RACELAND, La. — The past weeks have been the most stressful in Tyler Rivet’s 27 years — first was the scariest hurricane he’s experienced, and next was sweating out a Bassmaster Classic berth. It was difficult to determine which caused more anxiety, but he weathered both storms well.
The third-year Bassmaster Elite Series pro will fish his first championship in the 2022 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic at Lake Hartwell. But Cody Hoyle’s slow start on the final day of the Basspro.com Southern Open on Lake Norman had Rivet squirming. It was the “longest day ever” for Rivet, who sweated along with Hoyle as he lost his big lead before catching two fish late to win.
“It was crazy. Made me stress all day,” said Rivet, who received a Classic spot as next man up on the Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings. Anglers who win an Open receive an automatic Classic berth if they fish all the tournaments in that division. Hoyle, of nearby Rutherfordton, N.C., won in his first B.A.S.S. entry.
“My lifelong dream has finally come true,” Rivet posted. “Thanks to Cody Hoyle winning. I can’t wait to fish the Super Bowl of Bass Fishing.”
It was a huge relief after a rough month. Rivet was in Orange, Texas, visiting his girlfriend when fast-developing Hurricane Ida bared down on the Louisiana coast and his family’s homes in Raceland.
“I was probably the only car coming back this way — it was bumper to bumper going out,” said Rivet, who returned to batten down the hatches. “We do this a lot, but I don’t really expect anything. It can be kind of fun for a hurricane, but this one was different.”
Ida’s eye went right past Raceland, leaving destruction on its path to the East Coast. Early estimates of $95 billion in damage could make it the worst hurricane since 2000.
When Ida’s winds began in earnest mid-morning on Aug. 29, Rivet was at his mother and stepdad’s house, where his grandmother and great grandmother also hunkered down. The next 12 hours were the scariest he’d ever experienced, with wind gusts in Raceland recorded at 174 mph.
While the house held together, there was significant damage, and Rivet had to literally hold the storm back with his bare hands. The roof lifted up a bit, a window blew in and another was flexing inward with water coming in. He held it back while his stepdad cut a brace they screwed into the frame.
“It was sketchy. You could feel the walls moving,” Rivet said. “In my old bedroom, it was scary. If I didn’t hold the window, it was going to break in.
“We got lucky. The window that broke was over the bathtub and rain went into it. It sucked the door where we could barely get in the bathroom. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’m glad we stayed because if we were in another state, it could have ruined the whole house.”
Others weren’t as fortunate. His grandpa’s house down the road was among those that will have to be rebuilt. Rivet and his stepdad went out at 10 p.m. while winds were still whipping around 60 mph to check on neighbors.
“It’s a Louisiana thing,” he said. “The second we knew we were OK, we went to the people next door and see if they need help.”
Their neighbor’s house had a brick wall cave in. Others had leaky roofs requiring tarping. An insurance adjuster came and found significant damage to his mother’s roof.
“The wind blew up the roof off the rafters and sucked it back in,” Rivet said. “There’s a bowl in the roof now. She’ll get a whole new roof. I knew the house would hold up. We didn’t realize how close we were to being really bad. If the roof pulled off just a little more, water could having been coming in.
“All we needed was for it to move five more miles that way and we would have barely had any damage, but it hit us perfect. The eye went probably two miles east of us. We basically had the worst part of the whole storm.”
The scary day made his mom vow to evacuate next time, especially with her 88-year-old grandmother in a wheelchair.
Two weeks after the storm, the destruction was evident. Some buildings looked like ruins. Convoys of utility trucks roamed the region helping restore power. Residents were still picking up the pieces of their lives, piling debris on most every road as grappler trucks slowly loaded to haul it away.
Rivet did what he could to help others, tarping a lot of roofs in the “sweatiest week” he’s ever had. All the work helped distract him from his Classic worries. And while Rivet was lending a hand, he received help from several of his Elite Series brethren.
“I’m on a roof, look up and there’s Brock Mosley,” he said. “He came down and brought a generator, tarping, nails, gas, water, He brought a lot. He stayed for almost a week straight helping. I think he missed us.”
With no cell service for some time, Rivet said he had no clue who was coming. Classic champ Hank Cherry, his other Elite running mate, drove from North Carolina with a trailer of supplies.
“It was definitely awesome to see that trailer full of stuff,” Rivet said. “It kind of teared us up seeing just people come down and bring so much stuff.”
Rivet was surprised to arrive home to another pile of survival items and hear his grandma tell him someone named Caleb dropped it off. Driving from New Iberia, La., a couple hours away, Elite Caleb Sumrall was the culprit.
“The storm kind of showed who we really are,” Rivet said. “I’d do the same thing if something happened to them. The next day I’d head over there and do what I could to help. Everybody on the Elites, we’re all like a brotherhood. You have that respect for everybody.
“It’s just cool how everybody comes together. At times like this, I feel the world needs stuff like this to happen to get back together. All this separation, it’s terrible. This community, everybody is helping everybody. You see somebody in need, you help.”
Walk-Ons restaurant, Rivet’s title sponsor, pitched in as well. Once the Houma Cajun restaurant was up and running, they set up a relief kitchen. Rivet worked alongside the owner, manager and others to hand out 2,000 box lunches to folks in a line of cars that went for miles. He’ll be proud to represent them in the Classic.
The first-man out of the Classic moves down to Texas’ Keith Combs, who will hold out hope that winners of the next two Opens gets him in his ninth Classic. Rivet’s just thrilled to make his first.
“It’s what I’ve always dreamed of,” he said. “I just want to be in that mindset of being in a Classic, to say you fished a Classic. It’d be awesome to win. It changes people’s lives — just look at Hank. I dream of it every night.”
Maybe it’s karma Rivet snuck into the Classic. He went through a life-threatening experience to one that is potentially life-changing.
Editor’s note: See photos of Rivet helping his Raceland neighbors.
Bass Fishing Hall of Fame online auction
You can go fishing with Bill Dance, really. Or any of a number of pro anglers who have trips up for bid on the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame’s “Celebrate Bass Fishing” online auction.
Dance, Bobby Murray, Davy Hite and Brandon Palaniuk are a few of the trips offered alongside pro jerseys, fishing tackle, hunting gear and trips and one-of-a-kind artwork. The BFHOF online auction is in conjunction with the Hall’s induction ceremony at Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife Museum & Aquarium in Springfield, Mo., on Thursday, Sept. 30.
“It’s all part of our mission to celebrate, promote, and preserve the sport of bass fishing, with the online auction being our major fundraising event enabling us to host the induction and efforts including our conservation grants,” said BFHOF Board president John Mazurkiewicz.
For more information, check out the BFHOF website or go here to look at bid items. The auction will close at the conclusion of the induction night ceremonies, approximately 10 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 30.