BassFan Q&A
Hite On Shasta Venue Switch, Quest For Three

Photo: FLW Outdoors/David Brown The Delta is Brett Hite's favorite fishery, but he's never competed there in fall.

Hite's name leaps to mind because he won that season opener. If fact, he won it a week and a half after he won the Toho FLW Tour. All told, he pocketed $250,000 in those few weeks.

But at the same time, he's deadly with a dropshot and excels on deep structure. So Shasta would have been right up his alley.

So it's only natural to ask the questions: Does he like the venue change, and can he win three times in a single season?

His answers to those questions, plus others, appear in the Q&A that follows.

BassFan: Are you stoked to be going back to the Delta, or would you rather have fished Shasta? You are, after all, one of the best dropshotters in the game, so Shasta should have been good for you.

Hite: I love Lake Shasta. I've never missed a check there. So I was kind of looking forward to it. And it's nice to switch it up every once in a while.

On the other hand, the Delta's my favorite place to fish in the whole country. But I've never, ever fished it this time of year.

Can you win this week, and pull off three wins this year?

That's what I'm going for. Anything's possible here on the Delta. All you need to do is find the right school of fish. I know the tides real well, and what they do on the tides here. I'm excited.

The weights aren't going to be quite as big as they were (in the season opener), but I'm sure the guys in the Top 10 will catch pretty big stringers of fish.

There's been talk about an amplified local advantage this time. For one, it's fall, and two, the late change allowed little to no pre-practice.

I think the locals definitely have an advantage this week. In fall, the Delta doesn't fish like it does in the spring. In the spring, if you have any clue, you can get on the right little stretch and catch 20 pounds pretty easy.

But right now they're in more specific little areas. These guys (locals) fish here all year long. Like I said, I've fished a lot of tournaments here, but it's always been from about March until maybe June. So they're going to have a little advantage. Like Robert Lee – he pretty much started winning all those BASS tournaments in the fall. He's going to be tough. (Bobby) Barrack's going to be tough.

Those guys will know a little better where to go find them. But hopefully after these 4 days (of practice) I'll know where they're at.

Did you waste any time prefishing Shasta?

I didn't prefish Shasta at all. I know a lot of guys did. But I usually don't pre-practice for West Coast events. I usually have a pretty good idea of what to do. Like I said, I love the Delta, but I don't think it's really fair to have two events in the same season on the same body of water. With the circumstances, though, there's nothing they could do.

Have you looked at Shasta recently?

Coming home from the Columbia River I saw Shasta, and it's pitiful. It's bad enough if it's 50 or 60 feet down, but 150 feet down? Having two 2-lane boat ramps wasn't going to be pretty. But the fishing would have been good, I guarantee you that.

After your back-to-back wins, you told BassFan that in your time away from the tours, you rediscovered your love for fishing. That played a big role in your huge year. At the same time, you had some disappointing finishes through the middle of this season. Are you still feeling reinvigorated?

Yeah, I am. I've kind of gone through a little cycle. I had a really good tournament at Erie (Detroit River FLW Tour). I was on the right fish to make the cut. I probably wouldn't have won if I made the cut, because I never could have gotten back to my fish. But there's been one or two other tournaments where I was just a little bit off.

I guess on the Tour, when I'd already made the championship, and I'd won two tournaments, I kind of got to fishing how I want to fish, and not necessarily how the fish are biting best. It might have been a little goof-up, but I was kind of fishing to maybe win instead of going for points.

How about this week? You're 14th in the Western Series points. Are you eyeing more a berth in the East/West Fishoff, or more the win, like you just mentioned?

I need to be consistent this week. I want to get into the Top 10 in the points. Last year I think I finished 7th in the West, and a Top 10 in the points is always a good accomplishment. Plus some good Ranger Cup points would be nice. Those would really help out.