For two decades prior to fishing the 2024 Bassmaster Opens Elite Qualifiers, Idaho’s Cody Meyer enjoyed a well-established career competing on the FLW and MLF bass tours. He could have played it safe by staying put, but he had longed to fish the Bassmaster Classic since he began watching The Bassmasters on television at age 5.
“Fishing Elite Qualifiers was a huge risk for me,” Meyer said. “But to chase my dream of being in the Classic, I had to qualify for the Elite Series. I bet on myself that I could make it through the Elite Qualifiers.”
Despite his angling accomplishments, Meyer knew the odds were against him. Several other very capable and well-known professional anglers had taken on the Elite Qualifiers and failed. And, at age 41, many of the anglers were nearly half his age. They were hungry, tireless and bass-wise beyond their years.
“I felt like I was starting all over again,” Meyer said. “In some ways it was terrifying. I dealt with more adrenaline rushes than I’ve had in quite some time.”
Meyer’s hard work, skill and experience paid off. Going into the ninth and final Elite Qualifier of the season, he held second place in the overall Angler of the Year standings. He had secured an invitation to become an Bassmaster Elite Series angler but had yet to qualify for the Classic.
He went into the final event of the season intent on winning it, which would earn that coveted Classic berth. The AOY title was also well within reach.
The final tournament had been slated for South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell. B.A.S.S. tournament officials moved the event to Alabama’s Lake Martin due to the horrific destruction and flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
Although Meyer had never been to Martin, he found it similar to lakes in northern California he had fished while growing up in the Golden State. Martin is predominantly a spotted bass fishery, and Meyer located massive schools of keeper size fish offshore.
“I knew I could catch hundreds of spotted bass by fishing those schools, but I’d only end up with 10 pounds a day,” Meyer said. “That wouldn’t get me the win that I wanted.”
While most of his competitors stayed offshore, Meyer fished the bank with topwater baits and a flipping rod. He got fewer bites but caught a mixed bag of largemouth and spotted bass and claimed fifth place.
“I didn’t qualify for the Classic and finished second in the Angler of the Year race, but I’m proud of where I ended up, for sure,” Meyer said.
Meyer has come a long way since he was a tad fishing for stream trout in California with his father, Rick. After he caught his first bass from the family’s backyard pond, there was no holding him back.
He lived in a subdivision of five- to 10-acre lots, and every lot had a stocked pond. Meyer cajoled permission to fish scores of these mini bass waters.
His German Shorthair, Bullet, often tagged along on those adventures. Meyer fished those ponds relentlessly and experimented with lures and techniques he had seen on The Bassmasters and read about in Bassmaster Magazine.
His first boat was a 14-foot aluminum V-hull powered by a 9.9 horsepower outboard, a hand-me-down from his grandfather. He fished his first bass tournament out of that boat at age 15, a local derby on Lake Oroville. He stayed within sight of the boat ramp all day and won the $500 first prize.
This prompted him to do odd jobs to earn money to buy a larger aluminum boat, which was powered by a 75 horsepower outboard. Over the next several years, he fished every tournament he could get into with that rig.
Many of those events took place on the California Delta’s tidal waters, on Clear Lake, which has shallow grass, and on gin clear Lake Shasta. The variety of fisheries gave Meyer a solid foundation for his future professional bass career.
In 2006 he bought a 2003 Ranger 520 at a car auction and pursued his bass dreams. He wanted to fish the Bassmaster Opens, but he didn’t have the time and funds to travel to the eastern part of the country. He elected to go the FLW route, and the rest is history.
He made a major life change four years ago by moving to Idaho. In 2024 he took another leap of faith and fished the Elite Qualifiers.
“I just decided that B.A.S.S. is where I’ve wanted to be since I was 5 years old,” Meyer said. “Next year I’ll be competing with the best fishermen in the world on the Elite Series. I couldn’t be happier.”
Meyer’s sponsors include Daiwa, Evergreen, Blazer Boats, Suzuki, Yamamoto, Tacklewarehouse.com, Bling Sauce, Garmin, Sea Clear, Owner Hooks, Simms, T-H Marine, Cipher Tungsten, Power-Pole, Boat Logix and Monster Marine Lithium.
