Fisher Anaya is fulfilling the destiny of his name quite well.
One might think his father, an angler his entire life, was responsible for naming him, but he simply gave the go-ahead.
“Actually, my mom gave me that name,” Anaya said. “She said, ‘I think he’s gonna like to fish,’ and dad was like, ‘Let’s run it.’ How they knew, I have no idea.”
Oh, they knew. And Anaya is living up to it very well, thank you.
In November, days before his 20th birthday, Anaya won Angler of the Year in the Nitro Boats Bassmaster Elite Qualifiers, becoming the third youngest to reach the Elite Series. For an encore, Anaya recently earned a spot in the 2026 Bass Pro Shops Bassmaster Classic.
Anaya competed with his dad, Ryan, in the TNT Fireworks Bassmaster Team Championship on Lake Hartwell. He knew he had a good chance to continue his roll, but things didn’t look great once the Dec. 3-6 event began.
“I went up there for pre-practice and caught them really well,” he said. “I stand a shot at making it. Everything’s just gotta go right.
“The first two days, everything went wrong. We just kept losing them, couldn’t keep them hooked up, and I don’t understand why.”
They squeaked in as the fifth and final team to advance to the Classic Fish-Off. As the 10 anglers went head-to-head, Fisher found his stride, and maybe some good fortune.
“That was a crazy tournament,” he said. “It was just like almost every move I made was perfect. I lost one fish in two days. Every move I made felt wrong, but it was right in the long run.
“I would pull in and I’m like, ‘This don’t even look right.’ And there would be a big one sitting on it. I guess if it’s your time, you can’t make a wrong move.”
Anaya took the lead on Day 1 with 19 pounds, 8 ounces, but a slower morning on Day 2 had him worried, at least until his instincts kicked in.
“It was a little bit sketchy,” he said, “Lunchtime rolls around, you’ve been fishing all the stuff you just caught 19 pounds off of, you’re like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.’ You pull in a pocket you ain’t ever fished before and they’re everywhere, and you catch 20 pounds. I’m not going to ask no questions.”
With Day 2’s 20-7, Anaya totaled 39-15 to win the Fish-Off by 1-10. He closed the B.A.S.S. tournament year by earning the 56th and final berth to the March 13-15 Classic on the Tennessee River out of Knoxville.
“I went out with a bang, got to break in the brand new boat (921 Elite X Phoenix) with the win,” he said. “Heck, that’s one way to go out.”
Anaya is the latest wunderkind in the bass fishing world. At 18 years, 7 months and 19 days, Trey McKinney stands as the youngest to fish the Elites. He eclipsed Bradley Roy, who qualified two weeks before his 19th birthday.
McKinney went on to win the 2024 Rookie of the Year, was twice AOY runner-up and has won two Elite tournaments. Some other young guns making their mark are 2025 ROY Tucker Smith, 23, who won the Lake Fork Elite, and Easton Fothergill, who won two Opens before becoming the second youngest Classic champ at 22.
Anaya would certainly like to follow their lead and become the next big, young thing.
“One-hundred percent,” he said. “That’s the name of the game — try to stay consistent, be at the top. If you want to compete, you’re consistently trying to figure out what they’re doing each day, because they change each day.
“I’m just trying to try to stay at the top. Who wants to lose? No one likes to lose.”
Anaya hasn’t seen much losing of late. In his EQ run to the Elites, he posted three Top 10 finishes and a worst of 24th. He was thrilled to have a shot as the youngest of the EQ young guns. While he’ll do everything in his power to continue his hot streak, he tempered expectations, even though his Elite career opens in February on his home pond of Lake Guntersville.
“Honestly, I’m just going to be happy that I’m here. If I catch fish, I catch fish. That’s just a bonus,” he said. “I’m living my lifelong dream. It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid. There’s no reason to get upset or mad if you don’t catch them. You’re in the spotlight. You’re living someone else’s dream, so why be mad?
“I’m going to just go and be happy. I want high expectations. I want to catch them, as does everybody else. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I will come back the next tournament to try again.”
Sure, Fisher will keep plugging along, his career trajectory to be determined one event at a time. With a small sample, Fisher has lived up to his name.
Just imagine if he’d been named Champ.
