When he hoisted 5-pound smallmouth bass after 5-pound smallmouth bass last fall on Lake Mille Lacs en route to winning the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year tournament championship, not only did Seth Feider beat 49 of the best bass fishermen in the world, but also he did it with an infectious smile and an almost boyish enthusiasm for what he was doing. Which probably isn't a surprise, given fishing has been a driving force in the Minnesotan's life since he was a youth fishing the shorelines of his hometown's lakes.
"My dad started taking me to Bush Lake and fishing off the bank for bluegills," said Feider, who graduated from Bloomington Kennedy High School. "I fell in love, and have spent every waking minute thinking about fishing ever since."
When Feider was in high school, he wrote an essay that gave him the opportunity to fish as an amateur on what then was called the Silverado Pro-Am Bass Tour. There was a spark, but the tournament-fishing fire didn't really start burning hot until he was in his early 20s. For several years, he fished bass tournaments primarily in Minnesota, where he routinely placed highly and established himself as one of the sport's promising young fishermen. Feider broadened his horizons in 2012, signing up for Bassmaster Open events, which, in baseball parlance, are somewhat akin to the minor leagues. Only the top anglers in the Open series are invited to the Bassmaster Elite series, the equivalent of bass fishing's Major League. Feider, 32, a full-time professional fisherman, is now in his third season on that circuit, and a new resident of Isle, Minn.
"If anybody can make it in this day and age [Feider can]," said Bill Hildebrand, the former Silverado Pro-Am tournament director and radio personality who has known Feider since he was born. "He's one of the up-and-comers. He'll do OK."
Even as he has competed on bass fishing's biggest stage, Feider has been one of the hottest anglers dating back to last season.
Though he capped 2016 with a win at Mille Lacs — he calls it his favorite lake — he entered that tournament having placed second in La Crosse, Wis., at an event on the Mississippi River. And he started this year's Elite season with a fourth-place finish on Cherokee Lake in Tennessee. He stumbled at the year's second event, finishing in 87th place at Florida's Lake Okeechobee. The Angler of the Year Championship is coming back to Mille Lacs this fall, and among Feider's goals is to be one of the 50 anglers fishing in it. (He's currently in the Top 50 in points with several tournaments to go.)
"The last few tournaments I've treated like those 30-boat tournaments I used to fish all the time in Minnesota," said Feider, who spends several months a year on the road, traveling from tournament to tournament. "But they go just as fast as they come, and I could finish in 90th place in the next four tournaments and be out of it. So I'm just staying in the right mind frame and thinking about one tournament at a time. But it's definitely a roller-coaster ride."
During a recent break between tournaments, Feider shared some of his thoughts about fishing and life as a professional bass fisherman. His edited excerpts are below:
On what's important to tour well, such as sponsorships
The business side is a big part of it — almost as big as catching fish. I'm not the best at it, but I'm getting better every year. I'm doing as much as I can to keep the companies I have happy, which isn't easy all the time. When I'm not fishing, I'm working on the business side of it.
On changing his mind-set
Fishing professionally is something I've dreamed of, but there was an intimidation factor when I first started. I was fishing scared the first year and a half I was on the Elite Series. I was fishing for 50th place so I'd cash a check. Just a few weeks before the Mille Lacs tournament I was in a lot different position than I am now. The phone wasn't ringing and the money was about gone. After [winning at Mille Lacs] it's been a lot easier. It's easier to fish how you want to fish when you aren't worried about making enough money to get to the next tournament.
On the vocation and fun of fishing
I'm a tournament junkie. I'll jump into these little Wednesday nighters on Lake Minnetonka, and I fish as many of the [Denny's Super 30] tournaments there as I can. If I'm home and there's a derby, I'll jump in it. I don't care if we're fishing for $100 or $10,000.
On being a self-proclaimed "part-time truck driver" to keep up with the tour
I enjoy it. I like traveling, seeing the country, staying with different people and fishing all these different lakes. I have a girlfriend right now, but I don't have kids at home, so that makes it a lot easier. Last year, I only had to get two hotel rooms. Sometimes, you've got a friend of a friend who lives near a lake, or know someone within 20 or 30 miles who has a couch you can crash on. I've been fortunate to have built up a pretty good network.
On the rigors of preparation
I get about four hours of sleep a night — running around a half-hour before the sun is up, and fishing until after dark. Then you gas the boat, eat, get your gear ready and get to bed at midnight. There are guys who don't practice as hard as I do, but they've also been to the lake 20 times. Every place we go [on the Elite Series] is basically new to me. We only get 2½ days of practice, but we're fishing some river systems that are 300 miles long or giant reservoirs with 200 creeks. You can't even scratch the surface of most of these places in the amount of time we're given. I've definitely had to learn a lot.
Joe Albert is a freelance writer from Bloomington. Reach him at writerjoealbert@gmail.com.
