Lake Wylie angler wins first Elite title
For four days, there wasn’t a better bass angler in the world than Britt Myers.
Myers, a Lake Wylie resident and Bassmaster Elite Series competitor, brought home his first career series win April 10 on Winyah Bay in Georgetown. Myers earned more than $100,000 with his four-day weight of 56.3 pounds, four ounces of bass better than second place pro Brett Hite.
“It was just one of those tournaments where everything went my way,” Myers said.
Myers started the tournament in second place after day one, vaulting to a 5-pound lead midway through. His third day wasn’t as kind, with an 8-pound limit dropping him to third behind Hite and Kelly Jordon. Myers recovered on Sunday with his fourth straight fish limit to claim the top spot.
With the final dozen anglers fishing at the same time on the final day, none of them knew who had the winning bag until they hit the scales. Myers had his smallest bag in the final round, but so did the nearest competition on a tough fishing day following a cold front.
“I had no idea I had a chance,” Myers said.
Elite anglers come from across the country and around the world for the biggest payouts in bass fishing.
“They’re the best in the world,” Myers said. “That was my first time winning at the highest level.”
The win came in large part from a gamble that hit. Myers and others know the potential for the biggest bass swim in the Cooper River, But it’s a long run from there to the launch point , meaning fewer hours fishing. Myers made the trip all four days.
Previewing the event for an article on bassmaster.com, 1999 Bassmaster Classic champion and South Carolina angler Davy Hite spoke on the strategy Myers ultimately would take to the top of the leaderboard.
“That’s the risky part of this game,” Davy Hite said. “By choosing to make a long run, an angler is sacrificing large amounts of fishing time, gambling mechanical failure, empty gas tanks or a myriad of other potential obstacles.”
With six area rivers within tournament boundaries, Myers said he felt comfortable withe the big-bass-or-bust strategy.
“There was probably thousands of miles of fishable water for this tournament,” he said. “I did my homework. It’s high risk, high reward.”
Whatever spoils go to the victor, they don’t include rest. Myers got a day or two at home before leaving Wednesday for the next event in Arkansas. He still has work to do, including his attempt to qualify for his first Bassmaster Classic. The top 32 anglers at the end of year, plus some should top anglers qualify through other means, will make it in 2017.
The win bumped Myers to eighth in the early Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings after two events.
“It’s a good start,” he said.
An Elite win opens other doors, too.
“After 10 events this season, only the top 50 anglers in the Angler of the Year standings will advance to the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Minnesota’s Mille Lacs Lake,” said Helen White, BASS spokesperson. “At the conclusion of that event, the Angler of the Year will receive $100,000 while the remainder of the field shares the remainder of the $1 million purse.”
The Bassmaster Elite Series fields the top anglers in the world. Founded in 2006, the series has 111 anglers competing in nine events this year, plus a Classic Bracket event. Elite anglers qualify through Bassmaster Open or BASS Nation competition, or by gaining enough points in the previous Elite Series season.
Myers continues a tradition of top bass fishing in Lake Wylie. The area boasts three Elite Series anglers all-time with Todd Auten, Jason Quinn and Myers.
Quinn fished the series from 2006 to 2013. The six-time Bassmaster Classic competitor has one win and 24 top 10 finishes in 158 BASS events. Auten fished the Elite Series in 2008 and 2009. He has 17 top 10 finishes in 129 BASS events, to go with three Bassmaster Classic appearances.
John Marks: 803-831-8166
By the numbers
119: Myers won his first BASS-sanctioned tournament in his 119th try. He finished second in two Elite Series events, both in 2012, and now has six top 10 finishes.
109: There were 109 professional anglers competing in the event.
56: Myers finished in the money 56 times now in a BASS event, weighing in more than 4,984 pounds of bass since 2005.
20: The most fish any angler could weigh in during the four-day event. Myers brought in four straight limits of five, one of only seven anglers to weigh in all 20 fish. Hite brought in only 17, Jordon 15.
16: Anglers bested by Myers in Georgetown include 16 previous Bassmaster Classic champions.
8: Myers ranks No. 8 in Angler of the Year standings.
This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Lake Wylie angler wins first Elite title."