“It’s a multi-year process”

 Story by Pete Robbins - Photos by Mark Jeffreys  

Mt. Holly, N.C.  – The upcoming Bassmaster Classic in Shreveport was supposed to be the signal that Britt Myers had arrived as a professional bass fisherman, that his three-year quest to make a name for himself had paid dividends. After nine of eleven Elite Series events, Myers sat in 38th place in the Angler of the Year standings, on the cusp of Classic qualification. But two dismal showings in New York – 92nd at Erie followed up by a 95th at Oneida – left him on the outside looking in. 

While he managed to cash five checks in 2008, along with two near misses (59th at Amistad and 55th at Old Hickory), Myers’s season was undone by four finishes in the 90s. He blames those poor showings on himself, but not on any inability to locate or catch fish. Instead, he said that at least two of them were the result of nervous energy.

“I actually fished well enough to make the Classic,” he said. “But I did a couple of dumb things that hurt me. At Lake Murray, every morning we were racing to certain points (that we all knew held fish). It was really, really rough water and I was driving too hard and ended up breaking my middle finger. I could hardly hold a reel.” 

The injury contributed to his 92nd place finish there and continued to plague him through the next event at Wheeler, where he finished 92nd.. At that point, he fell to what was to that point his worst position in the AOY race, 45th, outside the Classic cut, but not by much. After a short break, he had healed well enough to fish well at Kentucky Lake, where he had the third of his three “teen” finishes (14th at the Harris Chain, 13th at Clarks Hill and 18th at Kentucky Lake) and climbed back inside of the cut.

The Slide
Even after an out of the money 55th place finish at the ninth tournament on Old Hickory, he was still “back on track” to make the Classic, but once again on Erie his impatience to get to his fish ended up costing him a decent finish. “With the Classic on the line, I had a bunch of fish down at Dunkirk,” he said. “I just pushed it too hard and I speared a giant wave and took on a ton of water. It shorted out all of my electronics. I ended up weighing in one fish that day and I don’t know if I caught it in two feet of water or 180 feet of water.”

He was quick to point out that is sponsors, notably BassCat and Mercury, “provide me with the best equipment you can have, but you’ve got to take care of it. It’s a 20 foot boat, not a 40 foot yacht. I passed a lot of people going slower than I thought they should be going, but then I realized why.”

In previous years he’d made other mistakes, some of which cost him dearly. “My first year I lost a 5 ½ pounder when I didn’t latch the livewell and it jumped out,” he said, thereby preventing him from making his first top twelve finish. During his sophomore campaign, he made a blunder when he culled the wrong fish at Champlain, although he still managed to make the top twelve. Whether it’s culling fish or driving his boat, the overarching realization that he has made is that he has to slow down, take his time and do things methodically.

Unfortunately, even a methodical approach couldn’t save him at the season-ending stop at Oneida. Although he had fallen to 53rd place in the standings after Erie, a 16-06 bag the first day had him in 3rd place in the tournament. But he blanked the second day and dropped over 90 places. “I was sick and only got to practice one full day,” he said. “I only had one group of fish and I caught them all the first day.” 

He called that second day at Oneida “the most miserable day of fishing in my whole life.” He had three fish hooked and all three managed to escape. “At that point, I wanted to drive home, put the boat in the garage and never look at it again for two years.”

But he got an unexpected pick-me-up in the form of a telephone call from fellow North Carolina pro Marty Stone. “He’s one of the most positive people I’ve ever met,” Myers said. “You can have a bad day and he’ll make you feel like you’re the king of the world. Before I got home, I was ready for next year. That’s just my competitive nature.”

But while his business has continued charging forward, like many of his fellow pros he’s had trouble attracting new sponsors for his fishing career. “I picked up Tru-Tungsten and I’m looking forward to working with them. I’ve approached others, but nothing has come out of that. But all of my other sponsors are hanging tough. Being in a retail business, I can understand what’s going on. It makes you appreciate the business you have.”

The Plan
While his desire to weigh fish in on the Classic stage will have to wait at least another year, Myers is not dissatisfied with the state of his fishing career. He’s convinced that he can fish well enough to hang with the big guns. He just needs to get to the point where his experience level matches his natural abilities and work ethics. He thinks he’s just about there. 

Until he started fishing BASS events, he’d “never left the Carolinas. All of a sudden I was at Table Rock fishing in 60 feet of water with 6 pound line. Or we were in Florida. I had never flipped a one and a half ounce weight before. That’s a challenge even if you’re not fishing against the best in the world.” So he recognized that “it’s got to be a multi-year process. With my fourth year coming up, I know a little more of what to expect. I also know you have to expect the unexpected.” 

He also thinks that his struggles – he’s yet to finish above 56th place in the AOY race – will serve him well in the long run. While a few select prodigies like Casey Ashley experience success almost from the moment they get out on tour, he believes that those who take longer to reach that level may appreciate it more. “I know that Casey understands what it means to make the Classic,” he said. “But I truly understand how important it is. And I don’t just want to make it once. I want to make it many, many times.”

“I have to learn from my mistakes,” he concluded. “Experience will calm you down.”