April 25, 2024 • 38 mins
Spencer Graves and Wes Logan talk about the Florida swing with the BASS Elites, cheating in tournaments and the differences in fishing tidal fisheries, like the St John River.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lines and times. My best friend Wes Logan back in
the building, Man, Florida really great for you, huh.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It went good. It went good. It could have been
a little bit better, but definitely blessed to get out
of there with two decent finishes and when you finished
the Harris fiftieth had a really bad day three, but
I'll still take it after the practice I had and
my history on that place.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So practice was bad, it wasn't great.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I thought I could get some bites, but I didn't
know if I could get a big bite And then
got real fortunate on the first day and caught two
real good ones and it kind of just it really
went downhill from now.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
But haven't we talked about this before where you could
have a really bad practice, but sometimes that means you're
gonna have a really good tournament.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Most of the time that's how it happens. Hardly ever,
have I had a great practice and just went out
there and it just it kept working.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So what makes a great practice then, because in my
mind it would be if you're actually catching them, that
makes a great practice, but that probably isn't the case.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
No, I'd see I get real worried. I've done it enough.
I know, like when I'm practicing, if I run over
here and do this and catch a big one and
then go do something else trying to figure something else
out and catch another big one, and then randomly catch
another big one, you like you stop and look at
the day. You're like, well, I had twenty five pounds,
but I really didn't figure anything out. I just happened
to get a random lucky bite that day. And if
(01:19):
you don't really have anything to go on, I feel
like great practices are you get a couple bites doing
the same thing, happen to see that, you get one
or two big bites, and you're able to put a
pattern together and then look at the weather and think, okay,
maybe it's gonna get better, or they're gonna move, you know,
stuff like that. Just get a little bit of a hint,
and then during the tournament it really developed.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
That's when, again, good practice solely for you is I
figured out I've really keyed in how to get a
baits they like where they're biting, what time they're biting,
in what section of the lake.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes, especially in Florida, because I feel like if you're
getting bites like you may be catching pounds and a
half ors, but you could very easily catch a eight
the next cast like figuring that out.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
You guys are given like three days of practice, right supposed.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
To until we get a weather delay, and then the
back the next tournament gets cut out.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well, let's say just on a regular three day Okay,
So you go down to Harris Chain. You've got three
days to practice. You've got like six lakes on the chain. Yeah,
and then you've got to figure out a morning, a
mid in, an afternoon bite.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
How do you do that on a place like Harris Chain.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Uh, I've been there enough and I've tried to sample
all of them in practice and it's never worked.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
So I just different times a little. Would you go
to a papka in the morning because you haven't been
to a papka in the morning or No.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
If I was going to go just like way off
to a popka or a Griffin, I would you know,
I would go spend the whole day there fish daylight
to dark and then but you have to realize if
like let's say this time of year, you find a
shad spone at Griffin at seven o'clock and I ran
into this in the next tournament at hair I mean
at Saint John's, we can talk about that. But you
might find a shad spone at Griffin, but it's done
(02:57):
by eight thirty. You can't get there. So you've got
to figure out how to get a bite from nine
to two because that's the only time you're going to
be able to fish there. Now, you might fish there
all day daylight to dark, and then go back there
the next day if you caught some and figure out
if those fish, those shad spawn fish will bite you know,
during the middle of the day some different way, you know.
(03:17):
So I'm saying, so you just if you're going to
spend a long time getting to somewhere like at the Harristain,
you've got to be able to know you can get
bites in that you know, three to four hour window.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
So whenever I fished Florida, and I've really only gone
as a co, I don't think I've ever drugged my
boat down there and gone as a pro. But as
a co, what I've noticed a lot of pros do
is if you have to pick up your trolling motor
more than twice, you're going to lose that turnament.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
More than likely yes, because you just have to especially there,
you concentrate on an area when you find them biting
in practice, if they were biting off of this section
of pads, but then in the tournament they didn't bite
over there, but you got to bite like twenty yards away.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
You just kind of start expanding that area.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, because you you can't run to different lakes because
it takes so long to get there, to get there
and get back to where. In our format, you know,
we have a blast off and have to be back
in by a certain time, So you really cut down
your even the dead river and like the door canal,
it still is going to take up an hour and
a half of your time during the day.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I did watch most of the coverage that I could
because obviously our buddy Joseph Webster, Yeah, he's a midway
marine ranger Mercury pro, and he ended up finishing seventh
in the tournament, his first top ten. So I was like, man,
all the kudos, all the accolades to that, because you know,
as well as anybody you've won one. But it's hard
(04:39):
enough to get in the top ten.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Oh did it so hard? Like he figured a deal
out and actually out he basically out fished all of
us in Harrison Eustace. I mean, so, like I said,
hats off to him. He either had a bait figured out,
or maybe he was just stubborn enough to just, you know,
put his troumotor down and fish. I think it had
a lot to do with that. But like I said,
I was really proud of him.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
For sure. It looked like he was having fun.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I mean, honestly, I'm sure he was catching five pounders
all the time.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I would have been giggling too, he told me, because
we would talk at the end of every tournament day
and He's like, Spenser, I'm just lucky enough to get
a five and a six pounder right there towards the
end of the day. I'm like, damn, dude, eleven pounds
that you're going to the scales with.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I talked to him in the back line, I think
after day three, and he was like, caught my five
pounder this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Again.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I was like, hey, Bud, are you just making the
right moves at the right time.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I mean it was almost like everywhere he went between
you guys would weigh in at like three or four o'clock,
he'd have to be in around those times between two and.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Four he would catch one.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
He would catch one, yeah, and it was I mean yeah,
and he had you know, luckily Bass was obviously checking
out his action and they were putting them up, and man,
I started I just started falling in love with some
of the hook sets that I was seeing because man,
he was sweeping them. Oh yeah, you know. I think
at one point he put up on social media that
he had to bust out the old broom because he
(05:59):
was sleeping look at them so good. But then I
was watching fascination on Instagram and they put up my buddy,
the Little Ball of eight West Logan. Damn, dude, I've
never seen you set the hook and damn near come
out of your shoes as much as you were doing
in Florida.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah. Yeah, the way I was fishing, dude, I had
to hit them hard. And you know, I had my
swimjig rod and sixty pound sunline braid and on my
swim jig. Dude, I was just when I would hook them,
I would do everything I could to get them out,
because I mean, them fishing onto Saint John's are strong
like the I don't know if someone's wrong with the
hair is chained, But dude, you'd hook one of them
and it would kind of fight for a second and
then kind of give up. Those fish on that river
(06:35):
are as main a fish I've ever fished for.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
So I noticed your arc rod you would set the hook.
I mean you were putting your back against the wall
and that rod just handled all the load. But I
don't think people really know this. How tall are you?
How much do you weigh? Five eight five eight one
fifty five? So when you're setting the hook, what size?
What size rod are you using? Primarily on sen giant.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I used a seven six and a seven five all week,
so a longer rod.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
So for you to set that, cause it's different. I'm
six fives right, So for me that's a pretty average ride.
For you, that's a little bit longer.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Do you have to put that much pressure and power
into your body to really set the hook?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I feel like I probably overdo it on some of
the pound and a half two pounders. Say, but here's
the thing.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
One you sent over like a rainbow.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
The thing about it is when they when they would
bite up in those lily pads or in those bushes,
you couldn't see if because the water was so black
and the fish or black, you get't know if it
was a two pound or a ten pounder. So I
was jerking as far as I could every time. But
the way the way my swim jigs design, it's not
a very like big diameter hook, so it's not gonna
tear a lot you. Basically, I was basically just wanting
to drive that hook into those you know, fish's mouth
(07:46):
as hard as I could, because when they got wadded
up in those lily pads, they it was either gonna
rip out or I could go get them without the
hook coming.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Are those the new ones that you have with arc? Yeah,
it is pretty slick. I saw them in Mark's Outdoors
in Birmingham, Alabam, and when I walked by, I was like, damn,
these are pretty good looking.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
They handled. They've handled every test I've put them up against.
I've caught multiple six to seven pounders on them and
not flexed any hooks with it not being everybody's always
has called me, they're like, man, the hook's a little small,
Like yeah, but the way we built it, the coating
that's on it, as sharp as it is, it's going
to penetrate a lot easier, and you're not going to
have them to flex it to get it through their
Wow do you have on it? It's one that we
(08:25):
built actually in arc so it's our hook that we
put in it. Really yeah, custom design. That's what took
the longest on the whole jig was getting that hook
exactly like we wanted it.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
So when you are picking out a swim jig, or
you're looking at a couple of prototype baits and things
like that, what do you like out of a swim jig?
Because you're known as like a swimjig.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Guy, I'm no expert.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I mean feel that one's perfect like the one that.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's probably as close as I've ever seen. Between the
head design, the weed guard stiffness, the weed gyuard angle,
the angle of the hook. I don't like it from
the hook standpoint. I don't. Are you used to throw
a dirty jigs? Nojack, and I want a lot of
money on it, But it just seemed a little bit
over bearing, like too much if you were fishing around
two pounders to three pounders, which is normally a good
(09:11):
tournament fish like so I would just lose some fish
with that, just because the diameter. The hook was so big,
it was so it wouldn't hold a trailer great so.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
They couldn't get their mouth around it enough for you
to have room to set the hook.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
No, it was more of like when you did set
the hook, it was taking so much force to get
the thickness of that hook to go to penetrate. It
was tearing like their face.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So making a bigger hole right where they.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Could come off. Like a lot of times you'd get
one in the boat and it would have a you know,
a gash and like two inches on the side of
its face where you did catch it. But you know,
I've caught some that landed at the troll motor that
I jerked out of the grass and it sits there
in phospher A second comes off and it might be
a three pounder where you just ripped a gape and
hole in it.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
See. But part of me feels like with as many
tournaments that are going on now and as many fish
are getting caught, there's a lot of retreads, a lot
of fish that have been beat up. And it's where
I mean, I've caught fish where they're missing half of
a job. I've caught fish where they've got huge gashes.
I caught a fish I think I say you a picture.
It was a crank bait fish and literally the crank
(10:11):
bait went through its mouth and it was being held
on by the gash in its mouth and the bill underneath.
Me as a novice fisherman, you know, not nearly as
much experience as somebody like you or Joseph or something
like that, I wouldn't think that I was doing any
of that. I would think that that's just kind of
the way the fish is. Do you feel the hooked
(10:32):
slip and knowing that you made a gash in that mouth?
Or doesn't just feel it? Does it? Is it a look?
Or is it just the fact that they come off
in the.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Boat normally, like you'll see them come off in the boat,
or they'll come off before they get in the boat,
and or like if you do catch and get him
in the boat, look at your jig would just fall
out because there's nothing holding it because the hole so big. Yeah,
that's that's the biggest thing that's always bothered me about,
you know, hooks on swim jigs and and the way
we built mine is it's it's a kind of a
(11:00):
compact deal like a compact jig, but it's not. So
we put a four alt gap on a no, we
put a five aft gap on a four alt shank.
And basically what that means is the shank is from
the head of the hook the jig correct, but you
still have the big bite. It's just not sticking way
out there allowing it to get hung up more.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I like that. I feel like that gives the hook
less resistance coming through any vegetation, but having that five
ID allows them to have something sturdier to get into
the actual roof of.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
The correct especially depending on what trailer you like to use.
If you like to use a little bit thicker trailer,
like the body of it where it goes onto the
hook shank, you're going to have more of a gap
in that fishes, you know, the top of his mouth.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
You do, like a Z craw or something like that,
A little smaller.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah, yeah, you'll even be better. The more gap you
can have from your trailer to the hook point, you're
better off for your hookup ratios.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, listen, I thought hair's chained, you know, day one.
I looked at bass track early and I was like, damn,
my boys, are due.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
We come out hot. The first morning, I was like,
oh boy.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I remember I went into the studio to do the
Spencer Grave Show with Meghan and I sat down. I
was like Less and Joseph for six and seventh right
now and the boys are dominating and she goes there.
She goes, oh good, like do you think that's gonna last?
And I go, I feel like those guys know where
to find fish. And then I know you're a buddy
of mine, but it felt like you ran.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Out of fish. No, I did it just the I
had some. Like Day three at Saint John's and day
two at Harris Chain was just a disaster. I don't know.
I lost my first two bites day too at Harris
Chain were four pounders they come off, and I wasn't
getting very many good bites anyway. And then day three
at Harris I just didn't get any bites. I think
my area kind of got beat up. A couple of
(12:42):
the guys that I was fishing around didn't catch them either.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Well to me through day three, first two hours at harrismon, yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Day like I started bits, I got one, I had
one good you know, four four and a half. It
just didn't get to Spindner bait good. I didn't feel
like it did. I think it may have actually ate
the blades because I was able to, like, you know,
hit it and it kind of rolled on its side
and it just come on. H Yes, yes, that's why.
I mean, there's no way it didn't. Cause a lot
of times they'll come up. I had a bunch of
(13:10):
them actually eat the blades, but they were smaller ones,
and that one just happened to be, you know, a
good sized fish. But and then I just I kept
running around, kept thinking they were going to start biting,
and they never did. Looking back on it, Hindsight's twenty twenty,
I wish I would have ran the griffin. I had
a little area over there. I thought I could catch
ten or eleven pounds, which would have saved some points.
But you know, it is what it is on.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
On like you could play Monday morning quarterback. Yeah, beauty
of having this podcast.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, And man, to be honest with you, it's my
fault because I didn't even it. Never once I got
committed to Harris and Eustace, it never crossed my mind again,
which is how I want, because I don't want nothing
in the back of my mind. But after I got
back home and everything calm back down, I was sitting there.
I was like, man, I probably should have ran over there,
but you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Well, tell Riley your wife that she did a kick
ass job on social media.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
She's killing it, ain't she's it looks good too.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And I love that she did a video the other
day where she gave herself a little pat on the back.
Oh yeah, and we were like, well, who's holding the camera?
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Absolutely yeah, I mean she's making it look professional and
well we don't even have a camera, like, she's just
doing it with her phone, So she's she's doing really well.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Okay, when you're in the way in line, because you
you have a you've got a signature move, like I
could ultimately see this packaged on a couple of your
swim jigs. You're the only guy I know that is
consistently photographed and videoed crouching next to the bait tank. Yeah,
like using the bait tank to hold yourself up? Is
(14:35):
that you're Do you realize that's becoming your signature move?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
No? The only reason I'm doing this because I'm about
to fall over because my shoulders, my shoulder, I'm just like,
I gotta sit there. I and sat down hardly all day.
But yeah, I've uh, these last two were really bad.
I'd get in and I could hardly pick my arm up.
But you know it. But yeah, I have noticed that
all the videos at the tank, I'm either I got
my knee on the tank and I'm leaned over or
I'm squat squatted down.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
I'm like, you got your a little look.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, yeah, a lot of times I'm upset that I
didn't catch them.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
But do the guys say anything to you in the
line after Riley's done shooting a video, because I mean
she's up close and personal.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Not much, No, not a whole lot of people talking
to me in the back line. They don't they don't
really know that they've they've become a little bit timid
around me at the back line.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Why is that?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Well, some days could be good. Some days when it's bad,
it's bad. Well, I don't have the nickname for the
little ball of hates. Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I was watching bass track and you know, obviously Joseph
was catching a couple fives and sixes and felt like
he had pretty good fish to maybe get the big
fish of the tournament, all that kind of stuff. But
Jacob Rosnik begging rolling in, and I mean, I'm hearing
every angler up there saying, oh, there's a big fish
back there. You guys, get ready, and I'm hoping it
(15:48):
was going to be Jojo just walking out there like, hey, man,
got ourselves, Like I thought that was gonna be it.
And when Jacob came out and he showed that ten pounder,
I was absolutely floored. But you have to take everybody
through the backside of what happens behind Dave Mercer in
the way in line. If you catch a nine or
ten pounder, you know you have the big fish of
(16:10):
the tournament. Yeah, did Jacob just walk up there and goes, guys,
I got one, whether he had three fish, four fish,
five fish, one.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Fish somehow before he ever got in line, everybody when
I walked up, everybody was already talking about it.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
So I don't know if he had told one person.
He had to have been on bass track then somebody.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
He may have told somebody when he pulled up, because
when I walked up there, like, man, Jacob's got a
big one, I was like, how big is it? And
they're like I nine, eleven, ten twelve. I was like,
good God. And then when he walked up, everybody was like,
you know, let me see it, let me see it.
And he picked it up. It's like, gosh, almighty, it
was like as long tall as it was long. It
was a big one.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Y'all become kids at that point, right, Like you see
a big fish like that, and it kind of brings
you back to like everybody wants.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
To see this, especially one that big. Like I mean everybody.
You know a lot of people have some sixes and
five down there in Florida, but you catch an eight
to ten pounder, like everybody wants.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
It's a big one.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
It's a big one for anybody. I mean, we're professionals.
We don't catch ten pounders all the time.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
But like Hamner, you know, catching the fish that he
caught it for, Yeah, it's like I loved his line.
He's like, I've never caught a ten pounder and I
still think that's great. When you are in the bagline
and Jacob comes in, he's got a big old fish.
What's the feeling that hits you if you hear that
(17:27):
somebody's got an absolute giant do you immediately start grilling, like, well,
how many fish does he have? Or you know, do
you think do you guys look at bass track once
you're in the way in line?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Definitely?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I mean a lot of us grab our phone as
soon as we check in just to kind of see
how you know, I actually don't that much.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Why not? I feel like that's a set list before going.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
I don't know. It bothers me like if I'm real
close to the cut or something, because bass track's not
ever accurate, like to a t like a lot of
people won't have marshals or they won't put it in right.
I'm I put money into the ounce like every time.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
But hang on, isn't there a thing in bass where
after every tournament, the angler that was closest to their
actual total weight gets like a checker.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I wanted it a Saint John's. I want a thousand dollars. Ye,
just this last week. Really, I just got the check
in the mail. Yes, so you get a.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Thousand bucks if you're just to your weight? Do you
feel Because I've ridden in the boat with a couple
pros and I would name drop the one, but I'm
pretty sure he doesn't want anybody to know he'd catch
a fish. I mean it was a good one, damn
good one. And I knew how I mean, you know it.
And he was funny as hell. He look over and
(18:37):
he goes putting two pounds. Let's let him make him
sweat a little bit.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
And personally, I was like, okay, I understand that side
of it, but as somebody who's a fan of fishing,
there's a lot of people that are on bass track.
They want to know what.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I've never understood that because here's the deal. Let's say
they're not.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Doing it for the fans. They're doing it to mess
with you guys, I guess.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
But like, I don't, I don't look at I don't.
I didn't realize that many guys looked at bastraight to
begin with. And we're not and we're not supposed to
in the tournament.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
No, But that's how guys get the nickname or the
persona of being a sandbager. I mean, we know you,
and I know some personally. Oh yeah, they roll up
and they're like, I got fifteen pounds to you, Like,
damn dude, yeah you can't count that.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Well, yeah, and they do get a little bit of
a bad rap with the fans, I will say that
because they just get tired of looking at it.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
What happens like with other anglers, Like if you know
what guys in known sandbag does, does that kind of
get discounted in your mind where you're.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Just like I don't even want I don't even I
don't really pay any attention to what they got. Like
that's why I don't like bass track looking at it
before I go away in cause like I've already figured
out wherever I'm at on bass track, normally drop down
if I've got exactly what I put in there, Normally
you take about ten places off and that's where you're
gonna be. Really, it's it's pretty like it's really close
about every time. So you've got and you got to
(19:55):
take into count. Like if people don't have a marshal,
they don't want to take the time out of fishing
day to put them in.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
No, you just got to bite. You want to get
right back to the hole.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Right, I do mine, Like if I'm by myself, when
I go to move, I'll put in if I've called
anything as I'm running somewhere.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Because y'all have the app Yes, well, I remember as
a Marshall, I had to download the app. So you
just have the app up on your phone. You go back,
you throw your Mustang Survival jacket on, you immediately.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Hit open the app. It's real sick. We open the app,
it's says bad fish the way you know. Submitting it's
it's literally takes ten seconds.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Which is which is great because obviously you're giving a
detailed account of how big that fish is. It stinks
because then the information gets input in maybe twenty minutes later. Yeah,
so you don't really know. Like everybody's on pins and needles.
I just appreciate the guys are doing. Yeah, and I
don't want to see I don't want to see professional
tournaments get to the point where like MLF is now
(20:48):
where you weigh the fish.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And then it's all amount yeah, because you lose the suspense.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, I like the idea. I mean, I'm also a
big fan. On Day four, final day of the tournament.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Track and get new Yeah that's what I was thinking.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
You fish for another couple hours.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Nobody knows.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Nobody know.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
They used to do that at the Classic a while,
but I don't know when they stopped doing it. But
that that builds a lot because you don't know what happened.
And I mean we're running bass live the whole tournament
days now. Like like when I caught that fish, the
four pound youre talking about the detch, I caught it
with like ten minutes left, Like normally they cut it
off at like one and you'd never know what happened
for the next two hours. But I mean people want
(21:25):
to people want to see the live stuff, but the
bass track deal. The one thing I'd like to say
is when you put that if you're catching them really
good on bass track and like early in the morning,
like that first that hairs chain when I did, I
didn't have a big bag, but I jumped up real fast.
Well there's I bet I had thirty companies and people
share that on their socials like that morning. Sure, when
I got back in, I could sit and I'm like,
(21:47):
so you're getting all that exposure even though you hadn't
done great. You jumped up real fast, so your name's
out there, like, hey, let's keep up with West the
rest of the tournament.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
But that's also a side of the entertainment.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Is entertainment one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah, I want to see somebody set the hook like
a fucking monster. That's what I just want to see
you Jack, right. Yeah, But when I when I watched
some tournaments, and like, I also realize that there's some
baits that you kind of have to finesc do that
nice sweep. And that's why I appreciated Jojo on.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Some of his he was sweeping.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
He literally made this dude. His personality came out like
crazy at Harris Jean because he looked back at his
camera and he go, it's fixing to get right across
his body. And I know his personality, but I love
the fact that I started to see that I know
your personality. So when I watch clips of you and
(22:38):
I see you set the hook, it's true. I'm like
he's mad at the world right now.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
I'm I'm pretty I'm pretty intense when I'm out there.
And that's the thing, Like I had a live camera
that second day, and man, I'm not going to talk
a lot, like I'm not that guy now. I mean,
if everything goes great and we got a good big
lead or something, I thought, but I know I'm out
there to fish, like I'm out there to do my job,
and you're there watching and yes, I will like explain
what I'm doing, but that cutting up and not like Joseph,
(23:04):
but like when them guys catch one and they're at
all giggly and running around that that ain't my deal.
Like we're there to fish. We're there to put fish
in the boat. Like I'm gonna show you how I fish.
You've got a camera, You're able to see exactly how
I've caught my fish. Like that's what we're there for.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
There was an interesting thing that took place. I don't
know if it was Harris Chain or if it was
Saint John's. Trey mc kenny got a penalty mm hm.
He ran through a no wag zone that wasn't in
no wag zone any other time. Saint John's bass made
it in a no wag zone for the tournament. A
lot of people don't realize that that you guys have
state laws, yes, laws on the actual body of water,
(23:43):
but then you also have bass rules that you have
to fall. So before every tournament, do you guys have
a zoom meeting? Is there a sit down meeting? And
is that where you guys go over the rules?
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, we have a miss lease. Our tournament director will
send out a link in our text message that is
I don't think it's zoom, but I don't know. It's
a it's a video deal.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
And you get on there and watch the record it.
You just watch it.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, she'll record, she'll record it, send us to it it.
Normally she sends it the day for the tournament, from
between three and six o'clock, like you know when it's coming.
You just kind of it comes right after you get
your boat numbers, so like you can't miss it and
you are required to why it's just like going to
a meeting, like the sit down meet. Obviously we don't
have those no more. And I mean they explain it
(24:25):
to a t very well. And she said straight up
on the CSX Buffalo Bridge is no wake for safety reasons.
I went back and listened to it again after he
said that it wasn't posted no wake.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
So do you treat that like a high school thing
where it's like you want to you want to scroll
the way to the back, and just said, accept.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I don't even supposedly he admitted that he never even
opened it.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Oh really yeah, well he did get the penalty you
got was an hour and a half where everybody blasted off.
He blasted off, but then he had to sit at
the dock for an hour, and that's right. I don't
know what penalty would have been the right decision. I
feel like an hour and a half is actually a
pretty good penalty because that bite in the morning, if
you're missing an hour and a half of that, And
(25:10):
it proved to be costly for him because that was
a very bad day as far as being on the water.
I think he ended up getting a limit that day.
But if he had that hour and a half back,
and the fact that he's a rookie so he's trying
to get into this world, I don't think he'll ever
miss another one of those videos again.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
No, I would advise him to not. And the next
thing is like there was a big discussion I saw
in some comments about him getting snitched on or rated
out or see. What people don't understand is in our rules,
if we us as an angler, see somebody break a
(25:47):
rule and we don't say something, and then they get
caught and they know that we saw it, we're both guilty.
We're not guilty as the other.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yeah, you're an accessory exactly because you witnessed creat fraction.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
If I saw him run through there, and I was
just like, just Trey well, and then somebody finds out, well,
Wes will fish or not blow that bridge? And I
saw Trey run thought as Wes said anything, west Ain't
said nothing. Well, then Wes gets a phone call, Hey,
why didn't you? Why you call us?
Speaker 1 (26:11):
And I love the fact. I mean, there are a
lot of guys in bass that are really good at
self monitoring, self governing. You know, I've watched a lot
of videos Palamick the year that you won way Lake
or sorry not late Neeli Henry the year you won
Neely Henry Pallainick called Lisa and says, I got a
really weird thing that happened. H I want to explain
(26:33):
it to you. Let me know what you think. And
he had to take time out of catching fishing. I mean,
he was catching fish almost every other cast. But the
fact that he called in swindle the same exact thing
he was in a tournament. He did something with a fish.
I don't know if he was caught on the outside
or whatever the infraction was, but he didn't have anybody
in the boat. And I remember he put out a
video where he's like, look there's other guys that won't
(26:55):
do this. I am going to make this phone call
because ethics is a big thing. If we lose ethics
and fishing, we are not going to have tournaments. Because now,
you know, going down the list of tournament trails, you're
at the top of the top of the Bass Master Elites.
You got the Bass Pro Tour with MLF, but then
MLF has a lot of different steps all the way
(27:15):
down to you know, Weekend Warriors and bfls. There's a
lot of talk right now that co anglers are just
not signing up anymore because they don't want to get
caught behind a Weekend Warrior who thinks they know live
scope really well as big as some of the polls do.
They don't want to sit out there for eight hours.
I can understand that I fished in the back of
the boat. I totally understand that. But the problem that
(27:36):
I see is if you start making all these lower
tier tournaments become solo boaters, you're going to see the
amount of infractions of cheating go up. And how do
you monitor that when you've got two hundred and fifty
boats on a Saturday camp right?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, and like and like Slick posting on TikTok, Slick
Johnson said the other he said, fishermen, there's some bass fishermen,
then they are gonna cheat as long as a doll
runs barefooted. Ye, And he's one hundred percent right. We
don't need it in professional fishing or any kind of
fishing tournament fishing. But it's it's obviously, you know, getting
more relevant, the cheating and the felling polygraphs and all that,
(28:16):
and it's just there's there's no need for it. And
I don't know, maybe people need to be made examples
of like they did back in the day where I'm
not gonna say what they did, but they made it
a point that you don't need to come back around
here cheating.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Shoot, let's talk about the Walleye tournament guys. Yeah, that
that story, when viral as viral can be, that was
even bigger than the fishing community. Yeah, you know, I
had people calling me in They're like.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Yeah, it was all over the news and everything.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
They're like, y'all do this do you stuff filats and
pass And I'm like, that's Walleye guys, Like they do
something completely. Do you guys put wits and fishing I'm like,
I don't even have time.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
No, but what I'm whatever even think to do that?
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Like, it's just see, those guys have been doing it
for several times. I mean we're talking, We're talking over
multiple seasons, multiple tournaments, multiple boats, won a lot of
one hundred thousand dollars. I mean in the grand scheme,
it is stealing.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, because you guys, the objective is different. But you
guys are playing high stakes poker. Yeah, you take five
thousand dollars, you say, bass, here's my money. They go,
you qualified to be here, You're in the tournament.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
I'm playing for that hunter you're in.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, it's up to you. As soon as guys start
cheating and starting stealing from that pot, that kiddie you
are stealing from a casino, and as soon as it
gets caught out. And I mean, I love the fact
that you know, in Alabama, there's a kid I won't
say his name, but there's a kid in Alabama who
has failed two polygraphs and has become you know, the
(29:43):
black eye of even local tournaments. I was talking about
Tuesday night ers, church tournaments. Just most people would say
silly tournaments like sixty bucks. But I'm telling you, if
I find out you cheated in a tournament where I
paid sixty bucks, I'm not mad about the money. I'm
mad did the fact that you feel that you can
get away with check.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
That's exactly right, Small, Yes, that's a great way to
say it, because here, Yes, I mean there's some guys
around the area that I fished that Neeli Henry Logan
Martin that I mean they failed multiple polygraphs and yeah,
you might get one. I mean there was one is
this where it was a couple of years ago. It
was just an evening tournament deal, a little championship, and
they didn't tell him they were behind the polygraph. Well,
(30:25):
he won, and he took the polygraph and failed it,
and he lost his mind, you know, acted the full
and went and paid for another lit detector to do
it again to prove he was innocent and failed that
one too. So dude, like how I and man, there
was times where there's guys that show up to these
little evening tournaments and you know, four hour tournaments. If
(30:48):
they show up and they let them fish, well to
get our money back and go home. Oh yeah, yeah,
it's happened two or three times, and it really just
proves a point.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Like that's why I do love social media for this,
because you know, there's a guy that's pretty active on
social media and he's just a weekend warrior, really solid
guy around the area, and he is not letting anybody
forget that somebody failed apology es. And what I like
about it is, if that guy showed up to a tournament,
I already know what he looks like. I already know
what his name is. He's got enough of a black
(31:15):
cloud that circulates and follows him, whether he wants to
say he's not guilty or whatever. Yeah, I mean, if
you show up to a tournament, I see you. I'm
not fishing no, And I'm going to tell everybody else
this dude's failed multiple PolyGram.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, he's going to win today, Like just I don't
care what you catch today. He's going to be the
last one to weigh in. He'll beat you by a
little bit and he'll have a big fish. Every single time.
It's like ritting on the wall, and like it happens
that it just blows my mind that it just continues
to be okay.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
And I hope more tournament directors look at that and
they go, we can't allow that. No, we just we
can't do that. Okay, let's switch gears to Saint John
real quick, because I definitely want to talk about the
difference in Harris Chain being a bunch of lake that
are all connected by canals and something like Saint John's,
(32:04):
which is a title fisher m.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Hm, completely different.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I mean, what's what's the thought process when you go
into something like Saint John's where you know you're gonna
deal with water coming in and water going out.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah, Luckily we've I think for a lot of us
we had been there. You know, we've been there multiple times,
not that time, at this time of year, but you
kind of had somewhere you could start, like to try
and figure out something in two days, because man two
and it's really truthfully, you say two days, you're not
going to fish all day on Wednesday, like you're gonna
be dead by the time. You know, you're not gonna
fish till dark. So you really get about two and
(32:36):
a half or a day and a half, you just
kind of I mean what I did. I just covered
as much water as I could, I fished as fast
as I could if I'd get a bite, I would
just you know, kind of figure out what was going
on in that area. How I got the bike and
I'd move, you know, eight or ten miles down the
river and see if I could duplicate it or find
another little area you could get a bite. And I
just basically I don't do this a lot, but I
(32:57):
waypointed every bite I got, whether it was a twelve
venture or a four pounder, and I and I basically
sampled all those places during the tournament. So I think
a lot of us kind of figured out what bait
to use or what area that you wanted to be in,
and then just broke it down during the tournament setting
the hook on those twelve inentures or yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Okay, So in in practice you're setting the hook because
you want to see what sized fish you got.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yeah, and that's that's right. And a lot of times
and one thing you got to watch in Florida and
on Saint John Driver there's a lot of mudfish, a
lot of bow fenn, grin or whatever you want to
call them. So you had to check because the first
bite I got was to the first two bites were
both grin, and I was like, I'm gonna jerk till
one of them's a bath. And then basically just I
think with the tide, with that water moving up and down,
(33:44):
hardly ever, are you gonna pitch on this stump right
here or this log and a two pounder you shake
off a two pounder. That two pound is not gonna
be there tomorrow. He could be gone in two hours
or an hour, but there may be another one that
swam up. So you just kind of figured out, hey,
I can get a bite on this hide on the
down current side of the log, where if you find
another one, you know, you kind of put it together.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
How much information do you find out, like when the
water's coming up, when the water goes out, because a
lot of people think it's just rise and fall, it's
it's in and out. Yeah, but if you're fishing an
area and you've got lily pads, are we talking about
a three inch difference when the water is low? No?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
We were well at Saint John's. We were where I
was fishing was like a foot and a half real foot,
you know, sixteen inches at twelve to sixteen inches?
Speaker 1 (34:29):
And were you getting better bites when water was up?
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (34:32):
It was more of it just needed to be moving
one way or the other. Because with a tide situation,
I'm not a tied expert by no means, but you
have like a forty five minute to hour two times
different during the day that's just dead. It's not moving.
It's either a dead low or a dead high. It
was not good at all like that. You could fish
over the best stretch on the river and not get
(34:53):
a bite.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
So your goal in the morning, knowing if it's dead low,
dead high, you're like, I gotta fish my best stuff
at this time, at this time, and then when it's
a dead zone, yes, maybe I'll go over to some
more traditional things that usually catches them. And basically so
the tide is trying to manufacture a bike.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
The the times of the tide during the two days
of practice were a lot better for me for what
I feel like I was doing. And it had I
got one last day of it on day two or
day one when I had the big bag and I
started running out of the coming off of a high
tide coming to the low. That makes sense. So when
we were when we started off practice, the low tide
(35:34):
was at like I don't know, six thirty in the morning,
so as we started practice, you had an incoming tide
for like four hours, so you had constant current. The
water's coming up, they're wanting to feed. Well. Then around
lunch it would be a you know, a dead high
and then at one o'clock it would turn and be
coming back out, so you most of your day the
water was moving well. As the tournament progressed, the low
(35:55):
tide ended up being around eight thirty or nine, so
you would have a dead at nine and a dead
around three.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Is that based on the moon cycle?
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
I just know.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
There's a lot of charts out there and you can
put in for this section. The weird thing is an
app that that I haven't found app I just look
on the internet. I know a lot of the I
think Garman has a deal it built in their graph.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Because like some of the guys from Virginia, John Cruz Schmid,
those guys they fished a lot of title fish. James, Yeah,
you start going up more into that Chesapeake coastal side.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Piznik's the same way. Even Ike and Ellis has fished
a lot of title places, so they kind of get
a leg up in places absolutely, it's.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
It's a weird deal. I'm not a fan of tide
because you can fish. They don't have that on the
co Yeah you could, you could fish. You can fish
through a great area and it be the wrong time
and you never know it right like so, and that
was another thing, like with just getting one or two
bites on a stretching practice. Well you may say, well
I caught a pound and a half or here with
(36:59):
the tide do and then well what if I check
it when it's like this, I might catch three or four.
And that happened to me on day two. I went
down stretch, I'd caught one twelve incher and then I
ended up catching like three two pounders. That I mean,
it helped me at the time, but like they just
move so much. But the weird thing about the tide
there is I don't know if it's the wind blowing
or what, but sometimes when it's scheduled to do one thing,
(37:22):
it's not. It's completely wrong and then it just jumbles
everything up.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
How did the bass react on low to high tide?
A little more lethargic on low and a little more
active on high.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
More they get very lethargic if it's not moving like
you can and you can watch it stop in a
matter of minutes, and everything will just stop and then
all of a sudden in forty five minutes, and you
can watch your clock here, it'll come back the other way.
And when it starts coming back that other way, you
better get to where you think you can catch them.
I mean I would just fish my way, just bouncing
(37:57):
around on stuff, and when i'd see the tide move, dude,
I'd run twenty or fifteen miles the other way so
I could get to where I thought I wanted to
be with that tide. Not necessarily running the tide, but
knew what area of the river I wanted to be
in when it was at a certain.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
You certainly don't want to get too far away from
where you were getting activity.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
No, definitely not.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
I mean I know some guys were Rodman, and they
were like, I'm going to stay here.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah, well you don't have to see you have No,
that's the only deal with Robin. You have no tide
like once you you know, figure them out over there.
But and I started practicing, I had a lot of
guys figured them out over there. No, well they don't
for some reason they will not live on the bank
over there, Like I don't know if it's so clear,
but it's it's just a big timber pond basically what
looks like. I've caught them over there one time when
they were spawning on the bank, but other than that,
(38:39):
it's it's they get out there in that timber on
them bait balls and you know, start schooling and stuff
and they just you know, life scope really dominates in
that pond.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
This has been lines in Times and Spencer Graves that's
vas Elite West logan, the little ball of hate.
Lines and times. My best friend Wes Logan back in
the building, Man, Florida really great for you, huh.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
It went good. It went good. It could have been
a little bit better, but definitely blessed to get out
of there with two decent finishes and when you finished
the Harris fiftieth had a really bad day three, but
I'll still take it after the practice I had and
my history on that place.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So practice was bad, it wasn't great.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
I thought I could get some bites, but I didn't
know if I could get a big bite And then
got real fortunate on the first day and caught two
real good ones and it kind of just it really
went downhill from now.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
But haven't we talked about this before where you could
have a really bad practice, but sometimes that means you're
gonna have a really good tournament.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Most of the time that's how it happens. Hardly ever,
have I had a great practice and just went out
there and it just it kept working.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So what makes a great practice then, because in my
mind it would be if you're actually catching them, that
makes a great practice, but that probably isn't the case.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
No, I'd see I get real worried. I've done it enough.
I know, like when I'm practicing, if I run over
here and do this and catch a big one and
then go do something else trying to figure something else
out and catch another big one, and then randomly catch
another big one, you like you stop and look at
the day. You're like, well, I had twenty five pounds,
but I really didn't figure anything out. I just happened
to get a random lucky bite that day. And if
(01:19):
you don't really have anything to go on, I feel
like great practices are you get a couple bites doing
the same thing, happen to see that, you get one
or two big bites, and you're able to put a
pattern together and then look at the weather and think, okay,
maybe it's gonna get better, or they're gonna move, you know,
stuff like that. Just get a little bit of a hint,
and then during the tournament it really developed.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
That's when, again, good practice solely for you is I
figured out I've really keyed in how to get a
baits they like where they're biting, what time they're biting,
in what section of the lake.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes, especially in Florida, because I feel like if you're
getting bites like you may be catching pounds and a
half ors, but you could very easily catch a eight
the next cast like figuring that out.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
You guys are given like three days of practice, right supposed.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
To until we get a weather delay, and then the
back the next tournament gets cut out.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well, let's say just on a regular three day Okay,
So you go down to Harris Chain. You've got three
days to practice. You've got like six lakes on the chain. Yeah,
and then you've got to figure out a morning, a
mid in, an afternoon bite.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
How do you do that on a place like Harris Chain.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Uh, I've been there enough and I've tried to sample
all of them in practice and it's never worked.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
So I just different times a little. Would you go
to a papka in the morning because you haven't been
to a papka in the morning or No.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
If I was going to go just like way off
to a popka or a Griffin, I would you know,
I would go spend the whole day there fish daylight
to dark and then but you have to realize if
like let's say this time of year, you find a
shad spone at Griffin at seven o'clock and I ran
into this in the next tournament at hair I mean
at Saint John's, we can talk about that. But you
might find a shad spone at Griffin, but it's done
(02:57):
by eight thirty. You can't get there. So you've got
to figure out how to get a bite from nine
to two because that's the only time you're going to
be able to fish there. Now, you might fish there
all day daylight to dark, and then go back there
the next day if you caught some and figure out
if those fish, those shad spawn fish will bite you know,
during the middle of the day some different way, you know.
(03:17):
So I'm saying, so you just if you're going to
spend a long time getting to somewhere like at the Harristain,
you've got to be able to know you can get
bites in that you know, three to four hour window.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
So whenever I fished Florida, and I've really only gone
as a co, I don't think I've ever drugged my
boat down there and gone as a pro. But as
a co, what I've noticed a lot of pros do
is if you have to pick up your trolling motor
more than twice, you're going to lose that turnament.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
More than likely yes, because you just have to especially there,
you concentrate on an area when you find them biting
in practice, if they were biting off of this section
of pads, but then in the tournament they didn't bite
over there, but you got to bite like twenty yards away.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
You just kind of start expanding that area.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, because you you can't run to different lakes because
it takes so long to get there, to get there
and get back to where. In our format, you know,
we have a blast off and have to be back
in by a certain time, So you really cut down
your even the dead river and like the door canal,
it still is going to take up an hour and
a half of your time during the day.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I did watch most of the coverage that I could
because obviously our buddy Joseph Webster, Yeah, he's a midway
marine ranger Mercury pro, and he ended up finishing seventh
in the tournament, his first top ten. So I was like, man,
all the kudos, all the accolades to that, because you know,
as well as anybody you've won one. But it's hard
(04:39):
enough to get in the top ten.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Oh did it so hard? Like he figured a deal
out and actually out he basically out fished all of
us in Harrison Eustace. I mean, so, like I said,
hats off to him. He either had a bait figured out,
or maybe he was just stubborn enough to just, you know,
put his troumotor down and fish. I think it had
a lot to do with that. But like I said,
I was really proud of him.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
For sure. It looked like he was having fun.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I mean, honestly, I'm sure he was catching five pounders
all the time.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
I would have been giggling too, he told me, because
we would talk at the end of every tournament day
and He's like, Spenser, I'm just lucky enough to get
a five and a six pounder right there towards the
end of the day. I'm like, damn, dude, eleven pounds
that you're going to the scales with.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
I talked to him in the back line, I think
after day three, and he was like, caught my five
pounder this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Again.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I was like, hey, Bud, are you just making the
right moves at the right time.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
I mean it was almost like everywhere he went between
you guys would weigh in at like three or four o'clock,
he'd have to be in around those times between two and.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Four he would catch one.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
He would catch one, yeah, and it was I mean yeah,
and he had you know, luckily Bass was obviously checking
out his action and they were putting them up, and man,
I started I just started falling in love with some
of the hook sets that I was seeing because man,
he was sweeping them. Oh yeah, you know. I think
at one point he put up on social media that
he had to bust out the old broom because he
(05:59):
was sleeping look at them so good. But then I
was watching fascination on Instagram and they put up my buddy,
the Little Ball of eight West Logan. Damn, dude, I've
never seen you set the hook and damn near come
out of your shoes as much as you were doing
in Florida.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah. Yeah, the way I was fishing, dude, I had
to hit them hard. And you know, I had my
swimjig rod and sixty pound sunline braid and on my
swim jig. Dude, I was just when I would hook them,
I would do everything I could to get them out,
because I mean, them fishing onto Saint John's are strong
like the I don't know if someone's wrong with the
hair is chained, But dude, you'd hook one of them
and it would kind of fight for a second and
then kind of give up. Those fish on that river
(06:35):
are as main a fish I've ever fished for.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
So I noticed your arc rod you would set the hook.
I mean you were putting your back against the wall
and that rod just handled all the load. But I
don't think people really know this. How tall are you?
How much do you weigh? Five eight five eight one
fifty five? So when you're setting the hook, what size?
What size rod are you using? Primarily on sen giant.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
I used a seven six and a seven five all week,
so a longer rod.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
So for you to set that, cause it's different. I'm
six fives right, So for me that's a pretty average ride.
For you, that's a little bit longer.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Do you have to put that much pressure and power
into your body to really set the hook?
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I feel like I probably overdo it on some of
the pound and a half two pounders. Say, but here's
the thing.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
One you sent over like a rainbow.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
The thing about it is when they when they would
bite up in those lily pads or in those bushes,
you couldn't see if because the water was so black
and the fish or black, you get't know if it
was a two pound or a ten pounder. So I
was jerking as far as I could every time. But
the way the way my swim jigs design, it's not
a very like big diameter hook, so it's not gonna
tear a lot you. Basically, I was basically just wanting
to drive that hook into those you know, fish's mouth
(07:46):
as hard as I could, because when they got wadded
up in those lily pads, they it was either gonna
rip out or I could go get them without the
hook coming.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Are those the new ones that you have with arc? Yeah,
it is pretty slick. I saw them in Mark's Outdoors
in Birmingham, Alabam, and when I walked by, I was like, damn,
these are pretty good looking.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
They handled. They've handled every test I've put them up against.
I've caught multiple six to seven pounders on them and
not flexed any hooks with it not being everybody's always
has called me, they're like, man, the hook's a little small,
Like yeah, but the way we built it, the coating
that's on it, as sharp as it is, it's going
to penetrate a lot easier, and you're not going to
have them to flex it to get it through their
Wow do you have on it? It's one that we
(08:25):
built actually in arc so it's our hook that we
put in it. Really yeah, custom design. That's what took
the longest on the whole jig was getting that hook
exactly like we wanted it.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
So when you are picking out a swim jig, or
you're looking at a couple of prototype baits and things
like that, what do you like out of a swim jig?
Because you're known as like a swimjig.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Guy, I'm no expert.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
I mean feel that one's perfect like the one that.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's probably as close as I've ever seen. Between the
head design, the weed guard stiffness, the weed gyuard angle,
the angle of the hook. I don't like it from
the hook standpoint. I don't. Are you used to throw
a dirty jigs? Nojack, and I want a lot of
money on it, But it just seemed a little bit
over bearing, like too much if you were fishing around
two pounders to three pounders, which is normally a good
(09:11):
tournament fish like so I would just lose some fish
with that, just because the diameter. The hook was so big,
it was so it wouldn't hold a trailer great so.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
They couldn't get their mouth around it enough for you
to have room to set the hook.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
No, it was more of like when you did set
the hook, it was taking so much force to get
the thickness of that hook to go to penetrate. It
was tearing like their face.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
So making a bigger hole right where they.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Could come off. Like a lot of times you'd get
one in the boat and it would have a you know,
a gash and like two inches on the side of
its face where you did catch it. But you know,
I've caught some that landed at the troll motor that
I jerked out of the grass and it sits there
in phospher A second comes off and it might be
a three pounder where you just ripped a gape and
hole in it.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
See. But part of me feels like with as many
tournaments that are going on now and as many fish
are getting caught, there's a lot of retreads, a lot
of fish that have been beat up. And it's where
I mean, I've caught fish where they're missing half of
a job. I've caught fish where they've got huge gashes.
I caught a fish I think I say you a picture.
It was a crank bait fish and literally the crank
(10:11):
bait went through its mouth and it was being held
on by the gash in its mouth and the bill underneath.
Me as a novice fisherman, you know, not nearly as
much experience as somebody like you or Joseph or something
like that, I wouldn't think that I was doing any
of that. I would think that that's just kind of
the way the fish is. Do you feel the hooked
(10:32):
slip and knowing that you made a gash in that mouth?
Or doesn't just feel it? Does it? Is it a look?
Or is it just the fact that they come off
in the.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Boat normally, like you'll see them come off in the boat,
or they'll come off before they get in the boat,
and or like if you do catch and get him
in the boat, look at your jig would just fall
out because there's nothing holding it because the hole so big. Yeah,
that's that's the biggest thing that's always bothered me about,
you know, hooks on swim jigs and and the way
we built mine is it's it's a kind of a
(11:00):
compact deal like a compact jig, but it's not. So
we put a four alt gap on a no, we
put a five aft gap on a four alt shank.
And basically what that means is the shank is from
the head of the hook the jig correct, but you
still have the big bite. It's just not sticking way
out there allowing it to get hung up more.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I like that. I feel like that gives the hook
less resistance coming through any vegetation, but having that five
ID allows them to have something sturdier to get into
the actual roof of.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
The correct especially depending on what trailer you like to use.
If you like to use a little bit thicker trailer,
like the body of it where it goes onto the
hook shank, you're going to have more of a gap
in that fishes, you know, the top of his mouth.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
You do, like a Z craw or something like that,
A little smaller.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yeah, yeah, you'll even be better. The more gap you
can have from your trailer to the hook point, you're
better off for your hookup ratios.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, listen, I thought hair's chained, you know, day one.
I looked at bass track early and I was like, damn,
my boys, are due.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
We come out hot. The first morning, I was like,
oh boy.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
I remember I went into the studio to do the
Spencer Grave Show with Meghan and I sat down. I
was like Less and Joseph for six and seventh right
now and the boys are dominating and she goes there.
She goes, oh good, like do you think that's gonna last?
And I go, I feel like those guys know where
to find fish. And then I know you're a buddy
of mine, but it felt like you ran.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Out of fish. No, I did it just the I
had some. Like Day three at Saint John's and day
two at Harris Chain was just a disaster. I don't know.
I lost my first two bites day too at Harris
Chain were four pounders they come off, and I wasn't
getting very many good bites anyway. And then day three
at Harris I just didn't get any bites. I think
my area kind of got beat up. A couple of
(12:42):
the guys that I was fishing around didn't catch them either.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Well to me through day three, first two hours at harrismon, yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Day like I started bits, I got one, I had
one good you know, four four and a half. It
just didn't get to Spindner bait good. I didn't feel
like it did. I think it may have actually ate
the blades because I was able to, like, you know,
hit it and it kind of rolled on its side
and it just come on. H Yes, yes, that's why.
I mean, there's no way it didn't. Cause a lot
of times they'll come up. I had a bunch of
(13:10):
them actually eat the blades, but they were smaller ones,
and that one just happened to be, you know, a
good sized fish. But and then I just I kept
running around, kept thinking they were going to start biting,
and they never did. Looking back on it, Hindsight's twenty twenty,
I wish I would have ran the griffin. I had
a little area over there. I thought I could catch
ten or eleven pounds, which would have saved some points.
But you know, it is what it is on.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
On like you could play Monday morning quarterback. Yeah, beauty
of having this podcast.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Yeah, And man, to be honest with you, it's my
fault because I didn't even it. Never once I got
committed to Harris and Eustace, it never crossed my mind again,
which is how I want, because I don't want nothing
in the back of my mind. But after I got
back home and everything calm back down, I was sitting there.
I was like, man, I probably should have ran over there,
but you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
Well, tell Riley your wife that she did a kick
ass job on social media.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
She's killing it, ain't she's it looks good too.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And I love that she did a video the other
day where she gave herself a little pat on the back.
Oh yeah, and we were like, well, who's holding the camera?
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Absolutely yeah, I mean she's making it look professional and
well we don't even have a camera, like, she's just
doing it with her phone, So she's she's doing really well.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Okay, when you're in the way in line, because you
you have a you've got a signature move, like I
could ultimately see this packaged on a couple of your
swim jigs. You're the only guy I know that is
consistently photographed and videoed crouching next to the bait tank. Yeah,
like using the bait tank to hold yourself up? Is
(14:35):
that you're Do you realize that's becoming your signature move?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
No? The only reason I'm doing this because I'm about
to fall over because my shoulders, my shoulder, I'm just like,
I gotta sit there. I and sat down hardly all day.
But yeah, I've uh, these last two were really bad.
I'd get in and I could hardly pick my arm up.
But you know it. But yeah, I have noticed that
all the videos at the tank, I'm either I got
my knee on the tank and I'm leaned over or
I'm squat squatted down.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
I'm like, you got your a little look.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, yeah, a lot of times I'm upset that I
didn't catch them.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
But do the guys say anything to you in the
line after Riley's done shooting a video, because I mean
she's up close and personal.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Not much, No, not a whole lot of people talking
to me in the back line. They don't they don't
really know that they've they've become a little bit timid
around me at the back line.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Why is that?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Well, some days could be good. Some days when it's bad,
it's bad. Well, I don't have the nickname for the
little ball of hates. Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
I was watching bass track and you know, obviously Joseph
was catching a couple fives and sixes and felt like
he had pretty good fish to maybe get the big
fish of the tournament, all that kind of stuff. But
Jacob Rosnik begging rolling in, and I mean, I'm hearing
every angler up there saying, oh, there's a big fish
back there. You guys, get ready, and I'm hoping it
(15:48):
was going to be Jojo just walking out there like, hey, man,
got ourselves, Like I thought that was gonna be it.
And when Jacob came out and he showed that ten pounder,
I was absolutely floored. But you have to take everybody
through the backside of what happens behind Dave Mercer in
the way in line. If you catch a nine or
ten pounder, you know you have the big fish of
(16:10):
the tournament. Yeah, did Jacob just walk up there and goes, guys,
I got one, whether he had three fish, four fish,
five fish, one.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Fish somehow before he ever got in line, everybody when
I walked up, everybody was already talking about it.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
So I don't know if he had told one person.
He had to have been on bass track then somebody.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
He may have told somebody when he pulled up, because
when I walked up there, like, man, Jacob's got a
big one, I was like, how big is it? And
they're like I nine, eleven, ten twelve. I was like,
good God. And then when he walked up, everybody was like,
you know, let me see it, let me see it.
And he picked it up. It's like, gosh, almighty, it
was like as long tall as it was long. It
was a big one.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Y'all become kids at that point, right, Like you see
a big fish like that, and it kind of brings
you back to like everybody wants.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
To see this, especially one that big. Like I mean everybody.
You know a lot of people have some sixes and
five down there in Florida, but you catch an eight
to ten pounder, like everybody wants.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
It's a big one.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
It's a big one for anybody. I mean, we're professionals.
We don't catch ten pounders all the time.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
But like Hamner, you know, catching the fish that he
caught it for, Yeah, it's like I loved his line.
He's like, I've never caught a ten pounder and I
still think that's great. When you are in the bagline
and Jacob comes in, he's got a big old fish.
What's the feeling that hits you if you hear that
(17:27):
somebody's got an absolute giant do you immediately start grilling, like, well,
how many fish does he have? Or you know, do
you think do you guys look at bass track once
you're in the way in line?
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Definitely?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
I mean a lot of us grab our phone as
soon as we check in just to kind of see
how you know, I actually don't that much.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Why not? I feel like that's a set list before going.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
I don't know. It bothers me like if I'm real
close to the cut or something, because bass track's not
ever accurate, like to a t like a lot of
people won't have marshals or they won't put it in right.
I'm I put money into the ounce like every time.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
But hang on, isn't there a thing in bass where
after every tournament, the angler that was closest to their
actual total weight gets like a checker.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I wanted it a Saint John's. I want a thousand dollars. Ye,
just this last week. Really, I just got the check
in the mail. Yes, so you get a.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Thousand bucks if you're just to your weight? Do you
feel Because I've ridden in the boat with a couple
pros and I would name drop the one, but I'm
pretty sure he doesn't want anybody to know he'd catch
a fish. I mean it was a good one, damn
good one. And I knew how I mean, you know it.
And he was funny as hell. He look over and
(18:37):
he goes putting two pounds. Let's let him make him
sweat a little bit.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
And personally, I was like, okay, I understand that side
of it, but as somebody who's a fan of fishing,
there's a lot of people that are on bass track.
They want to know what.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I've never understood that because here's the deal. Let's say
they're not.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Doing it for the fans. They're doing it to mess
with you guys, I guess.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
But like, I don't, I don't look at I don't.
I didn't realize that many guys looked at bastraight to
begin with. And we're not and we're not supposed to
in the tournament.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
No, But that's how guys get the nickname or the
persona of being a sandbager. I mean, we know you,
and I know some personally. Oh yeah, they roll up
and they're like, I got fifteen pounds to you, Like,
damn dude, yeah you can't count that.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Well, yeah, and they do get a little bit of
a bad rap with the fans, I will say that
because they just get tired of looking at it.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
What happens like with other anglers, Like if you know
what guys in known sandbag does, does that kind of
get discounted in your mind where you're.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Just like I don't even want I don't even I
don't really pay any attention to what they got. Like
that's why I don't like bass track looking at it
before I go away in cause like I've already figured
out wherever I'm at on bass track, normally drop down
if I've got exactly what I put in there, Normally
you take about ten places off and that's where you're
gonna be. Really, it's it's pretty like it's really close
about every time. So you've got and you got to
(19:55):
take into count. Like if people don't have a marshal,
they don't want to take the time out of fishing
day to put them in.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
No, you just got to bite. You want to get
right back to the hole.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Right, I do mine, Like if I'm by myself, when
I go to move, I'll put in if I've called
anything as I'm running somewhere.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Because y'all have the app Yes, well, I remember as
a Marshall, I had to download the app. So you
just have the app up on your phone. You go back,
you throw your Mustang Survival jacket on, you immediately.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Hit open the app. It's real sick. We open the app,
it's says bad fish the way you know. Submitting it's
it's literally takes ten seconds.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Which is which is great because obviously you're giving a
detailed account of how big that fish is. It stinks
because then the information gets input in maybe twenty minutes later. Yeah,
so you don't really know. Like everybody's on pins and needles.
I just appreciate the guys are doing. Yeah, and I
don't want to see I don't want to see professional
tournaments get to the point where like MLF is now
(20:48):
where you weigh the fish.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And then it's all amount yeah, because you lose the suspense.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Yeah, I like the idea. I mean, I'm also a
big fan. On Day four, final day of the tournament.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Track and get new Yeah that's what I was thinking.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
You fish for another couple hours.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Nobody knows.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Nobody know.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
They used to do that at the Classic a while,
but I don't know when they stopped doing it. But
that that builds a lot because you don't know what happened.
And I mean we're running bass live the whole tournament
days now. Like like when I caught that fish, the
four pound youre talking about the detch, I caught it
with like ten minutes left, Like normally they cut it
off at like one and you'd never know what happened
for the next two hours. But I mean people want
(21:25):
to people want to see the live stuff, but the
bass track deal. The one thing I'd like to say
is when you put that if you're catching them really
good on bass track and like early in the morning,
like that first that hairs chain when I did, I
didn't have a big bag, but I jumped up real fast.
Well there's I bet I had thirty companies and people
share that on their socials like that morning. Sure, when
I got back in, I could sit and I'm like,
(21:47):
so you're getting all that exposure even though you hadn't
done great. You jumped up real fast, so your name's
out there, like, hey, let's keep up with West the
rest of the tournament.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
But that's also a side of the entertainment.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Is entertainment one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
Yeah, I want to see somebody set the hook like
a fucking monster. That's what I just want to see
you Jack, right. Yeah, But when I when I watched
some tournaments, and like, I also realize that there's some
baits that you kind of have to finesc do that
nice sweep. And that's why I appreciated Jojo on.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Some of his he was sweeping.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
He literally made this dude. His personality came out like
crazy at Harris Jean because he looked back at his
camera and he go, it's fixing to get right across
his body. And I know his personality, but I love
the fact that I started to see that I know
your personality. So when I watch clips of you and
(22:38):
I see you set the hook, it's true. I'm like
he's mad at the world right now.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
I'm I'm pretty I'm pretty intense when I'm out there.
And that's the thing, Like I had a live camera
that second day, and man, I'm not going to talk
a lot, like I'm not that guy now. I mean,
if everything goes great and we got a good big
lead or something, I thought, but I know I'm out
there to fish, like I'm out there to do my job,
and you're there watching and yes, I will like explain
what I'm doing, but that cutting up and not like Joseph,
(23:04):
but like when them guys catch one and they're at
all giggly and running around that that ain't my deal.
Like we're there to fish. We're there to put fish
in the boat. Like I'm gonna show you how I fish.
You've got a camera, You're able to see exactly how
I've caught my fish. Like that's what we're there for.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
There was an interesting thing that took place. I don't
know if it was Harris Chain or if it was
Saint John's. Trey mc kenny got a penalty mm hm.
He ran through a no wag zone that wasn't in
no wag zone any other time. Saint John's bass made
it in a no wag zone for the tournament. A
lot of people don't realize that that you guys have
state laws, yes, laws on the actual body of water,
(23:43):
but then you also have bass rules that you have
to fall. So before every tournament, do you guys have
a zoom meeting? Is there a sit down meeting? And
is that where you guys go over the rules?
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, we have a miss lease. Our tournament director will
send out a link in our text message that is
I don't think it's zoom, but I don't know. It's
a it's a video deal.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
And you get on there and watch the record it.
You just watch it.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, she'll record, she'll record it, send us to it it.
Normally she sends it the day for the tournament, from
between three and six o'clock, like you know when it's coming.
You just kind of it comes right after you get
your boat numbers, so like you can't miss it and
you are required to why it's just like going to
a meeting, like the sit down meet. Obviously we don't
have those no more. And I mean they explain it
(24:25):
to a t very well. And she said straight up
on the CSX Buffalo Bridge is no wake for safety reasons.
I went back and listened to it again after he
said that it wasn't posted no wake.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
So do you treat that like a high school thing
where it's like you want to you want to scroll
the way to the back, and just said, accept.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I don't even supposedly he admitted that he never even
opened it.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
Oh really yeah, well he did get the penalty you
got was an hour and a half where everybody blasted off.
He blasted off, but then he had to sit at
the dock for an hour, and that's right. I don't
know what penalty would have been the right decision. I
feel like an hour and a half is actually a
pretty good penalty because that bite in the morning, if
you're missing an hour and a half of that, And
(25:10):
it proved to be costly for him because that was
a very bad day as far as being on the water.
I think he ended up getting a limit that day.
But if he had that hour and a half back,
and the fact that he's a rookie so he's trying
to get into this world, I don't think he'll ever
miss another one of those videos again.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
No, I would advise him to not. And the next
thing is like there was a big discussion I saw
in some comments about him getting snitched on or rated
out or see. What people don't understand is in our rules,
if we us as an angler, see somebody break a
(25:47):
rule and we don't say something, and then they get
caught and they know that we saw it, we're both guilty.
We're not guilty as the other.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Yeah, you're an accessory exactly because you witnessed creat fraction.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
If I saw him run through there, and I was
just like, just Trey well, and then somebody finds out, well,
Wes will fish or not blow that bridge? And I
saw Trey run thought as Wes said anything, west Ain't
said nothing. Well, then Wes gets a phone call, Hey,
why didn't you? Why you call us?
Speaker 1 (26:11):
And I love the fact. I mean, there are a
lot of guys in bass that are really good at
self monitoring, self governing. You know, I've watched a lot
of videos Palamick the year that you won way Lake
or sorry not late Neeli Henry the year you won
Neely Henry Pallainick called Lisa and says, I got a
really weird thing that happened. H I want to explain
(26:33):
it to you. Let me know what you think. And
he had to take time out of catching fishing. I mean,
he was catching fish almost every other cast. But the
fact that he called in swindle the same exact thing
he was in a tournament. He did something with a fish.
I don't know if he was caught on the outside
or whatever the infraction was, but he didn't have anybody
in the boat. And I remember he put out a
video where he's like, look there's other guys that won't
(26:55):
do this. I am going to make this phone call
because ethics is a big thing. If we lose ethics
and fishing, we are not going to have tournaments. Because now,
you know, going down the list of tournament trails, you're
at the top of the top of the Bass Master Elites.
You got the Bass Pro Tour with MLF, but then
MLF has a lot of different steps all the way
(27:15):
down to you know, Weekend Warriors and bfls. There's a
lot of talk right now that co anglers are just
not signing up anymore because they don't want to get
caught behind a Weekend Warrior who thinks they know live
scope really well as big as some of the polls do.
They don't want to sit out there for eight hours.
I can understand that I fished in the back of
the boat. I totally understand that. But the problem that
(27:36):
I see is if you start making all these lower
tier tournaments become solo boaters, you're going to see the
amount of infractions of cheating go up. And how do
you monitor that when you've got two hundred and fifty
boats on a Saturday camp right?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Yeah, and like and like Slick posting on TikTok, Slick
Johnson said the other he said, fishermen, there's some bass fishermen,
then they are gonna cheat as long as a doll
runs barefooted. Ye, And he's one hundred percent right. We
don't need it in professional fishing or any kind of
fishing tournament fishing. But it's it's obviously, you know, getting
more relevant, the cheating and the felling polygraphs and all that,
(28:16):
and it's just there's there's no need for it. And
I don't know, maybe people need to be made examples
of like they did back in the day where I'm
not gonna say what they did, but they made it
a point that you don't need to come back around
here cheating.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Shoot, let's talk about the Walleye tournament guys. Yeah, that
that story, when viral as viral can be, that was
even bigger than the fishing community. Yeah, you know, I
had people calling me in They're like.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Yeah, it was all over the news and everything.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
They're like, y'all do this do you stuff filats and
pass And I'm like, that's Walleye guys, Like they do
something completely. Do you guys put wits and fishing I'm like,
I don't even have time.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
No, but what I'm whatever even think to do that?
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Like, it's just see, those guys have been doing it
for several times. I mean we're talking, We're talking over
multiple seasons, multiple tournaments, multiple boats, won a lot of
one hundred thousand dollars. I mean in the grand scheme,
it is stealing.
Speaker 2 (29:04):
Yeah, that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, because you guys, the objective is different. But you
guys are playing high stakes poker. Yeah, you take five
thousand dollars, you say, bass, here's my money. They go,
you qualified to be here, You're in the tournament.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
I'm playing for that hunter you're in.
Speaker 1 (29:21):
Yeah, it's up to you. As soon as guys start
cheating and starting stealing from that pot, that kiddie you
are stealing from a casino, and as soon as it
gets caught out. And I mean, I love the fact
that you know, in Alabama, there's a kid I won't
say his name, but there's a kid in Alabama who
has failed two polygraphs and has become you know, the
(29:43):
black eye of even local tournaments. I was talking about
Tuesday night ers, church tournaments. Just most people would say
silly tournaments like sixty bucks. But I'm telling you, if
I find out you cheated in a tournament where I
paid sixty bucks, I'm not mad about the money. I'm
mad did the fact that you feel that you can
get away with check.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
That's exactly right, Small, Yes, that's a great way to
say it, because here, Yes, I mean there's some guys
around the area that I fished that Neeli Henry Logan
Martin that I mean they failed multiple polygraphs and yeah,
you might get one. I mean there was one is
this where it was a couple of years ago. It
was just an evening tournament deal, a little championship, and
they didn't tell him they were behind the polygraph. Well,
(30:25):
he won, and he took the polygraph and failed it,
and he lost his mind, you know, acted the full
and went and paid for another lit detector to do
it again to prove he was innocent and failed that
one too. So dude, like how I and man, there
was times where there's guys that show up to these
little evening tournaments and you know, four hour tournaments. If
(30:48):
they show up and they let them fish, well to
get our money back and go home. Oh yeah, yeah,
it's happened two or three times, and it really just
proves a point.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Like that's why I do love social media for this,
because you know, there's a guy that's pretty active on
social media and he's just a weekend warrior, really solid
guy around the area, and he is not letting anybody
forget that somebody failed apology es. And what I like
about it is, if that guy showed up to a tournament,
I already know what he looks like. I already know
what his name is. He's got enough of a black
(31:15):
cloud that circulates and follows him, whether he wants to
say he's not guilty or whatever. Yeah, I mean, if
you show up to a tournament, I see you. I'm
not fishing no, And I'm going to tell everybody else
this dude's failed multiple PolyGram.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Yeah, he's going to win today, Like just I don't
care what you catch today. He's going to be the
last one to weigh in. He'll beat you by a
little bit and he'll have a big fish. Every single time.
It's like ritting on the wall, and like it happens
that it just blows my mind that it just continues
to be okay.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
And I hope more tournament directors look at that and
they go, we can't allow that. No, we just we
can't do that. Okay, let's switch gears to Saint John
real quick, because I definitely want to talk about the
difference in Harris Chain being a bunch of lake that
are all connected by canals and something like Saint John's,
(32:04):
which is a title fisher m.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
Hm, completely different.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I mean, what's what's the thought process when you go
into something like Saint John's where you know you're gonna
deal with water coming in and water going out.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Yeah, Luckily we've I think for a lot of us
we had been there. You know, we've been there multiple times,
not that time, at this time of year, but you
kind of had somewhere you could start, like to try
and figure out something in two days, because man two
and it's really truthfully, you say two days, you're not
going to fish all day on Wednesday, like you're gonna
be dead by the time. You know, you're not gonna
fish till dark. So you really get about two and
(32:36):
a half or a day and a half, you just
kind of I mean what I did. I just covered
as much water as I could, I fished as fast
as I could if I'd get a bite, I would
just you know, kind of figure out what was going
on in that area. How I got the bike and
I'd move, you know, eight or ten miles down the
river and see if I could duplicate it or find
another little area you could get a bite. And I
just basically I don't do this a lot, but I
(32:57):
waypointed every bite I got, whether it was a twelve
venture or a four pounder, and I and I basically
sampled all those places during the tournament. So I think
a lot of us kind of figured out what bait
to use or what area that you wanted to be in,
and then just broke it down during the tournament setting
the hook on those twelve inentures or yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Okay, So in in practice you're setting the hook because
you want to see what sized fish you got.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yeah, and that's that's right. And a lot of times
and one thing you got to watch in Florida and
on Saint John Driver there's a lot of mudfish, a
lot of bow fenn, grin or whatever you want to
call them. So you had to check because the first
bite I got was to the first two bites were
both grin, and I was like, I'm gonna jerk till
one of them's a bath. And then basically just I
think with the tide, with that water moving up and down,
(33:44):
hardly ever, are you gonna pitch on this stump right
here or this log and a two pounder you shake
off a two pounder. That two pound is not gonna
be there tomorrow. He could be gone in two hours
or an hour, but there may be another one that
swam up. So you just kind of figured out, hey,
I can get a bite on this hide on the
down current side of the log, where if you find
another one, you know, you kind of put it together.
Speaker 1 (34:05):
How much information do you find out, like when the
water's coming up, when the water goes out, because a
lot of people think it's just rise and fall, it's
it's in and out. Yeah, but if you're fishing an
area and you've got lily pads, are we talking about
a three inch difference when the water is low? No?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
We were well at Saint John's. We were where I
was fishing was like a foot and a half real foot,
you know, sixteen inches at twelve to sixteen inches?
Speaker 1 (34:29):
And were you getting better bites when water was up?
Speaker 3 (34:32):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (34:32):
It was more of it just needed to be moving
one way or the other. Because with a tide situation,
I'm not a tied expert by no means, but you
have like a forty five minute to hour two times
different during the day that's just dead. It's not moving.
It's either a dead low or a dead high. It
was not good at all like that. You could fish
over the best stretch on the river and not get
(34:53):
a bite.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
So your goal in the morning, knowing if it's dead low,
dead high, you're like, I gotta fish my best stuff
at this time, at this time, and then when it's
a dead zone, yes, maybe I'll go over to some
more traditional things that usually catches them. And basically so
the tide is trying to manufacture a bike.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
The the times of the tide during the two days
of practice were a lot better for me for what
I feel like I was doing. And it had I
got one last day of it on day two or
day one when I had the big bag and I
started running out of the coming off of a high
tide coming to the low. That makes sense. So when
we were when we started off practice, the low tide
(35:34):
was at like I don't know, six thirty in the morning,
so as we started practice, you had an incoming tide
for like four hours, so you had constant current. The
water's coming up, they're wanting to feed. Well. Then around
lunch it would be a you know, a dead high
and then at one o'clock it would turn and be
coming back out, so you most of your day the
water was moving well. As the tournament progressed, the low
(35:55):
tide ended up being around eight thirty or nine, so
you would have a dead at nine and a dead
around three.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
Is that based on the moon cycle?
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
I just know.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
There's a lot of charts out there and you can
put in for this section. The weird thing is an
app that that I haven't found app I just look
on the internet. I know a lot of the I
think Garman has a deal it built in their graph.
Speaker 1 (36:19):
Because like some of the guys from Virginia, John Cruz Schmid,
those guys they fished a lot of title fish. James, Yeah,
you start going up more into that Chesapeake coastal side.
Speaker 2 (36:29):
You know.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
Piznik's the same way. Even Ike and Ellis has fished
a lot of title places, so they kind of get
a leg up in places absolutely, it's.
Speaker 2 (36:38):
It's a weird deal. I'm not a fan of tide
because you can fish. They don't have that on the
co Yeah you could, you could fish. You can fish
through a great area and it be the wrong time
and you never know it right like so, and that
was another thing, like with just getting one or two
bites on a stretching practice. Well you may say, well
I caught a pound and a half or here with
(36:59):
the tide do and then well what if I check
it when it's like this, I might catch three or four.
And that happened to me on day two. I went
down stretch, I'd caught one twelve incher and then I
ended up catching like three two pounders. That I mean,
it helped me at the time, but like they just
move so much. But the weird thing about the tide
there is I don't know if it's the wind blowing
or what, but sometimes when it's scheduled to do one thing,
(37:22):
it's not. It's completely wrong and then it just jumbles
everything up.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
How did the bass react on low to high tide?
A little more lethargic on low and a little more
active on high.
Speaker 2 (37:36):
More they get very lethargic if it's not moving like
you can and you can watch it stop in a
matter of minutes, and everything will just stop and then
all of a sudden in forty five minutes, and you
can watch your clock here, it'll come back the other way.
And when it starts coming back that other way, you
better get to where you think you can catch them.
I mean I would just fish my way, just bouncing
(37:57):
around on stuff, and when i'd see the tide move, dude,
I'd run twenty or fifteen miles the other way so
I could get to where I thought I wanted to
be with that tide. Not necessarily running the tide, but
knew what area of the river I wanted to be
in when it was at a certain.
Speaker 1 (38:09):
You certainly don't want to get too far away from
where you were getting activity.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
No, definitely not.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
I mean I know some guys were Rodman, and they
were like, I'm going to stay here.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah, well you don't have to see you have No,
that's the only deal with Robin. You have no tide
like once you you know, figure them out over there.
But and I started practicing, I had a lot of
guys figured them out over there. No, well they don't
for some reason they will not live on the bank
over there, Like I don't know if it's so clear,
but it's it's just a big timber pond basically what
looks like. I've caught them over there one time when
they were spawning on the bank, but other than that,
(38:39):
it's it's they get out there in that timber on
them bait balls and you know, start schooling and stuff
and they just you know, life scope really dominates in
that pond.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
This has been lines in Times and Spencer Graves that's
vas Elite West logan, the little ball of hate.
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