An angler from a state that proudly promotes itself as walleye heaven is king of the bass world.
Seth Feider of Elko New Market, who has outfished the class of professional anglers since the beginning of the year on the Bassmaster Elite Series Tour, secured the prestigious Angler of the Year (AOY) championship trophy Friday. It came during the second day of the tour’s final tourney, on the St. Lawrence River in New York.
How does it feel?
“Cloud nine right now,” Feider told the Star Tribune minutes after hoisting the AOY trophy after his weigh-in, with his wife, Dayton, on stage, too. The victory includes a $100,000 payday.
The full celebration will have to wait for a day or two. Feider made the cut with a five-fish bag of 20 pounds, 3 ounces, and will fish Saturday.
“I caught ’em too good to go party tonight,” he said before accepting the AOY trophy.
With a huge overall points lead entering the tourney, Feider needed only to make the cut of the top 45 anglers. He was in fifth overall after Day 1, with a 22-pound bag, and was eighth after Friday. The results thus far in New York mirror his season: consistently solid and the best among the best. He has had four top-10 finishes in eight tournaments this year and could have a fifth before the weekend is over.
Seth Feider said last week that his competitors have been gracious and supportive in different ways along his championship run.
One is Greg Hackney, the 2014 Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year and a hero to Feider. He rolled by Seth Feider on July 9 ahead of the pivotal day and said “keep coasting but strong.”
“He’s like my idol, but I’m afraid to talk to him,” Feider said. “It’s weird because I fish against him all the time. He probably thinks I hate him because I am weird around him. … It’s pretty cool of him to say that.”
Seth Feider grew up fishing in tournaments across Minnesota and worked his way through the ranks to become a pro among bass fishing elites. In 2016, he won a fall Bassmaster tournament in epic fashion at home, on Lake Mille Lacs, and he was off. He has improved in his pursuit of Angler of the Year nearly every year since. He finished 14th overall in 2017 and landed as high as fifth in 2019 when he won his second Elite Series tournament. Last year, he finished 12th on the tour.
Seth Feider said Friday that fishing professionally is all he has ever wanted to do. Now he is the best when it comes to landing bass.
“It probably was never really reality until the last few years,” he said. “I have spent every minute of every day trying to accomplish something like this.”
Whatever celebration happens in New York will get followed by a 20-plus-hour drive back to Minnesota, Feider said. Then he’ll jet off to ICAST, one of the sport’s premier shows in Florida next week,before returning home for a tournament on Lake Minnetonka.
His friends at Rapala USA, his title sponsor, will be happy to see him.
Dan Quinn, Rapala’s field promotions director, spoke Thursday morning to the company’s emerging star as he closed in on the championship. Quinn said Rapala was excited for Feider and a well-earned opportunity to coast, with the title locked down. Feider acknowledged it has been a stressful few weeks staying atop the leaderboard.
“Seth is one of a kind. He’s been great,” Quinn said.
Pro Angler Seth Feider, Tournament Finishes Complete List
| Date | Tour | Event | Place |
| 7/15/2021 | BElite | St. Lawrence River | 13 |
| 7/8/2021 | BElite | Lake Champlain | 4 |
| 6/11/2021 | BElite | Lake Ray Roberts | 25 |
| 5/20/2021 | BElite | Lake Guntersville | 24 |
| 5/6/2021 | BElite | Neely Henry Lake | 12 |
| 4/22/2021 | BElite | Lake Fork | 6 |
| 4/8/2021 | BElite | Sabine River | 6 |
| 3/18/2021 | BElite | Pickwick Lake | 25 |
| 2/25/2021 | BElite | Tennessee River | 29 |
| 2/11/2021 | BElite | St. Johns River | 3 |
| 11/5/2020 | BElite | Lake Fork | 11 |
| 10/16/2020 | BElite | Lake Chickamauga | 75 |
| 10/8/2020 | BElite | Santee Cooper Lakes | 45 |
| 9/30/2020 | BElite | Lake Guntersville | 11 |
| 8/20/2020 | BElite | Lake St. Clair | 25 |
| 7/30/2020 | BElite | Lake Champlain | 2 |
| 7/23/2020 | BElite | St. Lawrence River | 18 |
| 6/10/2020 | BElite | Lake Eufaula | 17 |
| 3/6/2020 | BElite | Lake Guntersville | 4 |
| 2/6/2020 | BElite | St. Johns River | 67 |
| 9/28/2019 | BElite | Lake St. Clair | 1 |
| 9/19/2019 | BElite | Lake Tenkiller | 35 |
| 8/22/2019 | BElite | Cayuga Lake | 5 |
| 8/15/2019 | BElite | St. Lawrence River | 28 |
| 6/21/2019 | BElite | Lake Guntersville | 11 |
| 5/2/2019 | BElite | Lake Fork | 12 |
| 4/11/2019 | BElite | Winyah Bay | 38 |
| 4/4/2019 | BElite | Lake Hartwell | 24 |
| 3/15/2019 | BElite | Tennessee River | 15 |
| 2/14/2019 | BElite | Lake Lanier | 26 |
| 2/7/2019 | BElite | St. Johns River | 22 |
| 9/20/2018 | BElite | Lake Chatuge | 17 |
| 8/23/2018 | BElite | St. Lawrence River | 10 |
| 6/29/2018 | BElite | Lake Oahe | 37 |
| 6/21/2018 | BElite | Mississippi River | 56 |
| 6/7/2018 | BElite | Sabine River | 43 |
| 5/17/2018 | BElite | Lake Travis | 68 |
| 5/4/2018 | BElite | Kentucky Lake | 34 |
| 4/26/2018 | BElite | Grand Lake | 5 |
| 3/16/2018 | BElite | Lake Hartwell | 18 |
| 2/8/2018 | BElite | Lake Martin | 91 |
| 9/14/2017 | BElite | Mille Lacs Lake | 13 |
| 8/24/2017 | BElite | Lake St. Clair | 26 |
| 7/27/2017 | BElite | Lake Champlain | 2 |
| 7/20/2017 | BElite | St. Lawrence River | 34 |
| 6/2/2017 | BElite | Lake Dardanelle | 94 |
| 5/17/2017 | BElite | Sam Rayburn Reservoir | 65 |
| 4/27/2017 | BElite | Ross Barnett Reservoir | 19 |
| 4/6/2017 | BElite | Toledo Bend Reservoir | 16 |
| 2/23/2017 | BElite | Lake Okeechobee | 87 |
| 2/9/2017 | BElite | Cherokee Lake | 4 |
| 9/15/2016 | BElite | Mille Lacs Lake | 1 |
| 9/8/2016 | BElite | Mississippi River | 2 |
| 8/11/2016 | BElite | Potomac River | 85 |
| 6/23/2016 | BElite | Cayuga Lake | 17 |
| 6/8/2016 | BElite | Lake Texoma | 37 |
| 5/12/2016 | BElite | Toledo Bend Reservoir | 61 |
| 4/28/2016 | BElite | Wheeler Lake | 73 |
| 4/21/2016 | BElite | Bull Shoals/Norfork Lakes | 65 |
| 4/7/2016 | BElite | Winyah Bay | 99 |
| 3/17/2016 | BElite | St. Johns River | 33 |
| 8/27/2015 | BElite | Lake St. Clair | 52 |
| 8/13/2015 | BElite | Chesapeake Bay | 68 |
| 7/30/2015 | BElite | St. Lawrence River | 12 |
| 6/3/2015 | BElite | Kentucky Lake | 58 |
| 5/7/2015 | BElite | Lake Havasu | 40 |
| 4/30/2015 | BElite | Sacramento River | 52 |
| 4/9/2015 | BElite | Lake Guntersville | 94 |
| 3/19/2015 | BElite | Sabine River | 72 |
Message From Seth Feider
What a wild ride of a season! Now that it’s wrapped, I couldn’t be more excited about winning Bassmaster Angler of the Year. I wouldn’t let any of my friends or sponsors talk about it. I think it’s well known now that I’m a little superstitious. This offseason I’ll be spending time with my girls, working on some projects, hunting greenheads, and prepping for next year.
One thing I’ll be working on is a new video series called “Shop With Seth” with my partners Omnia Fishing and Bass Utopia back in my home state of Minnesota. While I’ve been driving all over the country, my team at Omnia, which includes my homie Polish Pete, has become the fastest-growing tackle store in America. Since our focus is on making tackle shopping personal, based on the lakes you fish, we’re launching the series Shop With Seth to highlight how I break down waters across the country and get the right gear based on conditions and details about the lake. We’re excited about it and we hope you like the content. Make sure you check out BassUtopia.com for updates.
Shop With Seth Giveaway
To highlight and kick off the new series, we’re launching a big giveaway where we’ll fly a lucky winner and a friend of their choice up to our massive Omnia warehouse in Golden Valley, Minn., to shop with me and each spend $5,000 on tackle and gear. That’s $10,000 in total. We’re going to film the whole thing, and I will spend the afternoon shopping with the winners. Omnia has more than 15,000 products in stock, and every week we are bringing in new additions.
So, if you’ve ever dreamed about a $10,000 tackle shopping spree for you and a friend, you’ll want to sign up at ShopWithSeth.com.
Omnia and I will pay for transportation for you and a lucky friend of your choice to fly up to Minnesota and each spend $5,000 at the Omnia Fishing headquarters. Again, I will join you in the warehouse to help you pick out items based on where you fish and let you know some of my favorites. We’ll grab lunch, and the warehouse team will get everything shipped to your house. The package also includes the cost of accommodations for up to two nights while you’re in town.
So come join me, let’s celebrate and make Omnia pay for it all!
