Carl Jocumsen "Being Positive Is Nearly Impossible" on MERCER-207

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
He is an Elite Series champion. A three time Bassmaster Classic
qualifier originally from Toowoomba, Australia, now makes
his home in Tennessee. Carl Jacobson joins me this
week. Oh, I'm.

(00:22):
Bob Gobb for the Bassmaster. Welcome to Mercer.
Welcome one. Welcome all friends, family,
freeloaders, fishing freaks, andof course, you my humpers.
Happy hump day and welcome into the awkwardly honest fishing
podcast that goes by my last name, which is Mercer.
This is the 207th edition of theMercer Podcast and I hope

(00:44):
wherever you're watching or watching or listening from that
life is treating you well. A brand new tradition on this
podcast. Got to let you know before we go
any further, the thoughts and opinions expressed in this
podcast are that of the participant and should not be
reflected on anybody else. These are just conversations and

(01:05):
everybody has different opinions, so please do not sue
us. That being said, it is a big
week in bass fishing. I'm headed.
Well, I'm actually there right now while you're watching this.
I'm not here. I am in North Carolina at the
Pasqua Tank River for the third stop of the 2025 Bassmaster
Elite Series. What is set up to be an

(01:25):
incredible event, this is going to be an old school bass beat
down, which I think is exactly what the bass fishing world
needs right about now. So I'm excited about that.
And, and when I say we need it, we just need a break from some
of the the craziness that is happening in the fishing world,
the craziness that is happening online.

(01:46):
And obviously the biggest story out there is the Scott Martin
story. Part of me really thought I
should say nothing because nothing I say here, I mean, if
you like what I say, you'd be like, aha, if you don't like it,
you'd be like, well, he works for Bass, so no wonder he's
saying that. And I do work for Bass.
But I think I've proven here that I will tell my honest

(02:09):
opinion, the honesty that I knowthe situation, the stories that
I know I will share with you guys, and even the fact that I
said that some of you probably roll your eyes.
So why am I even saying it? Let's move forward.
Before we talk about the Scott Martin situation, I got to say
I'm a Scott Martin fan. I have been for a long time.
I was one of the first people toreach out to him when he joined

(02:31):
the Elite series. When he was trying to qualify
for the Elite Series, I was on his show years before that, the
Scott Martin Challenge. I love what Scott Martin brings
this sport. Marketing wise, he is good
looking, well spoken. He is a generational angling
icon. The Elite Series marketing wise
is stronger with Scott Martin. I hate the fact that he is not

(02:53):
going to be part of the Elite series.
So don't take what I'm about to say as Auntie Scott Martin.
I love having Scott Martin on the Elite Series and I'm sad
that he's not going to be there.That being said, rules are
important. Rules are very important, and I
get it. I've seen a lot of people and a

(03:15):
lot of you've sent me messages disputing certain rules.
I don't like this rule. I don't like that rule.
I don't like polygraphs. I don't like whatever.
And that's OK because that's what you're allowed.
You're a fan of the sport. I'm a fan of the NFL.
There's certain rules there I don't like, but that's what the
players sign up to play under. And in the Elite Series, that's

(03:38):
what the competitors sign up to compete under.
The rules are the same for everybody, and it is Bass's job
to keep those rules. And those rules weren't just
thought up by Bass. Those rules were created
partially by the anglers. We had Lee Levacy on this show
last week talking about how the Anglers Association works with
bass to make rules. I mean, part of the reason that

(04:00):
there is more polygraphs is the anglers, they wanted them.
Part of the reason that the polygraphs are more stringent is
the anglers, they wanted them. Part of the reason that there's
a no information rule and there has been for years is because
the anglers wanted them. Rules are important, so you got
to keep them and they got to be the same for everybody.

(04:24):
That being said, you can't pick and choose rules.
You can't say I like this one and I don't like that one.
When you're an Elite Series angler, you signed up to compete
under these rules. These rules ultimately protect
the anglers. So when you're in an
investigation over a protest, you can't say, guess what?

(04:51):
I don't want to take your polygraph.
I'll take mine. I'll buy one.
I mean you. And that's not just fishing,
that's life. You can't get pulled over by an
officer and be like. Officer, I do not want.
To take your breathalyzer, I will gladly do another.
That's not how it works. Rules are rules.

(05:14):
They're important, and you can'tmassage the rules that you like
versus the rules that you don't like.
You signed up to compete under them.
They protect the anglers. The other thing that has been
tossed around that I just find alarming.

(05:34):
It's a witch hunt to get rid of Scott Martin.
In what world would Bass want toget rid of Scott Martin?
He is a generational angling icon.
He is one of the most accomplished anglers on tour.
Good looking, well spoken. What does Bass just not like?
People with nice hair, nice teeth that are good at their
job. No, it's foolishness.

(05:58):
And I see these things float around in the news and whatever
and I try to always be a critical thinker and look at
things fact wise. Why in the world would Bass want
to get rid of Scott Martin? But it is.
Bass's job? To keep the rules.
There is 101 other Elite Series anglers that compete under the

(06:20):
exact same rules, and just like people would want those anglers
to be held to that standard, so does Scott Martin have to be
held to that standard. You can't pick and choose.
I wanted this rule. I like this rule, but I don't
like this rule. You can't have your own

(06:41):
polygraph. It's just not how it works.
I mean, if you ask me, Scott Martin missed the opportunity to
do the ultimate flex of all flexes.
He said he was planning on leaving the Elite series.
Teddy feels this is a witch hunt, said he would pass the
bass master polygraph. Well, why not take it?

(07:02):
I mean, the ultimate flex would be go take it, pass it, hold
that sheet of paper up, say I passed, but guess what, I'm out
then nobody be saying anything. But he didn't do that.
He chose to leave before the investigation was complete, and
that's why there's so much controversy, That's why there's

(07:23):
so many people wondering what's really going on.
I find it disturbing that we live in a world where people are
more obsessed over who protestedhim, how the rule is wrong in
their opinion, without actually looking at the person that

(07:48):
allegedly broke the rules. I mean, it's black and white and
people like to throw around thisGray.
I talked about it last week. You can't seek information
that's not Gray, no more black and white than you cannot ask
for information. And I don't care.
Somebody was this many months ago.

(08:10):
If you break a rule, you break arule.
If you step over the line in football, you step over the
line. If you're short of the line,
you're short of the line. It is black and white and he's
disrespectful to the sport to imply or say anything else other
than that. And I get it, you're a Scott

(08:34):
Martin fan. As I said, I am too.
But if you're a fan of the sport, you're also a fan of 101
other guys. There's not specific rules made
for specific people. The rules should be the same for
everyone. And if you ask me, that's what

(08:58):
was proved here this last week, that the rules are the same for
everyone. How ironic is that?
A Week, 2 weeks ago the Internetwas like look look at bass being
too easy on Scott Martin and nowjust two weeks later they have
turned it into it is a witch hunt to get rid of Scott Martin.

(09:20):
Come on man really last year Bass is not enforcing the rules
enough. We're 2 1/2 events into the
season 2 events. I guess classic, you know, it's
removed from that 2 events into the season and it's like Vas is

(09:43):
is is power. They're just nuts.
They're trying to get rid of Scott.
Like really, come on, man. Bottom line, I wish Scott Martin
luck. I will miss Scott Martin on the
elite series. But I go back to my initial

(10:04):
thought and I've been saying it for weeks.
You got to respect the sport andto respect the sport is to.
Play by the rules. That is set out in front of you.
There's lots of good stuff in the fishing world though.
Lots of good stuff. I mean, this past weekend DC
Dustin Connell won his third RedCrest championship.

(10:24):
Not only is it amazing that he'swon three out of 6, but it is
amazing that he took that momentand decided to focus on
something positive and shutting down the negative.
He actually talked about Easton Fothergill in his moment and how
the Internet reacted to Easton'swin.
So kudos to you, Dustin Canal. I mean, that shows a lot.

(10:46):
And the world needs more of that.
Speaking of being positive, that's where we're going to go
this week. And I decided, like, I mean, who
can we have on this week? We need to bring the world up.
And this is a guy who finds light in the darkest of darks.
He is probably one of the most positive people I know on this
planet. Without further ado, let's jump

(11:09):
into this show. With Carl Jacobson.
Carl Jacobson, let's have an awkward hello since we've
already talked for 25 minutes. How are you?
Good. Yeah, You always say this.

(11:31):
We always should start recordingfrom the start because.
Yeah. But we, we talk, we talk.
There's a few things we probablyshouldn't.
It's always, yeah, it's always agood, good conversation.
Yeah, and I, I do that, you know, I don't do that from the
start. I also don't want to feel like
like I'd like the and you're notin that situation, but it

(11:53):
depends on who I talk to. But you want the guest to kind
of be chill and comfortable. And I feel like if you're we're
live, I feel like it's just kindof different a different.
I mean, that's what I do at Mercer in the morning, I guess.
But yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, I don't know.
There's a lot of it. Do it.

(12:14):
It helped me with. It helped me with the last one
we had because I was kind of fired up and I was like ready to
just, you know, say some things.And then when we spoke, I was
like, Oh, I'm, I'm actually wrong on a few of those things.
And I'm glad I didn't like air, you know what I mean?
Cause and that's why I like talking to you because in
private we can talk and I'm like, Oh man, I'm thinking about

(12:36):
that wrong. And you've been always good
about that. And so if you do it live on a
podcast, then you it's out therefor the world to see where you,
you helped me to get on track first.
Well, I think everybody helped. That's what a conversation is.
You know what I mean? Like it's whether you're talking
about whatever, it's two people,whether you're talking about

(12:58):
throwing the dead smelt rig. It is it's two people giving
their opinions and sometimes an opinion changes it.
But I I try to look at things from a fairly non biased
standpoint, you know what I mean?
Like I work for bass and it's really easy to be like, Oh yeah,
he works for bass. Of course he's part of this.
You know, they tell them what tosay and I I really wish they

(13:20):
would more. I mean, because they don't 10
times. But let's talk about you, dude.
You created the freaking glider.I mean, like when you think of
the thing like, do you ever, have you ever stopped to think
about that? I was thinking about that before
we connected this board and I'm like, I mean, he didn't invent

(13:42):
the bait, but as far as like, there's people that you've never
met before that are doing a livestream, some are doing a video
and throwing a glider. It's pretty cool.
That's awesome. Yeah.
If I had a thought about that before I even came to America
and said one day Glidebait is ina in America would be saying

(14:04):
glider. Like, no, there's no way.
It's definitely become it's something cool and people yell
it out or say something or they're all, you know, they'll
write it in the messages or whatever.
But yeah, it's it's cool. I like I love that bait.
I love throwing it and I'm glad people taught me more about it
over here and it turned into oneof my favorite techniques for

(14:27):
FAR. It's so weird when you think of
all the things that in any business or sport you try to
like, hey, we're going to do this and this is really going to
like fear my heart. That was something intentional
and it has caught on. But you don't have as many
people putting that in your comments as you have God.
Even the way yeah, yeah, that was literally yeah, that's the

(14:50):
way I say it. It's how river, that's how river
got it got her name Like it's river because that's how I say
river. I say river.
But I I haven't lost my accent, which has been a good thing
because I would get hell from mymy mates back home if I did.
But a lot of people, they lose their accent when they come over

(15:11):
here. So I'm glad I I held on
Toowoomba accent stuck strong. I like it.
I like it. I I've always heard, and I mean,
I know this was the case becauseI used to have an Irish accent,
but I've always heard like most people lose it if they change,
like when your voice changes. So if you like, I emigrated

(15:32):
before I obviously it hit puberty, I was five years old.
So as your voice changed, that'swhen my accent changed.
But I guess it all depends. I mean, I remember when we first
moved here, my brother tried to.He'd say things like ketchup,
like he'd really try to. I've had to change stuff like
the way I say it when I'm at a restaurant or at a servo, I say

(15:57):
gas station. Like if I'm having a
conversation, I'm like, if I saythis, I know they're not going
to know what I'm saying right now, so I better order it like
this. Otherwise no one's getting the
right food. Especially like if we order it.
Yeah, we've had some pretty funny, funny things.
Everyone writes my name Kyle on anything.
Like if they're like what name on that?
I'm like Kyle and they write Kyle every single time.

(16:19):
So that's always yeah, 'cause I say Kyle like I just say like
Cali never put the Rs in it. There's there's a lot of funny
ones that just one day I could not get this lady to understand
ice because I was saying I said,can I get a bag of ice?
And she said what? Right.

(16:40):
Back back, yeah, she'd no, she didn't have a clue.
Like she didn't even have a guess.
And I was like frozen water, like in the bags, the thing.
And she's like, oh, ice. And I was like, yeah, ice.
I was just must have been sayingit voice.
She's like, what is that? One of my buddies from Japan,

(17:02):
Konichi, he used to work for Shimano Mega Bass.
He's been around the industry for a long time.
I don't know, you might even know him, but he's got a very
strong Asian accent. And one late night we were at
Denny's at I cast, and he tried to order an iced tea and it
comes out and it's purple. And he's like, this isn't what I
ordered. And the girl says, yeah, I see.

(17:23):
And. He goes no.
No, I see it's a it's a very funny video.
I have it on my phone but if I've noticed anywhere I would.
Be cancelled. Yeah, I know.
People say at least you speak English, you know, over the
Japanese guys. And I'm like, I don't think I
do. In the South here, no one, no
one knows what I'm saying. I have to translate everything

(17:46):
living with Fred. And then I've had lots of people
like that are hanging around me longer.
They're like, I'll say somethingand then they're like, he
actually, he means this. Especially Kayla, she's like, he
actually means this. And then things get done.
So you're, I mean, I feel weird even asking this because I mean,
I'm obsessed with your child. It's one of the cutest kids in

(18:08):
the world, just got an incredible personality.
But is it? Her name's not River, it's
Rivera, right? Yeah, yeah, OK.
Because. You spelled it that way.
RIVAH, that's. What I thought, yeah, that's
what I thought. But I figured I'd clear it up.
Clear it up before it became embarrassing. 20 years.
From there or something? No, it's Rivera.

(18:29):
Yeah, she's a little weapon. Oh, she is, she is.
She's a pretty awesome kid growing up.
Do you ever have any nicknames? Yeah, I was.
I'm Jocko to all my mates back home.
I've got some nicknames that we can't say on here and my what

(18:49):
ones my own sister calls me thatwe can't say on here.
But no, growing up in Australia,it's everything short, you know,
Carlos and Jocko were the main ones, I think.
And. But yeah, everyone has a
nickname in Australia. No one, no one gets away with.

(19:11):
Yeah, no one gets away with their full name.
It's, it's shortened somehow, some nickname, it'll be their
middle name. Or actually sometimes it'll add
something onto it. So it's like, you know, like, I
don't know, they'll add, add a word.
So it's O like Jocko or, you know, they'll put an O or
something on it. Yeah, but yeah, yeah, they did

(19:34):
that in hockey. Like they add stuff E like they
add like if your last name's Shore, you're shorzy.
Yeah, sure. Yeah, that's that's exactly like
literally the craziest part is Canada is identical to Australia
like in almost like in every aspect.
Like as soon as I get around it or near it or Canadians like you
Gussie, it's just like it's straight Australia mode.

(19:57):
The the sense of humour that just, the just everything about
it so weird that it's like around the other side of the
world that's like almost exactlythe same.
That's kind of cool. It's kind of cool.
See, the nice thing about everyone having nicknames in
Australia is you don't like, see, I grew up and almost never
had a nickname. I was Mercer always like just

(20:19):
that's people meet me and I become Mercer.
Like the but I I mean, I guess Iwent through a stage where some
guys call me Big D, but that wasjust, I mean, really a passive
aggressive insult. It turns out, depending on how
you want to look at it, I guess the way things are short formed

(20:40):
nowadays, it might be a compliment.
Yeah, you should have kept that one big deeds.
But it is exactly. That's just how I'd answer it.
They'd be like big deed. I'd be like indeed, yes.
Thank. Thank you.

(21:00):
But I always grew up like not jealous, but you know what I
mean? Like when you're kids, you're
like, I'd like a cool nickname, but I'm just Mercer.
But I mean, I I'm, it's worked out OK.
I'm happy with it. Yeah, I think Mercer's cool.
I think it's perfect. I mean, it's my name.
I don't really. Now it's the name you podcast.
Everyone knows it's cool. Yeah, I don't like that though.

(21:21):
Like I would have been much smarter to call it something to
do with phishing for search reasons and stuff.
We literally only called it thatbecause we had a logo, Like
we're too lazy to. So I I, which it feels weird it
you know, I don't know, I don't know.
It's I think that's the truth about all things like that,
though, logos and things. You spend so much time like even

(21:43):
facts efficient. My TV show.
I thought that was a cool name at one time and now I'm like, I
don't really like it. I don't like the logo, but I
think you just that's human nature.
You get bored. And stuff.
Well, and but you get good enough and big enough at it,
like then the name becomes like you could never imagined it
anything else. Like that's how Mercer is like

(22:04):
you when you say Mercer, you don't think of it as your last
name. You just think of the podcast as
called Mercer. Really.
That's quite, yeah. Well, see, I'll never think of
it like that. Yeah, yeah, you're in a
different spot. But to people it's like someone
you call a dog or a name or a kid something, and then it's
you're not sure about. And after a while you're like,
yeah, of course their name. Is that like it couldn't be

(22:25):
anything else. Yeah, yeah.
Once their personality and everything comes out, that's
just it ends up sticking. Yeah, yeah.
Like you probably thought of other names for Riva, but now
when you're like, how could we have called?
Her anything other than that, itwould be impossible.
Yeah, and, and here's the truth,just so you know, it's a unique

(22:47):
name, a different name. When she gets older, she'll hate
it, just so you know. I mean, she'll why?
She'll why? She'll be like, why didn't you
call me Sue or something? Because I have a daughter named
Cadence, so I understand that. So I thought, oh, this is a
really, you know, kind of uniquename.
And, you know, it had meaning for several different meanings
to us and and to her. But yeah, yeah.

(23:10):
She would rather be like some ordinary.
I think she likes it now. But she went through a stage
where she didn't, didn't like it, I think.
All kids. All kids.
Future. So how's everything else in
life? It's been good, it's been good.
It's been a awesome, awesome offseason.

(23:31):
Went back to Australia, fished the Barrato with Gussie, got the
Murray codfish, got to see my family hang out there and then
come back to Idaho. Like offseason was unreal.
Really hooked into sort of my health and fitness as sort of
always do, but really sort of locked down and and you know, I

(23:52):
come into this season just feeling, you know, really
incredible, but had, you know, had some awesome sponsor
changes. I never liked changing sponsors,
but we had some just incredible ones with Crush City being the
title sponsor. We got Yeti Grant went back to

(24:12):
ski to boats, which is super cool.
There you go. And we both got Yetis.
Whatever. You got a deal.
I paid for mine bro. Just saying.
Hey, Yeti, Marissa. Well, I picked this thing up no
less than 12 dozen times the show.
We'll get on it. There are that worked out

(24:34):
awesome. Like I couldn't imagine being a
kid and saying Yeti one day I'd be one of your one of your big
sponsors. So that was that was amazing and
I got cool story behind Skeda. You know, Skeda was my first
bass boat. You know, back home in
Australia, my first real US bassboat.
Got it imported ZX190. They had an Evinrude on it back

(24:55):
then, which is so weird because they, they, they don't have
that. So the way it worked out, they
were sent over there. But and then the, the trip I won
to the US was called the skater trip of a lifetime.
And I got to go to the factory and meet everyone and there was
a guy there. Yeah, there was a guy there
called the, the guy that took meover, Josh Patterson.

(25:16):
He was the skater sort of owner of of Australia and he'd
imported, you know, hundreds of boats and, you know, I'm telling
him what I want to do. And he knew the US sort of
industry. And he's like, dude, like what
you're thinking about doing. It's like it's impossible.
And I was like, I know. Anyway, we went to like Fork and

(25:36):
then we came back to the Skeeterfactory and they showed me
around and the big guy back thenwas Ben Jarrett.
Yeah. And, and, and I sat down and I
said, hey, I want to ask you about something.
And he's like, yeah. And I was like, I want to, I
want to move to the US and like fish and try and make make the
bass master elites. And he was unreal, like all

(25:57):
positive. Like he was just like, Yep, like
you could do it. And he's like, this is the path
I take. I'll write an e-mail out for
you. And he's like, hey, you, you
drop everything and you do this.There'll be a ski to wait in
here for you to use for the first year.
And I was like, and so like thatwas like my like, because you
know, I had nothing like I'm just like, what am I going to

(26:17):
do? And then next minute I, I got a
boat and and so I went back and he wrote me an e-mail out like
this is what I'd do and start asa Co angler.
I do. He gave me like a bit of a
mapped out plan and I, I rode that plan to a tee.
Like I did exactly what he said.I knew one person, but so super
cool fish, my first elite seriesevent in a skater fished right

(26:40):
through from 2011 to 2015 in a skater and and now now we're
back in one. So that's super cool.
And Chris Brown's there who's been a massive supporter of us
like from the start. So they're just so family.
I love like my sponsors right now.
They just love like Kayla Reeve,they love our family.
Like they just, you know, it's those all those little things

(27:02):
that just made this industry like so fun.
Yeah. But yeah, I battled, I've been,
I've been, I'm trying to get US citizenship right now through
for the last probably 5 months. And so that's been another,
another battle because of everything that's going on.
And even with Trump getting in my, I have a 10 year green card.

(27:24):
I'm married to Kayla, but it's still like sketchy.
So I'm like, and I cut my, my family's here, my little
daughter's here. And so me, I never wanted to do
it because I would, I use, I thought I would have to give up
my Australian citizenship. So I never, I never wanted to do
it. But now I can have dual
citizenship, and so we've applied for that and I've got it

(27:47):
and everything. So we're just waiting.
But that was like a couple months of nightmare paperwork,
all of that fun stuff. A lot of yeah.
So you don't just marry someone and get.
It No. Everybody believes, Yeah, good
luck getting it. It's they it's it's they put you
through the ringer. I can tell you it's crazy.

(28:10):
But yeah, got all that done, gotthe boat sorted and then rolled
into the first event and it's it's it's been awesome.
You know, I had had one tough event, one good one, and then
the classic was unbelievable. So cool.
Yeah, man, you had a good good. I mean, I think you're having a
good season and the classic was good.
It blows me away, dude. Like I got it the first classic

(28:32):
you made, but this being the third classic.
And I don't know if it's just anexcessive number or if they're
just the loudest and get my attention.
But like at every take off, there's Aussies that are just,
you know, it's just and, and I know, you know, I know Ian and I
know your family when I see themand stuff like that.
But I mean, there's just people that are just huge supporters.

(28:55):
It's really it's, I mean, that has to be so humbling to you.
Yeah, it's pretty wild. It's super wild.
They, they just like the the mission to get from Australia to
here is a huge expense. It's why like, you know, my
family can't come every time 'cause it's, it's 10 grand at a
minimum per person probably likefor flights and all of the

(29:18):
stuff. And it's a full blown mission to
get over here. So to see them and the way they
were there like every morning attakeoff, like they're there and
the stands, they're the loudest.They're just pumped up and just
so excited and they're just sucha huge driving force for me
because, you know, I, I for a while there, I thought, oh, I'm

(29:41):
going to lose all my Aussie supporters and fans when I come
to the US. And like, not that I had it like
I was, but I had like built AI, built my, I built my career in
Australia. And I'm like, I'm going to just
give all of that away to come here.
And the cool part was it like tenfolded?
And it just got more and more and the more I got beat down and

(30:01):
the more I fought back, the morepeople got behind me.
So yeah, that the Aussies in thestands, they they made we know
to do the Aussie chant. And you know what was funny is
that this one that we did on thefinal day, like half the crowd
did it. Oh yeah.
Like I couldn't, you know, you could usually we just heard like
the Aussie 2, you know, the, my family and then a group of the

(30:25):
the fans. And this time, like half the
stadium did it. And I was like, that's cool.
And I got so many messages afterthat final day weigh in, just so
many positive messages. And people like my kids keep
saying Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi, the just the message
up there. And it was, yeah, I come off
that stage and for the next couple days it was, it was super

(30:49):
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Now back to the show. Yeah, very cool.
But one of my favorite parts is when I saw you pull in on day

(31:10):
one and realized you're actuallywaiting from a land down under
because don't know. This has been.
An ongoing battle where I have said Carl give America the
Australia they want and I don't care if it is Australia, it
isn't deemed as the song to comeout to but damn it, it's the

(31:30):
Australian America wants and theworld won.
I mean, dude, is it going to be a thing or are we just little
times here and there? No, like I really like the song
like and Aussies love it too. They're proud of that song.
Like we it's not it's not like agimmicky song.
It's it's a like the Aussies love that I come out to that

(31:54):
song. My only hesitation was like from
a, you know, whatever age I was thinking about the classic, like
I had certain songs in my head that I'm going to, you know,
come out to and it's going to be, you know, just a big pump up
song. And that was like never on the
list. And so I was like, hesitant.

(32:14):
And I'm like, but like, I was inmy truck.
And Jesse is it. Who gets Jesse?
He reaches out about the different songs and he was like,
yeah, which one? Yeah, a bass.
And he's like, which ones? And I was, you know, you know, I
just, and I was going back and Ilistened to it loud in that
section and it like gave me likeit sort of choked me up and gave

(32:37):
me goosebumps because I was thinking about my country and
representing Australia. And I'm like, Dave's right.
And I sent that to him and said I, I literally sent it to him
and said, hey, let's, I'll keep Dave happy.
Play this one. Dude, I wish you could have seen
my face because I had no idea you were playing it.
And then as soon as I heard it, I was like, and did you have

(32:58):
such a unique opportunity? Like it's just, I honestly think
that whatever somebody weighs into, they should stay that like
they should find a song and get no one for it.
You know what I mean? Like KVD for years was
thunderstruck and it worked so good for him.
He changed a few times. But I just think that there's
and I think you have the unique opportunity and I think if you

(33:20):
don't seize it now, here's the future.
Let me just tell you the future.There's this guy Tommy Woods
that's working real hard to makethe elites.
Dude, he will cheese it up. I mean, I'll have him out there
with a pet koala. He will do.
It so you better embrace it or else you'll be like, damn it,

(33:40):
Tommy. He got it.
No, I know it's it's it's like Ihave a bit of a struggle with I
don't wanna like get attention because I'm from Australia and
like I'm different. I want, I've always wanted it
because of my ability or what you know, of my fishing

(34:01):
accomplishments. So I never wanted to like lean
on that. But like I, I, I'm more leaning
back towards it now because I'm just proud, you know, I want to
show that I'm from Australia andthat, you know, and, and
represent the Aussies the best way I can and not sort of, you
know, not go back towards that. That's that's probably why I

(34:21):
forwarded a little bit for for awhile.
But you know, it's seeing, seeing Tommy come over is, is
just another just that that's like the next biggest thing that
just because no one's been able to do it.
And he's the next like guy. And I have, you know, I'm just
trying to help him as much as I can.

(34:42):
I want to see him. And like I said, you, I don't
want you to be able to say the only Australian anymore and have
another Aussie there will be like one of the proudest things.
And he's he's, he's the next oneto do it.
He's, he's got the he's got the guts, he's got the heart.
You know, I think he can do it, Yeah.
And the skill? Definitely has proved that he's
got the skill too for as little time as he spent here.

(35:04):
I mean, he's made an impact every single time he's been here
so far. He's sitting good.
Yeah, he. Points.
I mean, then all he's got to do is make top 50, right?
And then he's got a shot that's going to be a shootout at the
end of the year. But I think that's such a weird
thing that people, and I get it.I understand what people, how

(35:28):
they go through it, but they're like, yeah, I don't want to be
just known as the Australian guy.
I want to be known as. And you are known as a great
angler, you know what I mean? You are known as, but you are
Australian. I mean, because I think there's
probably some people that are like, man, I wish I had a
gimmick like that, like. It's yeah, and it's not a
gimmick. Not yeah, Yeah, I.

(35:48):
Mean. It's just like America is so
cool with how they champion. Like.
People like that like what America doesn't realize and like
look, we see all this hate on the Internet if you want to find
it and search for it. And it's Americans talking crap
to Americans and whatever they want to be doing.

(36:09):
But they are, they are the minority.
They are the little tiny speck in the ocean that have the the
loudest voice. They got the little squeaky
wheel gets the grease. They are getting it.
But for me, off away from the Internet, away from the news,

(36:30):
all I have ever received is unbelievable amount of love and
support from people in America. It's it's insane what they have
tried to do for me. And like even Australians have
this perception of what America is because like, dude, we go
home and we watch the news and my like jaw drops.

(36:51):
I'm like, no one do you think like this?
It's unbelievable. It's the dumbest thing I've ever
seen. I'm like, this isn't happening.
You know, I travel around the entire US through every
different state and I've never seen or heard this happening.
What you're listening to on a daily basis, every morning, like
Australia covers the news in theUS better than the US does.

(37:13):
It's wild. It's like, you know, and because
it gets the clicks because Trumpand everything, they're so
polarizing, like it gets the attention.
But Americans have this thing about being arrogant and all of
these different things, like growing up, people used to say
stuff. And then when like when I got
here, I'm just like, it's nothing like what anyone had

(37:33):
ever said to me. And people literally offered me
their homes, their houses, Fred and Jean and all of these
people. And then people that I'm
competing against and trying to,you know, get to where they are.
They're trying to get me to get to where they are.
It's and then you know, the crowd listened to them at the

(37:54):
classic like I'm from Australia,I'm beating, you know, US guys,
I'm beating your guys. They're cheering loud as loud as
they can cheer for me. They want that like they want
you to come here. And as long as you show respect
and and appreciation for how awesome this country is, they
will champion you and want you to do well and want you to enjoy

(38:17):
what the freedom that this country has.
And so again, stop looking at the Internet and the comments
and the, and listening to peoplethat don't do it because I just
thought the other day I came outof the weigh in on day three and
I was driving and I was like, this was the coolest classic
ever. Even though I was disappointed I

(38:38):
didn't win because I feel like it's a win.
Like I wanted to win. I felt like I could.
And on the final day, magical stuff happened and it didn't.
I I just and then bad stuff happened, but I end up having a
having an awesome day, but I almost had like a 30 to 35 LB
day, which I still, I still wouldn't have won, but I would

(38:59):
it would have been pretty freaking cool to bring in a bag
like that. And I can tell you what happened
about later. But after it, I was just like
the everyone was saying the Expowas packed that final day.
The stadium was packed. The everyone's cheers were so
loud. They wrote it was unreal.

(39:19):
And then like I clicked and there's all these negative
people saying stuff not I'm not clicking on it, but they're
doing videos saying this is wrong, this and that.
And like, I was thinking, I'm still have this positive view
because I'm so busy. This was 234 days later.
I hadn't, I hadn't clicked on anything.
I hadn't looked at anything. I'm too busy.

(39:40):
We're driving, we're trying to get back to Tennessee.
We're doing this stuff. And then I was like, because I
didn't look at it, I still had the perception of how awesome it
was. Do you know what I mean?
And, and I was there. I was there.
I'm not guessing. I was in amongst it talking to
the people that are there and going back to how America treats

(40:01):
everyone is when the Aussie fansget here, they yell out Aussie,
Aussie, Aussie, welcome to America.
They buy them beers, they go to bars.
If you're wearing A-Team Jacobson jersey, they don't pay
for anything. And they all these team, all
these Aussies just have all of these stories and they're like,
I'm coming back every year. They've made friends for life.

(40:23):
And like Tommy, he knew no one, he knew me and that's about it.
And I helped him. Just a tiny way he's done it all
himself, but just to get a little connection.
And then now he's got these all of these guys on the opens that
he's rooming with that it they're helping him like it's,
it's unbelievable. And yet we sit here and and

(40:46):
focus on just the crap. Yeah, well, that, that's, but
that's the world though, you know what I mean?
Like every it gets more traffic than the positive and listen, as
soon as you say that you're going to have people say, well,
some stuff needs to be talked about and I totally agree.
You do need to. I mean, did your goal in
everything in life should be to be better every single year?

(41:07):
You know, like I I've never everwalked off the classic stage
once and been like nailed it. That was awesome.
Like I, I'm my worst credit withmy own job and I and I think
most people are, you know what Imean?
At the end of the season, even if you went angler of the year,
I remember Paul Nick said it when he last time he won angler
of the year. He says I could have won it

(41:29):
better. There was weaknesses in and but
that's also why he's who he is because you keep trying to make
things better. So I don't think that there's
anything wrong with critiquing thing.
I just think that it's just way too easy to burn everything down
because, and a lot of it, dude, is, is I mean, last week's

(41:52):
podcast, me and Lee talked abouthow exhausting the classic is.
Yeah. At no time did I say that is
harder than digging A ditch. At no time did I say that is
harder than any real job. I mean, I'm just saying that
that it's a mind meltingly busy thing that you get exhausted
from. And then sure enough, I get a
message from a guy. Well, you guys are just talking

(42:15):
about everyday work. You should try to do a real job.
You just whined about three daysof talking and fishing and and
I'm like nobody whined at all. This show is supposed to give
you like a behind the scenes andthat's the classic is like a
gauntlet. You got to make it through and
it is exhausting, but it is the greatest.
Thing. Yeah, still the best thing ever.

(42:36):
Ow, every. I soak in every minute of it.
Like, the more tired you get, the more you're like, yeah, but
this? Is like.
Classic, yeah. And next Thursday, it's going to
be normal. Yeah, we're going to be, it's
going to be over in a blink. And that's what people don't
realize that, you know, it doesn't like think about how
hard just life is in general to like navigate and get through

(43:00):
and survive and do all these things that you've got to do in
general when you whether you have a nine to five, whether you
whatever job you have, it's difficult when when you try and
fish for a living, which is absolutely insane.
Like that's nuts that we that iseven a thing.
It's Nelly impossible to hold. You have to keep working so hard

(43:21):
and never back off because you'll lose it in a second
because there's so many people that want what you have and
they're coming underneath. And even though it's not you're
not doing a laborious job. It's like, I just want people to
understand that like it's just like whatever you want to do,
it's just like that you to survive, you're going to have to
work as hard as you can, whetherit is a nine to five, whether

(43:46):
you're an entrepreneur making a business, it's exactly the same
no matter what. If you back off, you're gone.
You're going to lose everything.You cannot back off and sort of
the young kids coming up, they're going to understand that
like you're not going to keep catching them like that.
You're going to have to do, you know, and guys learn that you
have to have all all of these other things in place so that

(44:07):
when you don't catch them, you're going to have to step up
and still, you know, be at the top of the game.
But you just said it before is it's easy when you said the the
to be negative and that's the 100% the thing.
And what I tell people is that all the good things in life that

(44:31):
come all come from difficult stuff and being positive in this
world. It's so hard.
It's the most difficult thing todo.
It's nearly impossible. And that's why I try to do it
because I'm like, because I know, I know that running is
hard. I want to do it.
I know that staying in the top 100 guys in the world is hard.

(44:51):
I want to stay there and do it. I want to compete.
I know all of these things. They're all difficult things.
They're the things I want to do because I don't want to conform
to the easy things and I get caught.
I think one of the guys at Bash the other day, they did an
interview and they said, oh, youjust make, you know, you're
always positive. You make it look so easy.

(45:11):
And I stopped him and I said it's the hardest thing in the
world that I have to do. And he was like, really?
And I said, you try and be positive in this world.
And he was like, I was like, tryit.
And I said, you won't get any clicks.
People won't watch your stuff. Like you don't blow up.
It's just a continual hard grind.

(45:33):
And you try and do all of these things that are cool and
positive and you do late cleanups and they just, you just
go like this, but you climb. I feel like your life stays
better longer and you are just on this gradual climb.
But around you, it's going to keep showing up.
It's going to keep like in front, in front of me every day

(45:54):
in my life is a button to click on.
I cheated in the classic, I did this, this guy got disqualified.
This they're just sitting there right there.
And when you click on that, you've, they've dragged you down
to their level and they've actually gone above you because
you're making their money and they're going to continue to do

(46:16):
that while you keep clicking on it.
So my advice, and this is what I've done is if you look at my
Instagram, it's so positive. It's everyone that I ever want
to learn off be, be, grow, do like people that are getting
after it. That's all it is.
And then when I get on YouTube or anything else, I see the
other stuff and I just block it.I get it out of there.

(46:38):
I don't want it in front of me ever.
And so it's a life decision and it's nearly impossible because
that click bait headline is going to be there for you to
click on every single time. And you're going to have to stop
yourself and say I'm not going to watch that now.
I'm going to watch something different.
And so yeah, it's they are a bunch of people are a problem.

(46:59):
They can't keep putting stuff out, but you're you're
supporting it. They're they're getting the
they're getting the kickbacks, they're getting pumped up,
they're getting the adrenaline rush from getting fifty 100,000
more views because you're feeding it.
And so for me, you know, people that write positive messages

(47:19):
keep doing that. It means a lot because if you
post something positive and it doesn't get much traction and no
one says anything, you just sortof like that.
You shouldn't put people's opinion at the front of your
life like that and worry about it.
Who cares? But if, if, but when you see a
bunch of people supporting you through positive stuff, it makes

(47:41):
you want to keep doing it. And so we're doing it to the
negative stuff. And so it's just pumping it up
tenfold. We shouldn't be talking about
just these people that aren't inthe industry that are never
going to compete, that are neverat the, they're not going to be
at the classic. They're not going to compete the
classic. We're listening to it like it's
gossip and I'm like, you're never going to be there.

(48:02):
You haven't done it, you're not going to do it.
Why are we listening here? So just to the people for me,
and what I've learned over the last couple years is the more
you feed that in your brain, themore you're going to get dragged
to below that they're going to pull you down and drown you and
they're going to get lifted up and you.
So it's it is a conscious thing that you have to do and it's a

(48:27):
battle that you'll fight every day.
The new news, the, the YouTube social media, you got to clean
it all up. You got to get it out of there
and you got to choose to feed yourself the positive stuff.
If you don't, it's just going tobe an endless circle and you'll
never get out of it. And like, I just think when I
see the clickbait stuff, I'm like, I know not to click on

(48:50):
that because I know I'm going towatch it and it's like not true,
whatever it is. And then the headlines kind of
the same and people click on it the next week and I'm like, it's
the same thing. It's just they're getting you to
buy it. So it's a challenge that I want
to put out to people to stop clicking on that stuff.
Start writing only positive messages and following the

(49:10):
positive people and your life will change.
It won't change theirs, it'll change yours.
And yeah, well, that's stop reading the comments.
Well, you have to do a little bit when you're a business.
I think you can get some, you can get some, you know, positive
criticism out of it. I guess so.

(49:34):
I, I, I mean, I, I think I'm somewhat impervious to the
comments now, just to the point that, but I also feel like you
can't get too high on the high ones and you can't get too low
on the low ones. You know what I mean?
Like go on the Internet, never even mind negative, go on the
Internet and realize how many people are being called goats

(49:55):
for like that. That means the greatest of all
time, which was used to be like so reserved, like you wouldn't
say that about. And you see people like they're
all goats, like everybody's like.
So even in a positive way, you can't, you can't.
And it's no different than somebody who's like this sport
is done within two years. So you can't take the highs too

(50:18):
high, the lows too low. And also you can't take it
personally. Like to me, Hey dude, if you
didn't like, if the most polarizing topic, if you don't
like forward facing sonar, that's cool.
Yeah, there's parts of it I don't like.
There's parts of it I do like, but there's definitely parts of
it I don't like. But I don't, I would never let

(50:39):
anything rob me of this sport. Like to me, there's yeah, yeah,
there's parts. I mean, I love NFL football.
There's parts of the NFL, NFL football I don't like, but I
don't be like, I don't like thatthing.
I'm out. I'm never watching.
Like it's just. That's a, That's a difficult
thing to do though, because, youknow, you have to have a strong

(51:01):
will to hear someone you know, say something about you and then
not take like people, you know, probably my biggest criticism is
I try to message people back on my social media.
I want to be interactive. But like I can't at night
because if I lay down and I'm with my daughter River and Kayla

(51:22):
and I click on that and there's 50 people saying, this is
awesome, keep it up. And then one guy just says
something dumb. I'll be thinking about that
before I go to bed or something.I'm like, I can't allow that
into my life. So I have to be real careful of
when I sit down and I can actually do it.
And I've gotten so much better. Like, I don't care what people

(51:42):
think near as much as I used to.When Kayla and I first got
together and Facebook was just around, we got savaged on
Facebook and the Internet and wewere like, we thought it was
like we didn't know what was going on.
It was wild because people like Carl's got a girlfriend now he's
going to like he's not going to be able to catch him anymore.
It was crazy and Kayla did a video on setting up our Lance

(52:07):
camper and it went viral somehow.
Like something happened and it literally had 2000.
Maybe it had to do with? Kayla Yeah, it did have a little
bit, but in, in a bad way. It went to like our sort of
supporters and fans. We're always nice.
But when it went viral, the comments were nasty.

(52:27):
And we're all like, and, and nowif that happened, you just
understand like they're just. But back then you sort of took
it personally and you're like, oh, these people are thinking
this of us. And it, it crushed you.
So you you know, I I get it. And I, I feel, I hope Easton
and, and young fellows like thatget that, you know, and he seems
like a super level headed kid and it's all, you know, how you

(52:51):
grow up and your parents and stuff.
And I think he'll, he'll understand that, you know, that
what they're saying isn't the isn't the, the be all end all
that they're talking about something they really don't have
a clue about. I wonder if people like Easton
are even more equipped for it than we imagined.
Because you because you think ofEaston when you were 22.

(53:11):
Yeah. And I think of Easton when I was
22. And I compared, but I I didn't
grow up. In a world.
Where like it is the most, I mean, it's got the stupidest
name, social media, it's the most antisocial thing ever.
But and it's and listen, me and you are both benefactors from
it. We both work.
So there's positives to it. But you think of like how kids

(53:32):
grow up and they're going to have like, I think every kid
grew up and thought even the coolest kid in school didn't
think they were the coolest kid in school in most situations.
You know what I mean? That.
But now they've got like a a meter that rates how many likes
you get and how. So you've got that like it's got
to be such a weird time to grow up in.
But I always fall back on a linefrom Swindle, and it's one of,

(53:55):
you know, he has many lines, clearly, but it's one of the
best lines he has. And he's like, people on the
Internet hate Jesus, and Jesus didn't do anything to anybody.
Exactly. Things like that.
You're like a great point. That's a really good point.
So it I think, I think it becomes even more important to

(54:17):
be positive and and when I say positive again, I don't mean
not. Talking about.
Real issues. I just mean the the the
ridiculousness. Like, dude, I mean, you talked
about titles and I battle it on this very show, but you just
said a few minutes ago you and you were referring to a title,

(54:38):
but you just said I cheated in the Bassmaster Classic.
Dude, if I took that little quote and released this podcast,
and it's Carl Jacobson and there's part of me that wants to
do a little experiment. And.
The Carl Jacobs cheated in the. Classic.
Like, we realize how we want people to listen, I guess.

(55:06):
So Scott, like Scoot, that shoots for us.
He's he's always battling it because he's like, how much do
you want this to blow up? Because he gets gold on the
water all the time. I had an argument with the guy
at St. John's River all the way in the
back of this canal and he wouldn't let me go around him.
He had his lines out and me and him went back and forward and it

(55:27):
was just it got it didn't get ugly, but I was just like it.
We we had a pretty good little argument and scoots like this is
YouTube gold, dude. Like this is 100,000 view and I
just love don't worry about it. Like we never put it in there.
But so there's, there's, there'sthat stuff all the time That's
very tempting to to do, but I just feel I got to keep fighting

(55:50):
to to keep it the way I I sort of see it those but that maybe
I'm maybe I'm the silly 1. I don't know.
I think I'm on both sides. Like I do see it.
I think it's ridiculous where everything is that, you know,
like, I think, I mean, I think you you have to play the game to

(56:12):
a certain extent, but you have to, I mean, when you get into
the video, it's all going to be decent, you know what I mean?
Like I just feel it's the content that judges everything
ultimately. But I also feel like in that
situation, I wasn't with you. I don't know exactly what
happened, but I'm also like, is it good to hide that stuff?
Because that's also one of the weird things that, yeah, is

(56:34):
makes this sports stand out outside of anything.
You guys do it in a public playing field.
You can put in as much time, as much preface as you want.
And if you show up and some dudeyou know, and the other weird
thing that'll happen because it might not have happened in this
situation, but the next thing that'll happen is you won't
release it, but somebody unsure will.

(56:56):
And then they get to kind of control the narrative.
Of it, yeah, it's. So yeah, no, I mean.
I just don't like, yeah, I don'tknow how these guys, like, go
through life with so much, like,controversy around them.
I'm like, I wouldn't sleep at night if people thought this
about me, but they're seeing dollar signs when they see like,

(57:18):
something major happen. And I'm like, I don't know, I
just, I don't, I don't want to live like that.
But it's, it's once you choose to live like that, you've picked
a really hard road to go down totry and, but you got to just not
worry about the, the likes of the views.
You got to just keep doing what I guess what you think's right.
And you know, and you got to give people value.

(57:40):
That's, you know, I think that'sthe number one thing is just
try. And if you can't do the click
bait thing and, and you can't just get that attention, then
you got to give people good value for, you know, what
they're looking at. And that's, that's always a
battle because right now sponsors and everyone, they,
they need us and people more than ever, I think to to be
doing good stuff, selling show and showcase.

(58:03):
Yeah, yeah, I know. I, I think you, I mean, you know
what's right and wrong. Yeah.
You know, at the end of the day.And I think there's also certain
people that are wired for that, like.
Yeah, with. Some of the stuff that's
happening around our sport now, when I get calls about, hey,
there's a question on so and so and they may have broken a rule,

(58:26):
my reaction is, are you freakingkidding me?
And I put my head down and I hate hearing it.
There's another group of people in the world that are like.
Yeah. Let me get all my phones out and
start calling people and I but that's just how people are
wired. And again, I mean, you got to do

(58:46):
what is right for you because. There's a battle I battle with
like I got AI got a like competition wise.
You might have some good advice for this because it's it's
something that is really it's hurt me over my career for sure,
but I'm I'm way too nice on the water in competition and it's

(59:12):
really hurt me this year and it's it's cost me blue trophies,
many of them. And it's starting to I'm like, I
gotta fix this because you can'tbe friends with everyone.
You're in competition. You have a right to be there.
So like it's such a strange one to navigate and I've been

(59:35):
battling it the last, especiallythis year.
And I'm just like, I got to do something about it because it's
starting to affect me. I'm starting to get mad about it
because I'm like, dude, I have the right to be there or
whatever it was and I'm just toonice, you know, but and it's
probably my advice for the younggeneration coming up forward

(59:57):
facing has definitely helped Younot have those interactions as
much, you know, you have you don't have this spot you're just
chasing. So I see I'm like, Oh, these
young fellas that are doing it. Flat out, they don't have those
harsh reactions like interactions because they just
like, I'll just go over here, I'll do it here.
You have more open feel to do it.

(01:00:18):
But when it's like technique specific or spot specific, it
makes it really hard. But I wish, you know, because
I'm like, I'm the most competitive person I know.
I want to like, I, I wanted to fight.
I want to be AI want to be a boxer.
Like if we were in a fight, likeyou're going to see a different
side of me. That's that, you know, I'm going

(01:00:40):
to have zero, you know, 0 sympathy for you at all when
we're competing. And if you compete against me in
pickleball or anything, I'm not going to give in to you.
I hope you hate me at the end ofthe competition because I want
to whoop you. But in fishing, I like everyone.
I'm friends with all of the likeguys.
And then, you know, their families and you just, and then

(01:01:03):
you get in a situation you're like, which way do I go?
Right here? Because here I can win or I can
make a top 10 or I can make a check.
And if I make the decision to gothe other way, you know, keep
that person happy. But now I'm, you know, in the
80s and I've just done it too much.
So it's, it's my advice to youngguys with what I've learnt is

(01:01:26):
don't be nice in competition, bea good person, don't be nice.
You can still be a good person and not be nice.
And you know, that's that's whatI wish I've had more like before
I got kicked out of the elites. I gave way to so much stuff.
And I'm like, because I just respected the guy so much and

(01:01:47):
I'm like, I don't want him to think I'm only here because of
him. But I found it square.
It's like mine. I should be there and it and it
and it has still happened, you know, moving forward.
But when I got kicked out, I didn't hear from anyone.
It was cold. No one cared like I could have.
And I was thinking like, you could be this nice guy and now

(01:02:08):
you're working at wherever Walmart.
And they're like, yeah, that wasthat guy.
He was super nice, wouldn't he? And you're like, yeah, I don't
now I don't have a career and I went broke.
So that's not good either, you know?
So it's it's a, it's a such a tough one to navigate.
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(01:02:29):
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the Shed family donate at least 10% of the company's profits to
conservation and making fishing better.
Now, back to the show. Yeah, you need to stand your
ground on the water, that's for sure.
I mean, I feel that's the truth in any line of work.
I mean, if you're doing sales, you need to be nice, but you

(01:02:50):
also you're, you're, I mean, dueto everything dating, I mean,
you there's, there's a certain level of I mean, if you want to
date that girl and another guy said you want to date that girl,
but you really in love with thatgirl, you he needs a girlfriend.
I've had a few recently. Like you can't, you can't I, I

(01:03:11):
just think competition. I think that's one of the weird
things that's happening in the world where everybody like you
go to a lot of kids sports and everybody's getting ribbons and
that's not how the world works. Like, dude, it ain't going to
work like that. Like you're going to get some
breaks in life, but at the end of the day, you're going to have
to work and you're going to haveto show up every day.
And the moment you stop is the moment that all of a sudden it

(01:03:35):
doesn't matter what you do. You know what I mean?
It doesn't matter. You're past like, I'm sure if
you accomplish a certain amount,there's a bit of leeway, but
ultimately you're judged. I mean, dude, look at KVD.
I mean, nobody who's going to accomplish more than KVD.
He didn't win a tournament for five years in the entire world
said he was done. He's finished, he'll never win
again. And you're just like, what?
Wait, I mean he won 20 of them already and then seven angler of

(01:03:59):
the years and now he's just done.
And but that's just again how the world is.
So you, I mean you just kind of stand your ground.
It's kind of yeah, you definitely do.
It's it's and it's kind of good in a way because, you know, like
the guys left for MLF and I'm like, people are never going to
like forgive these guys when they come back to Bass.
And like when first year in it was like it never happened.

(01:04:22):
Not like it's that's a good thing.
I think the world is kind of forgiving because stuff happened
so fast. You know, the next thing.
Oh yeah, coming, coming around the corner.
But but I think you know the right decision.
I mean, I just think you have to.
Yeah, it's so hard. Ain't like you just because it's

(01:04:42):
a mental game of like which is the right thing to do here
because you know, that person doesn't know that you were just
there right before it or you didfind like, you know what I mean?
So you're just always like battling this little thing and I
got I just love and I love helping people.
So I've said too much in, you know, when I'm in tournaments
and then help someone that wouldn't do it back to me and

(01:05:04):
then next minute it costs me andI'm like, why, why did I do
that? But.
I would rather I could see your weakness happening more.
Yeah, I I have this, but at the same time I don't want to be
sitting on top of a pile of money and trophies looking down
at everyone. I want my mates and the people
around me to be to do good as well.

(01:05:25):
You know, I love, I love seeing everyone succeed.
But it's just, it's a, it's, it's been a tough one for me to
navigate like a B, A/B, T Australian bass tournaments in
Australia, that our their motto.So this is from when I was 14
years old was who shares wins. That was their motto.

(01:05:45):
That is not so that is. Not a good.
That's not a good motto to have when you when you're doing it
for a living. And I adapted that and in
Australia I just, I worked in tackle store for 1010 years and
I just loved getting people to catch fish.
And so like when I was in an ABTtournament, I'd literally be

(01:06:07):
rigging my rods up and there'd be 10 people, all competitors
around my boat and I'd be tying on what I'm going to use.
And I'd say, yeah, I'm like twitching plastics off the deep
edge weed bed. But like, I knew they couldn't
do it as good as me and I would,I just, there was something
about it. But here you get a like you get
a, you get a sniff and the, and you can do a lot with it, you

(01:06:29):
know, and, and it, and it can, it can hurt you.
So you just. I think that's also where the
sport is too, though. Like when you were doing that in
Australia, you guys, the goal was to grow this, to expose this
to more people. Like if you look at Bass's
history at one time, you know, Ray Scott had the bus and in the
bus was Roland Martin, Bill Dance, you know, Jimmy Houston,

(01:06:54):
a bunch of different anglers toured with them and they'd go
from town to town, do these seminars and everything.
And at that time, I'm sure Bass was more like who shares wins,
you know what I mean? Because they're trying to share
the sport of bass fishing. But I think it's like anything.
I mean, if you get into go kartsat the beginning, it's probably
like, get as many kids to do this as possible.

(01:07:16):
But by the time you get to F1 dude.
Yeah, you better be a killer. I mean, like if you if you
think, I mean, you can't let your foot off the gas in our
world. But it amazes me, you know,
watching F1, Sarah's a big F1 fan and has been for years.
But watching that like series, you just see how relentless it
is. Like you've got this hot young

(01:07:37):
rookie who who doesn't do well in three races.
And you're you went from being like on the posters of
everything to yeah, see ya. Like it's just so quick.
But I think the more limited, the more, I mean, you gotta, I
think it's the same in every sport.
But so stop being so nice. We're gonna make a more edgy,

(01:07:58):
angrier Carl. You don't want that.
I've got some, I've got some built up anger and I I've just
I've, I've had to, yeah, I've had to look at it and say, all
right, we got to, we got to stopthis because I'm giving away
stuff that I deserve to be there.
I found it, I'm there. I need to be out of fish it and,

(01:08:21):
and I'm choosing not to. And it's just it's, it's not the
way to compete. That's not competition.
And I'm sure, I'm sure other guys have put, you know, it's,
it's, it's in everything, you know, but just the background
that I've come from has kind of hurt me because that's in a way
it's like in, in that sense, it's just like, that's, that's
how I was brought up and that's how I, I grew up And I'm just, I

(01:08:44):
don't, you know, I want to remove.
Yourself from it. So remove yourself from it when
you're making that decision. Like think about this.
Who are the top three? I'm putting you in the spot the
top three anglers in the Elite series that you respect how they
play the game on the water and it.
It doesn't have to be top three.Just name three.

(01:09:05):
Yeah, you're going to inevitablymiss somebody and they're.
Going to hate to do this. But.
Well, yeah, you like like Hackney Christie, you know those
those type of guys you just never see on you never see them
ever. Like that's you're not that's
sort of that's how I try to be too.
But they're just like next levelwhere they're they got they're

(01:09:26):
in, you know, areas where peoplearen't running into them.
But I, I think probably my mistake is like I get a bit
caught up in like this is the spot that you need to be.
And it actually happened at the classic this week and I last
week and I got into this backwater and I actually got
help from the guy who's an awesome dude and he helped me.

(01:09:48):
But then I realized, like, I wasn't going to be able to go
back there the next day, but I put so much.
In. The area, yeah.
I know because actually, Lee told.
The nicest man, nicest guy in the world, and he did what I
wouldn't do. He helped me more than any
angler. Like it was nuts.

(01:10:09):
Like he gave me just a couple little clues and I, I caught
him. But I found that spot 10 years
ago when I lived in Frisco. I, I found that backwater.
I knew they were going to be pushing up in there.
And unfortunately I just, I wentin there at 11 or whatever.
But John, he helped me catch my,that 8 like 3 better ones to

(01:10:30):
fill out my bag just by giving me a couple little small clues.
And then my fault was like, I got a that that's where they're
heading. That's where it's going.
And when, when I didn't go back there and I just went fishing
the next day and the day after they were, they were actually
swimming into there and I cut them off like 200 yards from

(01:10:50):
going in there. And that's when I had that, that
giant last day, like I should have had a 35 LB bag.
And I was like, that was, that was my fault for being like, you
got to be just here. This is good.
When I realized realized I was like, oh, it was all it was.
It was more of it just there. You you can't be so focused on
like what you right here. And even John, I think he said

(01:11:12):
it on the last day he caught 11 lbs in there.
He probably should have had an open mind to be like, I've beat
it up. I probably need to, you know,
expand out and literally just outside of there, there was
giants on every second lay down.It was, it was unbelievable and
something that. You got, that's what it always
comes down to though. Like it always comes in.

(01:11:33):
Like if you sit in there and youwin, you're a legend.
Like look at the intestinal fortitude.
How did he know that this is what was going to happen?
If you don't win, you're like ifI had to move.
Should have moved. Yeah, should have moved.
But that's my point with removing yourself from it.
It's like when you're on the water and you feel like, should

(01:11:53):
I be in this spot or should I not be in this spot?
I would remove yourself and you've you've spent enough time
around Hackney, around Christie and around people like that.
Do you respect you? Just answer the question that
way. If I was Greg Hackney, do I
move? And, and I'm not even talking
about the John Cox situation. I'm talking about just.
What you had brought up all the time it.
Happens all the time. But but because if you have to

(01:12:17):
remove, I mean, I just think if you're leaving an event thinking
I could have done better, you'renot doing the right thing
because and I know you, dude, you, I mean, I don't know that
you, I mean, you're going to have to force yourself to make
some tough decisions, but that'salso who you are.
Like, I mean, I don't know, you can't get walked over.

(01:12:40):
Not that's that's. And that John Cox, he was
nobody, ever. No, he was unbelievable on that
day three, like he saved my butt, which was really cool, but
it's also the classic. And I was like, you know, you
got a chance to win. I, I, I understood, you know,

(01:13:01):
with the next day, but that was my butt, you know, and what's
interesting is on day 2, I left and I caught a three and a half,
a 6 1/2 and a three and I was like, alright.
And I, I just didn't, I, it didn't quite click with exactly
what was going on. Like I just got bit sidetracked
with it, but I was close. And then on on the Championship

(01:13:22):
Sunday, this is what's funny andelite guys will know about this
is at 9:30 I finally get my first bite and it's a 7 LB up
and it came off a stump in a shallow Cove with the grass.
It had all of this stuff lined up and I literally had my hands
on it twice. And then I had it pinned against
the boat and I'm fighting it andI had a bit too much line out

(01:13:44):
and I reached out and I grabbed the line, which you never do.
And as soon as I grabbed it, it just went and the fate came out
of its mouth and I got so affected by that cuz I knew like
that's the building block to nowwhat I can do to make a comeback
here and to get that bite again.I just, and it threw me for such

(01:14:05):
a curve that I went away from like what the deal was like that
was the deal and it was like it never happened.
When you lose it, it's like something switches.
You've got to say like, no, I just caught.
I just got a 7 LB at a bite. It's got to be more.
And for whatever reason I just got diverted and the next minute
I'm running around fishing all of this stuff and I'm like, it's

(01:14:28):
one, I think it was 130. So I was doing at 3:30 and I
went back and I was like, there's got to be more like
this. And that's when I started to
work my way around. And then there was these shallow
pockets and the wind was blowinginto it and no one was there.
And I'm like, this just looks right.
And I put my Raptors down with this tiny little lay down.
Next fish I got was another six pounder jumped off at the boat

(01:14:51):
and then by that stage it was just like I was just like laugh
and I had a 2 pounder. I'm like obviously today is not
my day. And then my next cast out of the
stump, another 7 pounder eats itand I land it and I'm like least
I got a big one and I got it in.We're all fired up and I got
everything sorted and I threw along the grass and I just
crawled it. Don't 6 1/2 pounder went to the

(01:15:14):
next point now the 6 1/2 pounder.
So now I had 20 lbs or whatever for four.
And then my next cast where thatsix pounder was, I hooked one
that just it was the double digit of the tournament and I
just pulled the hooks on it. But it was like an hour window
of just like it was like what you could imagine happens when

(01:15:36):
just everything lines up and youwin the classic.
Like if I was at least within shot, like in that top 10 going
into that last day and then I have a 35 LB day, I would have
had a chance to win. Yeah, I think it's got to be
hard to stop yourself. Like I always when I watch other
sports, like when I watch football and you see receivers
dropping passes, a lot of times you can see they're dropping the

(01:15:58):
pass because they're focusing onthe next move when they're
catching the ball. That's yeah, that's right.
Yeah, it's the same thing. And it's the same with you got
like 2-2, take that moment and be like it didn't happen.
Let's just focus on the part that's tough to do It's tough.
But All in all, unreal, classic everything, everything was

(01:16:22):
amazing about it and I see people you know and you
discussing things. Bass has got some a few things
to do with bass track and getting I got to talk to, you
know, Chase and and Philip, you know, and the thing just about
how to get people in there And II, I want people to have that
feel and what I had in the stands.

(01:16:42):
That's what sort of drew me likeyou want to be to where you
can't wait to go to the bass master classic weigh in where
we've done so such a good job ofcoverage or whatever that, you
know, now it's it's not as big adraw card, but I think I think
if you put a few things in place, we can we can get it
back. Wow.

(01:17:04):
I mean, just so you know, I was in an all day meeting yesterday,
literally in an all day freakingmeeting, which is not good place
for me to be ever. But about that very thing.
I mean, so Bass knows that they got some challenges with the
weigh in. I would also say there was a lot
of things against the weigh in this year, you know, as far as

(01:17:24):
like logistically and stuff likethat.
I think we will not battle thosein Knoxville.
And I think ultimately we need to speed up the weigh in.
It's gotten out of control. Like it's just, and it's not
even just the actual elite series weigh in.
I mean, dude, we opened the doors and for 2 1/2 hours,
nothing. I mean, you have college weigh

(01:17:44):
insurance and you have bajillionshirt tosses and stuff like that
that happened, which are which are all good, but it's actually
counterintuitive to making it a fun event.
Like when you go to an event, anevent starts and it finishes and
you leave in a timely matter. I think there was a lot kind of
against them there. And I think that, yeah, Bastrak

(01:18:04):
makes it tougher. But I also think as the guy who
hosts the way and you would think I'd be like freeze Bastrak
and, and I, and there's part of me that does think that like if
we freeze Bastrak 2 hours before, but I'm also like, are
we really freezing Bastrak? Like if you think about it, for
the entire, this was the 55th Bassmaster Classic for the 1st

(01:18:27):
45, whether it was Ray Scott or anybody, they sat there and they
dreamed. Like could you imagine a day in
a world where we have live bass fishing and we've had it for 10
years and now people are like, you need to shut that off.
So the arena is the way it was, you know, and dude, the arena
crowd was decent on the final day.

(01:18:50):
And I think in Knoxville, we won't have the problem because
everything's closer together. And I think ultimately bass's
job is going to be to make it more exciting, to make it a
better. I mean, because the people that
were there, I mean, I mean, the amount of messages, stuff that
I've got where they still have that feeling.
They still but but I mean, things change like I mean, and

(01:19:12):
it's from good stuff like dude, you can cover the tournament
sitting on your couch looking atyour phone.
You can cover the tournament flying in a plane.
If you have Wi-Fi, you can you don't need to like back in the
day, nobody will ever do the jobbetter than Ray Scott.
I mean, he invented the job. He's the chicken that laid the
egg. But dude, nobody knew.

(01:19:33):
Nobody knew nothing. It was like the reveal, like
nobody knew. So I think there's some work
that has to go back to that and for you guys, for the anglers,
like you guys don't need to know.
You guys need to. And I know it's impossible.
Like, and I and I also think it's a sporting event of some,

(01:19:54):
whether you want to consider it a sport or not, that's always a
debate, but it's a competition. And in competitions, you have
blowouts. And you have close enough if
Easton doesn't catch that 8 pounder as live is leaving the
air, it's a much different way and it's a lot tighter.
Nobody really knows. So that's what makes the ones

(01:20:15):
like. One Christie one.
That's what made it so special, you know, But sometimes it's a
victory lap. And and that's, I mean, dude,
now twice in the last year we'vehad a guy win an elite that
didn't even have someone take the hot seat.
Both Corey and Brandon now nobody.
So there's that was an anti climatic way.
It's just. How it's going to happen at

(01:20:36):
times? No, just as we as we Add all of
these things, we're just going to have to adjust the other
things, I think. But I think cut, you know, even
if it was an hour before, just to give, Hey, you don't know if
someone bought them or what, youknow, something like that.
And then just make it a little bit.
There's tons of incentives and stuff.
I honestly think, I know we all want more money, but if we can

(01:21:00):
up the, I think that in prize money for the classic, like it
needs to be up 500 plus. I think that is a draw card for
actual fans too. It would be for me because if it
was 500 or in the past it's beena million, you'd be like
someone's winning 1,000,000 for bass fishing.
And we're the pinnacle of the sport.
We're the biggest that there is.And I think that that needs to

(01:21:24):
be worked on. And I think that would be a huge
draw card. You know, you could yeah, that I
I think that is one of one of the things as well, but.
I, I think that whenever you live, I mean, I'm all for up in
the purse for, for you guys. I'm always for that.
I mean, I remember back and I didn't work for bass, but I

(01:21:45):
remember back when it was being lowered to 300.
I mean, the reason that happenedis because guys wanted 10 grand
to 50th place in the elites and that was how they could make it
work. And I remember thinking like,
don't lower it because like, I mean, you're at a spot that it.
But I mean, here's ultimately myhonest opinion on all of it.

(01:22:06):
Dude. There's so much positive and
good stuff happening, but ultimately, we all need to look
at every single event, every single moment we're on camera as
a moment to bring it. Like, if you think of why you
love this sport, there's so manyof those moments that flash
through your head. You can think of things you saw

(01:22:27):
Kevin do. You can think of things you saw
talk, dude. Yeah.
Insert name here. So many people that you saw.
Yeah. We got to keep giving those
moments. And I think with technology,
it's harder now because, dude, Imean, forward faces, sonar makes
it like talking to somebody whenthey're texting.
I mean, they're there, but they're not really there.

(01:22:49):
But I, I think honestly, if, if everybody does that, bass
included, if they work on makingevery moment special, all of
that should grow. Because dude, there's more young
people in this sport today than there ever has been.
And that's got nothing to do with forward face and sonar.
Because I mean, forward face andsonar could go away tomorrow.

(01:23:10):
And just as many college anglersare going to compete, they're
going to learn how to do it. They already know how to do it
in most situations. But yeah, I've said.
I've said this before, but what I want to see Bast get back to
is the they, they were the masters at creating a superstar

(01:23:35):
and and the guys had a lot to dowith it.
But like for me growing up, the Van Damme skeet race, that Alo
and Ikanelli and all those nameslike they, although they were,
you know, big personalities, butBass did an unbelievable job of
like making them a superstar. Like it wasn't making, they

(01:23:57):
weren't working on making Bassmaster the big thing or this
or that. They were just focused on making
the the top guys stars and telling their stories and
showing those angles like those super sixes when the guy's like
looking down, then he looks up and he'd like tell something
about what it means for him to be there.
Those old ones like that. Like I just have a knot in my

(01:24:19):
stomach just watching it. Just like, and you, you got
that's how you got your favorites and you followed that
guy's career and you wanted to be more like that.
I feel like with live and everything we've gotten away
from it. And then forward facing hurts
because I've watched the footage.
I'm like, I see what we're doing, like your head's down and
they're not saying anything forever.
And I'm like, they got the camera guy's got to say, what

(01:24:42):
are you thinking right now? Like you got to prompt them into
doing something. But I want to see like those
shows have gone away and that I was so lucky that I got that
last show because that that's myonly win.
But I'm still get everyone stilltalks about that because they
they, I got that cut show that you can look back on forever.

(01:25:05):
And they helped me become a name.
They helped tell the story. This is what he's been through.
He's come from Australia. He's had it hot.
And they and they showed that emotion.
And when they did that with Van Damme and Skeet and Ike and all
of these guys, it that's they created the superstar and then
the fans come to come and see the stars.

(01:25:25):
And I think we got to get back to that as much as we have to do
the fishing as well. I know they got some critics
like it's unbelievable, like Deion Sanders and we have like
and zoner and you you guys all do an awesome job, but it's
still at the same time got to show the fishing, you know, and
it's hard when the guy isn't casting or whatever.

(01:25:46):
But I just remember watching MLFthe other day when they were
fishing Harris chain and they keep going from the guy hooked
up like they just go they got they you know when they pander
the guy, he's going to catch 1. And then for whatever reason, no
one caught and they went to AndyMorgan and he was just and they
kept showing Andy catching him. And that was like you all I

(01:26:09):
wanted to do is watch handy flipand then no one caught anything.
So they kept the camera on him and he was flipping and it was
the best 5 minutes of the whole thing.
I'm like, and then he like got abite and he caught one.
But you got to see what he was doing.
He talked and watching Andy Morgan flip for 5 minutes was
pure gold. And so I'm like, oh man, it's

(01:26:31):
tough because they want to keep the action.
They want people to look at it that aren't into fishing.
But I, I played the YouTube video that bass put up and it
has 60 or 80,000 views and therewas no commentary over it.
It's on YouTube if you watch it and we watched it on our way
back and like no one says a wordfor just hours and hours and

(01:26:51):
hours. No anglers, no nothing.
I'm like, if someone that didn'tfish clicked on this, they'd be
like, what is this like that that that should be that needs
someone needs to be appointed tocut a show.
Like I when I caught him on day,day one, I got to go out the
back with the media and do the whole thing, leaning over the

(01:27:11):
chair and talking about it. And I got full choked up and old
mate was like I got goosebumps and I could see they knew what
to do. They knew what to ask me.
They knew what people want to see.
They know how to create that show and all the guys that JM
and at Bass, they know how to doit.
But they've got, they're so busywith live and all the other

(01:27:33):
stuff and it's like, how do you get the live footage?
And then like, it's like UFC, itis live.
But they know they create. I just keep watching UFC.
I'm like that camera that they have God is probably 1,000,000
bucks. But when they follow that guy
out, when they follow the walkout, it's this different
view. I've talked to Kyle and Brandon

(01:27:54):
about it. The guy looks like he's in
three. It looks like you're there with
him and it changes everything. You just see what he's thinking.
You see what the emotion that he's going through.
And I'm like, we have to keep, we have to get back to that in
bass fishing because that's whatpeople want to see, want to come
to. They want someone to root for.

(01:28:15):
They want their star and they want the story.
And bass are the masters at it. They always have been.
That's why they're the best. I believe they're the best
because they knew how to create superstars and they did it in
2019, Lee Liversay, me, a handful of guys that caught him
and had a story, they did it. And then the next year, for

(01:28:36):
whatever reason with Live and everything is it's that those
shows don't get caught. And that focus on zooming in on
the guy's face when he's making a cast and he's trying to get a
bite. All of these little tiny things
and what would do to change his life and what he's been through
that you you didn't. I don't I don't know if you look
back, I don't know if you see that as much of Easton where

(01:28:56):
like if you told that story deeply and cut a show of
Easton's story, you're sort of seeing it on social after like,
I think dynamic sponsorship. They cut something up, Scoot,
someone didn't and and they've done it for me before.
And you watch it and that's how you get to love that guy.
Seeing those like high edited clips of his story and his

(01:29:19):
parents talking about him and then what it means.
So like, I would love to see us get back to that.
And I know that's a massive mission, but I I feel like
that's where we've gone the other way.
I, I think sometimes less is more at things like I, I think
that's why Christmas is so special, because it happens once
a year. If it was every two months,

(01:29:39):
you'd be that guy. It's Christmas again, but and I
do look back at some of those shows and I'm like, there was a
real specialness. But I think the other
specialness that was happening is anything that was said got
seen by anybody who watched it, if that makes sense.
You know what I mean? Because if it's an hour long or
it's two hours long, every bass angler on earth is watching that

(01:30:03):
end to end, maybe even multiple times in some situations if
you're a weirdo like me. But when you go to a live
environment, some of those stories are still being put out
there, but you got 8 hours of coverage to.
Do yeah, that's. Right.
Not everybody's tuned in in the first two hours, not everyone's
tuned in the last two hours. And so you don't always get the

(01:30:24):
same message. And I just think that covering
in a live event as opposed to putting together a story like
that does change. I think that there's definitely
some, I mean, I'd like to see some more of that stuff some,
but I think also we're watching a sport evolve.
And I think also the advantage when you look back at the past

(01:30:47):
with Kevin and them, outside of the fact that they had the
world's biggest media partner that owned them for a bunch of
years, ESPN, and you can't, you know, they owned bass.
They weren't airing on bass. They owned bass.
Like you couldn't turn on ESPN without seeing one of those
guys. And I also think we we
underestimate how much like how many pro anglers is there now?

(01:31:11):
I mean, you can watch live bass fishing like it went from 10
years ago. People saying, wow, this like
me, Zona and Tommy the night before it started said this will
never work. Like this is bound to be a
failure. And now 10 years later, you can
watch live bass fishing from so many different.

(01:31:33):
Yeah, literally almost every day, every weekend for sure.
There's somebody somewhere. So I think that it, it does
change. But I, I think, I mean, it's
kind of like the weigh in, you know, like the weigh in, it's
the same as they once were. No, but we're also watching live

(01:31:54):
bass fishing. Like, you know, there's that
trade off where you're like, butI, I think, I think as long as
everybody's focused on making itbetter, everybody's focused on
doing the right thing, like justtelling the stories.
I mean that's Jeremy Kenneth used to always that was his
advice and everything. Tell the story, whatever the
story is, just tell the story. And so I'm all about telling

(01:32:15):
that story. I'm all about us showing more
efficient. Like, I mean, I mean, it's,
that's what anglers want, like. And so yeah, we'll see.
I mean, trust me, a lot of that stuff, like when it's funny,
'cause people think that we go through a classic and even the

(01:32:35):
deemed most successful classics,dude, Bass pulls it all apart
and is like, OK, where were we weak here?
I mean, they're no different than any other company, no
different than you. You left that classic thinking.
Next time I'm here, I'm going tomake sure to do this, this and
this. They're the same and they are
trying to work to make certain things better.

(01:32:58):
And you can say it. And my, my take on it all is, is
as long as we're all working forthat, we win.
I mean, because that's the otherthing that was happening in
2019. They weren't just making videos,
but you had everybody bought in.You had the entire field saying
you had two groups of people. You had the guys who you got

(01:33:20):
passed over for whatever reason,we're not part of the MLF split.
They felt like, I'm going to freaking show you.
Then you had another group who was on the Elite Series, but for
the entire offseason, all they heard is nobody's going to show
up to watch them weigh in. They're not going to catch a
bass. Nobody knows their names.
But they came in like, I'm goingto show you.

(01:33:42):
And at the same time, Bass came in and said, I'm going to show
you, yeah, we all need to perpetually be in that.
I'm going to show you state and we all win.
Yeah, it's definitely on the Anglers too.
Like when I watch that back and they're not talking, they're not
talking through it and stuff. I'm like, gosh, got to, we got
to get better at talking and just talking through what you're

(01:34:03):
going, what's going through yourhead, what's going through your
mind. That's all people want to hear
that those updates are are gold Yeah, but yeah, everyone's got
to get better at doing it. But like like I do have a lot of
confidence in vast They're they're like just everyone's
getting heat right now, but I think it's going to level out
and really come out of it on top.

(01:34:24):
And they, like you said, they'reworking on it flat out, which
you know, I know they're I, I just want parents and stuff to
know that are watching everything that that sport is in
an amazing condition. It's in better than it's ever
been. And like you have a chance look
at Easton to come from nothing and be world champion just like
like that. And that's he's worked hard

(01:34:46):
enough to be able to do that andget there.
And that dream is alive and wellfor everyone bigger than it's
ever been with college and high school.
But it's in a good spot. We just got a little, a few
little. I just don't think it's going to
take much to get it, you know, really on track.
But I want that feeling sort of of, you know, I don't know that

(01:35:08):
just there's this gut feel that you get when the sport is like
doing everything right. And because it's just it's going
through a bit of a transition, you just don't have that right
now. But I think we can get it back.
I've run a Yamaha outboard for over 30 years.
It has got me home safe each andevery time.
If you enjoy this podcast, remember, Yamaha supports it and

(01:35:29):
they care enough about you to make this ad read very short.
Now back to the show. Yeah, Yeah.
And, and I mean, that feeling still exists for people.
There's still people who who think it's the I mean, this is
great. I mean, I talked to a lot of
people in the Expo that were just like that, like that.
I've only been a fan for two years and I'm loving this.
But again, if we all work to make it better.

(01:35:52):
But I also think that this sportweirdly suffers from the gosh,
we got to get bigger. Gosh, we got to get bigger.
Gosh, we got to get oh, we're way too big.
There's no room at. The bull ramps like.
We have to also like, I also look at it and I'm like, how
freaking cool is it that we havelike there's a lot of sports

(01:36:12):
that would love to like dude, ifyou look at what happens at the
way and it is the most bizarre thing in the world.
Like, I mean, basically it's a it's you know, you don't see any
of the fishing or anything. It's literally just a a reveal
like it's here's your champion. And it's amazing that we have
fans that are that passionate that they want to see.

(01:36:33):
It's amazing. We have fans that are
passionate. The thousands that show up for
take off in the morning to literally watch you guys idle
away. That's all they see quick
interview and you idle away, butit's there's so there is a lot,
right? But I think you just got to
focus on on doing your part to make it better.
And if we all were doing that, Ithink we'd be all a lot further

(01:36:58):
ahead, myself included. I mean, there's there's.
I don't want to lose that take off thing in the in the classic
weigh in because that and not that we're going to, but like I
want I do want them bigger and better and yeah, work like not
go away because we have live andbecause we have more coverage,
because I think that's the kid dream.

(01:37:20):
That's where my dream come from.And I think that's where
probably 99% of the guys like that's where it that's where it
started. When you seen that stadium full
of people, you're like, are you serious?
And again, it's back to them creating the superstar.
You do an amazing job of making the superstar you when they cut,
when you come out of that boat and the crowd is there and they

(01:37:40):
have your name and you have yoursong, That's the dream.
That's what we all imagine happening one day.
So like that, the fight that hasto be, yeah, we want, they want
clicks and views and all of that.
But like there's got to be a bigimportance put on those couple
things still too. That's that's doing an amazing
job. Like the Aussies literally are

(01:38:01):
like we're coming back every year.
Like every one of them say that they just have an absolute
blast. Yeah, that's the thing about the
classic though. It is one of those events like
when you go, you're like I'm go,I'm I can't miss.
But I think it's because we all get together all of a sudden.
Like I have this theory where we're all just like a group of
weirdos that grew up wherever wedid in other countries, in other

(01:38:24):
parts of the United States. But but you do.
You weren't playing baseball. You weren't playing football,
you weren't playing basketball, you weren't playing a mainstream
sport. So you were different.
Like you went to parties and it was, hey, there's Karl the
fisherman. That was different.
You know, that's what identifiedyou.
But you really were like, you felt like you were different
always. And I think everybody kind of

(01:38:45):
grew up like that. And then depending on where you
live, like if you live in Guntersville, you're a little
less different because there's alot of people that that do it
that live there. But ultimately then you go to
this event where there's so manyothers that are just obsessed
with this, like, you know, even at the best classic way and when
you look at it, you're like, if there's buddies you have that

(01:39:06):
you have to really explain now this is special because of this
that will never get it. But then you get in a room and
surrounded by people that are just.
And I just think that that's what's the feeling that
everybody gets. Like I want to be part of this
again because I just feel it's just my world.
Like it's, it's and everybody gets.
Me, you're really in close with everyone like having all the

(01:39:29):
other all the other elite anglers at the Expo that didn't
make it being so close at the weigh in and that take off.
Like if you're a fan of bass fishing like that and and you
have there's nothing there's nothing that no sport where you
can get that involved and aroundeveryone.
Yeah, well. I mean, that's dude, I think 1
by 1. Like again, I think there's a

(01:39:51):
lot of great things. I, I would not listen to a lot
of the stuff that's out there, but I, I ultimately think like,
as long as we're all thinking about doing that, like those
morning take offs. I, I mean, I think you bring it
every time I give you a quick interview and whatever and you
respond to the crowd and whatever, but there's a lot of
people are just like, OK, like we.

(01:40:15):
We all got to bring it and put on the same show that made us
fall in love with the sport. And bottom line, there's more
kids doing this sport than ever did it before.
So to think it's going anywhere is just foolish.
But I think there'll be lots of changes.
I mean, I think we'll see changes in forward facing sonar

(01:40:36):
at some point, I would assume. I don't know that it's going
away, but I feel like it'll get limited to to some certain
extent. I I could be totally wrong
though, but I mean. Yeah, that'll be, that'll be
interesting. It seems like, you know, they
it's that's, it's a tough one. It's such a tough one because I
do think like it's, it's helping, you know, the young

(01:40:59):
generation really get into the sport and, you know, they
actually really enjoy it. So like, it's something that's
getting them, you know, on the water and on the boat and
catching fish. Do you?
Think it's getting them into it,though.
You think there's kids that are like, oh, hey, we can play this
on screens. I'm doing fishing.
Like I I don't think that. I mean I don't I could be

(01:41:20):
totally wrong but. I think there's some I think
like I've taken kids out that don't like fishing and then I
show them it and they're like. Let's.
Keep doing this like they love it and they don't like fishing,
you know, because they like it gives it's it's more
interactive, you know well. It's something to watch.
I'm just on the fence all the time about it.

(01:41:41):
Like I love that how good they are with it.
But I could tell like John did an interview, John Cox and a few
other guys. I can you can hear their voice
like they don't like John was onthe win and fish and when he had
22 and then 22 and then come back in and he's like, I don't
have a shot to win really. Like he's just it's a blow out

(01:42:01):
on Ray Roberts, you know, and then it you know, really for
Lee, he like 30 years of experience, whatever he's got on
that lake that that that thing Trump's that.
It takes it out. He doesn't have that 30 years
and that's now I feel for him a little bit because I'm like,
damn, this whole life, it all came down and he finally got it

(01:42:24):
on the lake that he'd like dominates on and lived on.
And we only got 2 days of practice, like 2 days living
there. You could have went there last
year and drove around, but stillyou had two days.
And you can beat level Lee on his home lake.
That's, that's kind of, that's kind of crazy, you know, Yeah.
And there's, there's lots of little things, you know, I think

(01:42:45):
for, for parents that have it ontheir boat.
I think you just like I was fishing up in Idaho with my
family up there and we'll catch a small mouth.
And Kayla's younger brother brought his girlfriend out and
she'd never caught a fish beforeand she'd never landed one.
And we, we were, we were whacking him and I knew like how
to get him. And so she gets up the front and

(01:43:07):
I'm finding him and like I, and I'm like cast there, cast there.
And these big small mouth just come rocketing up and like, I
caught myself. She wasn't quite getting the
cast right or whatever. And I caught myself for a second
and I was like, I'm going to tell her like how to twitch it,
how to move it, keep one and quit 1 and I'm going to say
you're on. Like you got one, set the hook
and I caught myself and I said, hey, just I'll fish here.

(01:43:30):
I'm like just keep throwing the jig up onto there and just like
drag it. And so she did it and like me
and Zach catching him like everycouple minutes, you know, we're
just whacking him And then it's sort of she hasn't had a bite in
like 20 minutes. And then next minute she was
like. And then we look over and she's
like bent up and I'm like, she'slike, I think it's stuck.
And then it's just like starts fighting and 4 1/2 lbs small

(01:43:52):
mouth jumped and I'm like, she got that feel of like, you know,
that initial bite that we all get addicted to.
And I think that's super important, you know, for someone
like that or a kid or someone coming up, it's, it's fun.
It's a it's a strange technology, dude.
It's wild. It's wild.
It's a laser pointer that pointsto your fish and you can see

(01:44:15):
it's just, I don't know how to feel about it.
I catch, I love it. I catch fish on it all the time.
It's exciting, but it's like, then I feel a bit funny about
it. At the same time, I'm like and
there's something something weird about it.
Somebody in the comments made a really good comment a couple
weeks ago about it and I'd neverthought about it like this.

(01:44:36):
If I knew their name, I'd give them props on it.
But everybody always likes to compare it to baseball and the
aluminum bat and everything, which is not really true because
the only reason there's no aluminum bat is so people don't
die. Literally, as you get to the
pros, you will kill somebody if,I mean, if some of the hitters

(01:44:57):
hit it. But he made a really good point.
He said you don't get to see thesigns in baseball.
Like when somebody's pitching, you don't get to see what
they're throwing to you and and when you do, that changes
everything. You know it's going to be a
fastball, you know it's going tobe a curveball or whatever, and
that's what you get to see. Ultimately, I think too many

(01:45:22):
young people like it to assume it would ever go away totally.
But I think that a schedule thatdoesn't have it all the time
seems in my head. And again, this is me
personally, this isn't fast speaking, but I I feel like a

(01:45:43):
limit to it would be would make sense.
So whether it's a daily limit orwhether it's half the events
have it and half the events don't have it, because
ultimately, and and I don't think that's a technology thing.
I think that's almost a technique thing.
Like, dude, if, if and the technique came out where it was
like that's how you just catch them.
Like if Alabama rig was made legal and that's only what you

(01:46:06):
would do and you saw your anger,you're only catch them on that
Alabama rig. I'd be like, we need to do
things to show variance. And that's where I think it'll
end up. Yeah, but but it's yeah.
Like, like this classic was cool, I thought, because it was
kind of that verse, you know, old school.
And like it was the fishing was unreal.
Like I was like a bit worried about what the fishing was going

(01:46:28):
to be like because it's such a tough lake.
And like the way the guys figured them out up shallow and
around the timber and caught those huge bags.
And then you had the guys scoping them, which it was like
impossible to scope. And you turn your troller mode
like that and there was just giant dots everywhere.
Like so the mass amount of skillthat Easton showed to like peek

(01:46:49):
through them and understand it is huge.
So like it's it was cool becauseit's always like a fight.
And so you just hope that like it tones down a little bit
because it's like so powerful. You like you want I like it
there, but you want like the standard techniques to be at
least be able to keep up with it.
And it's sort of like it. I don't like that I've even in

(01:47:13):
the classic. I started figuring them out on
the glide and up shallow on the Chatterbait swim jig and stuff.
And I was like, you are teetering with putting yourself
out of this classic right now bynot focusing on that, you know,
and I always have that in my gutlike this isn't I don't, this is
not what you need to be doing. So you're you're forcing it a

(01:47:33):
little bit to be like I got to be out there.
But when you don't have that in your mind and you solely focus
on that and you learn it at the back of your hand, it's it's, it
is technically it's unbeatable. Like it's, it's unbelievable.
It's amazing technology, but it's not easy.
Yeah, that lake had everything you could imagine in it, had gar
and carp and drum and they were all big and there was just dots

(01:47:57):
everywhere. Like I bet half the field tried
to do it and couldn't do it, youknow?
So there's there's a fair bit toit, but.
I think even for that, I think that's why a limited schedule,
half and half, half the events or whatever.
I think that's why it makes sense.
I think a limited amount of time, if you do it per day,

(01:48:17):
whatever that makes sense. I mean, that was my original
where I thought it should have went and my life's had a little
success with that. But I think that just because
even for the young guys, dude, if I'm Easton, give me a few
without it so I can show you. Yeah, that's.
Right, You know what I mean? Like they're putting up with

(01:48:39):
some stuff they they, they don'tneed to put up with and
shouldn't. And it's just online stupidity.
But that's ultimately I want to know that the dude who holds
anger of the year is tested in every single way.
And you know, no different than I mean, we've had several people

(01:49:01):
who, I mean, Patrick Walter is aprime example.
He's not one angler of the year yet, but he's perpetually in the
top 10 for angler of the year. And every single year he used to
go north, would get the small mouth lakes and he would get his
skull crushed. And it was because he spent no
time doing it. Well, he rectified that and now
he obviously can catch Soma verywell, and I think that's cool.

(01:49:25):
And one day when he wins Angler of the Year, that'll be one of
the reasons why. So I think I want to be able to
see everyone tested and everything, and I think it'll
happen. I mean, I think you.
But again, the anglers can change that, dude, whenever we
use OK, so let's say that happens, bring it on those days
with it. Like just show how different and

(01:49:46):
how excited the world is when you're not using it, you know
what I mean? Because at the end of the day,
everybody wants the best product.
Yeah, yeah, it's it's helping people catch fish all over and
get excited about it too. And you know, it's there's
there's tons of positives, but it's just we're just going to
have to wait. We're in the middle of a
balance. But I think that would be that

(01:50:07):
would be a good thing. But I think our schedule looks
good for the rest of the season the way you're going to see some
good battle outs of of shallow water staff and got you know,
you're still going to have thoseguys that are going to do it
everywhere. But I kind of like where you you
get a battle of guys doing it just like just like we had it

(01:50:28):
was kind of yeah, variety and you got guys that are trying to
beat that, you know, technology and like what John's doing.
And it was cool to be in that backwater with John and just
watching fish. He's just an animal.
A like you just and fishing wise, like I think that's what
you want to see like footage wise and for bass, like you just
want to see John. Like, dude, I'm sitting there

(01:50:48):
and I I heard someone else said,but I was just watching John
like fish. I'm like, because he's fishing
like different to me and I'm like, he's just a freak.
Like the way he's found that, the way the water was flowing
through there, the way he positioned his boat.
I was just like, yeah, he's it. It was, it was cool just to
watch. So when it comes to like

(01:51:09):
footage, that's what we want to see.
We want to see him fish like casting and figuring it out and
getting that bite. But.
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm sure we'll see, Chay.
I mean, that's the weirdest thing that came out when when
leagues started making decisions, everybody was like,
oh, well, that's how it's going to be.
No, it's going to change. Just like limits have changed

(01:51:30):
over the years, just like everything's changed.
I think you'll see changes, and I mean if nothing else, it gives
some YouTube channels a great bout of content to punch out.

(01:51:51):
It's put some eyes on the sport for sure.
It's put some views, people's stuff, but.
All right, so you're going to win the next event, right?
I mean, when this airs, the event starts the next day.
So I mean, be cool. Be cool if you just went out and
won it. And I'll get in like a battle
with someone and I'm like, I am not, I'm not moving anymore.

(01:52:13):
We'll go to the bank, like Mercer said on my ground, let's
go to the bank. It's a real good footage.
I'll have you to blame. You can blame it on me.
A lot of stuff gets blamed on me.
I can't. I'm excited for that fishery.
I never went there. I never got to practice.
I decided to go to Texas and andsort of warm up for the classic
instead of running up there. But I'm, yeah, excited for that

(01:52:36):
one. It's going to be, from what I
can tell, it's going to be. Yeah, big fish and guys running
big long runs and you know, it'sthat Chesapeake Bay event was
one of the coolest ones ever where me and Aaron like kind of
battled it out in that middle river and I, I made that huge
run. I thought I had it to myself.
And then I that's one of my still my greatest experiences

(01:52:59):
with Aaron. But and also going back to me
being too nice, there was 2 giant marinas and me and him
were fishing 1 and I went to runto the other and he was on the
other one and I was like oh he can just have that one.
And I ran back to the other one and the Marina like 20 boats
could have fished it. I'm just like oh, but it's still

(01:53:20):
it's just little the little things you just leave and you
learn. But it was that was that was
that was pretty cool having thatinteraction with Aaron with that
one. Yeah, any interaction you have
with that dude is is a good one.But you know what?
Positive you're you're a gift tothis sport, dude.
You're a gift to my life as a friend.

(01:53:41):
I love your positivity. I love the way you think about
things. And I've enjoyed our chat.
Yeah, it's been good mate, It's always good catch up.
Are we calling this I cheated inthe bass MasterCard?
Don't do that to me. Just don't do it to me.
If I could deal with it, if I didn't have to look at the

(01:54:04):
shares and the. I mean, I mean you, didn't I?
Mean, I know that's true, that'strue, but yeah, all.
Right. I'm too nice.
I'm too nice for bass fishing orsomething like that.
That one you put nice in it, people.
Will be like, I'm going to Oh yeah, I'm going to fight the
next guy in my spot. What do you?

(01:54:27):
What juice do you need? I don't know, we'll figure
something out. Hey, for the people watching
this with the FEMA heart stuff, yeah, FEMA heart incentive is
still going. Warrior Precast got behind us
again. We got nine $1000 checks to give
out to the elites. Any elite series guy doing good.

(01:54:48):
Bill doesn't know this, but we're giving Bill the one kind
of for for Okeechobee. But Bill pays for all the kids
in the crowd. He pays for their and.
He gave everybody a membership. A membership in the crowd.
He said if he won, so he's goingto get Round 2.
Jason Christie got the first onefor St.
John's for giving way to Bill. And so Bill's going to get that

(01:55:12):
one for paying for all of those kids.
That's that's a really cool incentive.
I'm looking forward to talking to him about that.
And then at the So when when yousee an Elite Series and next
week and you're watching it and you're watching online, keep an
eye out for the guys doing cool things.
Don't look for the drama, look for the cool stuff.
There's guys making giant comebacks, saving their career,
making big long runs. They're saving people on the

(01:55:35):
water. They're helping other Elite
series anglers out. I mean, they're doing cool stuff
every single day and and and we get to see it out there.
Honestly, I feel like a giant family with the guys.
If anyone was broken down, any one of those guys is going to go
out of their way to help you unless they're on their way back
to win or something like that. They might say someone else can

(01:55:56):
get you, but they're going to that everyone is, is is really
cool and they're doing a lot of good stuff.
So we're trying to bring those stories to light.
And we're doing our FEMA heart lake cleanup and we're going to
cook. It's going to be like a
worldwide cleanup this year. We're going to do it through
social media and we're going to try and get people at their home
lake, wherever they are to go totheir home lake and pick up a

(01:56:18):
couple bags of trash. We're going to be doing it here
at Chickamauga. We've got going to have tons of
prizes from all of my sponsors and that's on the 28th of June.
So if you want to be a part of that, we had 75 people come down
to Chickamauga last year and we picked up 15 tons of trash in
three or four hours. So we're trying to do good

(01:56:39):
things. We it with lots of FEMA hearts
getting around and lots of people that that, you know,
sinks in within any part of their life.
And it's helped me in my life and I use it every single day
and appreciate everyone that supported us and appreciate you,
Dave, and thanks for having us on.
Yeah, no problem that it's a great program.

(01:56:59):
Just keep, keep putting the goodstuff out there in the world and
yeah, people will stop noticing some of the other, the one and
only Carl Jacobson. Thanks mate.
He did not cheat in the bass master classic.
I wish he would have for the podcast, it would have been
great. See you mate.

(01:57:20):
As always, a great conversation with Carl Jacobson and a great
reminder of all the good things there is in fishing.
Remember, that's why we all got into this, because we like how
it makes us feel. It makes us feel good.
It makes us feel grounded. So what I'm saying is get

(01:57:41):
outside and turn off the Internet.
Unless, of course, you listen tothis podcast and you can make a
brief break. And hey, Speaking of that, let
me know how you listen to this podcast.
Do you listen to it while you'reworking?
Do you listen to it on the way to work?
Do you sit down and actually watch it?
How do you consume this podcast?I want to know.
Also would love to meet a bunch of humpers this week.

(01:58:04):
So if you're going to come out to the event in North Carolina,
I would love to see you there. Just holler at me and say hello.
Get outside and enjoy yourself. I guarantee you it will make you
feel better about life. Until next time, enjoy being and
as always, Bob Cobb, take it away.

(01:58:25):
Thanks for watching. Please like, comment and
subscribe because Bob Cobb of the Bass Masters told you to you
here.

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