A few words about KVD, Skeet and some other great anglers
 
I think a lot about what other anglers do. It’s natural considering what I do for a living. I have the privilege of competing against the best anglers in the world, so more often than not it pays off to pay attention to what’s going on around me – on the water and off.
I’ve mentioned in this column and on my blog (www.boydduckett.com) that every year during the time our ESPN Elite Series is over and before the Bassmaster Classic starts, I try to think about my season and what I need to do to improve. I reflect on what I’ve done and what I’ve seen those great anglers around me do. What worked? What didn’t? Who’s doing really well - and why? I take a look at those kinds of things.
So as I was reviewing the 2009 season, with the goal of looking at ways to better my own career, I thought about the careers of some of those competitors around me.
I also asked myself the same question that people sometimes ask me. Just who’s the best on our tour and why? Well, here’s what I think.
 
Who is the best angler on to

I believe the best angler right now wouldn’t be one person. It would be two: Kevin VanDam and Skeet Reese.
I have the greatest respect in the world for Kevin VanDam, and I’m not the only person who believes he’s the Tiger Woods of our sport. He’s maybe the greatest angler of all time. He’s won everything you can win, and he’s got nothing to prove.
But what Skeet Reese has done the past three years is amazing. He almost won the Classic in 2007. I caught a big fish late on Sunday and beat him by six ounces. He won the Classic this year. He was angler-of-the-year last year and he almost was again this year.
In fact, I believe we had a split championship this year. Skeet won the full tour season, and that’s something all the anglers respect. Kevin took the actual title because he won with the extended-season format. But overall, it’s just amazing what those two guys have done the past three years. What you’ve got is two anglers with unbelievable credentials and consistency. They win under all kinds of conditions and on every type of water.
Another thing that’s amazing about those two anglers is that while KVD has maintained that high level longer than anybody ever, Skeet has gotten better and better every year until he reached KVD’s level.
It’s not unusual to see a spike in an angler’s career. Almost all the great anglers have had those periods where they spiked and then dropped and leveled off. But you can’t call what’s happened to Skeet a spike, because he kept getting better – and he’s not dropped off at all. It’s not a spike unless he falls off.
 
Other great anglers, and some are “under the radar”
 
Even though Kevin and Skeet are at the top, that’s not to say there aren’t other anglers doing really impressive things.
 Alton Jones is an angler that might be following Skeet’s pattern. He’s been around a lot of years and has had a steady career. But he took off the past two years; he won the classic in ’08 and was competitive in the angler-of-the-year race. Then in ’09, he finished third to KVD and Skeet.
One thing that’s certainly evident is that when Skeet and Alton learn something, they retain it. You don’t get consistently better without keeping a lot of earned knowledge in your head and using it.
Kelly Jordan is another solid stick. He’s always in the hunt. Everybody recognizes his name, but I’m not sure he gets the publicity he deserves. The guy can fish.
Some guys fly under the radar. Todd Faircloth is probably the most under-the-radar guy on our tour. If you look at the standings week in and week out, Todd is always in the thick of things. One thing Todd has done is get extremely comfortable with his own style of fishing. He’s learned how to not worry about what is supposed to happen; he just uses his smarts and makes his game work. His confidence in fishing shallow water is amazing. Todd has two wins, three seconds, two thirds, 22 top 10’s and 50 top 20 finishes. That’s incredible, and he does it quietly.
Another guy that impresses me is Gary Klein. He’s probably the top old-school guy on our tour. He’s been around for three decades and he’s still competitive. Since I’m not the youngest guy on tour, I’ve paid a lot of attention to the veterans and Gary Klein and Tommy Biffle are two long-time veterans that are still fishing at the highest level.
Gary has fished in 28 Classics. That’s more than most people can even think about.
As I’ve said many times, everybody on our tour is outstanding. But another angler that stands out is Aaron Martens. Great anglers are meticulous in their preparation, and nobody is more precise about preparation than Aaron. It seems like he spends 40 hours between events getting ready for the one that’s coming up.
I’ve been talking about veteran anglers. On the flip side would be the younger anglers. And my pick right now for the most consistent young angler would be Casey Ashley. He’s learned how to be consistent, how to roll with the flow during the course of a full season on tour, and that usually takes awhile.
Casey’s carved a niche; he’s saying, “I’m one of the guys.”
 
Two other anglers that come to mind
 
When you talk about anglers who have had a huge impact on our sport, you can’t leave the discussion without mentioning Michael Iaconelli. He’s a great angler, who hit a little slump a few years ago. But starting in 2008 and through 2009, he came back and showed why he’s one of the top anglers in our sport.
Michael focuses. He’s intense. He pours out 100 percent all day every day. The reason he gets media coverage is because he seems kind of crazy, but he seems that way because he’s intense. If it were football, he’d be Dick Butkus. Or maybe a better example would be Mike Singletary, a guy that is extremely nice off the field but an animal when he’s competing.
Mike’s like that. He’s calm, even quiet and laid-back off the water. But he’s a heck of a competitor on the water.
One last angler I’d like to mention is Byron Velvick.  If we had a Horizon Award, Byron would get it. He’s done this for a long time, and he never really had caught them consistently until the past two years. He’s had 126 entries and five Top 10’s. Four of those five have been in the last two years. Byron’s a tribute to staying positive and keeping on top of a program until you start reaching your goals.
 
What does looking at great anglers around me mean to me?

The one thing that is consistent about all the anglers I mentioned is that they stay prepared and focused all the time. They don’t show up for two and half days and expect to win. They have full-time dedication to our sport.
I don’t think there’s a person reading this that doesn’t understand the importance of mental and physical preparation. If you are an on-the-road salesman or woman, you know that nothing beats going into a meeting when you’re completely sure of your product and your surroundings. Those are the times when you don’t think you’ll be surprised by anything, but you know that if you are surprised you can handle it.
That is a winning attitude. And all of the anglers I mentioned carry that attitude.
My goal for 2010 is to put myself in situations where I can also consistently carry that attitude. I try to be really careful not to use the fact that I have a business to run that is outside the fishing industry. Everybody has distractions, and my business is my main distraction. I say that because I know some of the people reading this column are folks with full-time jobs who can only compete on weekends. I know how that feels. Sometimes it’s hard to focus the way you want to focus.
I’m proud of my past few seasons, and I’m happy to have earned a spot in my fourth straight Classic. I understand that’s no small feat. But if I’m going to compete next year for angler-of-the-year, I’m going to have to invest even more time, energy and dedicated concentration to Elite Series fishing than I did in 2008 and 2009.
So my goal, specifically, for 2010, is to keep job-related stress and extraneous duties in the background as much as possible, so I can give the season the kind of effort and attention that I know Kevin, Skeet, Alton, Kelly, Todd, Gary, Casey, Michael and Byron will be giving. 
And it starts in three months. Lay Lake. The Classic.