When asked to come up with my favorite moment of 2016, I never dreamed it would be such a hard decision.
I’ve been doing this a lot of years and each season there are moments I witness that will forever live in my collective memory as reasons why I love this sport. Obviously 2016 is no different.
It started with a bang at the Bassmaster Classic on Grand Lake. As the tactician of the crews who cover these events, I always try to give everyone their first choice of where they want to be. Then I fill in the blanks. It was that way on the final day of the Classic with Jason Christie seemingly on his way to winning the sport’s most sought-after crown. After everyone had made their choices, the most likely angler left to give me a story on the day was Edwin Evers. It didn’t hurt Evers wasn’t going very far from the takeoff.
If you are a fan of bass fishing, I don’t have to tell you what happened that day. It was a day that will be relived in fishing lore and legend for as long as any of us are alive to retell it. It was simply an incredible day, watching Evers put together a magical day and a magical finish.
It rates as one of the best days I have ever covered a Bassmaster event in 30 years of chasing these guys around. Strangely enough, it’s not the moment I picked as most special.
The next event on the St. John’s River was equally as moving. I tricked James Overstreet into staying with Greg Hackney in that event and was able to spend the final day with Rick Clunn. Again, I don’t have to tell you how special that day was. As a matter of fact, I know Steve Wright will tell you all about it because it was his special moment of the year.
Watching Elite anglers get giddy about Clunn’s finish was satisfying. They typically run from an event once they are cut like someone is shooting at them, but many stayed the extra days just to watch the guy many refer to as their “first fishing idol” hoist the trophy. But again, while it’s at the top of the list of all-time moments, it doesn’t sit atop 2016.
There were a lot of neat things about 2016 that were special. I covered Hackney at BASSfest, Britt Myers at Winyah Bay and Kevin VanDam at Cayuga. Those guys won each of those events, and each of them after they made their last cast had no idea they were anywhere close to hoisting the trophy in a few moments. It’s kind of neat knowing they were going to win, while they just knew they didn’t have a chance.
I watched Hackney make a mistake and fight his way back into the Angler of the Year mix. I covered Gerald Swindle when it looked as if he was going to crash and burn on the Potomac then salvage his day in the last hour to stay in the mix of the AOY race before going on to win it at Mille Lacs.
I watched Seth Feider burst on the scene. And was handed a weigh-in slip by Davy Hite, while he whispered “that will be my last one.” While one angler was starting his career, another was making the decision to step down and take a new direction.
There are simply so many special moments of 2016. It is hard to put your finger on just one. But as a student of this game we call competitive angling, I tend to be drawn to those moments I believe could or should change the way others look at our sport.
Much of how we go about our coverage is cemented in the knowledge that competitive fishing is incredibly exciting and we need to bring all those special moments of every event to the fans and would-be fans. So when I hit rewind on 2016, I keep coming back to the second round of the Classic Bracket on the Niagara River.
I was covering Dean Rojas and he was getting his bottom spanked by up-and-comer Jordan Lee. Time was winding down and to be honest the fishing just wasn’t that great. Rojas had about a 5-pound deficit and with just minutes left in a game where there are no time outs. Seconds were flying off the clock and it looked as if one of the consummate top professionals in the game was going to be upset by Lee.
Rojas, though, showed everyone who was watching what back-to-back Hail Mary’s looked like in fishing. With the clock ticking so loud you could feel it, Rojas wiped out the deficit with virtually no time left and advanced in the bracket.
In years past that win would just have showed up at the weigh-in. But with Bassmaster LIVE, fans who watched got to see a stunning comeback akin to a last-minute touchdown, followed by a last-minute recovery of an onside kick, followed by a last-second touchdown.
It doesn’t get any better than that if you are a fan. If it was their first time to watch competitive fishing unfold, many folks got to see what all the hoopla was about and in a few minutes of time, Dean Rojas showed them all why emotions and excitement run deep in those of us who love this sport.
At that moment, people not married to this sport, like so many of us, all of the sudden said, “I get it.” That moment rates as one of the most incredible of the year.
2016 will, or should, go down as one of the more special seasons ever. But even after 30 years, I know the next season will be just as filled with incredible moments.