Pros need friends who shoot straight with them on the Bassmaster Elite Series, and Tyler Rivet has that in top-notch running mates Hank Cherry and Brock Mosley, who gave him a big assist in reaching his first Bassmaster Classic.
“You need friends on tour,” Rivet said. “That’s the only way you survive. You have to have other people to hang out with and talk.”
Even when that person says you’re not doing right. However it’s put, constructive criticism, being brutally honest or busting chops, the trio does it in a circle of trust. While each has his own style, they lend a hand on and off the water and feel comfortable saying exactly what they think.
“We all get along, we don’t get tired of each other, and that’s what you’ve got to have on the road,” Mosley said. “There’s that whole trust factor. Me and Hank are two different styles of fishermen, but we can share how our days are going. How we’re getting bit can help one another, those little details.”
Cherry, the elder statesmen of the group who’s fished the Elites since his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2013, said he noticed Mosley was “kinda quiet” like him when he came on the circuit in 2016. It took a couple seasons before they gravitated to one another.
“We all three just kind of hit if off when Kelley Jaye had to leave with that family issue,” Cherry said. “It just worked out, and it ended up turning into two pretty cool friendships. I talk to them just about every day. I give Brock some advice on the money part of the game, the sponsors. What do you think about this and that? Always bouncing ideas. It’s worked out for a pretty good partnership.”
little help from his friends in earning that berth to Lake Hartwell in March, but both get on him for not heeding their pre-tournament advice before the final Elite of 2021. Struggling on the first day at the St. Lawrence River, Rivet ran into Cherry, who put him on a drift that salvaged his day. Then Mosley, well inside the Classic bubble, again invited Rivet to his largemouth for Day 2.
“We’ve all been there where he was, at the Classic bubble,” Mosley said. “You tend to put more pressure on yourself, and he was starting to overthink things.”
“Me and Brock preach to him, you’ve got to have five,” Cherry said. “Don’t overthink this, just get your limit. No matter what, you’ve got to catch five.
“Had he listened to our advice, trusting us and knowing we’re not trying to steer him wrong, he probably would have caught 19, 20 where I was at the first day, and it wouldn’t have been a waiting game to get in the Classic.”
Rankling goes both ways. With a wink, Rivet takes credit for Cherry’s first Classic win. Wanting to go out during the 2020 wind delay at the St. Johns, Rivet said Cherry accepted his invitation to fish Rodman for some punching pointers. That’s when they first bonded.
