: We have been working very hard over the last couple years to narrow down specific spots to target for each species. That way, we don’t have to fish 300-yard grasslines to find fish. Rather, we pull up to a spot and know within 10 minutes if it is worth fishing there. Our flounder fishing really has put us over the edge as well. It’s a species that shows up regularly and I feel like we can usually get a nice flounder within a couple hours when we need to (except for the 2nd day of the championship.)
CD: Just as in business, you need the proper tools to succeed. To me, that starts with the boat. Upgrading to the Maverick in January of 2009 was a vital part to our success. The boat allows us to make runs, try spots we normally wouldn't spend the time to get to, and still allows us to fish shallow and handle any conditions thrown our way. The second part of it to me was mostly mental. We game planned like we had never game planned before, and that didn't necessarily mean getting on the water. We came up with contingency plans based on what happened with our original plans, and we ALWAYS got the limit first. Sometimes we got lucky and got a big trout early, or that perfect red in the trout spot, but most of the time we knew that might happen. Then when things went our way, we made sure to give ourselves every opportunity to take advantage by keeping fish alive, making sure we were back on time, spending time focusing on what fish gave us the best opportunity to upgrade, etc. The third part and most important part in my mind is our confidence. We told ourselves in preparing for every single tournament that there was no reason why we shouldn't win. After the second event of the year, we told ourselves anything other than Team of the Year would be a total failure
Were there any particular tournaments or kicker fish that factored into your success?
BC: 2 come to mind – the flounder tournament and the trout tournament. We won the flounder tournament for the 2nd time in the club’s history so that was a nice win. Plus, Chuck caught a stud that day and we ended up catching 15-20 flatties throughout the day. During the trout tournament, while we didn’t win, we took what we had learned during pre-fishing and used our knowledge to apply it to the deteriorating weather conditions. While we had a great weekend pre-fishing the weekend before, the weather had changed dramatically, and the fish weren’t in the same spots. Yet, we were able to apply what we learned and catch fish nearby, but in deeper water with a much slower retrieve. We watched other boats nearby struggle.
CD: Two events were noteworthy for me. The March Slam Tournament comes to mind first. We were getting some heat with some of the chasing teams gaining some ground. We needed another win to keep that lead and we came in and won the tournament by almost two pounds. That reinforced that we meant business and it boosted our confidence to a level where we knew we could retain the lead for the remainder of the year. The January trout tournament was a big confidence booster as well. In pre-fishing, we absolutely KILLED it. We caught some great trout and felt like it was ours to win for certain. We put time into practicing in the freezing cold so we were used to it on tournament day. Tournament day came and it was even colder following a big front. Our patterns were not working from just a couple days before and we had to "re-invent the wheel" to get the job done. We didn't think we would do well with our weight but ended up in third place. We focused on the lesson learned here and that was that we did not give up, we tried new patterns and used our contingency plan and the contingency plan worked well.
Share a little about your tournament planning strategy.
BC: We talk for weeks about our strategy and go back and forth until we have a float plan we both like. We try different things per-fishing to narrow down choices. We talk about what baits each one of us will throw, and we always have a backup plan.
CD: Our tournament planning starts the Monday following the previous tournament. When one is over, we immediately move our focus to the next one. Brian and I email each other daily about our plans, spots we want to try, tides we think are best, and contingency plans in case our "A" plan doesn't pan out. Most of the time we are able to pre-fish, at least the weekend prior. I always try to get out a day or two before to see similar tides, similar weather patterns, and where the fish are holding. That has helped me tremendously in tournaments, knowing what the wind has done to a certain spot, or that one spot will be blown out, or one will be muddy, or the current won't be right until x:xx time, etc. I think going out the day before, even if you don't fish much, is a key to success on tournament day, even though we did not do it as much this year.
We are not big networkers. We don't share a ton of information with people and people don't share a ton of information with us. We have mostly learned what to do on our own and that has given us the ability to trust ourselves and have confidence in our own abilities. Have there been some friends or other anglers that we have fished with who have helped us learn new things? Certainly, for me they are Bob Morris, Scott O'Brien, Ron Schurr, J.D. Nobles and Zach/Angel Isbell just to name a few. Absorbing the things that those people have done to be successful has helped us learn what we need to do.
How about prefishing?
BC: We honestly spent less time pre-fishing this year than we have in previous ones. However, the fish were in our normal spots and we noticed big fish were in the spots. We always pre-fish at least a couple times for the tournaments but not much this year the day or 2 before the tournament. We concentrate mainly on narrowing down spots, specifically for reds and trout.
CD: Depending on the format coming up, pre-fishing for me does not consist of a ton of actual fishing. I learned this from JD Nobles and from traveling the state to fish redfish tournaments. When I pre-fish for reds, I only want to catch one in each particular spot to see that they'll eat on whatever tide, spot, or situation I'm finding them in. I look mostly, running around on the troller or poling real slow to try and see what they're doing. Once I figure that out, I put the boat in the right place to make it happen. I feel like some of our better skills are finding bigger trout in pre-fishing. We had a decent amount of success with trout this year and pre-fishing is key. Trout move a lot, even on a shoreline you may catch them frequently. Knowing where they go when they go deep, shallow, or are feeding or are not is the key, especially in those times of year where the weather patterns can change from day to day. I like to know how to catch them different ways on different lures so I try that while I'm out and I only try to catch a couple fish. I think groups of trout are just like reds and will figure out pressure quickly.
We fish for redfish, trout, and flounder throughout the year - what lures were most effective for your team?
BC: For trout, we have been exclusively using large hard baits that suspend in the water column, especially during the winter. This has been the key to locating bigger trout for us. For flounder, Chuck uses a spinnerbait and I use a jerkbait on a weighted hook. That duo seems deadly in the shallow waters we target. This also allows us to target redfish, but catch a flounder if needed, as bycatch. For reds, nothing in particular but we did catch several on the deeper lures we were using for trout. This accounted for at least one of the nice reds we weighed this year.
CD: I'm not much of an experimental guy when it comes to lures. I predominantly stick to lures and kinds of lures that have worked for me for long periods of time. Brian is much more experimental in that regard. I'd say my favorite hard lures to use are Rapalas. I think the build quality is second to none and the lures are proven and tested. I like skitterwalks for top water and I like most of their diving and suspending baits as well. I like the Husky Jerks in the winter time because they are trout killers and are very easy to get in the strike zone and keep them there. For plastics, I'm sure we use what everybody does. I like Gulp! jerkbaits and shrimp in natural colors. I like paddle tail plastics for reds and curly tail plastics for trout and flounder and I'm not crazy picky about the brand, moreso the action. I can put scent on them to make them smell so I will buy a lesser known brand if I think it will look good in the water. One of my favorite baits to throw for reds/flounder is a spinnerbait. If I'm in the grass, I like an inline from Bayou Buck or Slayer. For an elbow'd spinner, Slayer wins hands down. The hardware is superior and the action has been researched and perfected. They can not be beat for a flounder bait in my opinion.
Any other equipment or tackle that gave you an edge?
BC: Chuck’s boat to some extent. It’s been nice to have the option to run faster and longer.
CD: Some other items that are important for me are good sunglasses and light fishing rods. I don't throw long rods for the most part because they are heavy. I like a G-Loomis rod because I can throw them all day long without bothering me. We also spare no expense when it comes to tackle and preparation. We ALWAYS have new leader. We always have new hooks. We always have new line. We don't want to miss any opportunities from laziness, lack of preparation, or tackle failures.
Any funny stories to share?
BC: I’ll think about that one…
CD: Man, just about every tournament we spend half the time doubled over laughing our asses off! We joke around a lot. We poke fun at other people on the water a lot and we always have a good time. We have also learned not to stress out, not to freak out because it makes you make bad decisions. We try to keep the mood light, which is something I saw that Bob Morris did while tournament fishing years ago that lead to success for him. We have a good time every time so it's hard to pick out something in particular.
Obviously, bad stories are part of the tournament game - what happened during the season that had a negative impact?
BC: Fernandina tournament – the motor was having some issues in the morning and we had to ditch our gameplan of running back to Jax. We stayed local and still managed to catch a limit to boost us into 7th place. We only caught one flounder that day, but it was what we needed.
CD: I always stress about something happening in the morning that prevents us from fishing, so I'm always up early, ready to go. For one of the St. Augustine events, my trailer came off the truck while in route to the ramp. The spare tire busted off the trailer and rolled down the road and my trailer slammed into the back of my truck, leaving a nice battle scar.
How much do you feel luck played into your season?
BC: Luck played into our season a bit. Our normal spots were holding large fish this year, particularly trout and flounder.
CD: Luck is part of fishing, period. Even the best fisherman need a little luck. Whether it's breaking off a fish or the fish getting in the net. Whether that redfish is 26 1/2" or 27 1/2", whether that trout is five pounds or 16". Those are the things that separate winning from losing in a fishing tournament and those can be things you have little control over at times. Sometimes no matter how hard you prepare and focus, things just don't seem to go your way. We've all been there and we've all had those kinds of days. We try to put ourselves in the right position to get lucky and our attitude is, "why not us?"
How much do you attribute to skill?
BC: I honestly attribute a lot of it to skill. Chuck and I fish well together and we don’t do 2 things the same. We are typically fishing different methods and we were pretty even this year on numbers of fish put in the boat. There were some tournaments where Chuck accounted for most of the fish, and vice versa. That diversity helps a lot. There were also a couple times this year where we pulled into a spot right after someone else had fished it and pulled out good fish. That says something to me about skill.
CD: I attribute a lot of it to skill as well. We know what it takes to win and what we have to do to win. We prepare to give ourselves the best opportunity and we try to be in the right place at the right time. I think skill plays a large part because at some point, somebody has to get the job done. As the person who is typically controlling and driving the boat most of the time, I have learned what Brian is best at and what I need to do to put him in the best position to be successful. I am always trying to make sure he has the best opportunity to use his skills to the best of his ability and I know he will get the job done. We fish a little differently, which can be a great thing because if one of us isn't catching them, the other one probably is. There are times when I catch everything and times when I can't get a bite and Brian catches our bag. I have always thought that was an advantage to us as a team, that we fish with a little different styles so we can see what is working.
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