CLAYTON, N.Y. – Lee Livesay and Matt Robertson were at the weigh-in site Sunday, waiting for their time to appear on “Bassmaster Live Mix.” That’s when they heard that Bob Downey’s boat was malfunctioning during the final day of the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at the St. Lawrence River.
Livesay and Robertson jumped at the chance to help a fellow competitor. They left to pick up Livesay’s boat, filled it with gas, bought some ice and some snacks, then launched to go find Downey. Livesay noted that he and Downey aren’t particularly close friends. He didn’t even have Downey’s number in his phone. But as a fellow Elite Series competitor, that’s plenty close enough.
“I’d do that for anybody,” Livesay said. “And anybody would do that for any one of us.”
Swapping boats in the middle of a competition day isn’t a simple task. Livesay had to delete the waypoints on his Humminbird graphs. Downey had to grab just enough tackle that he needed to finish the day. They had to transfer Downey’s fish into Livesay’s livewells, where cool, iced water awaited them.
“We both had Humminbirds, so that was good,” Livesay said. “We put one of his Humminbirds in my boat.”
Downey’s outboard motor wasn’t completely disabled. It just wouldn’t get his boat up on plane.
“We stayed in it, and stayed close just in case either boat had a problem,” Robertson said.
“It didn’t surprise me,” Downey said. “Lee and Matt are awesome dudes, good character guys. It didn’t surprise me at all that they did it, and I’m super thankful they did.”
Downey started the day in second place, only 2 pounds, 15 ounces behind leader Jay Przekurat. But his day had gone south long before his outboard malfunctioned. Downey had been fishing in the St. Lawrence River all week, and he wasn’t able to catch them there Sunday. He finished 10th with 17-5, but he was able to weigh-in a limit of fish.
“I had some fish when they got there with Lee’s boat,” Downey said. “I was able to catch some more and get back for the weigh-in. I was happy to have a 17-pound limit and some fish to weigh on Championship Sunday.”
