Hite Has No Plans To Stray From Aggressive Approach

By Todd Ceisner
BassFan Editor

Davy Hite has been busy this winter.

He and his family finished building a cabin along the Saluda River, not too far from his home near Lake Murray. He got to spend some quality time over the holidays with his family as his oldest son, Parker, was home from West Point for a couple weeks. And he finalized a deal with Phoenix Boats, switching brands after a long run with Triton.

Now, he’s anxious to get back on the water.

When he gets back on the front deck at the Lake Toho Southern Open at the end of the month, it’ll be the same Davy Hite BassFans have come to know – he’ll be casting for the win.

Following a lackluster (by his standards) 2012 Elite Series campaign that saw him score four Top-50 cuts but not finish better than 24th in any of them, he’s going to put an increased emphasis on fishing to win this year. It’s an approach that’s brought him success in the past, most recently in 2011.

“I’ve done some thinking in the offseason and the times I’ve done the best, I’ve really fished to win tournaments and not fished to make checks,” he said. “I’m not really at the point of my career where I should be doing that, but it’s really hard to not think about it when the last check is $10,000. That’s something to think about. In my career, when I’ve done my best, I’ve fished to win and not worried about making a check or not. You have bad tournaments sometimes because of that.

“I’m not saying I have the right approach. I just know what works for me. In all honesty, if you pay the entry fees we’re paying and what it takes to be on the road and you make a check every time, you’re going to go broke. That’s just the way it is.”

St. Johns Spinout

In 2011, Hite was fortunate enough to make checks in seven of eight Elite Series events, including a victory (Pickwick Lake) and a runner-up (Lake Murray) en route to an 8th-place finish in Angler of the Year points.

Last year, his season got off to a slow start with two finishes of 86th or worse (St. Johns River and Bull Shoals Lake) in the first three events. He finished no lower than 62nd in the remaining five tournaments and ended up 60th in the AOY chase. Looking back, he says the opener at St. Johns is where his season – and a 15th career Classic berth – got away from him all because of one pre-spawn female.

“This is my little sob story for last year,” he said. “I lost a fish at the first tournament of the year that cost me the Classic. I’ve been fortunate enough to win Angler of the Year a couple of times and that’s what you always want to shoot for, but when you lose one fish that you know cost you the Classic, it haunts you quite a bit. In hindsight, I don’t know what I could’ve done any differently.

“I’d found a monster fish on a bed. I don’t know exactly what the fish weighed. It was at least 8 pounds, but I think it was more like 10. I ended up losing that fish, but I should’ve caught it. I weighed in one that day that weighed a pound and a quarter so that’s a minimum 7- to 8-pound difference. In that particular tournament, where I finished (86th), that’s a difference of 50 spots. People who don’t fish a season-long points deal don’t realize how just one or two fish can make a big, big difference between winning Angler of the Year and making the Classic. The competition level is so that that’s just the way it is.”

He knows he wasn’t the only one who lost key fish at inopportune times of the year, but this one seemed to loom over him for the balance of the season.

“I tell people and they look at me like I’m not telling the truth, but it’s no lie: The two years I won Angler of the Year, I don’t remember losing a fish the whole year that cost me 1 pound, let alone 7 or 8 pounds,” he said. “You can’t lose 10-pounders and weigh in 1-pounders against the crowd that we’re fishing against.”

Aim For The Top

While last year didn’t go anywhere near as well as Hite had planned, he saw his recipe for success result in a banner 2011 season. The key, obviously, was notching the win at Pickwick fairly early on and locking up a Classic berth.

“I fished so relaxed after I won that tournament early on and had the Classic made and had just won $100,000,” he said. “Two tournaments later, I finished 2nd. I just had a real good year and when I look back on the years I’ve done well and the years I’ve haven’t done well, it’s been when I fish conservatively. I’m going to fish more aggressively this year.”

It’s a constant mental struggle, however, he says. Within a given season or even a given event, it’s easy to fall into the mindset of fishing to finish in the Top 50 rather than taking a little bit of risk that may pay off in a big way.

“I try to relay that to everyone,” he said. “You’re never as high as you think you are and you’re never as low as you think you are. I’ve been blessed to be at the top of this sport a couple times by winning the Classic and Angler of the Year, but you’re not going to ride that forever. You have to understand you need to stay focused and try to fish. I say this and some people don’t realize it, but Kevin VanDam is the only one in the history of our sport that’s been in the sport a while that hasn’t had many downs. He’s the only one who’s fished any length of time that hasn’t missed a Classic or had a bum year.

“You’re going to have ups and downs unless you’re Kevin. He’s done phenomenal and he’s a friend of mine so more power to him, but I want to beat him for Angler of the Year this year. You have to be realistic and just try to stay focused. As far as being conservative, when you start doing things that really aren’t you, like fishing for checks, then things kind of spiral downhill from there.”

He likes that this year’s schedule gets under way in Texas and not Florida, where it’s kicked off the last 2 seasons.

“This year’s schedule is neat because there’s a big variety,” he said. “There are some fisheries that are going to be tough and there are some smallmouth places on there and then there’s some absolute largemouth-only places. It’s a good variety.

“I try to look at them all the same and I do that because when I look back on some of the tournaments I’ve been able to win, there have been a few that I thought that I had a better chance to win than others. Most of the B.A.S.S. tournaments that I’ve won, I really didn’t have a clue going in that I’d win the thing. You just need to have the mentality and if it starts working your way, you need to realize you don’t have those opportunities very often.”

Notable

> Hite won’t be competing at the Classic next month at Grand Lake, where he has finishes of 5th and 16th to his credit in Elite Series events. His pick to win shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. “Kevin (VanDam) would be my first choice just because he’s kind of a freak,” he said. “Then, Mike McClelland because he’s got a lot of history there. He’d be my second choice.”