Elite

Rivet rolling on the river

Head out with Tyler Rivet as he climbs the leaderboard on Day 2 of the 2023 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee!

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Photography by
Andy Crawford
Louisiana’s Tyler Rivet started Day 2 of the 2023 SiteOne Bassmaster Elite at Lake Okeechobee sitting in third place with 24 pounds, 5 ounces — and a more than 3-pound deficit to make up. While the bulk of the field headed to the lake, Rivet was one of a handful of anglers who opted to remain in the Kissimmee River.
The key to his bite was the combination of a hard-plastic jerkbait and his forward-facing sonar.
Rivet worked both the flooded bushes of the river’s banks and outflow channels spaced along the waterway.
Rivet kept his eyes glued to his sonar, explaining that he was seeing every fish to which he cast.
After identifying a target, Rivet would make the cast as precisely as possible. “If you come up from the side or behind it, the fish won’t bite,” he explained. “You have to be in front of it.”
Rivet would jerk his bait in front of a bass, and then twitch it to trigger bites.
His first bite came quickly.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the size he was looking for. “Yesterday they were 5-pounders,” Rivet said.
Nonetheless, the 1-pounder went into the livewell to start his day.
And then it was right back to work.
Rivet worked both the flooded bushes of the river’s banks and outflow channels spaced along the waterway.
Rivet, a power angler from the swamps of Louisiana, said it was killing him not to be punching the vegetation mats, but his pattern didn’t include that tactic.
Rivet would jerk his bait in front of a bass, and then twitch it to trigger bites.
Rivet said the only problem with his pattern was that the bass would spook after a catch or two. “You catch one or two, and then they won’t bite,” he explained. “The just pull out and suspend.”
So he would leave his choicest spots and fish down the banks to let an area rest and the fish to move back in. He continued to catch bass along the way, though.
He had a number of options on his deck, but he continued to return to the hard jerkbait and a swim bait.
Rivet continued catching small keepers early.
And then he stuck a bass that had a little more weight.
It wasn’t a giant, but the 3-pounder gave him some confidence.
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His first big bite came while working the main stretch of river with a swim jig.
He showed the 4 1/2-pounder off to the audience watching BASS Live …
… and then showed it off for Bassmaster.com. And the solid bass pushed him up the leaderboard.
Finally, after catching a few more small bass, Rivet pulled up the trolling motor …
… and headed farther upriver toward the main lock.
It didn’t take long for him to see a nice bass on his sonar and send out the jerkbait …
… which the bass promptly inhaled.
Rivet told me earlier that I would probably see a show when he hooked up. “Yesterday they were pretty acrobatic,” he said.
This bass was big enough that he wanted to ensure he didn’t lose it, so he decided to grab the bass instead of boat-flipping it.
It stillwasn’t the 6- or 7-pounder he was looking for, but the catch prompted a thumbs up.
And allowed him to make a 2-pound cull.
And this bass was definitely what Rivet hoped for — but it was definitely wanting to show off as it battled to free itself.
Rivet was soon digging deep to get his hand on the bass …
…
…
… and pulling it over the gunnel.
Rivet was all smiles as he hoisted the nearly 5 1/2-pounder.
The cull was huge, pushing him from about 13 1/2 pounds to just more than 18 1/2 pounds.

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