Caleb Sumrall’s breakout year as a Bassmaster Elite was summed up last month in an exchange livestreamed between two respected names in B.A.S.S.

The all-around outdoorsman and fitness buff from New Iberia was seventh in the 100-angler field with 659 points, his highest finish since joining the Elites in 2018. Sumrall’s place in the 2021 Angler of the Year standings was just below sixth-place Lee Livesay of Longview, Texas, with 664 points, and one notch higher than Greg Hackney of Gonzales, with 658.

That finish was redemption after finishing 60th with 465 points in 2020 and missing the Bassmaster Classic. The reason was obvious.

Canadian Dave Mercer, who emcees the Bassmaster Elite Series, appreciated Sumrall’s efforts to improve his bass fishing during a BASS Live broadcast July 17, Day 2 on the St. Lawrence River at Waddington, New York.

As Sumrall cranked on the spinning reel’s handle and played a big smallmouth bass, Mercer said, “Earlier this year, I remember a visual of Caleb Sumrall … speaking of working on his smallmouth game … Pickwick Lake. Remember all the smallmouth everybody was catching, right there? Soon as the tournament ended, Bill Lowen wins, he’s right back on the water, fishing. I remember talking to him later on that week. I said, ‘What are you doing right out there?’ He said, ‘Man, I gotta work on my smallmouth game.’ And it’s paying off. Him and Lee Livesay was out there.”

Davy Hite, Bassmaster BASS Live co-host and retired Bassmaster Elite from South Carolina, said, “Caleb has really, you mentioned it earlier, he’s really become a more well-rounded fisherman, just in the last year. He certainly has.”

As Hite spoke, Sumrall landed the smallie and showed it to the camera. He unhooked the small soft plastic artificial lure attached firmly to the fish’s upper jaw and said, “Look at that! … Caught you sniffing at it, baby. Look at this — football! We’re getting there, Jake. We’re getting there.”

The New Iberian was proud of his ability to put quality smallmouth bass in the boat this summer.

“I just got some stuff figured out. You can overthink it too much. It’s my fourth year going up there. Every year going up there helps,” he said Tuesday morning.

Basically, Sumrall put in time on and off the water to succeed.

“It felt amazing. All the hard work kind of paid off. All the homework. All the studying. It all worked out,” he said.

His best three tournaments this season, starting from the top, he said, were at the Sabine River (7th, 38 pounds, 1 ounce), Lake Champlain (9th, 73 pounds, 10 ounces) and Pickwick Lake (15th, 53 pounds, 9 ounces).

At Pickwick Lake, he said, “I wasn’t getting many bites but when I did get a bite it was a big one.”

Throughout the season, he said, family, friends and fans fired him up.

“I want to thank everybody for their support. The calls. The messages. Everything, really. It all motivated me to do better each week,” he said. “It was great. Tons of texts. Calls. Whenever I was doing good. It felt good. It really made me proud.”

The rigors and stresses of being on the road away from his family were real. However, there was a silver lining to the nine-tournament season that began mid-February and ended mid-July.

“Yeah, it’s tough. But I spent more time with my kids now than when I was in the oil field. A lot more people have it harder than I do,” he said.

His wife, Jacie, their daughter, Clelie, and their son, Axel, were able to attend a few closer tournaments. That meant so much to the young man who has praised his wife often since joining the Elites.

“This wouldn’t be possible without her. She holds down the house while I’m fishing. It takes one of the best to do it,” he said.

Sumrall traveled and roomed with Livesay in 2021. He was proud of his buddy’s big, big win the last week of April at Lake Fork.

“Oh, yeah, man. That was awesome to watch. He’s a good fisherman. We work good together. It’s always nice to see your boy’s hard work pay off,” he said, conjuring images of Lee hauling in g-g-g-iant bass after g-g-g-iant bass on the final day on the way to an incredible 42-pound, 3-ounce, limit and whopping winning weight of 112-5.

After Sumrall’s best-ever season, is he closer to getting his hands on a coveted blue trophy?

“I don’t know if I’m any closer to winning one of those things. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. I know the more experience I obtain the better my chances,” he said.

Sumrall said he likes the 2022 Bassmaster Elite Series lineup released July 20. Newcomer derbies include Harris Chain of Lakes, Leesburg, Florida; Santee Couper Lakes, Clarendon County, South Carolina; Chickamaugua Lake, Dayton, Tennessee; Lake Oahe, Mobridge, South Dakota, and Mississippi River, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Gone is Sabine River.

“It’s a good, diverse schedule. I’m very excited about it,” he said.

Even South Dakota, which he has fished before?

“Yeah, same lake. I liked it. It’s full of fish. It’ll be an interesting tournament,” he said.

The season begins Feb. 10-13 at St. Johns River, Palatka, Florida. His record there is unflattering, something he wants to change.

“I’d like to get the season started good,” he said.

Between now and then, Sumrall plans to spend time with his family, hunt and hunt some more. He’ll spend a lot of time hunting in north Louisiana with his grandfather, Kenneth Delcambre, and has an elk hunt scheduled next month in El Rito, New Mexico.

“I’ll be prepping for next year. Getting the boat sold. Trying to stay in shape and hunting as much as I can,” he said.

Sumrall enjoyed the recent run.

“It was a great season. I think the best part about it all was staying consistent. I had more Top 20s. Everything kind of just clicked this year. When I moved, it worked. I didn’t have all the lakes figured out” but, he said, he adjusted on the water.

“It seemed to work more times than not,” he said.

His banner year included five finishes in the Top 20. He also finished 21st in the 2021 Guaranteed Rate Bassmaster Elite at Texas’ Lake Fork.

He was at his best in tournament action close to home. That seventh-place showing April 11 on the Sabine River out of Orange, Texas, with 38-1, netted him his highest finish of the season and his biggest payday — $18,000.

His biggest bass of the season was a 7-pound, 6-ounce “hawg” that bit during the 2021 Berkley Bassmaster Elite at Lake Guntersville in Alabama.

He finished 49th but boasted the tournament’s biggest bass worth a bonus of $2,000.

Sumrall said that bass bit on a Missile Baits D-Bomb.

“Big bass are the name of the game we play. You’ve got to catch big bass,” he said.

Ah. Big Bass. Big Stage. Big Dreams. The motto of B.A.S.S. Sumrall is living it. And making a living at it. This year’s winnings pushed his pro bass fishing career total to $300,428 with B.A.S.S.