Turkey. Football. Pie. Repeat. It’s the typical American Thanksgiving.
As in the name, the day is also about giving thanks. Most Bassmaster Elite pros celebrate with family, and several are enjoying the added blessings of new family members.
In seasons past, the baby pattern has led to Elite success. Kyle Welcher and Hunter Shryock became fathers in late October, so maybe just knowing they’d be needing baby shoes pushed them to heights. Same goes for Patrick Walters, whose wife is due in February.
Hunter Brooke Welcher was expecting through most of the 2023 Elite season, then gave birth almost two months after Kyle wrapped up the Progressive Bassmaster Angler of the Year title. It was his best season ever.
“Definitely,” he said. “I’ve had years where I won a bunch of local tournaments, but nothing compares to the AOY. To me, that’s the biggest accomplishment in the sport. It’s the holy grail of bass fishing.”
A couple slices of juicy breast meat kept Welcher from taking the other major B.A.S.S. title in 2022. Looking back, he’s even appreciative of having the Classic platter passed under his nose. It made him hungrier.
“With about 5 more ounces, would have had both the big deals,” Welcher said. “It’s almost like you need to go through some huge heartbreak before something great happens. It just teaches you a lesson.”
Although four weeks early, Lincoln Welcher came into the world a healthy 5 pounds, 6 ounces, on Oct. 26, and he’s now up to 7 pounds. That made Welcher’s 30th trip around the sun more awesome, even if his close AOY race had Hunter pacing in worry at times.
“Absolutely, a super blessed year,” Welcher said. “I tried to make it as easy as possible on her, but it’s going to be stressful no matter what.”
The Welchers will spend the holiday reflecting and relaxing, staying around Opelika, Ala., and having dinner at his younger brother’s house.
“It’s not really about doing any fancy stuff, not even really about the food,” he said. “Just get to hang out with family, in-laws, just have a good time and talk with no time constraints.
“Through the course of the year, I’m always working toward something, so it’s nice in the offseason to just sit down with nothing in the back of your mind.”
But defending the crown in 2024 lurks.
“Other than Thanksgiving,” Welcher said, “I’m preparing for next year, exclusively.”
When contacted, Shyrock was doing triple duty, “pushing junior” around in a stroller while watching Bassmaster LIVE reruns of Toledo Bend and organizing ChatterBaits.
Wife Felicia gave birth to not-so-little Archie, an 8-1 lunker who’s up to 11 pounds, on Oct. 22. All Hunter heard about being a father, he gets it now.
“It makes you thankful for a lot of things,” he said. “It puts things into perspective so well. Nobody can explain that to you before you have a child.
“When you see him and he’s your own, and spend a couple days with him, you wake up genuinely happy, even if you got three hours of sleep. You’re just tickled he’s healthy.”
Shyrock, 35, was pretty tickled with his season. Finishing 24th in AOY wasn’t his best – he’s twice been inside the top 20 – but he had two Top 10s and qualified for his fourth Classic. Shyrock almost won on Lake Murray then climbed as high as ninth in AOY after a sixth at the Sabine River.
“We fell off at the end,” he said. “I knew I could be in the top 10. I tried to do more than I should have probably, at the same time, you don’t get many opportunities to even be in that position where you don’t have to worry about the points.”
There’s no lamenting being runner-up at Murray, where Drew Benton rallied from 10th to take the title.
“You catch 21 pounds and the dude catches 26, you just tip your cap, you got beat,” Shryock said. “I’m grateful for the season. Things happen for a reason, and being as close as we were, I learned so many things this past year.
“I can’t put into words how much that’s going to help me in the future. I experienced being there on Day 4. I have a lot of confidence moving forward.”
About a month ahead of schedule preparing for 2024, Shryock said he’s excited, adding “It’s going to be a year with a lot of unknowns that’s going to surprise people.”
He also now understands how Elite dads don’t always pre-practice. It’s going to be tough leaving Felicia and Archie, but he’s planned separate trips to scout for the Grand Lake Classic and then Toledo Bend and Lake Fork, the season-opening Elites.
“I get what they’re saying about being away from home,” he said. “Two or three weeks on the road will be tough. I want to break them up.”
For Thanksgiving, Shyrock said he feels Archie’s too little to travel far, so the plan is to stay close to home in Tennessee and celebrate with Felicia’s family.
“I’m still paranoid with this guy. I’m like the hover dad,” he said. “I want him to get a little bit bigger, get some meat on his bones. We’ll just hang around here, eat some good food and watch some football games. That’s what Thanksgiving is for us.
“Watching football with him sleeping on your chest is pretty dang cool.”
Walters might get that experience for Feb. 11’s Super Bowl. His wife, Emily, has a due date of Feb. 5. After a slow start to his season, Walters might have wished her pregnancy was known earlier. After finding out, he went on quite the run, with two NPFL wins and three of his four Elite Top 10s, including a historic victory on the St. Lawrence River.
“Call it baby luck,” he said. “It’s been pretty phenomenal.”
Things turned after finishing 75th on his home waters of Santee Cooper Lakes, one he’d love to take back.
“I thought I was going to win that tournament,” he said. “You can’t have regrets. After that, I’m not going to fish history. I’m going to fish the moment, just fish the conditions. That sounds so dumb and cliché.”
But it worked. Walters said his mindset change helped him charge to finish third in AOY. Big in that run was finally solving northern fisheries. After a seventh at Lake Champlain, Walters won at St. Lawrence with 105 pounds, becoming the first angler to earn Century Belts with both smallmouth and largemouth.
“I feel it still hasn’t set in,” he said. “I never thought that was even achievable, by any Elite, let alone to do it myself. It was amazing.”
In Illinois deer hunting, Walters said he was walking a lot to get in shape so he could belly up for two Thanksgiving dinners. The Walters family get-together will be around 40 or 50, then it’s over to the Emily’s family for a more intimate party of 10 or so.
The winter will be preparing the nest. The Walters hope to wrap up construction of a new home around the arrival of their baby boy, who will not take the moniker of Young Patrick Walters II.
“Might be his middle name, but the first name is still TBD,” Walters said. “My wife is going to hate me. We have the Elite coming up right after she’s due, then I’m leaving for five weeks. But that’s the life of a pro bass fisherman. A lot of highs and lot of lows. A lot of time away from home.”
So holiday time with family is special, even more so after a fruitful year.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Walters said. “We’re extremely happy. We’ve been blessed. It’s been a great year.”
As for our friends to the north, Canadians celebrated their Thanksgiving on Oct. 9. Well, not Classic champ Jeff Gustafson. He had to get in one more win to add to his year’s blessings.
“I actually fished my last tournament of the year that weekend with my brother and we won it,” he said. “So, we had a dinner at my wife’s parents place the weekend after.”
No word on Gustafson family expansion plans, but Gussy was certainly thankful for his year.
