By John Johnson
BassFan Senior Editor
Seth Feider went into last week's Bassmaster Elite Series finale at the St. Lawrence River with a big lead in the Angler of the Year race. Nonetheless, he was a bundle of nerves while waiting to leave the launch on the morning of day 1.
"I almost threw up; I dry-heaved about four times," he said. "I put all that pressure on myself. I never felt like it was over or that I had it because there's so many things that could happen – I could break down, I might not catch anything or I could be late (to check-in).
"There's a lot of stuff that could go wrong."
I did, too, in the beginning. He lost his first four bites, which put him "on the verge of spinning out. I was thinking that I'm not going to catch a fish today and I'm going to blow this thing."
He'd made spot-on decisions all season, though, and that day was no exception.
He left the group of big, deep-dwelling fish he'd found in practice and slid to another current seam, where he boated a few 2 1/2-pounders. Then he went shallow and caught a couple that were over 4 pounds each, and those took away a lot of the uneasiness he'd been feeling.
He went on to weigh a 22-pound stringer that day and 20-03 on day 2 to wrap up the AOY title. His final margin over runner-up Chris Johnston was a hefty 61 points, making it the most dominating victory in the race since Aaron Martens' ridiculous 112-point triumph 6 years ago.
Never Faltered
The 37-year-old from Minnesota said his 2021 season was just an extended period during which he could seeming do no wrong. He never even came close to missing a day-2 cut; his worst finish was a 29th in the second event at the Tennessee River.
He placed 13th or better six times in nine outings. He took over the points lead after the fourth event at the Sabine River and just kept expanding his advantage rest of the way.
"The whole year was just meant to be," he said. "I got bites when I needed them and I made all the right calls. It was really nothing that I could've practiced for.
"I has another year like this back when I was fishing 50-boat local tournaments – when things are meant to be, you can't stop it. Like I believe that it's predetermined before every event who the winner is going to be, even though we don't know who it is. There was a reason that guy lost that fish and finished 2nd and it's because this other guy was meant to win."
When the 2021 schedule was released, who viewed the St. Johns River and the Sabine River as his two biggest potential stumbling blocks. Both turned out to be single-digit finishes (he was 3rd at the St. Johns and 6th at the Sabine).
"Historically those should've been my weakest events; they're both tidal river and Florida (home to the St. Johns) has always kind of been a nemesis for me. Again, it was just meant to happen. I can't really explain the reasons and I don't feel like it's something I can just go out and duplicate in the future."
Gonna Have Some Fun
Unlike last year, when much of the Elite Series season was pushed to the late summer and fall due to COVID-19 issues, Feider now has a lot of free time on his hands with a lot of excellent fishing still available in his home region. He plans to be on the water frequently over the next couple of months, but not on a competitive basis.
"I've got a bunch of videos I need to shoot, but I'm going to be fun-fishing quite a bit," he said. "I'm looking forward to spending time with my wife (Dayton) and kids (daughters Rose and Violet), getting the girls out bluegill fishing and just being a dad at home."
He'll also get a much-earlier start on preparations for the duck-hunting season this year. He's none too happy, however, that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has regulated that the upcoming season will conclude just after Thanksgiving.
"It used to at least go into the first week of December," he said. "They're ending it earlier and earlier and the birds are showing up later and later."
