No one would argue the fact that David Dudley is one of the top anglers in all of professional bass fishing. He’s been on a terror the last couple of years. Winning tournaments and angler of the year titles on the FLW Tour and he’s back in the driver’s seat of the AOY this year after following up his win on Beaver Lake a month ago with a third-place finish on the Potomac River this weekend.
With more than 2.9 million in career earnings on the FLW Tour, Dudley isn’t overly impress with his mid-year accomplishment. He does take some minor solace with his lead.
“To be number one right now means that I am not losing,” Dudley said. “It means that temporarily I can say I am on top of the world. But, it’s not remotely over. Just as easily as I moved into the top spot, someone else can move in there and take it away from me.”
When it comes to the possibility of changing his focus for the final two events, Dudley minced no words.
“I am not going to change the way I fish or approach these tournaments. I don’t look at the standings. I don’t care where the other anglers are, or who they are, none of that matters. I am going to focus on the next two events the sameas I do every event. My goal is simple; win, win, win and win. Nothing else matters. Never be satisfied. If I am not in first place I am a loser, I don’t like to be a loser. I fish to win, period. I will continue to fish that way and let the cards fall where they may.”
An Angler of the Year title in 2012 would be David Dudley’s third such title. But does he think tying Clark Wendlandt for three AOY titles is special?
“Not really. It just means I am tied with Clark. I don’t want to be tied with anyone. I want to be the best. I guess it means that I need to win this one and another one soon, so I can be the best.”
With two events remaining, Kentucky Lake and Lake Champlain, Dudley looked ahead.
“I am very comfortable fishing deep (Kentucky Lake), and I have several top tens on Champlain during the same time of year. So I feel pretty good. To behonest, I am more interested in winning those events than anything. If I can do that, the AOY will take care of itself.”
