Ep. 84: Bucktailing With My Carp Dealer

This week, we travel the globe in Jeff Bezos’ version of the Tuggy sandbox, explain the importance of casting to where the fish are, arm ourselves with knowledge to ward of a plague of smallmouth bass, and cast handmade swimbaits into branches just slightly out of reach. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Really, Richard, I think that the issue here, which we
can talk more about, Um, you're not casting to where
they are. Honestly, when it comes to baits, you want
to be pigeonholed as a Japanese maker because they're on
held on high regarden. My bad on that for totally
being the guy who told you Bruce Willis is dead
the whole time. In the sixth sense, if you have
to take a plant with you to go out into nature,

(00:28):
you don't belong there. Man. There's a nice thing about nature. Man,
there are lots of plants already out there. Good morning
to generate anglers. And welcome to Ben the fishing podcast
that sees one tiny tool that pop through the mulch
and just assumes there's ship blowing up on top water
somewhere all of a sudden. I'm Joe Surmeli, and I'm
the equally optimistic Hayden Samac. Yeah. So yeah, why did

(00:51):
I do that? Because? Man, is it's starting to feel
a lot like spring where I am. I can't say
spring has sprung, but I can say it is springing,
and a long term forecast looks good. That we talked
about some croppy action last week they're they're starting to
go trout openers coming up for the Stocker Mobile people
out there. I love you guys, um, But yeah, dude,

(01:12):
on the terrestrial side, we've got some buds on the
trees starting to see some some some signs of things
waking up, shall we say? But that is not the
case for you yet, is it, my friend? No, No, Montana,
We're still like a little ways away from signs of spring, um,
and we will be for a while. Man, That's just
how it is. But as long as I'm living vicariously

(01:35):
through you, what do you have on your early spring agenda?
Now before we get there real quick, because I know
that you are a little bit of a of a
mushroom guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a little bit of
a mushroom guy. Um. Yes, that's so, that is on
my agenda. But that's gonna be. That's gonna be April,
mid April around here. Are you going for Morrel's. Yes,

(01:56):
that is the thing I will be doing very shortly,
thanks to uh some mental ring from a local buddy
who who opened my eyes to it. I said, these
do not exist here, and he said, well come look
at this, and it's like once somebody lets you in,
you can you can figure it out. So yeah, that's
coming up. Um schad of course, which I brought up
last week. There's there's the shad. Fishing is one thing,

(02:17):
but also just when you live on a on a
river like I do, where there's a spring runs of
things and nadrumus fish. Uh, it's not just those andronyms
andronymous strain um. Yeah, you know, it's just like this awakening.
It's sort of like once those fish, those shad and
and the herrings start running the river, it's just like

(02:38):
the kick off to everything. I know once they're there
that I can now get both into bite and now
I know once they're there, there's gonna be the migratory
stripers coming up, and I know the catfish are gonna
be easier to catch it and more woken up. So
it's just like this whole just bristling of life. I
love a river in spring. I love a river in spring,
I really do. Yeah. Well, you know, I've officially booked

(02:59):
my tickets back and I am going to be around
from about like the twenty three of April and until
the I think like the fifth or the sixth of may,
so we'll have to link up out there now. I'm
again I'm particularly jealous of your early jump on spring
and one of the things that I'm particularly jealous of

(03:21):
is those deep shad induced bends you'll be putting in
your rods, and those rods will be made by our
sponsors thirteen fishing, Dude, I'm trying to pick out a
couple of setups out here for for ice off, and
I'm like struggling, man, I like, so I want something

(03:42):
for Wally and maybe something I control around for like coconese. Now,
you are a much more seasoned conventional angler than I am,
and I know you have some thoughts on this. Yeah. Well,
so to be clear, right, thirteen doesn't really doesn't really
make a a a dedicated trolling rod. And but I

(04:04):
will say this, I have a lot I spent a
lot of time with the Fate steel Head rods right
for four Chat as a matter of fact, and while
they're certainly not advertised as trolling rods, they have a
very similar length and taper and action um to to
like Walleye trolling rods. Okay, well, I mean, because what
what are you? What are you trolling? You have do
you have a boat to do this out of? I

(04:25):
assume you're not gonna troll on land. I well, I
got my eye on one of those square tail old towns. Okay,
it's like a little four horse on there and like
you know, putter around some of the reservoirs. That gotcha. Gotcha?
So I mean, do you intend to use planer boards
like you're going all in the whole deal? Well, I
certainly not down riggers. Well yeah, it'd be a little

(04:48):
cat lamp us. Yeah, you know planer boards. Sure, yeah,
So maybe like the eight foot six inch steel head
rods another thing too, Uh not that I do a
lot with planer boards, but you can get very small ones.
Guys actually use them for for crappy fishing more than
wall eyes. So like with one of those really light

(05:09):
lyndy um planer boards with those rods, I actually think
that would be a really good trolling setup. I mean,
if you're into trolling, which I'm not, but you know,
do your thing, you do you. I I think it'd
be really cool man, And like you know, I don't know,
it's a it's a fun way to uh to spend
a little like uh, like you know, you're camping, you
want to go fishing. You don't want to like monitor

(05:29):
everyone messed around with uh with like you know, casting rods.
You don't want to do that whole song dance speaking
of though, Like what about a casting setup? I mean, dude,
I use like the Omen black seven ft one medium
or medium light for I mean for pretty much everything. Right,
get get those and you're set. Um as far as reels,

(05:51):
I don't know. I assume you're you're you're talking spinning rails.
Are you are you going to bait caster round? Who
do you think? I am? Man? You know you know
I still get using a bait caster. Dude. I got
a bird's nest when I was about twelve years old,
and my dad's like fancy new setup, and I'm like
still scarred by the still still still traumatic. Yeah, yeah, okay,

(06:12):
all right, yeah I should have known that. Um, well,
spinners reazy, right, Kalen C like size three oh would
be great. Um I don't know, as long as you
get the right size, it's it's kind of hard to
go wrong with with any of them. But um, I've
been using Kalon's for a ton of stuff this this
past season. Lake Trout all the way down to the
little ones for trout and panfish. M hm alright, well thirteen, Uh,

(06:33):
this is your formal notice. There's an email inbound anyway. Hey,
you and I were talking about doing a Bent podcast
opening Day spectacular in a couple of weeks. But we
all know that fish wait for no man and opening
days is a Saturday to a lot of us. So
let's talk about early spring fishing. I'm talking like ice
off ultra early first trip type ship. Yeah, and I

(06:56):
have I have just the guy for that, um with
with the bay it's for that. Uh. This week on
on our Makers segment, we're gonna be joined by Brent
Hashimoto of Hashimoto Concept and he's gonna talk about baits
and bass. But particularly what we're gonna touch on a
little bit is how these larger swim baits, right, and
there's a whole scene around swim baits, um why they

(07:18):
come into play in the early season no matter where
you live. Today, we're doing our tool Time salute with
a real classic handmade Well that's a good looking rome, yeah,

(07:39):
well this is handmade quality ship we're talking here joining
us today for Makers. I'm very excited about this. The
second guest on the Makers segment, Mr Brent Hashimoto of
Hashimoto Concepts. What's going on man? How much guys appreciate
you guys having me? It's an honor. How's how's everything

(08:00):
north of the border there? So you're up in Ontario? Correct? Yeah? Yeah?
And when Uh, Now, if you've been with Ben for
a while, you you you probably recognize some of Brent's work.
And it's funny because when I when I reached out
to you, Brent, you're a You're a humble guy, and
you're like, you know, there are much better swim bait makers,
that's what you do that than me, which I understand.
There's so many guys doing this stuff out there. There's

(08:21):
so many people we could cover, but we have some history. Man.
You you've made a killer bait for a Bent contest
a long time ago. And I've also gotten a chance
to fish some of your stuff. So um, while, while
I'm sure we'll we'll do some other swim bait guys
down the road. Uh. It was important to me for
you to be first, man, because I I love what
you make. I very much appreciate that what I mean,

(08:42):
and you guys have always been super supportive of me
from the beginning, and like I said, coming from a
guy that you guys appreciate just the garage builders, the
basement builders being that to the core, like just literally
having a basement that I am able to produce this in.
You guys have always been super supportive. Yeah, man, I
mean that's that's very much what we're about. And um, yeah,

(09:02):
we we we like folks that just make cool stuff.
That's like the that's like the whole deal do There's
so many big box brands, so many folks that are
you know, there are just so many folks that get
lost in that wash and don't get the exposure that
they deserve. And ultimately it not only benefits you, but
it benefits the people using your gear because they end

(09:23):
up getting turned onto all these either you know, cool
pieces of equipment they didn't think of, or better quality
products than they previously had access to. Man, it's just
a win win for everybody for sure. Yeah. But I
also think that, um, you know, it's a very pertinent
time of year to talk about the kind of baits

(09:43):
that you make now, so everybody knows you make both
hard baits and hand poard soft plastics, right, Um, you know,
and there's a misconception I think with with swim baits
that these are just big fish lures, and a lot
of guys like Oliver and I have proven like that's
not necessarily the case, like not just fishing them for
ten pound bass, you know, as as like a need

(10:04):
a fight to the world of like swim baits. I'll
tell you what. Growing up and like you know, watching
a bunch of for instance, muskie fishing videos, right that
is totally the impression that I'm under. So I I
think that I'm going to be representative of a lot
of listeners here. Well, I think loosely speaking and brand

(10:26):
if I'm speaking out of turn, let me know, like, um,
you know, in the southern US right now, you're probably
already starting to come into the spawn, and these big
baits certainly have application there with fish that are you know, defending.
And then in the north, further north, you're getting to
that ice out in the in the farther north, you know,
much further up, and sort of in the mid range
of the country where I am now, it's just starting

(10:46):
to be that pre spawn time. So in all those applications,
it's a great time of year when when fish are
looking for a fairly big meal, so it's a great
time to fish these kind of lawyers. Now, I'm not
a large mouth guy, so I have not thrown the
lawyer you've given me at any large mouth. But I've
already caught stripers on it. I posted those pictures a
while back river stripers. But um, you know, being from Canada,
give us a little bit of the backstory, dude, How

(11:08):
did how did you get into bait making? What? What
triggered all this bait? Well, I mean it actually had
nothing to do with baits in general. I went through
a knife making phase and I made knives like the
forged and fire style. I had a little forged I
made knives and I love doing it, but I have
a small family and time restraints. Srimuted me for getting

(11:30):
things hot, banging out metal. It's so, but I found
myself really focusing on the handles. I did custom knives
for people. I would shake their hands, I would feel
their hand, and then I would carve a handle that
fit perfectly. It was about the details. Hold on a second, wait,
would you only shake their hands once and know the dimensions?
How does that work? Will you get It's not like

(11:53):
the contour of their hand. It's the feel of their hand,
the size of their hand, the bulk of their hand.
Some guys have small hands. They want to you know
that a more narrow handle will fit in that hand,
got it? The big bear paw guys, you can put
a little bit more girth on the wood when it
when it comes to make an handle. So but I
found myself making knives just to make the handles. A

(12:16):
fisher my whole life. I have an art background. I
love carving. I've always loved woodwork. And it was actually
talking to my buddy Carson about Bates and it just
kind of lined up that I was like, oh, there's
a world where you can do that. Let's let's just
try to take a piece of wood and see what
you can do with it. And when I say it
evolved overnight, I mean it's a rabbit hole that I

(12:41):
they're still chasing. It's it's something else. But that's kind
of the origin in it. It came from handles into
making a custom bait. Uh, and then just kind of
living my life. Sure now and now so everybody knows
you this is still you are not doing this full time, right,
this is still a side project for you. Um, but

(13:01):
I've always been impressed by the amount of I mean,
you are always posting new stuff, which tells me side projects.
You're not man like. This is not like, well, I'll
make one bait this month. You are. You are getting
after it. And like I said, you do the hand
poured swim baits thing. And we can touch on that
a little bit. But there's sort of two worlds like
that's it's that's a cold in and of itself. And

(13:21):
there are guys who believe in advantages to a handpoard
bait versus a injection molded bait. But you know I'm
I'm most interested in in the hard baits. So now, um,
these days is everything you're making in that genre? Would
are you playing with composites and things now too? I
I mainly deal in order to keep up to the

(13:42):
the orders that I do. Get Uh, you kind of
have to. I shouldn't say have to, but for me,
it's more feasible to work with resin. So I carr.
I hand carved all my masters. I do all of
the swim test everything on wood, get it to where
I want it, and then I pour a master mike
my own olds, and then with resin, I then develop

(14:02):
debait from there. So then I go wreath, do all
the weighting of it, make sure it works specific because
the thing I've learned about swim baits is that the
guys that fish swim baits are very particular on how
the swim works, and I mean to the point where
I never ever would have realized the details. And that's

(14:22):
one of the cool things about this world is that
the guys that are usually buying these baits, they're very
custom in their own right. So they want to be
able to have it very very slow suspend or floats
so that they can put the exact amount of lead
tape on the base, so that they can have it
sync at their own rate like it's They're all very customizable.
So I need to spend a lot of time in

(14:43):
the development phase to have a bait that can that
can be manipulated to to swim in the way that
the user wants it. And that's the biggest part of
my job. I mean, my hobby, I should say, UH
is developing a bait that everybody can use but that
won't fail on adding a little bit more belly weight

(15:03):
or or changing the build of it, like, and that's
also the enjoyable part of making. So I think it's
it's like a fair question to ask because I really
want your opinion. I mean it's no secret that, um,
there are a lot of people to do this these days,
like custom baits are are a big thing, right, So
you know, going into this, what do you what do

(15:24):
you think sets sets you apart? Like I have some ideas,
but I want to know what you think, Like what's
the mindset? It's like it's a ton of guys that
do this. So what am I doing different? What am
I doing better? How do I make myself stand out here?
So that's I mean, that's a question I kind of
ask myself every day I go into the basement and
I start making baits or I start pouring because the

(15:49):
level of capability out there for people like it still
blows my mind. And then you have companies that specifically
revolve around just making perfect molds for you. You can nap,
condraw something, send it to a company and they'll send
you back. It's not cheap, but they'll send you back
something that makes you look like you're like a steady
running production. Right, So doing it all myself. Um I

(16:13):
almost feel like that's part of what keeps being the
market and that's valid. I mean, there is there is
something to a handmade lure verse one that's that's been
mass produced, even on a small scale. I I I
get that. You know. One thing that I'm like particularly
curious about is I've been if you see me looking
down my phone, I'm like looking at your Instagram, and

(16:35):
your baits have like obvious, obvious, like Japanese artistic influence
in them. I'd be interested to talk about how you
like incorporate that into your into your bait. I mean,
like to me, like that's like hugely unique and like
really interesting. And you get kind of in this intersection
between like art right and function, and you know, I

(16:57):
I wonder how you navigate that. I know we talked
to uh, we talked to Ryan Ebert right, and he
makes show decoys and he makes working decoys. Like where
do you find yourself in the intersection of those two things?
And I like, and when I listen to that episode
and I that specific part I found very very um like,

(17:19):
it resonated with me because he said, like he doesn't
make a he doesn't make a show piece he makes
a piece that works and if you hang it on
the wall, that's totally fine. Um. And I that resonated
with me because I feel the same way because you
might hang it on the wall, but your kid in
ten years from now might take it off the wall
and be like, check out this sweet lure and throw
it and if it doesn't work. I literally put my

(17:41):
name on every single bait to make, So I don't
want ten years from now to be like, what was
this joke? Like what was this fat that was happening?
Do you know what I mean? Like not honestly when
it comes to bits, you want to be pigeonholed as
a Japanese maker because they're held on high regard. But
it's it's uh, it's it's more. I don't want to
be fake to that. I don't want to use that

(18:03):
as as the opposite as like waving my flag like
I'm a Japanese bait maker when I'm from Canada, parents
are from Canada. But it is a part of my
heritage and I do and I do love things. I
do love things Japanese and to be to be a
part of that is is important to me and I
don't want that to be just kind of pushed by
the wayside, because I am proud of it and to

(18:25):
have it as part as my emblem and everything like that,
that's really important to me. And like I said, it
doesn't hurt that Japanese baits are pretty high high regarding
you want you want, you want to be true to it,
but you don't want to be viewed as like a gimmick.
It's an exact, but it's not the entirety of it,
that's exactly, and that's that's absolutely not how your stuff

(18:46):
is viewed. I know that. But at the same time,
and anytime I get my my hands on a bait
like yours and from other builders. And we talked a
little bit on our last makers segment about how you
see this in striper plugs where they're this commodity traded
like like like bitcoin, like they're ever gonna hit water.
It's just like who has what? And I disagree with that.
Yet when I get a lure from you, like knowing
the love that went into that um the day I

(19:08):
sent you the pictures of that thing, that after if
you stripers hammered it, you know you're sitting there going God,
do I throw this because if I lose it, I'm
gonna be so upset. But at the same time, I'm like,
I know you'd be more stoked about getting a picture
of your lure in efficient mouth than sitting on my shelf.
So I'm one of these today. So I'm curious though,

(19:28):
like what was the first sort of milestone for you
in terms of a picture back or maybe it was
with you and your friends, you know, even in testing,
Like what was the first fish that was like ship? Yeah,
I got it, Like, fish will eat this. This is
designed how I want as soon as in anybody out
here listening. That doesn't make If you just take a
piece of wood, shave it down into a shape, you

(19:50):
put a joint and it waited appropriately and pull it
through the water and it makes movement, it's gonna make it. Yeah,
it's gonna make Yeah, it's gonna give you the butterflies. Um,
the more work you put into that, the more it works,
the more fails you have. There's tons of fails like
I have just I have boxes full of failed lures
that don't work. Um, when you get them to work,
it's it's it's a different feeling. And when I say

(20:13):
that because of this, my fishing itself has been reduced
because those times I have orders, I don't like making
people wait. Um, so that's I'm glad you brought that up.
Not to interrupt, but like that's what people are like,
Oh I want to be a guide. Oh I want
to own a bait and tackle shop. Oh I want
to fly shop. Oh I want to make lawyers. And
it's like cool, So you don't really want to fish
much anymore. That's that's a lot of things in this industry.

(20:36):
So that's exactly right. But pictures like yours, I don't
have stripers. When I get a picture like that, when
I say, I get like overwhelmed with emotion. I got
pictures from a guy in Australia with flathead, like giant
flathead that's the same bait actually a cadachy fish that
I'm not just going outside and gonna catch myself. Like

(20:57):
the feeling it's it's overwhelming. I get the I get
the love of seeing people use my baits like and
catching stuff. I imagine you've sent some baits pretty far
and wide by this point. For the large amounth freaks
out there, what's what's the biggest one, you know, of
on one of your baits. Nine pounds is the biggest
that I've seen. But I don't get weights a lot.
I just get pictures sent to my in box with it.

(21:18):
I don't want to get many details. The one guy
said it was his PB at nine pounds, and that
is I don't care if your pbs four pounds, like
if your best is for if it's on my bait,
I know that my bait is what you're gonna use
for the rest of your life, Like destrement are just
like that. We know that you can have that old
crank bait or top water that you've used since you

(21:39):
were twelve and it just works. So that's what you
buy and you might skunk on it. But as long
as you get those hits on it, if I can
be that bait, that's that's a huge honor to me
to have. But because it's not even about PB either,
I've had like big rock bass smash up bits, you
know what I mean. It just depends on the fish
that's in the area that you're that you're working, right, Yeah,

(22:00):
so there were you You once painted a bait by
a bent fan request with me and Miles Nulty on it.
Let's forget that one for a second. Beyond that, what's
the weirdest thing or pattern you've ever put on a
bait for somebody. I mean that Barnon was, but I'd

(22:20):
like to hear about another one. But yes, but um,
I don't get too many, to be honest, I don't
get too many odd requests. I get a lot of
like real fish. I've had any any of the weird ones.
It's kind of me stepping out of my box too,
try to incorporate like more traditional art into into a bait.

(22:44):
But outside of that portrait, I don't really have odd requests.
There's odd color schemes and stuff like that, but it's
it's not odd in the world of fishing, right, Like
Brion pinks with with like a subtle green belly, Like
they sound weird together, but then you put it on
a bait and you're like, get fishes. Yeah, it also

(23:06):
works on watermelon. So so knowing this isn't full time, man,
I mean, you know what what what is? What is
your hope for the future? Where do you see this going?
Is this kind of stable and you're enjoying what you're
doing and sort of found homeostasis in balancing bait making
with the rest of your life, or you know, given
the opportunity, if you could, if you could go all
the way and make this full time, is that what

(23:27):
you really love to do? I would like that is
super important to me. I would right now. I'm at
a spot right now though, that the amount that I
can produce is getting close to the maximum level before
something has to give. So and I also don't there's
a lot of places that you have to wait six
months for your bait or five. You know, there's this

(23:49):
huge and I don't believe in that, especially because people
find you they want their bait right now. So even
asking four weeks is a lot. And that's generally what
my weight is right out between four and five weeks UM.
So right now I found a good spot that I'm
I can still love my family, I can still do

(24:10):
my job and not uh have it conflict at all.
But and then I can still take care of all
my orders. But you're what you're asking, I'm getting close
to that point where a decision has got to be
made one way or another. But right now I'm in
a totally happy place and I can keep up with
what I'm doing, like I'm in a good spot and
the bits are very, very obviously in demand. I'll point

(24:32):
out if you if you heard me being kind of
quiet in this segment, I was just trying to buy
one UM and they are they're currently unavailable. I did.
I did buy a sweatshirt though, and I'm looking forward
to UH to that coming in. You should have asked
me from my code. I have a private code for
hash if if folks were looking to UH to buy

(24:57):
some of your baits, where would they how how can
they find you? Man? So up until this point this year,
I kind of made a little bit of a turn.
I was custom prior to two thousand and two, and
that was pushing it back. So this year I'm trying
to gear down and start to do more of a
bait drop. It gets more baits in people's hands. It's
just a little less like custom UH. And then I'm

(25:20):
leaving open maybe per each drop five or ten custom baits.
It might be a little bit more, but that's at
the cost of getting the exact pain job you want UM.
But that that will be drops on my website in
the future. I want everybody to say that I have
one of these lures, especially in the custom swim bay world.
You just going to start googling them. And some people
are like, oh, that's a that's a mortgage payment for

(25:41):
that that bait right, like it's it starts to get
it starts to get a little high. And just the
price of an independent builder like myself. We're not buying
bulk like the big guys are right. We have to
buy within our means, which obviously drives up the price
of the cost the product. Well, hopefully this, uh, this
segment will get a few more in a in a
few more bent listen your hands. Maybe you've gotten some

(26:02):
reach out from our crew already, but um dude, I'm
a few weeks away from being able to throw that
that baity yours on the river here as soon as
the temps come up a little bit. And uh, one
of these days, did if you ever downstate side, we
gotta get together and and and throw some that would
be awesome. I would love that so much and I
just want to throw at that. If anybody's in Ontario,
I don't know when this is coming out, but March twenty,

(26:23):
that's this Sunday. There's a fishing show in Ontario and
Peterborough it's my first booth I'm gonna have. You'll be
able to pick up those baits in person. Uh March
twenty and then the Musky World up here. It's it's
a whole different thing. And there's a Musky Odyssey on
April two in Hamilton's and I'm going to try to
get a few baits into that. Hopefully the Musky guys

(26:45):
don't eat much, but I should have some baits available
at those two spots in person. If you are in Ontario,
Canada during those two days, you will get both those
plugs in in plenty of time for people to join
you at those events. Man Um. Hopefully I'll be sending
you a few more pictures this season, but we appreciate
you coming on, Brent. Well, we'll be in touch with that.

(27:06):
We'll be in touch, all right, brother, Thank you guys.
You know, as as I mentioned, I am indeed a
swim bait neophyte. Um never done a ton of fishing
with him, but I always had it into my head
that they were for a big southern bass. But now
I have a I have a bunch of ideas and

(27:28):
some yeah, I guess, I guess I'm insight into that culture,
So I think this might end up being the summer
of conventional fishing. Well, there you go, man, I mean
I would put as as Brent kind of mentioned, I'd
put your order in suing because it's gonna take them
a little while. Um. But yeah, you know, it's weird
swim baits. People have that idea of this is a
big bait for a big fish. That's not totally the case.

(27:51):
They're also really popular in the tournament circuit, which is
funky because they do take some dedication. But if you're
good at using them, like our and Oliver and I,
and you can commit to them. Um, you know they can.
They can. They can pay off much better than than
finesse baits at certain times. Um. Anyway, speaking of tournaments,
it's time for our weekly tournament that we call fish News.

(28:15):
Fish News. That escalated quickly, all right, Hey, quick apology
uh to the guy who wrote in give me give
me a lip, Give me a lip boy for for
spoiling the plot line of the Old Man in the
Sea last week. I was a bit shocked, right, he was, like,
I've been thinking about reading that for so long, and

(28:37):
now I don't have to. Uh, whoops. I guess, but like, dude,
it'll it'll take you two hours to read. It's a
very short book. Um, it's a very small commitment. I guess.
I assume pretty much everyone was forced to read that
in school anyway, or or if not, you've seen one
of the movies. My bad on that for totally being
the guy who told you Bruce Willis is dead the
whole time in the sixth sense, So make sure you

(29:00):
don't ruin like Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet or you know. Yeah,
we've also been getting some flak about like reading lately.
It's like I feel like it's like you should have
put down that to that TV and read. It's like, dude,
like we don't have time to like devour books like
Miles was the book guy. You know, it's not a
lack of want, it's a lack of time. I have

(29:20):
two kids. I can't read. The other thing is it's
like I felt like we gave like a very thoughtful
critique into a like literature based news story and like
offered up genuine academic points. Yeah, people are like, why
do you hate reading so much? Reading? God, anyway, let's

(29:42):
get off of that onto news, Uh, starting with conservation minutes.
Here's what I have, which only loosely qualifies uh. An
initiative to preserve tequila fish that began is finally resulted
in its reintroduction into Mexican rivers. The tequila fish, formerly
extinct in the wild, is the first Mexican species to
come back from extinction, which is notable. Conservationists, however, acknowledged

(30:06):
that saving a drab, green, seven centimeter long fish that
most people have never heard of has been a long
road and a lot of work. Still, they hope it
may serve as a rallying cry to help safeguard the
country's rivers. So if you're in Old Mexico doing a
little micro fishing and happen to catch it to kuela fish,
what should you do? So that's what I got, Hayden,

(30:28):
What do you got man? My conservation minute is a
biologists are looking to save the tequila worm, previously pickled
in the bottom of your tequila shop. So for my
conservation minutes, UH, let's hit another species. Folks are trying
to save. The The US Fish and Wildlife Service listed
the big sandy crayfish as threatened, and the I don't

(30:50):
know why to do with myself. The guy in dot
river crayfish as a gillandet I don't know river crayfish
as endangered per the Endangered Species Act in US Fish
and Wildlife has now completed the next phase, and they're
planning to protect the crawfish, establishing four and forties stream
miles of habitat deemed essential for the species survival in

(31:12):
the wild. These waters run through private, public, and state
held lands. And no matter how much it care or
don't care about these crayfish, it's good news because it
means one thing, clean water. Anyway, this uh, this by
the way, it came from News Enterprise dot com. I'm
just gonna read this as a direct quote here. The
critical Habitat Rule will be published in the Federal Registry today.

(31:32):
The rule, comments and materials the service received, as well
as supporting documentation used in preparing the rule, are available
for public inspection at www. Dot Federal Register dot gov.
Slash public hyphen inspection, search for docket number f WS
dash R five dash e s dash to zero one

(31:55):
nine dash zero zero nine eight. If you want to
know more, all right, so let's roll along. I remember
this is a competition. We don't know which news story
the other guy brought to the table. At the end,
our cherished audio engineer Phil will declare a winner, as
he's known to do. It is my lead this week.
I believe um so advantage to me And here's where

(32:18):
we're going. Recently, we talked at length about the invasive
brook trout across the American West, juxtaposing the issue with
just how beloved brookies are in the East. Well, guess
what a similar situation could be brewing this time with
small mouths. Now, everybody loves smalley right negative. While Smalley's

(32:39):
have been planted far and wide across the country, they're
they're really only native to the upper and middle Mississippi
River basin. So why do we love them? Because they're voracious?
Uh and the damn things fight like the dickens. But
we've already covered how they've become a problem in Maine
um quite a while back after being illegally introduced into
into watershed that grow wild trout and support landlocked salmon,

(33:02):
which are very important to the state. Now smallmouth could
be knocking on the door of Yellowstone National Park right
down the street from Hayden there. Uh and if they
infiltrate and take hold this this could be unlikely would
be a huge problem for both the wild and native
trout populations. Right perer the story on k TOO radio

(33:26):
dot com on February, Montana State University student reported that
he had caught one small mouth bass in the Gardener River,
which is right outside the boundary of Yellowstone National Park,
and he actually had had video to document this catch,
so it's legit um. Now, the Gardener is a tributary
of the Yellowstone River, which does have smallmouth bass residing

(33:48):
in it, right. But my understanding of it is that
the fish has been caught very far from the lower
stretches of the Yellowstone, where small mouth are typically found,
So I don't think there's necessarily a ton of mystery
about how it got here. Um. But while it would
have been a hell of a trek, a small mouth,
again to my understanding, could theoretically swim to this location

(34:10):
from known smalley haunts. Again, I keep in mind there
there are no dams on the main stem Yellowstone that
would impedea fish from swimming uh from very far away
and covering a lot of ground. Now, with that in mind,
I'm also not totally clear why it's being labeled as invasive.
Unless small mouths are considered invasive throughout the entire Yellowstone,

(34:31):
non native seems to be a better label. But anyway,
the question here is, um, is this a fluke like
a one off, or does it point to the potential
for a population to take hold in this area? Now,
my takeaway from the story is that wildlife officials are
more concerned about keeping them out of Yellowstone National Park,
specifically more so than the water is just outside of it,

(34:54):
So it's not a matter of wanting to eradicate them
from the entire system. UM. But you know, obviously, what
part of what makes Yellowstone so iconic the parks so
iconic is it's trout and trout fishing, and no doubt
a heap of smallmouth could uh compromise that. UM. Yellowstone
has already had issues for many, many years with invasive

(35:15):
lake trout, which are arguably even more voracious than Smalley's um.
You know, the lakers are mainly in Yellowstone Lake, and
the rules in place say that anglers that catch them
should kill those or have to kill those, and the
Park Service also sets nets for lakers, and they say
they kill around three hundred thousand annually. But small mouths

(35:35):
would would, would you know, pose a bigger challenge. So
Todd Cole, he's Yellowstone Supervisory Fisheries biologists, said, quote, the
smallmouth bass on their own can't swim to Yellowstone Lake.
So if they do get into the park, it'll be
in the river systems like the Yellowstone River, the Lamar
things like that. In those systems, you can't do netting

(35:59):
the way we do on Yellowstone Lake. It's a totally
different habitat. In river systems, a lot of the time
they're flowing pretty strong, so you can't really put nets
in large rivers like the Yellowstone. It's an advantage to
the non native species. You're limited to what you can
do to remove them. So it's true. Yeah, true, Trojan

(36:21):
small is for the wind, although hopefully you know so
convinced it's terrible branding for Trojan condoms. Yeah, oh man, yes,
you are correct. They would that that would be memes
at the wazoo. Um. Yeah, so, look, is this on
is this like on on the cusp of happening? I

(36:43):
don't really think so. I mean, right now, it's one
small mouth bass, but for for the for the nonbelievers
out there. You know, I'll tell you this. For years,
I kept a big tank with some fish that I
caught in it, you know what I mean. Had a
couple of croppies swimming in the living room, a couple
of pickrell and um. I remember one time I caught
this micro small mouth out of this creek, I mean,

(37:04):
this tiny, tiny little guy, and I threw him in there,
and he was smaller than every fish in the tank
and terrorized the living ship out of all of them.
I mean, he had them cowering in the corner. I mean,
a pickerel that could damn near eat him was cowering
in the corner of a tank. So as much as
I love small mouth bass and I do think it's

(37:25):
cool when you have one of these rivers where trout
and small mouth naturally crossover, you have some big browns
and some nice small mouth. Um. Yeah, man, like they
they are mean and territorial, and they can screw up
a system. So would not be a good thing. If
if they got into Yellowstone and really too, it would
not be a good thing. Man. You know. It's it's

(37:45):
it's interesting, and we're gonna get into this. In my
news story. But um, you know, it's kind of like
the double edge of a a damned river. And obviously
I'm not advocating damning the Yellowstone, but a lot of
times it works as an a active barrier. Um. So
when you know what, let's hit an ad and let's
get right into, uh, into my news story where we

(38:07):
talk about how damns might be a good thing in
a particular instance of an invasive Asian carp. Please enter
your password. You have one unheard message. Goddamn you. You
knew that you were supposed to get those rods from
thirteen and send them my way, And now I see
you all over Instagram fishing with the rods that were

(38:29):
meant for me. Send them when you get a minute,
please and thank you. Bye. End of message, Delete press seven,
save deleted. All right, So, as promised before the break,
this week we're talking about carp, specifically illegal carp dealers

(38:52):
and all sorts of conservation issues that go along with that.
So over the last four years, Wisconsin authorities have been
trying to stop a lone wolf fish dealer from dealing
his fish. Mr Lee Ping of Platteville, Wisconsin. I feel
like this guy has come up before. This is not
his first rodeo, and I mean it's a pretty common name.

(39:13):
Well anyway, So he's been formally convicted of selling a
very invasive species where I guess a couple of different
invasive species, those being a three varieties of asian carp.
All the stem from a public complaint filed in After
building their case against Mr Ping using undercover agents, surveillance
and GPS tracking, Wisconsin DNR file charges in. So this

(39:38):
has been ongoing. Oh, that's probably where this came up
in news. That's probably what we hit. Yeah, same dude,
same issue. Here's the conviction, folks. I'd also like to
know exactly what this sting operation looked like. Like I
I left a message for somebody in a Grant County,
Whisco where where the incident occurred, but I have yet
to hear back. Anyway, Uh, they believe that mr Ping

(40:01):
has been selling these carps for years prior to you know, uh,
to to this finding and this operation and ultimately this conviction.
And I think like what they tracked with, something like
nine thousand pounds of live asian carp had been sold. Anyway,
this was the first ever for Wisconsin d NR officials

(40:24):
as Asian carp have never been sold in the state
as far as they know. Meaning uh, I guess there
are likely just more successful carp dealers than than than
Mr Pink. So let's talk about these carps. I'm sure
that many of you know what Asian carp are. I
also assume there are many of you who are listening
and thinking right at this moment, there are carp all
over Wisconsin. What's the big deal? Well, the folks who

(40:46):
know what Asian carp are are currently screaming at their phones.
Asian carp are not common carp which have been kicking
around Wisconsin waterways since the eighteen hundreds. Asian carp are
not only highly invasive but also highly dis tructive. The
main concern and Joe like you know you can bring
your understanding of it here. Um. The main concern is

(41:07):
that they outcompete native fish for both space and resources,
as well as lowering the water quality, often through eating
like native muscles and stuff. Um. If you've ever seen
videos of like hundreds of fish flying out of the
water behind a boat, those are the Asian carp we're
talking about. Anyhow, One of the main reasons this is
obviously problematic is the transfer of an invasive species into

(41:29):
waterways in which they currently have not been found. Of
particular concern are Asian carp getting into the Great Lakes,
which could be catastrophic for the fisheries which like generate
and estimated like seven billion dollars of revenue. Everything. That's
a war that's been being fought for years trying to
keep these things out of the joe. Last week we

(41:49):
proved that you are not very good at a geography. Uh,
but I'm sure you know this. Wisconsin borders Lake Superior,
and Asian carp have been found in the Saint Croix River,
which connects via wetlands to Lake Superior. This would be
troublesome except for the fact that there is one much
maligned but now convenient obstacle in the way, a twenty
ft hydro electric dam, and after navigating this twenty ft hurdle,

(42:15):
Asian carp would also need to get through um like
these these aforementioned wetlands that that connect the end of
the Saint Croix to Lake Superior. Um. Because of all this,
Army Corps of Engineers is not terribly concerned about the
Asian carp entering through this means, and Lake Superior seems
to be safe from Wisconsin originated carp finding their way

(42:37):
into the lake at this moment. That said, the sale
of invasive species in this way to folks who might
put them in Lake Superior or a nearby body of
water that could indirectly transfer them into Lake Superior is
still a major concern. And that's exactly exactly like what
the concern is with what Mr Ping has been facilitating. Yeah,

(43:01):
as I as I remember it, I mean, so so
live live is obviously a no no, and there's some
gray area even on dead, but it's just it's just
too risky. I remember part of the fight last time
was well this guy is repurposing them. He's taking something
that we don't want anyway and creating a use for them. Um,
but I recall that was the issue is that they
were not all dead. Yeah, yeah, well that that's exactly

(43:23):
like sort of it. For the record, you can still
buy and transport Haitian carp in Wisconsin, just as long
as they're either completely disemboweled or their gills have been
completely destroyed. You know, it's like it's like anything else.
I mean, you know in there are plenty of states
with like the rusty crawfish right where you can transport

(43:43):
them all you want, as long as they've been boiled,
you know, or or as long as it's like just tails.
The second that you try and bring one of those
things live, like that's where like the problem is obviously. Um.
Another interesting thing to note in this case is that
Mr mr Ping was transferring these carp in unmarked refrigerated trucks,

(44:04):
making it very hard for folks to identify him. Is like,
I don't know a seller of car guy. Yeah, the
car guy, yeah, Mr carp um. Yeah. Anyhow, look, it's
very concerning and good for the Wisconsin DNR for hopefully
nipping this in the bud. Mr Ping has obviously lost
all ability to continue as a fish farmer and is

(44:25):
ordered to pay dollars in fines as a result of
a of a plea deal, which seems like not enough
to be honest with you. Yeah, I mean, look, the guy.
The guy is doing bad stuff. He's doing legal things
at the same time, I think the argument still stands.
It's like, if this guy could just do this right,
could just follow the rules, he's doing a good thing, right,

(44:47):
he is he is repurposing something that shouldn't be here.
And and I mean a little more on these carp
A lot of them are filter feeders. They very but
is he doing a good thing? Like why farm him
at all? But see my interpretation of that is I
don't necessarily think just he may very well own a
fish farm or what he calls a fish farm, doesn't
necessarily mean that he's growing the Asian carp. I think

(45:09):
that that that kind of sums it up. It doesn't.
It doesn't have documentation of how they were caught, which
means he probably also has an illegal commercial operation. So
if I'm correct on that, the point kind of stands
that it's like, if he were just doing everything he's
doing on the up and up, if he's got enough
buyers for Asian carp, great kill as many as you

(45:30):
possibly can and sell them. So you know, this is
one of those deals where it's like, dude, how hard
is it to to get the permits and do it
the right way? You know? But I won't take away
I mean he's not, so therefore he kind of deserves
what he gets. I mean, rules is rules, Marty, You
know what I mean? Rules is rules, Joe, And to
that end, I believe that Phil Taylor, our beloved engineer,

(45:52):
is going to issue his ruling on on who wins
Fish News. Uh. You know, Joe, you want to you
want to make the segway or I do it. No,
I'll do it, becau. As soon as we're done here
and from Phil, we're gonna take a We're gonna take
a little spin on the most ridiculous vehicle that we've
ever seen. The winner this week is Hayden Sammick. Hayden,

(46:16):
thank you so much for that story. But I would
like to say a big no thank you to these
officials in Wisconsin because that guy was also my psychedelic
toad dealer. And now I'm going to have to find
something else to lick in the bathroom at work. Why
did you put the hand to pay? You don't know
what I'm getting, man, You didn't have to be so
hurtful with me so angry. Big shout out to listener

(46:38):
James Helen for sending this one along. Uh. And it's
a bit of a departure for us. Okay, we're sort
of entering a new octagon here because we um we
typically lean on on old, weird, beat up stuff from
Craigslist and the like. Uh, and occasionally we'll dabble in
cheap gimmickry from like the Facebook marketplace. But the item

(46:58):
up for auction today is probably BLI. If it's not
the highest priced item we've ever had, it's got to
be close. Um, And in my opinion at least, it's
it's one of the most absurd and I'm curious to
see if we're going to agree on that. Yeah. The
only thing I think that it's like comparably priced and
like comparably categorized would be do you remember what we

(47:19):
did that that converted fish camper thing. Yeah, that was
going for now, that was going for like five or
six grand. Okay, well that this is Yeah, that's still
cheaper than what we're gonna talk about anyhow. Okay, Yeah,
So it's it's definitely fair to say that this item
has a fishing application, but it transcends just fishing. And

(47:41):
what we're talking about is the Z Triton. This is
the future. This is Z tried on, a boat, tricycle
and a camper combined in one. Z Z tritan, a
self propelled vehicle that is a tricycle, boat and RV
all wrapped up into one oh so convenient package. Yeah

(48:04):
kind of, and to get wrapped up into one yourself
with some modicum of comfort. I hope you're very very small,
like not Joe Sameli or Hayden Samack sized. But you
got you could do it. I couldn't. So what is this? Well,
it's the brainch out of Latvian designer eye gars Louses
and isn't wowsers Louses? I mean, I know, isn't. Isn't

(48:28):
you honest of Latvian descent? Because I'm sure I'm butchering
that name and I'll probably hear about it. No, No,
they call him the Latvian equal because he's Irish. Uh yeah,
oh you're right. Yeah anyway, Um, so so this this
feller has got a four minute video on his website
that tells the story of how the z Triting came
to be. And it came to be because I's um

(48:48):
took it upon himself to bike more than thirty thousand
kilometers from London to Tokyo, which tells me, at minimum
he probably doesn't have children. Anyway, we all know how
hard it can be taking your touring bike thirty tho
kilometers because it can't cross water, it is not a boat,
and you have to carry your tent and things and
set the darn thing up every night, which is just

(49:10):
that just sucks. If only there were a tricycle capable
that is also an RV and a boat. Yeah, so
so I gres was like, obviously I need to find
a solution to this very common problem. I came up
with a solution that combines a small boat, a tricycle,

(49:31):
and a tiny compa. Not long after, I build a
first mock up in phm board while still on the
road during your stopover in Shanghai, and that's how it
all began. Afterwards, I returned to Europe, set up a
company and built the first Z tried on prototype. It's
a it's a hard thing to describe. It's weird. Man. Yeah,
we don't really know where to start with it. But

(49:53):
immediately what comes to mind is that it looks like
the escape vehicle Jeff Bezos would use. If it's like
mega yacht sanc can picture that. Yeah, of course we'll
like throw shots this on Instagram today, but try to
picture this up front. You got like a wheel and
handlebars and a folding bicycle seat that extends over the stern,

(50:15):
which is complete with like cleats and what appeared to
be like run you know runners. Yeah, okay, now if
you're moving backwards away from that stern. Now, now you
get to what's sort of the r V portion. So
picture a very like geometric e glue on the back
of glow boat. Iglueglue e glue iglue. Yeah yeah, so

(50:37):
uh the igloo has solar panels. Um and in the
video I even has a plant growing out of a
special plant holder on the roof that, according to the video,
allows you to take your favorite plant with you, and
a pot that allows you to take your favorite plant
on an adventure with you. Um. Now there are wheels
built into the underside. If you real quick, if you

(50:59):
have to take a plant with you to go out
into nature, you don't belong there, man, Like that's something
about there's a nice thing about nature. Man. There are
lots of plants already out there, yes, yes, right, So
now now there are wheels built into the underside of
of the of this boat. Um, which makes the whole
package a tricycle on land. But then on what are

(51:20):
you fold those rear wheels up inflate and strap on
some pontoons, right, uh, And the entire front pedal drive
folds up, the roof slides back, and now you have
a boat complete with an electric trolling motor and a
steering wheel. It even has a tiny instrument panel for
you know, like interior and exterior lights, plus a fan.
Um and and those of you familiar with the tricked

(51:42):
out tuggy sandboxes that have come up so many times
on this show, this puts them all to shame, right,
this is this is like a a a a high
production level tricked out tuggy. And of course there are
even oars in case you you run out of juice. Now,
like the there is an incredible amount of engineering and

(52:03):
technology and the Z Tritan, there's no denying that it's
got solar panels and in trike mode it has an
electric motor assist, so like you know, like like sort
of e bike, Right, it's got Bluetooth. Hey, there's even
us B charging. And in camper mode, which isn't much
different than bow mode, you have a tiny table room

(52:24):
to sleep too if you're like very intimately inclined each other,
and plenty of storage for as it like notes your
ruck sacks and there are like you know, as we've
been kind of bringing clips in, there's this weird like
I don't know how to describe it. Well, maybe it's

(52:45):
like if you described um outdoor pursuits to somebody who
has never been outside before. And like the photos of
the things people are doing on the site, like in
this thing, all right, well, I I'm gonna get that.
I got I gotta I gotta talk about one thing
in particular, man. So number one, there's this weird infatuation

(53:06):
with ruck sacks, rucks extent like igar fields the need
to include. And then the from Latfia they don't have
I don't know if they have jam sports over there
they anyway, there you're gonna get us in trouble with
be honest. There's a there's a photo of a um
doing air quotes like you can't see it, but I'm

(53:26):
doing them. Um of a wildlife photographer, Dude, this is
my favorite part of this whole thing. And it's like
a clip of him photographing who knows what with this
like telephoto lens. But like what's so funny about it
is he's shooting his photo through the plexiglass windshield. Yeah. Well, well,

(53:50):
it's not even that. It's like, I'm not a photographer,
but I assume that you would probably be inclined to, like,
I don't know, move six inches to the right or
left and get around the windshield instead of shooting through it.
Number two, the dude is in So another thing about
this the z triton is that it's like aggressively teal right,
that's very bright. Yes, yes, it's like de pressively aggressive.

(54:16):
And the dude is sitting in the middle, is very
conspicuous craft in a cameo poncho with full face paint.
And he pulls up the camera to take this picture
and is not looking at like the the l c
D screen viewfinder. He's not looking at like the manual viewfinder,
like the little I don't know he has it. He

(54:38):
has like everything pressed right up against his forehead in
such a way that he would never be able to
see out of either of these things if you find
her or the screen. I know, I know, dude, I
know that the marketing photos chosen are strange. But we'll we'll,
we'll move on with this. I also just want to
add they didn't linger on the sleeping of the two

(54:58):
people very long in the video because like you'd have
to have no desire to roll over at any point
in the night. Romantic, we can get ways, so listen, right,
we need not debate. I think the value of the
product if you're genuinely the person that is going to
to take it long distances and use all these features too,

(55:19):
I don't I mean basically live off the grid for
a little while, but I think that's very few people overall.
So to just look at it from a fishing perspective,
I don't know, right, because while it does pack so
much into one vehicle, it looks to me like you
have room for nothing. Right and on the water, um,

(55:39):
I get the impression like it'd be fine if you
don't move or shift your weight while you're operating this
at a boat. So imagine being crammed into a pod
with your your tackle on your lap, trying to maneuver
the boat, casting fighting fish. I mean, I could not
find the exact spects on the website, but the whole
package can't be much longer than ten feet. And if

(56:01):
you've ever been fishing on a ten foot john boat,
especially with two people, which I have, and it sucks
right now, now, imagine doing so on a ten foot
John boat that also has a roof and a cabin
and extra parts and pieces just sprouting from everywhere. Yeah,
I mean in theory it makes sense. Well, you know,
bike to the lake fish Lake camp on the banks.

(56:24):
But for the privilege of doing that with one kind
of clunky vehicle, you're paying north of fifteen grand. Fifteen
thousand dollars, that is, that is the price. Now, I mean, dude,
at five grand, maybe I could see it six grand,
you know, but I just can't help but think about
what fifteen thousand dollars buys you in like use truck
caps and and used aluminum boats. Um, so let's call

(56:46):
it like it is. You've already hinted as much. Even
if you had the money for this. If you saw
someone roll up to the lake in this John and splash, like,
would you be like, oh my god, how neat is that?
Would that that's would that be your reaction? Yep? No,
it probably wouldn't. Probably probably not even lying. My reaction

(57:07):
would like I would wave at this person. I'd be like,
oh hey, man, how's it going, you know, And in
the second that I thought that that individual was out
at earshot I'd like turn to my buddy and just
ridicule that person, just mercilessly. Number one. I imagine whoever
whoever is driving it has like a turtleneck on, and

(57:28):
like definitely those uh who makes them? Those water like
sandals with like the clothes toe, like the inner the
keen that they think they're keen. You know what I'm
talking about? Not really, but yeah, okay, just imagine like
the most like uh, what do you bob call him?
Mouss Yeah, imagine that would drive Yeah, yeah, just like

(57:50):
upper Elite Granola hybrid kind of vehicle, like somebody who
likes to think of them as an outdoorsman, but it
is really like a house cat. Well, yeah, you heard
it here first, upper Elite Granola or whatever you just said.
I don't, yeah, I I would at least be making
fun of you in my head. So check this thing out.

(58:11):
We'll post it. We'd love to know what you guys think. Anyway, Jeff,
thanks for sending that along. It was fun. Um yeah,
we're curiously what you guys have to say about it.
The website, if you're interested, is z dash Triton dot com.
If you've gone away to get your hands on your
own Z Triton. We have great news for you, z
trites and two point oh it's ready for production. So
take a step into the future, pre Z Triton. Now

(58:33):
I'm start planning your next adventure, Z tried On. And hey,
if you find something fishing related and ridiculous for sale
on the world wide Web, do please make sure to
send those links to Bent at the meat eater dot com. Dude,
I don't know what it is man that wildlife photographer,

(58:54):
Just like I think we should post that too. You know,
it doesn't make a big Z triton, but we should.
One of us should throw that up to Yeah. I
came like so close to comment on the YouTube video,
but as is so often the case, I I type something,
thought about it, and then deleted it. Yeah, and that's
the right thing to do. Like I I don't ever like,

(59:16):
I don't really drop comments unless it's like a Bent
fan or a buddy of mine and I have something
to say. I don't like I would. Yeah, I gers
doesn't need to hear my thoughts. It's fine, He's hearing
it enough from other people. No. Yeah, it was something
that took a surprising amount of like self restraint although
there's a certain freedom and just like relentlessly sharing your thoughts, uh,

(59:36):
even when unsolicited. Well it's kind of like this podcast anyway.
Good news For some reason, people are actually asking us
to share our thoughts. And this week we're gonna try
our best to help one listener figure out why he
sucks at striper fishing on the bent helpline. What do
you laughing at, Markini? You're not an idiot, you're not
a gambloning help more, you're a fisherman. What's your emergency?

(01:00:05):
This week we've got a question from listener Richard Jackson,
who hails from the so Cow High Desert and he's
a striper guy. So I'm about that um a little
all over the place here with the question, but we're
gonna try and whittle it down. So he says, I
have a question about targeting wintertime freshwater stripe bass from
the bank as I don't own a boat and the
lake I love to fish, which I'm gonna keep out

(01:00:27):
of it. We don't need to burn the dude. Spot
does not allow boats or any watercraft. What is your
favorite retrieve for a bucktail in the winter. I usually
use a half ounce or one ounce bucktail year round,
but it seems that all I catch in winter is
large mouths and small mouths. I want to up my
game and get a twenty pounds striper this year, but
relying on the spring and fall run feels like it

(01:00:48):
can be too easy. And I will verify what he
says next. They'll hit a polished herd if you throw
it into one of those massive boils. The bucktails I
throw are usually white red shart truths. Do you think
guys should switch to black or blue forgetting them when
they are deeper in the winter. Um, I said, there's
a there's a lot going on there. But I I

(01:01:10):
think now, granted I know a lot about stripers on
the East coast, no fair amount about stripers inland and
the Carolinas in Tennessee and how that game works. Have
not fished for them, um in so Caw or out west.
But they're gonna behave. I mean stripers behave like stripers.
And really, Richard, I think that the issue here, which
we can talk more about, UM, you're not casting to

(01:01:32):
where they are. I just I I kind of think
look at having looked up the body of water that
you're fishing, it's pretty deep. It's fairly big reservoir, and
even though your winters are warmer, certainly than out here,
I would suspect that stripers are still gonna do wintertime things,
and here that's often they go with the bait, right
and in the wintertime bait suspends in in open water,

(01:01:55):
sometimes very deep, and the stripers will suspend out there
with it. So I don't really think it's the lure
or the color or the approach. Um. I just don't
think from sure you can get you didn't give me
any you can get the bucktail to the stripe bass.

(01:02:15):
Now I'm laughing, folks, because when Joe and I were
talking about selecting a question, I told him. I was like, well,
here's what I know about this. It's not much, so
I'm going to give the basic answer and then you
come and elaborate. And Joe, you just stole everything that
I told you. I was about to say, well, I mean,
we've just informed the listener, though, have we not? What

(01:02:37):
would you like to have you up? Well, I was
going to say that he's in a reservoir and those
fish are probably suspending deep and what he needs to
do is find, uh, find where that is and it's
not so much the color, but because you've already said that,
I'm just gonna shut the heck up and let you
keep going. No, no, no, dude, that's look. I'm not
saying that this. I'm not saying that they're is not

(01:03:01):
a a spot within that reservoir, or maybe you'd be
more successful. I don't know what the underwater topography looks like.
I don't know where the drops are, but it is
a very good chance that those fish in the dead
of winter are suspended out there in twenty or thirty
or fifty ft of water where all the bait is. Um. Wait, wait, hey, hey,
what's it called? We're I'll delete it. I'll like, I'll

(01:03:22):
delete the thing you see if it's on Nabionics. My
free dram membership expired. Okay, sorry, moving on. So it's
funny though that he he brings up um only catching
small mouths and large mounts in the winter, right, because

(01:03:43):
anywhere you go hair jigs in general, whether it's bucktail
or synthetic or we we've talked about float and fly
on here, very good wintertime bait. But I also think
just the fact the loan that he's catching large mouths
and small mouths in the winter also points to him
not being necessarily deep enough. We're in the right places,

(01:04:04):
you know what I mean? Like thinking about where stripers
set up on rivers and lakes. Here, you're typically not
catching the stripers where the small mouths are. They just
do different things. Yeah, yep, um, well I'm satisfied. Without answer, Joe,
what do you think? I think I think he's probably
learned something from that. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I feel
bad now that you haven't contre But in fairness, I

(01:04:25):
didn't ask you to team me up for your carbon
monoxide deal. I'll let you have the floor. That's your
area of expertise, is it not. I'm going to take
the carbon oxide alarms out of your shandy, Joe. So
that's it for this week. Make sure to camo up

(01:04:45):
in your super yacht, life boat winds, snapping pictures of
pheasants from a safe distance. Break out those swim baits,
even if you don't think there's a bass big enough
to eat one in your lake. And remember, putting your
ice gear in the storage unit and organizing your warm
winter gear definitely counts as spring cleaning. Yeah, and whether
it's a more spring or more winter where you are,
keep using those degenerate Angler and Bent podcast hashtags on

(01:05:08):
the old Instagram. Uh, we always love to see what
you're catching. Help me live vicariously through you we do.
And finally, remember that while we encourage the investment in
some high quality swin baits, don't come crying us when
you put them in a tree. Within three casts,