Western BassFans likely watched this year as Arizona's Brett Hite returned to pro fishing. He'd fished the Bassmaster Tour for 4 consecutive years, but opted out of the Elite Series in 2006. During the interim, he fished western events and rebranded from Triton to Ranger and from Mercury to Evinrude. This year, he re-entered tour-level competition on the FLW Tour.
He's known for his deep-water and dropshot skills, which made him one to watch at Ouachita for the Forrest Wood Cup. But he opened with a pretty miserable three-fish day 1. He then rebounded with 12-14 on day 2, which was the fifth-heaviest limit that day. It wasn't enough though and he finished 15th – about 3 pounds in back of the cut.
So two more fish on day 1 would have probably put him inside the Top 10, and his big sack on day 2 probably shows more of what he's capable of in a tough, clear-water bite.
"I (was) a little disappointed," he said of his Cup finish. "I was on some pretty good fish – a structure bite, worm fishing, which is how I like to fish. I don't know, I didn't get around them that first day. I kind of ran the same pattern (on day 2) and ended up catching a 4-pounder, and a nice 3-pounder. I thought I'd be able to catch 10 to 14 pounds a day, which is what I'd been getting in practice. Missing the cut was definitely disappointing."
Also notable was he felt it was an accomplishment to make the Cup during his first year fishing the FLW Tour, although he added: "It's not like I'm a rookie fisherman. I should pretty much expect to do that with how many years of experience I have. But it was a great deal to get there – to make the championship in my first year – and hopefully with the (Western FLW) Series I'll make next year's."