I first met Tyler Rivet in 2015 while covering a College Bass event. First impressions, he was a good dude. Salt of the earth kind of guy. Had been raised well and loved to fish. Didn’t think much more of him at the time though.
Fast forward 3 years, and I remember when Rivet qualified for the Elites through the 2018 Central Opens. I was quite impressed, and admittedly even a bit surprised to see this name resurface. That’s not meant in anyway to be disrespectful. Remember, this was a time when it was probably more doable to be selected for a space mission than to qualify for the Bassmaster Elite Series. There were bonafide and certified veterans of the sport coming up short year after year.
The Central’s setup well that year for a river rat like Rivet thought, with 3 shallow water friendly fisheries (Ross Barnett, the Red River and the Arkansas River) for him to grind away on.The one outlier, Logan Martin, held plenty of shallow fish as well. All this considered, I chalked Rivet’s Elite qualification up to stars aligning. But I must admit, I didn’t expect him to stay there long.
Again, no disrespect intended. It’s just a bit of apathy I suppose. The nature of the beast that is the Bassmaster Elite Series. After all, anglers like Rivet are chewed up and spit out by this stiff field of competitors year after year. I was happy for Rivet, but wouldn’t have bet on him to last. But I didn’t really know what Rivet was like.
See, I was wrong. And this isn’t even about that. I don’t mind admitting it though. I’ve been wrong near as many times as I’ve been right in the past. I thought John Crews was crazy for starting a soft plastic company in an already flooded bait market. When Phoenix boats launched, I thought the same. I even advised Jacob Wheeler to continue cutting his teeth in the college series, when he asked if I thought he should fish the FLW Tour the next year. I thought he was getting a little too big for his britches. He didn’t listen, and won the Forrest Wood Cup the following year. Turns out I had know idea what size britches that dude wore. So, yeah. I’m a threat to miss the mark sometimes.
I did that with Tyler Rivet too. And I want to publicly apologize to him. Not for having wished him ill. More for being indifferent. For doubting him. He didn’t do that though. And that’s what mattered. Rivet got out there and got on his grind. He did get his teeth kicked in at times. But the south Louisiana native got up like Cajuns do, dusted himself off, spit a little blood out and walked head on into a wall again. He kept doing this. And eventually, he broke through.
Tyler Rivet won his first blue trophy this year, being crowned champion of the 2023 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee. He did this using technology that barely existed 4 years ago when he fished his first Elite event. Then he went to Lake Seminole a couple months ago, where he did what we all thought he’d do at Okeechobee, power fishing shallow to the tune of a 3rd place finish.
Rivet has been all but perfect through the first two Elites of the year, entering Day 1 of Elite 3 on Lake Murray with the Progressive Angler of the Year lead. He’s been bed fishing and targeting fry guarders this morning, and sits in 7th on BassTrakk currently. No doubt this shallow water enthusiast has fished for bedding bass and fry guarders hundreds of times in his life. But he’s fishing both these patterns this morning from a greater distance, using his forward facing sonar to again modify and advance his skill set.
A grinder. Committed. Focused. Having fun. Versatile. Confident, but not cocky. Tyler Rivet is a fantastic fisherman. Sorry it took me so long to see it. Proud of you and kudos for never giving up.
