las, and while some might dwell on the fact that he narrowly missed out on two hun- dred-thousand dol- lar opportunities, Myers finds a silver lining: “I got beaten by two guys who found glory holes, monster schools of fish,” he said. “But I know that I found the winning pattern on those lakes.” With newfound confidence, he truly believes that not only will he make a Classic in the near future, but that he’ll qualify for several over the course of his career, and should at some point make a charge at the AOY title. “I want to be known for fishing,” he added. “Dave Mercer used to introduce me as the guy who customized everybody’s trucks. But this year I came up on stage and he said that I was the one who had just had back to back second place finishes. This was a good year for me.” The impact of his career surge has been that “a lot more people know who Britt Myers is and now my last name is spelled right. I could be at Bass Pro Shops in Atlanta or a gas station and people know what I do. That means a lot.” Even when he struggled at the season-ending tournament on Oneida, and fell out of what would have been his first Bassmaster
Classic, Myers could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Several anglers had a little year-end party on the tailgate of Gerald Swindle’s truck. Charlie Hartley, another angler who runs a business full-time, saddled up to Myers, sensed his dejection, and spoke the words he needed to hear: “There are a million people out there who would give every- thing they have to do what you do.” That’s enough to make even the grouchiest angler smile a perma-grin – except, of course, it had no meaningful impact on Britt Myers, who already smiles 24/7/365. BWU
Spring 2013
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