The 2014 Dick Cepek Tires Bassmaster Elite at Lake Seminole presented by Hardee’s is now history. The rookie, Brett Hite, pulled off a veteran performance to claim the win by a whopping 13 pounds. And on the shortened last day he still managed to bring in 5 bass totaling 25.15 pounds for a total of 97.10 pounds.
But this tournament wasn’t won like so many had it pictured. Granted Shaw did start off the first day with a huge bag. But the sight fishing that everyone was expecting went away with the cold fronts that moved through. This tournament was all about change. Some anglers were able to make that change, some were not. One angler, Byron Velvick, even went with a more weekend warrior approach to it all. He had limited prefishing to help with the wear and tear on his body. Considering he finished 9th, I think it holds special meaning for us normal fisherman.
Change, and finding those bass that had backed off the bedding areas, seems like a simple thing for Elite anglers. Heck we do it all the time. And the Elite angler has a huge advantage; he has the top equipment to help him find the fish. So why were so many not able to even put 5 in the livewell? Were they so stuck on doing what they had planned from the prefishing or just what they thought the bass would do? I can go out and get skunked, or catch 1 or 2 bass, so I must be an Elite angler too.
I have gone out and fished a specific bait because I wanted to learn to use that bait better. It taught me something altogether different too. Granted, I did learn more about the bait and its use, how it came through the water in different situations and how not to fish it. But it taught me that change has a lot to do with me. My preconceived notion that I knew what the bass were doing can be so totally wrong. I still will go out and use a bait to learn from it, but I will not get stuck into a notion that I know more than the bass do.
Ike said he blew it; he didn’t make the changes he needed to make. Randy went out and really stunk up the water. But they were not alone. There were a total of 9 anglers who had 5 or fewer bass for 2 days of fishing. And one of the anglers on the last day only managed 1 bass. Elite? Weekend warrior? Oh if I only had the money to go Pro I would show them how to fish. Come on St. John’s River, I’m ready.
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