Things are busy but going pretty well for Bassmaster Elite Series pro Ott DeFoe, who recently accepted a prestigious award in his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn.
“It was a pretty cool deal, pretty exciting,” said DeFoe, who was honored as the Pro Athlete of the Year at the 36th annual Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony on Aug. 3. “Kind of something I never expected. Pretty cool evening, and pretty cool award.”
DeFoe was presented the award after a fantastic 2016, where he won the Elite event on the Mississippi River and finished ninth in Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. It probably didn’t hurt that he had friends in high places.
Retired NFL lineman Tim Irwin is on the HOF’s board, and the former Tennessee Volunteer is big into bass fishing. Irwin, who became a lawyer then a judge after 14 seasons in the NFL, has sponsored the Tim Irwin/Food City Bass Tournament for 30 years.
“He’s always been a bass fisherman, has always been big into helping promote it,” DeFoe said. “He hosts a tournament every spring to benefit the Boys and Girls Club.”
So when a 6-foot-7, 300-pound judge wants to nominate a bass fishing brethren for the Chad Pennington Professional Athlete of the Year, folks listen. At 31 a little young to be making any sports hall of fames, DeFoe was happy to be alongside the induction class of 2017,
“I was technically an honoree,” said DeFoe, who got to visit with sports figures he grew up watching. One, longtime NFL quarterback Todd Collins, attended DeFoe’s high school, Jefferson County, although years before he did.
DeFoe said it was inspiring to meet the likes of former Vols safety Inky Johnson, the guest speaker for the evening. Johnson suffered a career-ending injury in early in the 2006 season, but with a master’s degree in sports psychology, he now mentors athletes and underprivileged youth through JustLead.
It was also a big night for his wife, Jennie, and children, Abbie, Parker and Lizzie, DeFoe said.
“They came with us and were very well-behaved, believe it or not,” he said. “We wanted them there. It was a long evening, but they made it through pretty well.”
DeFoe had been set to go jet-setting. Since he’s doing so well in the current AOY points race, standing sixth, he opted not to fish the first two Northern Opens. Day 1 of the James River event was the same day as the ceremony, and he nixed plans to fly after checking in his fish at the weigh-in.
“I had originally put in to fish all of the Northern Opens, and the Knoxville Commission was going to fly me in on a private jet from the James River to come into the dinner,” DeFoe said. “Once Oneida got close, I chose to skip them.”
Douglas Lake, less than an hour away, is still on his schedule, however.
After the dinner, the DeFoes’ hectic week included: children starting school; their wedding anniversary; and moving into a new home.
Here’s what he posted Monday:
What a day celebrating 13 years of marriage! The kids had their first day in 1st and 5th grades, we said goodbye to our first family home, had anniversary cake at the new house, and ended it with a rainbow over the river! God has blessed our family so much.”
“I hope to never do it again,” DeFoe said of the move. “We like where we are now and hope to never, ever do it again.”
In their first move in 12 years, DeFoe said there was a “tractor trailer load of stuff that you don’t know where it came from or why you still have it.”
The new house is on the Holston River near Blaine, which he said is a fun place to fish with its abundance of smallmouth as well as some largemouth.
“The theory is we can walk out the back door and take the kids fishing,” he said.
The hectic week isn’t quite over for DeFoe as he heads to Nashville’s Bass Pro Shops on Friday. There he will attend a function of the NHL’s Predators, where a fishing trip with him will be auctioned off.
IT JUST TAKES ONE BAD EVENT
DeFoe had led this year’s AOY race much of this season, but he had one bomb on the St. Lawrence and now stands in sixth place, 86 points behind leader Brandon Palaniuk.
“If you look at everybody in the top five in the points, everybody has a stinker,” he said. “St. Lawrence was obviously mine. From the time I got there to the day I left – with my tail between my legs – I never had a good grip of what was going on.”
With a Day 1 bag of 16-12 that put him 60th, DeFoe said he had to change things up. He laments what he switched to as he landed only three fish for 9-7 and fell to 97th, his AOY hopes mostly dashed.
“That second day was so bad,” he said. “I would still have scrapped Day 1 but switched what I did on Day 2. I knew I needed 18 pounds to make the top 50 and I had zero confidence in getting there fishing the way I did the way before. Other than that, it’s been a very solid year.”
His plan is to shoot for a Top 12 on St. Clair in the regular season finale, hope things shake up once again, and try to make things interesting when the top 50 advance to Mille Lacs for the AOY Championship.
LAKE FORK GUY NEEDS EVERY CAST
Justin Rackley, known as the Lake Fork Guy for his YouTube videos, needs our help. Following is the context of his situation:
I’ve been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor behind my left eye. My wife Stephanie and I have been constricted by the insurance companies and we need extra financial help with the large medical cost of dealing with a brain tumor. Although this is discouraging news, I have all the faith in the world that I’ll come out of this and get back into the outdoors with a renewed positive energy.
If you are lucky enough to go fishing, don’t forget to make every cast count! Keeping this concept in mind has made me a much more successful angler, and following this same concept in life has helped me to be a more focused and driven person in everything I do.
Rackley has asked people wanting to help him raise money for medical expenses to purchase a Make Every Cast Count T-shirt.
We’ll keep everyone apprised of the Lake Fork Guy’s status.
COMBS GIVES, ASKS FOR CRAZIEST FISH TALE
Keith Combs tells an almost-too-weird-to-be-true story about a fish he caught on Lake Champlain. He went with wife Jennifer to scout the lake in late June before the cutoff period and landed a 3-pound smallmouth on a jerkbait.
“The fish was hooked extremely well. It actually had two of the trebles hooked right behind the tooth patch,” he wrote. “While trying to remove the hook, I ended up hooked with the fish still attached. Jennifer cut the ring on the bait, and in the chaos I released the fish with the treble still attached and then removed the hook from myself.”
It was more than a month later, on his first official day of practice, that Combs reported he caught the same fish.
“Crazy thing is I was probably 12 miles away from where I had originally caught the fish,” he wrote. “He was hooked in the same spot, same hook I use and the split ring still attached. This time I removed the hook. What’s your craziest fish story?”
BASS FISHING HOF INDUCTEES ANNOUNCED
Tons of folks are going to want to attend the 2017 induction ceremony of the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.
When the five new members, Wade Bourne, Shaw Grigsby, Bob Sealy, Morris Sheehan and Louie Stout, are enshrined, it will be at the HOF’s new permanent home within Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Mo.
There will be a special dinner and ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 9. The Daily Limit hopes to attend and report on the doings and new digs.
Read more about the induction class here.