Hite Hoping To Catch Big Smallmouths, Qualify For Bassmaster Classic In Aoy Championship
Davy Hite is in a tight spot and he knows it. Heading into the Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship next week on Bays de Noc in Michigan, the 1999 Bassmaster Classic Champion is ranked 49th in points and has to climb over almost two-thirds of the 50-man field if he has a shot at making the Classic next February on Lake Hartwell in his home state of South Carolina.
More than two dozen Classic berths and the Angler of the Year title are up for grabs at Bays de Noc, in the first B.A.S.S. tournament ever held in that arm of Lake Michigan. Only the top 50 Elite anglers in points will be competing and the exact number of Elite anglers to qualify for the Classic will not be decided until all the spots are filled through the B.A.S.S. Open tournaments which wind up next month.
“I would rather be leading the Angler of the Year race,” said Hite who has two AOY titles in his 20-year-plus B.A.S.S. career. “I’m not leading, but I am in the top 50 and anybody in the top 50 has a chance to make the Hartwell Classic. Being 49th is not where I want to be but it’s definitely better than being 51st.”
His chances all boil down to having a really good tournament next week while some of those ahead of him falter, he said.
“I need a top 10 finish, definitely a top 20. The Classic is going to be at Lake Hartwell, so I certainly want to qualify.”
Hite said he is looking forward to the tournament because the Bays de Noc area is noted for holding some really quality smallmouth bass.
“They don’t hold many tournaments up there, but over the last five years or so there have been some phenomenal smallmouth bass caught. It’s a 21-hour drive from Ninety Six, S.C., but I won’t be thinking about that long drive, I’ll be thinking about catching a 7- or 8-pound smallmouth,” said Hite, whose best smallmouth so far weighed 5 pounds, 15 ounces.
“I’ve caught a lot of 5-pound smallmouths, but never a 6-pounder,” Hite said, adding that the key in the tournament next week will be the weather which can wreak havoc on tournament fishing on the Great Lakes.
“If we get fairly calm winds and if those winds are from a kind of northerly direction it could be a great tournament. But, if we have strong south winds, especially southeast winds, there is no way you can go out on that water in a bass boat. It is like the ocean.”
Hite said the weather, especially fall weather with cold fronts moving through, is a main reason there are not many tournaments in Bays de Noc. But, he added, the weather could play into his chance for success.
“I have some experience fishing the Great Lakes and some of the guys don’t have much experience there,” he said. However, he added, “There have been songs written about boats sinking in the Great Lakes and I certainly don’t want anybody writing a song about Davy Hite going down in Bays de Noc.”
Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship
Sep 18-21, 2014
Bays de Noc
North Shore Public Boat Ramp
Escanaba, Mich.
