Steve Wright’s favorite moments of 2016

Bassmaster.com has asked our team of writers and staff to reflect on their favorite moment of 2016. Steve Wright is a writer for Bassmaster Magazine, B.A.S.S. Times and Bassmaster.com. 

Something old, something new

Every great story begins and ends memorably. The 2016 Bassmaster Elite Series season is a testament to that. As someone who has been around since the Elite Series began, this one stands alone for its start and its finish.

Something Old: Rick Clunn wins again

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Rick Clunn, at age 69, kicked off the 2016 season by turning the winter of despair into the spring of hope at Florida’s St. Johns River. The four-time Bassmaster Classic champion closed the 2015 season 104th in Angler of the Year points. His last B.A.S.S. win was in 2002. The image of the great Willie Mays staggering under a fly ball in a New York Mets uniform came to mind — a Hall of Famer staying on the field a tad too long.

But reports about the death of Clunn’s bass fishing career proved to be greatly exaggerated. And oh what a joy that was to watch. It brought grown men to tears. I’ll never forget talking to Skeet Reese backstage, after he’d carried one of Clunn’s two, count ‘em, two, weigh-in bags to the fish-care tanks on Saturday, when Clunn’s five bass weighed 31 pounds, 7 ounces.

Reese had affectionately addressed Clunn as “Daddy” since the day he’d started competing against him.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Reese said that day. “He’s the reason I fish. I could cry now.”

And he did cry. The tears rolled down his cheeks from under Reese’s sunglasses.

Backstage on the final day, Clunn and Greg Hackney stood together at the fish-care tanks. Their weights weren’t official yet, but both could see that Clunn had a bag big enough to hold off Hackney’s charge. Clunn’s 12-year-old son, River, who wasn’t born the last time Clunn won, was standing with them.

“You know the first time I saw your dad?” Hackney asked River. “It was in 1984 when he won the Bassmaster Classic on the Arkansas River at Pine Bluff. I was 11 years old.”

Think of all the B.A.S.S. history – and just history, period – that has unfolded since that day, when then-Vice President George H.W. Bush and then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton were on the same stage with Clunn as he won the third Bassmaster Classic of his career.

Clunn was 38, and he’d win his fourth Classic title in 1990 at the age of 44. Inspired by that image, Hackney would grow up to make a dream of his own come true by winning the B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year title in 2014.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that day is what set my career in motion,” Hackney recalled. “It was the first time I really experienced tournament bass fishing. Rick Clunn has always been one of my heroes.”

When Clunn came on stage and his winning weight became official, he said, “Don’t ever accept that your best moments are behind you.”

As if he always believed this day was coming.

Something New: Seth Feider’s rise from the ashes

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” –Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Not many men in their 30s will admit crying as an adult. So my vote for “Quote of the Year” goes to Seth Feider, who said after finishing second and resuscitating an Elite Series career on its last gasp in the final regular season Elite Series event  – at the Mississippi River in La Crosse, Wis., “I’ve cried four times as a grown man. Once was after my dog died. The other three times were after Elite Series tournaments.”

In finishing second to Ott Defoe, Feider had climbed a mountain. He was in 69th place in Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points entering the event, and he managed to hit the magic number – 50th place – with his performance in the last regular season tournament.

Feider had remarkably punched his ticket to the Angler of the Year Championship, which began the next week at Mille Lacs Lake, Feider’s “favorite lake in the world,” located near his hometown of Bloomington, Minn.

When asked that Sunday in La Crosse if he had now established himself on the Elite Series, Feider said, “Maybe. I don’t know. I might be able to seal that deal up in Mille Lacs.”

And, of course, he did seal that deal, winning the AOY Championship at Mille Lacs in what turned out to be a smallmouth bass slugfest of historic proportions.

Interestingly, it was a crushing failure in August at the Potomac River, prior to La Crosse, that smacked Feider out of his doldrums. After finishing 58th in 2015 AOY points during his rookie season, Feider dropped to 69th in the ’16 season AOY points after finishing 85th at the Potomac.

“I was hopeless,” said Feider. “I thought I blew my season at the Potomac. I really did. I didn’t think I’d be fishing the Elite Series next year.

“But it was a blessing in disguise that I did so poorly at the Potomac. I definitely went into La Crosse with a different attitude. I started fishing like I fish locally, like in the little 50-boat tournaments I jump in around here. You go try to cut everybody’s head off and you win the thing.

“The first year-and-three-quarters I was fishing for 50th place on the Elite Series. You can’t do that against these guys. It’s not going to end well. You fish for 50th and you’re going to end up 80th.

“I’m going to fish every tournament next year like I’ve got nothing to lose.”

Fellow Minnesota resident Al Lindner, a Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame member and one of the legends of the sport, attended the weigh-ins at Mille Lacs. Feider’s success put a smile on Lindner’s face.

“All the sudden, he has that set of credentials that he needs to take him to the next level,” said Lindner. “You need that break. Every one of these touring pros  – at some point in their careers –were where Seth was three weeks ago. You’re considering hanging it up. Then all the sudden you get that break.

“Seth has gotten that that break that will launch his career. That’s the beautiful part of this sport.”

There were many beautiful parts of the 2016 Elites Series season. But the first and the last standout among all the rest.