Hite Flying High After Toho
Mar. 4, 2008
By the time those of us here at GYCB managed to catch up with Arizona pro Brett Hite, he'd already spoken to many of the fishing world's major media outlets, but he was still eager to talk about this past weekend's $125,000 FLW Tour victory on Lake Toho.
"You can't ever get tired of talking about something like that," he said.
But a few months ago, he was less enthused about the state of his fishing career. He'd experienced success on both the BASS and FLW Tours, but that success didn't necessarily translate into his bank book.
"I made about a hundred thousand dollars fishing last year, but with forty thousand in entry fees plus all of my expenses, that didn't amount to much. I've been doing this for about ten years. I've put in my time and I shouldn't have to pay my entry fees. I wasn't going to do it again if I just had to burn up a bunch of money. I could stay out west and guide and fish the Western Series and make more money."
A Career Reborn
Fortunately, FLW Outdoors and Coppertone stepped up to the plate with a sponsorship package that made continuing life on tour financially viable, so he stepped back up to the plate and jacked one out of the park in the FLW season opener. He won by a record-setting twenty pound plus margin over his nearest competitor.
"Winning is great. For the last year and a half I've been really consistent and it feels good to get this win under my belt," he said. "But with great sponsors like Yamamoto, Coppertone, Ranger and Evinrude, winning is really just a bonus."
The victory couldn't have come at a better time. "I'm going to put some of it in the bank and buy a nice house. With the housing market down, it's the perfect time to buy."
It also qualifies him for the Forrest Wood Cup and thereby enables him to fish in a more relaxed manner. "I can fish for bigger fish and fewer bites now, go for only ten bites a day but better quality."
Out of His Element?
His record setting margin of victory – he could have slept in the last day and still won the event – was particularly gratifying because it came on one of Florida's grassy bass waters, a far cry from the stereotypical Arizona desert lake.
"I hate to pat myself on the back, but I work extremely hard and spend a lot of time on the water," he said. "The last three years, my fishing skills have really come together, especially on grass lakes. Arizona has no natural grass lakes, and that makes it all the more sweet. Everybody thinks that I'm a finesse structure fisherman, but this shows that I'm versatile."
Equipment Edge
In addition to crediting his sponsors' support and his dedication to the sport for the win, he also credited three tackle sponsors, Performance Tackle (Los Alamitos, California), Sunline and Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits.
He used a 7'4" Performance Tackle signature rod to fish his chatterbait-style lure (made by Phenix Tackle) through the vegetation. "I pretty much designed it with Marc Higashi of Performance Tackle and I use it for all of my moving baits – spinnerbaits, topwaters, rattle traps and of course chatterbait type baits. I had the blanks and I sent them to Marc. They were 7'6" and we cut two inches off the top. It's the best medium heavy reaction bait rod I've ever used. It's pure butter."
He is particularly fond of Higashi's work because "he'll make whatever you order. He'll make the grip the way you want it, with cork or foam, get the right number of guides and the perfect action."
He tipped his bait with either a six inch Yamamoto double tail grub or a Swimming Senko, both in green pumpkin, although he tipped the tail with a bit of chartreuse dye.
"I’m a true believer in matching the forage, like a bluegill or a brim. The shiners down there are dark, almost green pumpkin, and they have a little bit of chartreuse on them," he said.
Why the two different trailers?
"I like to have two different variations. If you're fishing the same area for four days, you have to show them something a little different. I like that big six inch double tail – I was fishing for three to ten pounders and that's nothing to them."
He "discovered" the Swimming Senko at an event at Clear Lake last fall. While others fished a swimbait, he mopped up the bass with the chatterbait tipped with one of GYCB's newest creations. "It just has a real, real natural action."
The final critical component in his success was his 20 pound test Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon. His good friend Tim Klinger was fishing a similar lure on braid and not getting nearly as many bites. The two compared notes and figured out that it was the line that made the difference.
"It's very, very strong," Hite said. "I've had such good success on it – it gives you the right combination of feeling and action to the bait. It just gives me a tremendous amount of confidence."