Earline Portier
April 11, 2019
Suspected drug trafficker nabbed in Lafourche
April 11, 2019
Not many people get to make a career out of a hobby they love.
But that’s exactly what Raceland native Tyler Rivet is doing right now with his life.
Rivet is a professional angler — an active member of the Bass master Elite Series, the top series in the country for bass fisher men
Rivet said getting to fish for a living’ is a dream — one he’s worked tirelessly for throughout his life, dating back to the days when lie helped found the Nicholls Bass Federation.
To see it to reality is a feeling that the Angler said is hard to fully put into words.
“It’s the greatest feeling ever to hear that/Rivet said when asked how he feels when he’s called a professional fisherman “This was my lifelong dream to become a pro and I never thought that I would accomplish it t his quick,”
Rivet truly has shot up the charts in his career.
At Nicholls he helped build the Colonels’ bass fishing team from the ground up, but they also enjoyed immediate success, ranking as one of the top programs in the country from their first days.
At Nicholls, Rivet made five-straight Bass master College National Championship appearances — an unheard of feat for anglers at that level.
But Rivet’s always had his eyes on the pros.
After his collegiate career,. Rivet decided to take a stab at his dreams, opting to enter into qualifiers and other regional events to try and get his feet wet on the way to the top level.
And he did it.
After going through the grind, he earned a spot at the Bass master Elite Series as a rookie for the 2019 season — his first full year in the pros.
He said rubbing elbows with some of the top Anglers in the world has been numbing — a situation he still struggles to believe is real.
“It’s crazy how different it is now/Rivet said. “These guys are literally the Top 75 anglers in the world. They can catch them in any conditions brought to us and that’s very hard to compete with when you think that at all times, -someone is catching them no matter what. That’s when it’s a mind game and yon have to mentally tell yourself that you’re just as good as any of them, so you need to just put your head down and beep fishing.
And Rivet has done an excellent job of that in the 2019 season.
In his first two appearances in 2019, Rivet had a 58th-place and 62nd-place finish, accumulating $2,500 in each event
This past weekend, he fished the 2019 Bass master Elite at Lake” Hartwell event and posted a Top 20 finish — earning the best finish to his young career.
He’s also quickly developing a fanfare amongst bass fishing fans because of his fun-loving, loose and easy-going approach.
On the first day of his first tournament in the Elite Series in February, he wore gaudy Donald Trump sock a — despite saying he has little-to-no interest in politics.
Fans are also taking a liking to his “Louisiana” personality and the smile he always has on his face.
For Rivet those things are a must He said its hard to do your favorite hobby as a job, adding that he never wants the pressures to perform to ruin his love for being on the water.
Rivet said that being a professional angler is tough. It’s not easy to always be on the road and to always be on the water. But recording a few nice finishes helps to ease that pressure.
“That’s the hardest thing right now — trying to make money.” Rivet said. “I will never lose my passion for fishing, though I’ve fished tournaments since I was 16. That’s my favorite thing about fishing If a hard at first doing something you love for money, because its your job. … But once you get some money in the bank to help support yourself and to help your sponsors, it takes the stress off and yon can just fish easier.
Looking ahead. Rivet a aid he plans to nab as often as he can, though he admits that it’s a challenge to learn some of the waters on the circuit — some he’s never fished in during his career.
He said his goal is to build a strong foundation in 2019, then try and make a massive leap forward going into the back-end of the season.
“I want to show who I am,” Rivet said. “I want to qualify for the classic at the end of the year. That’s like the Super Bowl of fishing For us, the Top 35 in points qualify so I know I need to stay consistently high in points to have a shot, and honestly, I want to do this for a living for a while. So I will try my best every year and hopefully, I can become the best one day.
