Most anglers agree that having family at the Bassmaster Classic provides motivation, encouragement, maybe even consolation. But for Roy Hawk, his Classic experience will be much more familial, as his son, Sunny, has been on-hand as his official caddy.
In general terms, that means Sunny will drive his dad to and from the launch each day, but as Roy explained, it’s a great help having his son right next to him.
“He’s a huge help,” Roy said. “I had some truck trouble in practice and he drove all the way to Nashville, got my truck fixed and swapped out the rental truck. Then he took care of some tires I had issues with. He’s just picked me up and dropped me off and just let me go fish.
“We just work really well together. He was m co-angler in his younger years, but not we both fish as pros. We are great friends and we always look forward to going to events together because we always have so much fun together.”
What makes this story even more notable is Sunny’s own angling career. The last angler to win an FLW Forrest Wood Cup co-angler title (he won in 2015, the year before the league eliminated the co-angler division the next year), Sunny competed over 15 years ago in the B.A.S.S. Nation Junior Championship.
Guess who served as his caddy?
“Now, it’s come full circle and he’s my caddy; I hope someday I’ll be his caddy again in a Bassmaster Classic,” Roy said. “I was at the Forrest Wood Cup when Sunny won and it was an amazing deal that I’ll never forget. That was probably one of the greatest fishing memories that I’ve had in my life and to have it the other way (where I won), that would be beyond words.”