Feider’s amazing AOY season

A few years ago, Bassmaster Emcee Dave Mercer dubbed him “The Amazing Feiderman,” and the nickname has proven remarkably accurate, as Seth Feider claimed the Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year title at the Friday weigh-in of the season-ending Farmers Insurance Bassmaster Elite at St. Lawrence River.

The seventh-year Elite from New Market, Minn., easily made the top 45 cut. His Day 2 total of 792 AOY points gave him an insurmountable lead that allowed him to shut the door midway through the final Elite event.

“AOY was never a goal, it was just a position I found myself in halfway through the year,” Feider admits. “The goal was to make the Classic and to try to win a tournament.”

En route to those objectives, Feider recorded a truly amazing season that saw him make the semifinal cut in all nine events — never lower than 29th place — with four Top 10 finishes. A fourth place at the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Lake Champlain surprised no one, but his other three Top 10s came from waters far beyond his comfort zone.

February saw Feider start strong with his season’s top finish — a third place at Florida’s St. Johns River. In April he notched a pair of sixth places at the Dovetail Games Bassmaster Elite at Sabine River sponsored by Bassmaster Fishing 2022 – the official video game of B.A.S.S. and the Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite on Lake Fork.

“Looking at the schedule (preseason), I saw Florida and the Sabine River and I figured those would be my worst tournaments, and they ended up being two of my best,” Feider said. “After Fork, I only had a couple southern tournaments left and a couple of northern tournaments, so the goal shifted at that point.

“It feels like the weight of the world is off my shoulders now that it’s all over. It’s been a stressful last couple of months.”

A five-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier — including 2022 at South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell — Feider notched his best finish in 2020 with a fourth at Lake Guntersville. Notably, two of his three career victories came at Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championships — 2016 at Mill Lacs and 2019 at Lake St. Clair.

Feider also won a Northstar Tournament Series event on Lake Minnetonka in 2006.

A lifetime angler with a passion for duck hunting, Feider thanked his family, especially his wife Dayton, for the unwavering support that helped him climb a mountain few have conquered. Reflecting on his achievement, Feider described his AOY title as a career milestone.

“It’s a (lifetime of) work,” Feider said. “Ever since I was a little kid, every minute fishing to get to this, it feels amazing.”