SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — While he played some of his success off as luck, Davy Hite always seemed to have a well-orchestrated plan for success.
With two event wins in his early career, Davy Hite became a well-known commodity in the bass fishing world when he claimed the 1997 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year title, his first of two. He credited a pair of red boxer shorts he wore for bringing him luck much of that season.
“I eventually wore the elastic out of them, ‘rebuilt’ them with more elastic, then when the second elastic wore out, I had a piece of them on me when I won my second title in 2002,” he said for a 2010 interview. “It’s funny that I’d say this when you consider I have a lucky pair or underwear, but I don’t believe in luck. I really don’t. I think that good and bad things happen in our lives, and what you make of them is your luck.”
Hite made plenty of his own luck, winning eight Bassmaster events, including the 1999 Classic, to stand tied for ninth all-time in wins. In 253 events, the angler from Ninety-Six, S.C., was also runner-up nine times and had 114 top 30 finishes. He retired from competitive fishing in 2016 just $10,000 shy of the $2 million in B.A.S.S. earnings for a move to the other side of the camera.
As one of just 11 anglers with multiple AOY titles, Hite was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame (BFHOF) this month alongside David Fritts and Mark Davis. Those three are among the 12 anglers with both AOY and Classic crowns, and he said he was honored to go in the hall with them, Zoom Bait Company founder Ed Chambers and longtime Bassmaster Magazine illustrator Chris Armstrong.
In his induction speech, Hite often referred to a P.D. James quote used when his co-host Tommy Sanders spoke at his induction a year earlier:
“The world is changed not by the self-regrading, but the men and women prepared to make fools of themselves.”
“The more I thought about that — Tommy has some wisdom — it’s really true,” Hite said. “We all as fishermen have foolish dreams. To be a professional fisherman was just absolutely crazy for me.”
Even before the fishing dream, Hite said he planned to surround himself with great people. Family is huge for Hite, who now puts a lot of energy into the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, which works to promote the importance of dads spending qualify time with their children.
“My parents divorced when I was 5 years old,” he told the banquet crowd. “At an extremely young age, I knew I wanted to find the perfect wife, mom, to raise my kids. That was my first goal. And a foolish dreamer, ninth grade in high school, met this beautiful senior in high school. She was top of the class academically, voted most likely to succeed. I met Natalie Hite, Natalie Smith at the time. I knew I wanted that warmful lady to be my wife and put up with my foolish dreams, and I thank you for that.
“The other thing I knew at very young age — I wanted to be a very good dad. I wanted to have great kids. I stand here right now and I’m so proud of Parker Hite and Peyton Hite, two great young men that call me dad. Thank you so much.”
The fishing dream was a steady build through his youth, and he continued to work on it while serving 10 years in the National Guard. The dream to fish competitively burned, and he left that job keeping M-1 tanks rolling at 27 to try to realize it.
Yet as a youth fishing the creeks around his home, he thought, “wouldn’t it be so great to qualify for a Bassmaster Classic … wouldn’t it be so great to win a Bassmaster Classic,” he said. “I even had a foolish dream to be like Larry Nixon and win B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year. Those were certainly foolish dreams. And I would not be here and would not have achieved those foolish dreams if my wife and family had not supported me.”
Hite also earned their support when he considered retiring from competition bass fishing to work on Bassmaster broadcasts. He admitted the move was difficult, and it’s a topic he’s asked about often.
That career switch started when Steve Bowman of JM Associates approached him six years ago and asked if he’d like to interview anglers coming off the water. Hite garnered great insight from his fellow pros in those First Look segments.
“I guess I was in a slump, and I thought, ‘Why not?’ For the first time, I had a microphone in my hand, talking to the guys doing well in the tournament, and I enjoyed it,” he said. “A few years later, Mike McKinnis called and offered me a seat in the studio. And gosh, that was hard. I wasn’t quite ready to stop tournament fishing, I didn’t think, but I was really enjoying what I was doing with the First Look. I also thought, ‘What am I going to do after I retire from fishing for a living?’ What do you do?”
After examining the opportunity, conferring with Natalie and praying, Hite considered one more artifact before coming to a decision.
“I took a long, hard look at my lucky underwear,” he said, pulling the holey remnants of his 20-year-old drawers to show the BFHOF crowd, “so I decided to retire.”
Sure, he said he misses the mornings launching with the pros and chasing bass, but he said he’s actually fishing as much as he ever has. Hite remains close to the game, and he provides expert analysis on Bassmaster LIVE and The Bassmasters TV shows. Sharing the seat with Mark Zona, Hite offers the insight of a highly decorated angler, and his work elicited the comment from Sanders that he might also earn induction as a broadcaster.
For all the foolish dreams, Hite said being among the 78 in the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame wasn’t among them.
“Because I never thought it would this come true. I never dreamed of being up here tonight. It was beyond a dream,” he said. “I want to thank all the board members, all the members. I want to truly thank you for giving me this honor. It means so much, in so many ways.”
Like a true angler, he went on to thank all his sponsors over the years, which he said were more like partners, even family to him. Phoenix Boats, Rapala and Bass Pro Shops topped his list.
Grateful to the end, Hite borrowed another quote, this one from Lou Gehrig: “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. And I mean that.”
