Let's start with the obvious. Roland Martin has won nine Bassmaster Angler of the Year awards (1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1984 and 1985). That's three times as many as the next best total and eight more than Clunn, who won a single Angler of the Year crown in 1988.

Rick Clunn has won four Bassmaster Classics, twice as many as the next closet competitor and exactly four more than Martin, who has been to the fishing biggest tournament 25 times but never walked away with the trophy. Clunn qualified for 28 consecutive Classics between 1974 and 2001 and recently earned a berth in the 2005 Classic. It will be his record 29th appearance in the event he has made his own personal showcase after victories in 1976, 1977, 1984 and 1990.

Martin has fished 277 BASS events and 26 FLW events. Clunn's totals are 300 and 60, respectively. Martin has won a record 19 times with BASS but never with FLW. Clunn has 14 BASS wins and three FLW victories.

It's when you get deeper into the numbers that these two really show that their careers may be closer than many think.

Martin has 19 second-place BASS finishes and Clunn has 13. Clunn leads with 11 third-place finishes to Martin's six. Clunn has 96 top-10 BASS finishes to Martin's 92. Clunn has another 20 top ten finishes on the FLW Tour to Martin's four. Add all of the top-10s up and divide by the number of entries and you find that Clunn has finished in the top-10 a total of 32.22 percent of the time to Martin's 31.68 percent. Barely one-half percent separates them after more than 30 years of competitive fishing!

Clunn has a big edge in the earnings department, having won more of the big-dollar events than Martin. Clunn's BASS earnings total $1,643,744.50, placing him second on the all-time list behind Denny Brauer. Clunn has another $880,000 in FLW winnings for a total of $2,523,744.50 � more than twice Martin's cumulative total of $1,134,467.20.

But prize money doesn't tell the whole story here. These guys are too good for that.

Martin's greatest accomplishment may be his three consecutive BASS victories between November 1980 and March 1981. In that period, bass fishing's golden boy won consecutive events at Lake Okeechobee, Toledo Bend and Lake Eufaula. It's the only time in BASS history that an angler has won three consecutive tournaments.

Different approaches

Despite his tremendous accolades as a tournament pro, Martin may be best known to millions of fishing fanatics around the world as the longtime host of "Fishing with Roland Martin." His cries of, "Oh, son!" are well known to virtually everyone who has ever aspired to a career as a fisherman.

Clunn, in stark contrast, is a quiet, contemplative, even meditative angler who has served as a mentor to a generation of successful bass pros, including Gary Klein, Randy Blaukat and Byron Velvick. His Zenlike approach may seem unconventional to some, but his results can't be denied.

Clunn won the sport's first $100,000 payday in 1985 and has won major events not only with BASS and FLW, but with several other organizations, as well. He's even a two-time winner of the U.S. Open, a prestigious western title.

Clunn's weakness in The Greatest Angler Debate (only one Angler of the Year award) is Martin's strength, and vice-versa. Martin has never won the big one, and Clunn has won the big one multiple times.

Clunn

bill dance and trying to compare them is not reallistic.

What about the super bowl of bassfishing title (Classic)? How can you be the Greatest Angler Ever and never win that tournament? I don't care how good you are if you can win the biggest one, you aren't the best ever...period.

No comparison...Clunn. I feel you could flip a coin between Nixon, Clunn & Brauer and have a ligitamate best ever. So hard to judge and vote but I don't think Roland should be up there, just my opinion.

"Gaddabout Gaddis"

It's hard to pick between the two based on stats, so something else has to be the deciding factor. Lets see...Boats??? No, for years Clunn was a Skeeter man and then switched to Nitro. Roland was a Ranger man and then switched to Triton. Roland moved from Oklahoma to South Carolina to Florida. Rick moved from Texas to Arkansas to Missouri....Being originally from Arkansas, then growing up in Missouri, and finally getting to plant my roots in God's country, I gotta go with Rick!!!!!

One thing you might want to throw into this mix is how each angler has done recently. I could be wrong (meaning, I didn't do any research to substantiate this), but Roland seems to be in the "mix" more often than Clunn in tournaments during the last 3 years.

Having said that, my pick is Rick Clunn

Mine, too.

clunnnnnnnnnnnnnn

No doubt about it....Clunn.

Clunn's success is based on HIS ability to read a lake, find fish and catch them, and most of Roland's success is based off connections and local knowlege. Anybody who knows Roland, knows the guys is not the most ethical fisherman and uses a tremendous amount of local input.

Martin, except for not winning the big one, now one can match his consistency and ability to catch them. That is based on a career that spans over 30 years. Rick is a close second. The only way I'd flip flop that vote is that Rick is one the only pure fisherman out there in that he has never had any help and has the ability to always find limits.

Clunn is just cooler, never makes excuses, he seems 110% into every tournament and can explain things much better than Martin, Martin is just not as likeable, I think that gives Clunn the tie breaker.

I'm still in shock that Martin is still in the hunt and KVD is out...currently I would say Clun, Vandam, Brauer...But in 10-15 years KVD will be the undisputed King of Bass Fishing!!!! NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!

Clunn all the way. You can't be the greatest of all time and not won the biggest of all tournaments at least once.

Also, in line with Brant's point, Clunn has never received help. I'd bet my last Sweet Beaver that Roland has built a network of friends across the country over the years. Not that their is anyting wrong with that but Clunn's ability to find fish with nothing more than a map and instincts will be talked about 20 years from now.

I would like to see both of them in the "Day on the Lake" article in BassMaster. I think it could help with the decision making. Just a thought.... Good Fishin' JR