It’s a safe bet that these words had never been spoken before by a Bassmaster Elite Series competitor. During the Toyota AOY Championship on Mille Lacs Lake two weeks ago, Feider hoped he wouldn’t need a couple of his special GPS waypoints because, “I’ve got another tournament here next Saturday.”
When has an Elite Series angler saved sweet spots for a local team tournament the following weekend? That’s part of what makes the 31-year-old self-described “tournament junkie” such a gem.
Yes, after winning the AOY Championship tournament, Feider was back on Mille Lacs the following Saturday with his usual team tournament partner, John Figi. They weighed a five-fish bag of 25-3, and they finished second by 5 ounces.
Feider’s three-day first-place total during the AOY tournament was 76 pounds, 5 ounces. Add in that team tournament bag, and Feider’s 20 bass in four days on Mille Lacs weighed 101-8. The lake’s peak fall fishing period remains a couple of weeks away.
“The water is still too warm,” Feider said in a phone conversation this week. “It was about 64 degrees last Saturday. It has got to get in the 50s.”
Wow. A lake that’s consistently producing 25-pound bags of smallmouth bass hasn’t turned on yet. When have you ever read those words before?
The final totals at this relatively unknown 130,000-acre Minnesota lake during the AOY Championship were stunning: In a 50-man field, there were 76 bags of 20 pounds or better over three days – 23 on Day 1, 24 on Day 2 and 29 on Day 3. The average bass weighed-in during the event was 3.95 pounds.
That explains why so many Elite Series anglers, but none more so than Feider, expressed concern with maintaining what by all appearances is currently the best smallmouth bass fishery in the country.
“If this turns into a free-for-all, it won’t last long,” Feider said. “This ain’t Florida. You don’t grow 10-pounders here in five years.”
A 5-pound smallmouth bass in a northern state like Minnesota with its limited growth season is approximately 15 years old, according to fisheries biologists. The lake didn’t suddenly get this good, but it could quickly decline in an onslaught of ill-informed anglers. Feider is working with the Minnesota Smallmouth Alliance and other conservation groups to make sure Mille Lacs Lake’s bass fishery doesn’t get destroyed amidst all the positive publicity.
Just one month ago, Feider’s voice wouldn’t have carried much weight. The Bloomington, Minn., pro had cashed a total of six checks – three each season – in his two years on the Elite Series. But by closing 2016 with such flair – second on the Mississippi River at La Crosse, Wis., and winning at Mille Lacs – Feider resurrected his Elite Series career and added a megaphone to his voice for the conservation of his “favorite lake in the world.”
He’s still adjusting to the sudden change of fortune.
“It’s been crazy,” Feider said. “It’s a little bit overwhelming. But it’s a lot better than nobody calling.”
Feider plans to do his usual considerable amount of duck hunting in Minnesota this fall and winter before heading south to explore some waters on the 2017 Elite Series schedule. Before that, he’ll be on Mille Lacs several days when the water cools down and the smallmouth bass fishing really gets hot.
“Every fall I like to do a lot of hunting,” Feider said. “But I think fishing is just like any other sport. I don’t ever want to go more than two weeks without being on the water. If you get out there and it takes three casts to get a jig under a dock, that’s no good.”
One final note: Feider thinks Ish Monroe may have caught and released a new Minnesota record smallmouth bass during practice before the AOY event. The state record is an even 8 pounds (8-0) set in 1948 at West Battle Lake.
Monroe caught a smallmouth in practice that measured 23 inches long. He had no scale to weigh it, and, of course, no interest in doing anything but snapping a photo and getting it back in the water, where he might have another chance to catch it during the tournament.
“If he caught one that was 23 inches, it was probably an 8-pound fish,” said Feider, whose best at Mille Lacs is a 7-2 caught last fall that measured 21 1/2 inches long. “No doubt there’s an 8-pounder in Mille Lacs.”
As August gave way to September, both Seth Feider and Mille Lacs Lake were relatively unknowns in the bass fishing world. That can no longer be said about either, as September changes to October.