Eight years ago, B.A.S.S. officials decided to rewrite the rules to change the definition of a “rookie” on the Bassmaster Elite Series.
They decided anyone who’s won more than $500,000 on other major circuits is classified as a “newcomer” and ineligible for the Dakota Lithium Bassmaster Rookie of the Year title.
It was a good change at the time, but I’m not sure it makes that much difference anymore. Rookies these days are a different class of angler — and that’s never been more evident than it was during the 2023 season.
Look no further than the list of winners.
There were nine regular-season events on the schedule, and four of them were won by first-year Elites.
Joey Cifuentes III, the Arkansas pro who eventually claimed the ROY title, was most impressive, with both a largemouth-heavy victory in the second event on Lake Seminole and a smallmouth-dominated win once the schedule shifted north to Michigan’s Lake St. Clair.
Alabama pro Will Davis Jr. picked up a win in his home state on Lay Lake, while Japanese pro Kyoya Fujita won at Lake Champlain and then made a hard run at back-to-back victories with a third-place finish at the final event on the St. Lawrence River.
Seven of the 11 rookies from this year’s class are qualified for the 2024 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Toyota scheduled for March 22-24. Cifuentes, Fujita, Bryant Smith, Cooper Gallant, Davis and Cole Sands have all punched their ticket via the AOY standings, while David Gaston made it in thanks to Davis’ historic TNT B.A.S.S. Nation Championship victory.
That’s a heck of a youth movement, and it’s really been underway for a while as some of the greatest anglers in the history of the sport have found their way back to the Elite Series.
In 2020, a pair of two-time AOY winners, Brandon Palaniuk and Gerald Swindle, came back to the Elites after a one-year hiatus.
In their first year back, both finished lower in the points standings than Minnesota’s Austin Felix, who placed seventh in the AOY standings and claimed the Rookie of the Year title.
The 2021 season saw massive fluctuation as Greg Hackney, Justin Atkins, Jason Christie and Scott Martin all joined the Elite Series from other major but less-established leagues. Alabama pro Josh Stracner won the ROY title, and only half of those major sticks finished ahead of him in AOY points — Hackney and Christie.
In 2022, Mike Iaconelli and Jacob Powroznik requalified for the Elites, but both finished behind 23-year-old Rookie of the Year Jay Przekurat in the points standings.
This year, it was Keith Poche looking up at most of the rookie class from a distance.
When it comes to the anglers who returned or moved over from other leagues, I don’t have to tell you they know how to catch them. Most of them have been synonomous with greatness for many years.
They just ran into a different kind of rookie than what we’d grown used to in years past — and anyone considering making the jump to the Elite Series should take strong note of that.
There’s a long list of reasons why many anglers show up on the Elite Series more prepared than ever.
Trails like the Bassmaster High School Series are introducing competitors to the intensity of high-level competition, often before they’re old enough to drive a car or vote. Then they move on to the Bassmaster College Series to prepare themselves for the pros — just like the hierarchy in other sports.
Then there’s the undeniable electronics element.
Anyone who’s watched a 5-year-old operate an iPhone or a Kindle knows that young people these days are just naturally predisposed to getting the most out of newfangled electronic gadgets.
That also seems true of Garmin LiveScope, Humminbird MEGA Live and Lowrance ActiveTarget — and young anglers have every bit as much experience with those units as Kevin VanDam.
So, we’ll see.
Maybe the 2023 lineup was a truly special class of rookies.
Or maybe the old guard should resign itself to the idea that a rookie isn’t really a rookie anymore.
