No one knows what twists and turns 2024 will bring in B.A.S.S. competitions, but if the past year is any indication, there will be plenty.
The Bassmaster season always produced drama, whether some crazy circumstance, hotly contested AOY and ROY races or a late big bass that fulfills the big dream on the big stage.
The 2023 season had all of that and more. Recent Daily Limit posts detail how that young anglers showed out, with four Elite titles going to rookies and the average age of those advancing from Opens to the senior circuit dropped by five years. Also, the 2024 Bassmaster Classic will feature the youngest angler ever to compete in a championship.
Let’s look at this scribe’s Top 10 favorite stories of 2023, starting with one of several surrounding the premier event, the Bassmaster Classic.
B.A.S.S. CEO doesn’t get in way of hilarity
This first article involves two of the biggest names in bass fishing – Johnny Morris and B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson.
While there’s intense competition on the water, Classic week brings the industry together for its greatest celebration. There’s a lot of moving parts, and sometimes they get in the way of one another. Sometimes it’s funny to observers.
Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris created a cringy yet hilarious moment when he ventured onto the Bassmaster LIVE set during a show. Hoping to say hello Mark Zona, the V.I.P. instead was shooed off by someone just doing their job. Morris’ reactions were priceless.
Just hours later, Anderson set up for the Super Six, blocking B.A.S.S. photogs James Overstreet and Seigo Saito. However, neither had the nerve to shoo him off – they instead hollered at me.
Both Morris and Anderson showed humility and good nature in their reactions that will long be remembered as comical Classic incidents.
Card’s year starts on disabled list
While anglers prepared for the season, veteran Elite Brandon Card was battling a serious health issue. The 2022 holidays put him in the hospital with a mysterious illness that had him wonder if he would be able to compete.
Down but not out, Card battled back. The 2012 Bassmaster Rookie of the Year fought things like taping his paralyzed eyelid shut and went on to finish 25th in the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. He qualified for his seventh Classic after starting the year on the disabled list.
Rivet goes with gut for first win
A food run up the Kissimmee River helped Louisiana’s Tyler Rivet secure his first Elite title. Hoping to feed his crew, Rivet found the occasional bruiser bass among the crappie slabs.
There’s been other fortunate fish finds in B.A.S.S. tournament lore, but no one can recall an angler discovering the winning fish while casting for dinner. It was going against the grain, but then Rivet going with his gut helped serve up the win.
Pirch details grisly experience
At the Knoxville Classic, Clifford Pirch retold the harrowing story of Aug. 25, 2022, a day he’ll never forget – a man died on his boat.
Hoping to make the cut on Day 2 of the season-ending Elite tournament on the Mississippi River, Pirch’s afternoon turned dreadful when an apparently deranged man pursued his boat. Evasion turned to a life-saving attempt, and the incident still shakes Pirch. “It was crazy,” he said. “It’s definitely a story you couldn’t make up.”
Gussy’s rough ride at Classic
Imagine what Jeff Gustafson went through on the final day of the Classic. Leading on the fishery where he had won an Elite, Gussy only caught two bass on Championship Sunday.
Thinking he had blown his chances to win, Gustafson went through a mentally rough ride back to check-in, complete with primal screams of utter frustration. And it almost brought him to tears. Take a deep dive into the topsy-turvy day the Classic champ experienced.
Just competing in Classic special
JT Thompkins was among the first-time Classic competitors who discovered the week lived up to the hype. “I’ve been dreaming about this since I was 5, and it lived up to every single thing, and more,” he said.
Others like Jonathan Dietz, Tristan McCormick, Louis Monetti and Gerald Swindle chimed in, saying there’s nothing like the Classic experience.
Davises enjoy happiest of Father’s Days
With an Elite victory at his home pond, rookie Will Davis Jr. and his next-door neighbor dad had the best of Father’s Days. The Davises of Sylacauga, Ala., experienced a stellar year, the son throwing baits his dad developed.
It was even better that it was Will’s first year as a father. “It means a lot to me. Being a dad is the best feeling in the world,” he said. “It’s a very special first Father’s Day.”
Cifuentes can be ‘superstar’
Joey “The Cowboy” Cifuentes made hay in his rookie Elite season, and Larry Nixon, who boosted him up on the saddle, sees more green fields ahead for his protege.
With two Elite victories and the Bassmaster Rookie of the Year title, Cifuentes is well on his way to what Nixon said: “Joey can be a superstar.”
Knight left mark at B.A.S.S.
Bobby Knight was best friends with Jerry McKinnis, and his passing brought up recollections of how he touched B.A.S.S. “He was as passionate about fishing as anything,” said Mike McKinnis, B.A.S.S. VP of TV.
Steve Bowman said it was an honor to know Knight, and better to take him hunting. “I feel like, of all the places and all the things my job as an outdoor communicator has taken me, around presidents and governors, Bobby and Jerry are on top of the list,” Bowman said. “To get in a boat with Forrest Wood, or Jerry McKinnis, or you go in the woods with Bobby Knight, those are different level things.”
Fothergills’ wake from nightmare
The Daily Limit’s favorite post of the year is the harrowing story Easton Fothergill, who required brain surgery weeks before his chance to fish for the Bassmaster College Classic Bracket berth.
It is every parents’ nightmare, and Jenny and Gordon detailed their anguish of not knowing what might happen to their son. Easton recovered just in time to compete, showing his parents his powerful resolve.
“It was his dream,” Jenny said, “and he made it happen, against all odds.”
Happy New Year! Can’t wait to see what goes down in 2024.
