Seth Feider and Jake's Take "Anglers Who Read the Rules are Cheaters" on MERCER-203

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
It is a wonderful day for a double dose of goodness and
guess what, you're in luck 'cause that's exactly what we
have for you here this week. First we are joined by 6 time
Bass Master Classic Qualifier, two time Bass Master winner,
former progressive Bass Master Angler of the Year, the amazing
fighter man Seth Fighter. But that's not all, we're also
joined with a bonus Jake's take.That's right, a little itty

(00:22):
bitty. Jake's take where he joins us
and breaks down everything that happened at the Bass Master,
opens open. Anyways, both of them joined me
this week. Oh,

(00:43):
I'm Bob Cobb for the Bassmaster.Welcome to Mercer, welcome on.
Welcome all friends, family, freeloaders, fishing freaks, and
of course you, my humpers. Happy hump day to all of you and
welcome into the Awkwardly honest fishing podcast that goes
by my last name, which is Mercer.
This is the 203rd edition of theMercer Podcast and I hope

(01:06):
wherever you are, life is treating you well.
Thank you for tuning in. It is a freaking busy, busy week
for me, for a lot of people. I mean next week is the Bass
Master Classic and the Super Bowl of bass fishing does not
happen without a lot of work leading into it.
So it is a crazy, crazy busy week.

(01:26):
But I hope to see a bunch of youdown there in Fort Worth, TX.
Going to be a huge classic predicted huge, huge weight.
We may see the three day classicweight record go down.
A lot of stuff going on. I mean it, it's in Fort Worth
and it will be a fun, fun time and I hope to see a bunch of you
there. If you do see me at set event in

(01:48):
Fort Worth, just holler my name and I will try get to you.
It's always great to see the fine folks who watch the
podcast. It is awkward at times when I
run into somebody and you know, people are around that don't
watch the podcast, which I don'ttrust those people, but and then
they hear somebody say, Hey, I'ma proud humper.

(02:09):
And then I say I love humpers. It's a very walk awkward
exchange, but you guys make it less awkward.
So if you see me at the Bassmaster Classic, I will be
the loud guy with the microphone.
Just, you know, chase me down, try say hello.
I'd like to give you a spot thatI'm going to be hanging out and
maybe a next week's show. I'll have that all dialed in a

(02:29):
little better. The best spot to get me is a
take off in the morning. That's the easiest place to get
me. I will be in the Expo at times
doing live, I'll be in the arenaduring the entire way and but
I'm a little busy at that point.But hey, holler at me.
Let's just be awkward around other people and I make them

(02:50):
feel awkward. Speaking of awkward and and not
really, it's not really awkward,but this is something I'm about
to talk about that I never thought I would talk about on
this podcast. We're going to talk about a
musical and a musical is happening at the Bass Master
Classic. That's right.
And when Bob Cobb sends a guy your direction, you listen and
that's exactly what I'm doing. The musicals called Dreamcatcher

(03:12):
the ray Scott Story. It's at the rosemarine Theater.
So if you are in Fort Worth, TX for said Bassmaster Classic, you
can check out Dreamcatcher The Ray Scott story.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday it will be worldwide
premiere. It happens in the evenings after
weigh in time so make sure you check it out.

(03:34):
Once again, dreamcatcher, the Ray Scott story at the Rose
Marine Theater. I'm sure it's going to be
awesome. Anything connected to race God
is awesome. I mean the man is truly the
reason that the sport is what itis.
He is the chicken that laid the egg and go check that out.
Support that great venture. Who would have ever thought a

(03:57):
musical? There may be a bigger collection
of people never that have never been to musicals at this musical
than any other musical in history, but I hear it's very
good. Let me know what you think after
you check it out. Got a fun show here this week.
A bonus Jake's take. I mean you thought you seen all

(04:19):
of Jake last week and you wouldn't seem till after the
classic or after the elites. No, Jake was at the Bass Master
Open and he just happened to be in the boat with Yui Ayoki,
which I really hope he makes theelite series because it's just
fun to say Yui Ayoki. I mean it's just a fun name to
say and and fun names is what passes the time for me.

(04:44):
So Jake is going to join us witha smaller version of Jake's take
and he's going to break down everything that happened from
the eventual winner's boat and that's going to be fun.
But before we even do that, we need to turn our attention to
our main feature, our main guess.
Nothing against you, Jake, but this guy is a six time classic

(05:04):
qualifier, A2 time Bassmaster winner, any former progressive
Bassmaster angler of the year. He is one of my favorite dudes
to have conversations with because you never know what
direction it's going to go. And guess what it did that
again, we deal with some spicy stuff.
We deal with some stuff that medical professionals don't even
believe can actually happen. And guess what?

(05:27):
We sometimes talk about fishing.So without further ado, let's
jump right into it. Let's travel all the way to New
Market, MN and hook up with the llama Seth Vidor.
Seth, how's it going? Good.
What's up, Mercer? Yeah, let's have an awkward
weird. We've already talked for 10
minutes and now, hey, whatever. We look hard now.

(05:50):
Yeah, yeah, it's for real. Let's.
Yeah. We're podcasting.
We're podding. Are you going to start a
podcast? I.
Don't think so, no, we got the team talk.
I I just started a YouTube yesterday than a TikTok last
week. But I think I'll leave the
podcasting up to the pros. I'd rather just be a guest.

(06:10):
Yeah. Do the show.
I mean, you're a good guest, so I'd rather you just stay that
way. And yeah, let me check.
I'm gonna. I should have been prepared.
How's how's the TikTok going? Good, I still haven't got to the
10. I'm just short of the 10,000 so
if you guys are watching this gofollow me on TikTok and then I
want to hit 10,000. Then I got really good videos

(06:32):
coming because that first one I posted was like a $20,000 video
and I will get nothing for it soI should have saved it. 3.6
million but dude you also went from zero to 9000 subscribers
like. Very.
Quickly SO. I got to get 10,000 though, so
all right, a little bump from the Mercer podcast crew.

(06:54):
If it's not done by the time this podcast is done, I have no
faith in these fine folks and I have a lot of faith in them.
We're it's happening, it's happening.
Check me out on YouTube too, I'mgetting that rolling so.
What's the channel? Is it Seth Fighter?
Seth Fighter fishing, Yeah. OK, I'm going to put both links
down below in the description and in the comments.

(07:14):
I'm going to put it and make sure you, I mean, this podcast
can't give a lot to the world and one of our favorite guests
is you. So please help him be in one of
our favorite guests. Because yeah, I'd appreciate it. 00:07:26,640 Don't friggin fail me now,
humpers. That's a nice.
Warren for the day we'll we'll figure it down now of.
A real conversation. Yeah, that was a commercial

(07:35):
break. Yeah, yeah, we have those too.
How do you feel about Florida? Pretty decent, right?
Yeah, yeah, no, happy with that.A really good tournament at St.
John's, not so great at Okeechobee, but it bounced out
to I think I'm sitting in the 30s and points, which is usually
I'm a lot of years I'm leaving Florida like 85th or worse than

(07:57):
the points. So then I'm kind of clawing out,
digging up a hill all year. So kind of nice to get get off
to a good start and hopefully keep it rolling.
I bet you wish there wasn't thispesky classic.
No, it it's going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it.
I wish I was fishing it. But yeah, we're going to have a
good time. I mean, neither me or Matt made

(08:19):
the cut, so we're going to go out on the town a couple nights
and make a little Derby boy episode out of our Not
Tournament tournament. Yeah.
That's. Sounds like a good time.
I I kind of wish I wasn't working it I.
Bet you won't see you. I don't know, dude.
I disappeared during the classicview.

(08:42):
It's yeah. It's OK.
I mean, Sunday night, Monday, Monday.
I mean, I'll be there Monday. Monday's a fun night.
But you won't be there yet, right?
Oh, Monday before the classic. Yeah.
Oh, no, no, I get there. I'll get there.
Thursday. Yeah, I'm just doing Friday,

(09:03):
Saturday at the Expo, so. Sunday night, you going to stick
around? No, I don't even know if I'm
going to do Sunday at the Expo. I'm trying to schedule all my
stuff Friday, Saturday and then hit the road.
Yeah. All right, so.
And actually I got to make a pitstop one of my that's kind of a
bummer, but one of my good buddies is a he got a pretty bad

(09:27):
bod of cancer. So swing by his place and fish
with him on the way home one day.
So he wanted to get out the boatone more time.
Yeah. Brutal.
Slower to make that happen, but.Yeah, that sucks.
That sucks. It's it's a horrible part of
life, but it's part of life thatnow let's just try to get the

(09:50):
rails back on the track. We're all up and down, yeah.
Yeah, a very emotional roller coaster so far.
You spent a ton of time in Florida before the season.
Like I was impressed because me and you talked about doing this
podcast and I'm like, just, I mean, I think it was January
sometime and you and I was like,well, just let me know when

(10:10):
you're going to be home and you're like after the elites.
I was impressed. Was that just to get things
going the right direction? Oh yeah, I just.
I think I got anybody. The more you fish, the better
you fish. You're just execute better, make
better decisions the more time you spend on the water.
And yeah, and it sucks coming from up north 'cause I mean, I

(10:33):
hadn't made a cast since October, maybe beginning in
November, but either way, a few months offs, enough to slow you
down and just makes it harder ifyou just show up there cold and
start practicing and fishing andthe mechanics aren't there and
the decision making isn't there.So I'm going to try to spend as

(10:54):
much time on the water as I can this year and, you know, just
keep fishing. Is that the plight of pro
angling? I mean, it feels like you're at
one point all you have to do is fish like that's all you.
I mean you when you get away from work, but you're like, and
because nobody wants to do anything, you're just trying to
make it as a pro angler. But then as you start to make it

(11:15):
and you make a name for yourself, it feels like that's
the the weirdness that now all of a sudden it's like I need to
stay on the water. Did that become a challenge for
you? It it did, you know, like when I
started out, I just fish, fish, fish all the time.
And then between obligations of things and then starting a
family and kids and stuff like that, it's just it's not

(11:38):
realistic to spend every day on the water.
You know, if you're a 25 year old guy in the opens or on the
elite series or whatever, yeah, you should be on the water every
day. But I don't.
That's not possible. But you know, I'm going to try
to spend as much time fishing asI can, whatever that turns out
to be. So what's your take away from

(11:59):
the start of the season, not just with you, but with with
there's a lot of directions that.
Yeah, no, I, I'm, I'm liking everything that's happening
right now. It feels like all is right in
the world again. Good guys are winning, bad guys
are losing. Bass is cracking down.
I like that. You like that?

(12:20):
Oh, yeah, no, yeah, need needs to happen.
I think, you know, I mean, there's it's already happened
enough, probably after the firsttwo tournaments just to, you
know, keep the boys in check. You know, you can only go, you
know, they're going to take an inch at a time.
And then, you know, all of a sudden it's like, well, no one

(12:41):
gets in trouble for anything anymore.
And I mean, it might be a littleharsh right now, but I think we
need that to balance everything back out.
And, you know, when the cat's away, they might as well play
whoever the saying goes. But I, I, I like it.
I'm looking forward to some moredisqualifications this year and
hopefully next year it's not an issue.

(13:03):
You're looking forward to a few more, are you?
Do you think they'll be I? Don't got nothing to worry
about. So yeah, yeah, I think they're
well. Yeah, I, I think, I mean,
there's just, there's a lot moretests and that's, I mean,
ultimately that's what the anglers fought for.
And if anybody and if anybody says they don't want that, yeah,

(13:25):
maybe. There's a reason whining going
on about how many polygraphs andhaving to like stay and how long
they take. But it's like, what?
What's your other options? Just, you know, letting stuff
run wild. And that's not very good either. 00:13:41,040 So I'd like I I said before I'd
not try to take a polygraph every tournament then.
Yeah. Have shenanigans going on, you

(13:46):
know? You still believe once you once
told me and and this might be misquoted, but you once told me
anybody that reads the rules is a cheater.
Absolutely, Absolutely. Well, isn't there like a level
to that? Like where?
I mean, maybe if a guy had a question about something he
might glance over something, butsomebody that reads the rule

(14:07):
book front to back more than once is just looking for a Gray
area or a loophole or some weirdwording that wasn't quite right. 00:14:19,560 And in my eyes, you'd need about
3 rules, a size limit, what timeto be in, and don't be a piece
of shit. Done.
You know what I mean? If you're if you're coming

(14:28):
through the rule book, you're a piece of shit.
Doubt, no doubt. OK, just looking for a loophole. 00:14:35,240 So the three rules are once
again a size limit. Yeah, You need to know is it 12? 00:14:39,240 Is it 15?
You know, you know what I mean. You need to know what a keeper
is being at 3:00 and. Don't be a piece of shit.
Yeah, Don. I mean, it's an easy rule book.

(14:49):
Yeah, it is. Yeah, yeah.
It does it shock you that there's people like I felt like
the vibe in Florida was there was some people that were very,
you know, like, hey, we can't talk to anybody.
Like does that shock you? What?
Do you mean like getting information?
Type no. Guys were kind of like, it felt

(15:11):
like guys were acting like it was the rule was the problem,
you know what I mean? Like they were concerned.
The rules been the same forever.Yeah, somebody comes up to you
and tell, tells you something. You just say I can't get
information. So it's always been.
Yeah. Some people just wait till they
get all the information and thensay they can't get any

(15:31):
information, you know? So.
Unless you talk for 20 minutes and then you know.
So I've heard, I've heard. How many do you think it's
rampant? Like do you think or do you, or
like if you had to say a percentage, OK, I'm going to

(15:52):
give you 2 different percentages.
Tell me I want a percentage of people that you think that are
breaking rules and a percentage of people that you think are
intentionally breaking rules. Like there is some, there's
always going to be some kind of or is there not?
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(16:14):
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You know, there is, but I mean the the rules broken, you know,
some bother me, some don't. Like if you put your boat on the

(16:34):
trailer and you didn't fasten your life jacket, like I'm fine
with that. That doesn't bother me.
Like going out and looking for information I think is a big
problem and it's hard to get away from.
I mean, you can't you can't pullup in AI, don't care who you
are. You can't pull up in a rap bass
boat and at a gas station somewhere in bass country and

(16:56):
not have the guy next to you be like, oh man, we killed him on a
spinner bait or something like that.
You know, real basic, just general dumb stuff.
Or, you know, show you the five pounder they caught off their
dock or whatever. You're not going to get away
from that. But that's not the kind of stuff
that the problem is, you know, when you're we need to talk too
long and let them go on each andyou're trying to get like

(17:18):
specific areas and information like that, that's when it's a
problem. Yeah, yeah.
So what percent? I mean like innocent rules.
I think we'll probably, we probably all like the kill
switch life jet like stuff that's everyone's going to have
some issues like that. The guys are actively seeking it

(17:38):
out. Percentage wise, I don't know,
10 to 20% probably. Wow.
Maybe not that high, maybe it's 10%.
It's at least 10%. I mean, I can think of, you
know, 10 people off the top of my head out of 100 that'll do
it. Yeah, yeah, it's, I mean, it's a
lot of money on the line. And I think you're right.

(18:00):
I mean, if you do that and you're still doing that, you're
nuts. I mean if you, if you, I mean
it, you just saw what happened to two dudes.
Who? Yeah, and one of those I feel
like was innocent, you know whatI mean?
Just kind of got caught up in the rules.
But the other one's been doing it for 30 years, so it's about

(18:23):
time. I mean, can I ask who was
innocent? Well Matt Heron seems like a
pretty straight up guy. Like, I've never heard anything
bad about him. And from the story I can gather
even after he got the information, he didn't fish
within 50 miles of where the information was gathered.

(18:46):
And you know, it's him talking to his his son.
And you know, I'm sure they talkfishing all the time, like.
And then I think the difference with the other one is if he
would know that, he would have probably started his first day
of practice there, you know whatI mean?
OK. That's where I'm at with it.

(19:07):
I don't know. Yeah, no, I mean, you're allowed
to be where you're at with it. Maybe I'm wrong.
Oh, anybody could be wrong. Anybody can be wrong.
So you're a fan of the increasedslide detectors, all that stuff
you're that's good. It's great.
Then it's doing. It it it benefits the honest

(19:29):
guy. You know what I mean?
Yeah. Like that, that stuff's not
going to hurt me. And it makes for, you know, when
you don't, when you make rules and you don't enforce them, then
it only hurts the honest guy. Yeah.
'Cause you know, guys are getting info and not getting in
trouble for it. But now when they are like, I
can fish without info, that's what I've done in my whole life. 00:19:51,480 It's not going to change

(19:51):
anything for me. Where some guys, you know, they
might not be as confident or comfortable going to places with
no Intel, but the way the way I look at it do we're supposed to
be the best 100 dudes that bass fish, right?
That's our claim to fame or whatever you want to call it.
Like we should be able to show up somewhere we've never seen,

(20:14):
never heard of three days of practice and catch them like as
good or better than the locals. You know what I mean?
Like, we're the 100 best. That's what we should do.
And with all the other crap going on, it's like, are you
really that good? You know, if you got a bunch of
waypoints and you're just checking someone else's spots,
you're not really figuring anything out.

(20:37):
But. What is it like to?
I mean, I've never taken one but.
I've, I've only taken one, to behonest with you, I I can't
believe it for 10 years on the Elite series, but I took one at
the I think it was at a classic.Actually, I don't.
Know I remember. Years ago.

(20:57):
Me and you were outside of the room when you were waiting to go
in and take it. I remember.
I remember the hall. I forget what even freaking
classic, but I remember you leaned up against.
Yeah, you're right. I remember I came out of there,
at least I was outside and I'm like, I failed.
Like that's where I told her that.
Her jaw just dropped. Like I'm just kidding.

(21:17):
Were you nervous during that? Not really a little bit just
because I've never taken 1 before, but not because I had
something to hide, just because it was new to me.
Yeah, yeah, it's, I feel like I'm an emotional person.
I feel like I'd be nervous, so nervous that.
But I guess if you got nothing to hide, you got nothing to
hide. Yeah.

(21:38):
Yeah. Do you?
Sometimes you hear people say things like lie detectors aren't
admissible in court and stuff. What's your take on that?
Like this? Well, I get that, but real
realistically, I could see I, I think it's more likely to be a
guy get away with something thanto be falsely accused of

(22:01):
something. You know, you know, if you
believe the lie, like if you didsomething wrong, but down in
your twisted head you don't think you did something wrong,
you'll pass a lie detector test where I don't think you can fail
one for, you know, not doing something.
You know what I mean? I think you're more likely to

(22:21):
pass one even though you did something wrong than to fail one
when you didn't do anything wrong.
Do you think there should be? And I don't want to get you
stuck on this, but do you think there should be different?
Like, do you think DQ is the wayto go, like if you fail a lie
detector? Yeah, absolutely.
Well, yes and no. I mean, you're going to have to

(22:43):
run it cut and dry. I don't think there's any way to
be like, like I said with the first two that happened, like
the first one wouldn't really have bothered me, but you can't
let it be. One guy gets the pass and one
guy can. If you fail, you fail.
That's just you're going to, you're going to have to cut it.
You know, black and white. There can't be a you failed, but

(23:04):
it didn't affect the tournament thing, you know?
Yeah, last time we had a podcasttogether, we did had did a
podcast. However, you're supposed to
explain that a lot of people were very, very excited about
your medical, how you fixed youryour problem when you went to

(23:24):
OH. Yeah, my, I guess it'd be
Constipation. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, Health doing good. Everything's OK.
There's no need to go and get a.Yeah, I actually did a White
Castle. Yeah, No, I had to get surgery
this winter. But what, Just for a hernia?
Yeah. Got a big one pop out on me at

(23:44):
the end of the year last year. Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's just part of it.
I actually think I got it from holding in a piss too long.
The doctor said that's not possible, but I don't know.
Swear to God, dude, I was driving.
I was driving home from the Saint Lawrence River trying to
haul ass to get to the Leech Lake for the open.

(24:04):
And like I just I try to be efficient on the road, you know,
like I'm not going to stop and pee till I need gas, right.
So I got a quarter tank of gas and I'm like, I cannot hold it
any longer. But I'm just like bearing and
gritting and getting down the road like I'm going to run my
tank till I'm empty till I got to pull over and piss.
And then I was finally getting to the point where I get I'm
just going to have to pull over.I can't take it anymore.

(24:26):
I had like a quarter tank or an eighth tank or something like
that and then all of a sudden like that dude just went away.
I didn't have to pee anymore. And then the next day I had a
hernia. So I think like my bladder like
got so full that it pushed it through.
The doctor said that's not possible, but I wasn't doing
like any heavy lifting or anything like which is usually

(24:48):
the cause of them and like feeling that relief at that
point. It makes sense to me that it and
they could just like an over full bladder, pushed my
intestines through my whatever abdominal wall or whatever
abdominal wall. Abdominal wall?
Yeah, makes sense, doctors. I had, but yeah, he's like,
that's not possible. I'm like, well whatever dude,

(25:10):
what do you know? He doesn't know how bad you had
to pay exactly. Well, why would that feeling go
away? You know what I mean?
That's a feeling that just keepsbuilding and building, you know
what I mean? It's never like.
You didn't like, so you went to the like, you didn't stop.
You just kept driving to the gasstation and it just went away.
Like another 50 miles down the road and just got gas and peed.

(25:31):
Yeah. Wow, wow.
Wow. So you had to have hernia
surgery? Yeah, so don't hold your pee in
that long, boys. Like you got to go.
Just pull over and do it, yeah. You ever do a jug like in the
like? Do you ever?
No. Well, realistically I I have no
problem with the jug. The problem is I don't have the

(25:54):
utensils for the jug because I'meither usually drinking coffee
out of a cup. I'm like a permanent one.
I'm not going to pee in or like a pot bottle like that.
And I that's pretty small hole for the road.
If I, if I was like a healthier person and had more Gatorade
bottles around, I'd probably do more jug pissing.
But really I just, I always got like a coffee cup or a the small

(26:19):
opening coke bottle. So I don't.
I don't do a lot of jug pissing but it's an option.
Yeah, it's shocking how quick itfeels, to be honest.
Like I think we all way underestimate because I've done
it. I've been in situations like I
was in a really bad traffic jam.It wasn't even that I didn't
want to pull over. And it was like during a

(26:39):
snowstorm and I'm like, and there's giant snow banks side of
the road, so there's no pulling over.
There's and I need to. And dude, I had like the cup.
Like I had like the Big Gulp andyou're like, oh, I'm good.
And like that is the greatest field on earth where you're just
like, but it's shocking. Like real quick, I had to, I had

(27:03):
to dump and and rally. Yeah, yeah.
It got a little messy, but it happens.
It happens. You've had, if you had a lot of
surgeries in your life, that was.
My first one ever. Like when I went to the doctor,
like they couldn't, the all the nurses were like completely in
shock that I had zero medical history, the exception of some

(27:23):
wisdom teeth. I got removed and I was like, I
don't know, 16 or 14 or that's me.
Yeah. I hate, I hate doctors.
Like if I'm there, I'm probably dying.
Well, clearly. I mean, you'd go to White Castle
before you'd. Go there.
Yeah, Yeah. No, I just.
I don't like the smell of it. I don't want to be there.

(27:44):
Like, yeah. Yeah, I I have never had it all. 00:27:51,440 Other than wisdom teeth, I've
never had any surgeries in my life.
I'm trying to avoid them. Some people have a lot of
surgeries, but me and you or twothat haven't.
Interesting. Interesting.

(28:05):
What else has been going on in your life?
Oh, not much fishing. Yeah, she's getting ready for a
new season and hanging out with the family.
Had a pretty mild winter here, so yeah.
What? What's the plan for YouTube?
I'm going to start doing some, acouple of things.

(28:28):
I'll do some funny stuff on there and then like some
informational stuff as well. I think the first video I did
was just a recap from St. John's and Okeechobee.
Then I'll, you know, do some informational how to stuff on
there and then, you know, press some funny type Derby boy TikTok
type stuff on there as well. What's your take in Derby boys?

(28:52):
Will it ever come together or isit are you got?
It's happening. It's it's happening.
What the Derby voice is back. Yeah, I don't know when
anything's going to be released.We're going to stockpile some
stuff before anything comes out.We for sure got one episode shot
already. We'll shoot the second one at
the Classic and then. Oh, so this is the new Derby

(29:13):
boys. This is.
Not because it's just you and Matt, just me and Matt.
Yeah. But I mean, I think he's, he's
plenty, you know what I mean? Yeah, I think you guys should
prank the other Derby boys like.Oh, we could, yeah.
Yeah, We'll probably get into some of that, especially if
we're staying close. Yeah, yeah, well, I'm excited to

(29:34):
see it. I mean, 3.6 million TikTok
plays, I mean you just. Yeah.
Just decided tik Tok's my way togo and boom you're a tik toker.
Yeah, just about. You got big plans for it.
Yeah, yeah, I got some funny videos planned.
I just wait until they're we hitthe 10,000 and they're coming.

(29:54):
Yeah, look out, look out. What tournament are you looking
most forward to this year? North Carolina.
Yeah, the new one. Pasquatac sound, yeah.
Is that how you say it? I'm still, I don't know, maybe.
Password tank. Password tank.
I don't. Know we should ask somebody that
lives there. Yeah, we're looking forward to

(30:16):
that. Never been there.
Know nothing about it. New water.
Pretty excited. You do better on new water, you
think? Yes and no.
I definitely, I enjoy fishing new water just because
everything's fresh, everything'srelative.
I, I do find myself sometimes struggling on places I've been

(30:39):
to a bunch just because you know, I'll assume something's
good because it has been good inthe past and kind of get hung up
on places or ways I've caught them in the past versus what's
actually happening at the moment.
So when you go somewhere new, everything's, every piece of
information you learn during thepractice is beneficial.

(31:06):
You know what I mean? Yeah.
Probably easier to fish more instinctually or natural, like,
you know, like Champlain somewhere that you've done.
I mean, Champlain is an incredible Fisher, but somewhere
you've done well over the years.So it's so hard not to.
Oh yeah, to block. Yeah, and a lot of spots I have

(31:26):
on Champlain, like I won't even practice.
I got just the team, they're good.
And then just plan on hitting him in the tournament, you know? 00:31:34,520 And then you go there in the
tournament, you catch a couple 2pounders and it's like, oh, I
just wasted 45 minutes or whatever, you know?
But this is where it is. Why don't you practice them?
Well, I mean, they're just like,they're like hard stuff, you

(31:48):
know, like wood or metal or rockor something that's, you know,
it's always going to have fish on it.
Got a bunch of four or five pounders on it or two two
pounders. I'll just find out in the
tournament. But you know, solids, it's not
like grass that changes every year.
It's something like a boulder ora crib or something like that.

(32:11):
You know, it's not moving. It's going to have fish on it.
I don't know what's going to be on it, but I'd hate to go there
and practice and hook A5 pounder, you know what I mean?
Yeah. So I just assume they're good
and a lot of times they're not, you know?
Or if you go there and practice and you hook A2 pounder and
you're like it's nothing, that doesn't mean that there won't be

(32:34):
A5 on there during the tournament and you it's.
I mean. It's a piece of structure that
can hold big fish. Yeah.
Yeah, You of all those fish thatyou've located like that over
the years, like you think of thebig fish you found on a dock one
time, the big fish you found here, what percentage of those

(32:57):
you think you've converted in the event, like ones that have
eaten in practice, you let swim.You knew they were there.
Probably less than half for sure, yeah.
But it's it's paid off enough that I'll keep doing it, you

(33:18):
know, But there's a lot of timesall like one I can remember we
were practicing for it was the day before the tournament on
Neely Henry, the one Wes Logan one, Yeah.
And I was swimming a white jig in the water Willow and like an
absolute behemoth. Like I've never caught a really
big spot. Maybe like a four pounder is the

(33:39):
biggest one I've ever caught. And like a 5-6 pound spot comes
up and just eats my swim jig right at the boat.
And I I shook him off like you should, but and obviously never
caught him in the tournament, never saw him again or whatever. 00:33:54,600 But it's some of some of those I
kind of wish I would have stuck or like big bad fish you see in
practice and then you come back in the tournament, it's long

(34:00):
gone. It's like I should have just
cracked it. But you just, you know, when
you're fishing for money, you got to let them swim off.
And yeah, honestly, it's probably closer to like 25%
really. Hopefully you know fish, fish
you've shaken off and gone back and caught.
To catch all the ones you've shook off.

(34:22):
Yeah, but a lot of them too. I mean, it is, like I said, it's
a little percentage, but there'sa lot of times, you know, you'll
be, you know, especially in lakes that don't have a big
population or whatever. And you, you know, you shook off
one big one all the way in the back on that one little lay
down. You roll up there and flip your
jig in there or whatever, and thing swims off.
It's like there he is, you know,right where I left him.

(34:43):
That's happened, you know, a lotof enough times where I'm going
to keep doing it, you know? And that that's a freaking
awesome feeling like you know what I mean?
To go in and know it's there andit actually work is what is pre
fish like in the elite series. Like I mean traditional

(35:03):
tournaments you get guys who hook a fish and then they play
games where let that fish swim if a boat's is that that just
like that on the elites. Oh, absolutely, yeah, yeah.
And if a boat's a funny story about that one, yeah, I'll like
same deal in every tournament. But is it practice for that

(35:24):
Saint Clair tournament I won? I actually, I never do this.
I went and checked that spot thelast day of practice.
I think I found it the first dayof practice.
Wasn't really sure what was there.
It was kind of a weird deal. I get threw a crank bait out,
caught a 5 LB four or five pounder and like four of them
came up to the boat with it and I'm like, oh wow.
So put a waypoint down whatever,ran all over the lake, practiced

(35:46):
a bunch more and I was kind of sitting there that night before
like the last day of practice and I was like, I had some fish
on the North End and nothing else really in that area where I
ended up catching them. Then I was kind of like, man,
was that a fluke that I just runinto like a Wolf Pack?
What was the deal? And it's all the way South in a

(36:06):
lake. So I run back down there to
check it and practice. Pull up to my dot, throw it out
there, load up on a big one, same deal, four or five, follow
it to the bottom. I'm like, OK, there's like,
there's something here. But as I'm biting this fish,
David Mullins comes flying by and he shuts down.
He starts idling. Oh, at the time, I don't know
who it is. It's just about, you know, just
idling right towards me. So I just like free sport.

(36:28):
I got like 50-60 yards of line out at this point and he pulls
up bumper to bumper to talk to me and I'm like, oh, I guess I
got to reel it in at this point now.
You know, luckily it was Mullins.
You know, he obviously he didn'ttry to Fisher in the tournament
and wouldn't have. But that was just kind of funny
because he's like about tied up with me and I'm just letting the
line out and I finally got to reel it in, got it right next to

(36:52):
him. But he's one of the guys you
don't got to worry about seeing you catch 1.
I, I just didn't know who it was.
He was coming straight at me, you know, I'm like, oh, crap.
But yeah, it's kind of funny. Is there dudes that will see
somebody reeling in a fish and fish that?
Oh, absolutely. Wow.
Quite a few of them. I mean, there's guys that watch

(37:13):
Instagram and bassmaster.com andthen go there the next day.
I mean, you don't have to look further than that's last Saint
Clair tournament to see that. I mean, all those fish in Anchor
Bay. And I mean, there was a big
group day one, but that group got a lot bigger day 2.
That's always how it is on SaintClair, though.

(37:34):
It's just, it's the same with the local everyone you know.
Yeah, if there, if there's, you know, you, you can't really fish
by yourself on you can by yourself.
But like if you're all in the, if you're all by yourself
somewhere and all of a sudden one guy sets down and kind of
starts fishing by you and another guy does, then all of a

(37:55):
sudden you got 3-4 boats there. Like no like local boat or even
half the tournament guys can like run by you without sitting
down. And all of a sudden, whether
it's a good spot or not, there'sa pile of boats there.
But that's just kind of the Great Lakes in general.
There's just even fishing like the Sturgeon Bay Open
tournaments and stuff like that.It's just, I mean, if somebody

(38:16):
drives by 20 boats in an area, they're pulling in like they're
there. It feels like forward facing
sonar has made that even a little worse because now guys
aren't like before you'd be like, yeah, you started way out
there. There's no way you knew this
point that I was fishing. You literally did the one mile
idle. But now you got guys everywhere. 00:38:41,960 Yeah, well, it's not so bad on a

(38:41):
place like Saint Clair, 'cause there's you're not really
fishing anything, you know what I mean?
You're just fishing fish. But like, you know, the other
stuff, like I was talking about those little cribs or rock piles
or something like that. Before a guy could see over
there and he might come back after you leave and fish it and
can never really figure out whatyou were fishing, you know,
'cause you had to be, you know, have your boat here and throw

(39:02):
right there and you'd hit it andnow the scope.
Like if they go then 100 and some feet of a brush pile or a
boulder or whatever you might have been fishing, it's like, Oh
yeah, it's right there. You know, not just casting
around and never get close to it, not catch anything and
leave. So on stuff like that.

(39:23):
Yeah, yeah, it made it a lot easier.
Is there times where you intentionally during pre fish
won't go to stuff if you see a certain person in the area?
Or will you just? That depends.
I mean, yeah, for a couple different reasons.
I mean, if I, I mean, if I, if it's all new to me and I know

(39:45):
nothing, I, I'll try to just stay away from boats in general. 00:39:52,600 You know, obviously you can't do
that on like a Saint Clair 'cause you know, there's usually
going to be like 2-3 little areas in the lake.
It's all going down. And if you're not in one of
those, you're just not catching them.
But like on your standard bass fishing like.
I'll try to avoid that stuff, just kind of fish where there's

(40:08):
no boats really. But and that's different in the
tournament, you know, if I know something's there and I'm I'm
going to go to my fish, you know, it's not going to matter
if there's someone else in the area.
But yeah, I don't know. I mean, there's a some guys I
wouldn't want to catch fish in front of, and there's just some

(40:29):
other guys I got enough respect for.
I just try to stay as like if I see if I pulled into a back of a
pocket and Greg Hackney was in there, like I'm just going to
run all the way across the lake.Just.
Yeah, just 'cause I know he's kind of doing the same thing,
you know? Yeah, he's only there.
Not saying he's only there, but he's there because no one else

(40:49):
was, you know what I mean? So you try to stay away from the
crowds when possible. When possible, there's a lot
like a Okeechobee is another onewhere you're just, you know,
it's kind of like Saint Clair. You got this big giant lake and
there will be 2-3 areas with bass boats in them and you're
just not going to catch them if you're not in those areas.
But you know, you're most prettymuch all your reservoirs and

(41:12):
river systems are going to have fish throughout them and you can
pretty much fish wherever you want.
Why do you like to stay away from crowds when possible?
Does it bother? You yeah, I don't like, I don't
like fishing in a crowd. I don't want to see people
catching fish when I'm not catching fish.
And then I just like to, you know, sometimes I'll go through

(41:35):
an area doing one thing and I, Iwant to be able to, you know,
turn around and do something else through there and not have
to. I, I find myself tending to fish
rush more when I get around people like, Oh, I got to get to
that dock before he does, or I got to get to that point or that
clump or whatever, you know whatI mean?
Instead of just taking my time and easing through it, it just,

(41:58):
it, it affects me. It makes me fish worse when I
get around a bunch of boats. I mean, it's, it's really fun
being the guy in the middle catching them all and have
everyone else watch you. But usually it just makes me
fish worse being around people. And then you know, like I said,
on a typical reservoir you should be able to find your own
fish. I don't, I don't need to find a

(42:19):
school of them million fish, youknow, I just need 5 dumb ones.
So usually you can find that offthe beaten path, you know?
Yeah, let me get inside your head with how you make decisions
on the water a little bit. Like if you're fishing a
shoreline, whether it be rocks, whether it be wood, whether it

(42:40):
be whatever you but like you're fishing visual structure along a
shoreline. You come around the corner,
that's where you want to fish and it's a row of docks and lo
and behold, there's a boat on the 1st dock that you were going
to start on. Do you like just exit that whole
area? Do you go to the other end of
the docks and fish towards him? Like how does that decision get

(43:00):
made? Yeah, I'm just going to exit.
I mean, I, I don't know what kind of dock stretch you're
talking. I mean, it's just like 5 docks.
Yeah, I'm gone. I mean, if it's like, I wouldn't
say I'd really ever fish a stretch like 100 docks, but I
mean, I'm going to give somebodya few 108 yards on something
like that. Like I wouldn't jump in front of
them and come towards them. I wouldn't jump in front of them

(43:22):
and cut them off. So and realistically there isn't
a dock stretch is not really going to be that long a good
one. So I'm probably just leaving.
I'll just come back and fish it later.
What's the longest dock stretch?A good dock stretch that you've
found. I mean, I don't like some of the
little lakes in Minnesota. Like every dock's good so you

(43:44):
can fish your way around the lake, but I'm like a reservoir
or something like that. Usually it's, it's not that
long. It consists of maybe two or
three docks or five or somethinglike that.
It's it's not like Minnesota where you can just fish every
dock in the lake and catch them.Yeah, yeah.
It's usually pretty specific docks to be honest with you.

(44:07):
I think that's one of the thingsthat people way underestimate
when they watch the elites, you know, they they don't realize
how tuned in you guys get. Like it's not just an area, it's
the area. Like it's, I mean, look what
what happened with Polnik and those guys fish that you had
four guys, but they, they had distinct stretches, like just,

(44:29):
and they're 150 yards long. It's not like they're in there.
And when you look at how small that spot is, you'd be like,
yeah, I'll fish the whole thing,I'll just cover it.
But it's pretty dialed in. Why do you why do you think that
was crazy with those four guys fishing that area?
Oh, just you don't, you don't see that a lot.
I mean, and it wasn't just four guys.
It was. I don't know who the 4th 1 was,

(44:51):
but after 2-3 days of the tournament, literally first,
second and third, yeah, it was all right there.
Doobie was the 4th. OK, well, he was still in the
top 10, wasn't? He no, no, he didn't make it,
but he made the top 50. I mean, it was Paula Nick, Greg
Depalma, Will Davis Junior and Tim Doobie.
OK, so I saw, I saw the three, the first 3, but they were like

(45:12):
first, second, third, like the first 3 days of the tournament.
I don't think it ended that way,but that's just kind of wild all
off of one spot, you know? You ever think he'd given fellow
competitors baits right after you caught £34.10 oz like Paul
Nick did? Well, that Saint Clair
tournament, I gave dumb Corey a bait and he didn't know

(45:34):
anything. He threw it.
I don't even use it. I was trying to help him use it. 00:45:42,760 I think he was in hunt, in hunt
for Angler of the Year or whatever.
And yeah, I cut my bait off and I think I cut him off like the
B1 and gave it to him. And I don't even think you
through it. Thus the name Dumb Corey.

(45:57):
Yeah. I mean, you were smoking them.
You literally cut off. So that happens.
Yeah, it does. And, and yeah, I mean, if, if
you're giving out baits, you're usually having a pretty good
tournament, so you're probably in a pretty good mood if you're
scratching and clawing for a limit.
I don't think that's happening. But I mean, if I had 34 lbs in
the Beau Rokeechobee I'd I'd be handing out baits too.

(46:19):
Yeah, yeah, I guess so. Aveco not only makes incredible
outdoor clothing, but they care about anglers.
With their 10% pledge, Aveco andthe Shed family donate at least
10% of the company's profits to conservation and making fishing
better. Now back to the show.
One of the amazing things that Iget to see with you and and I'm

(46:42):
hoping you'll show it to our fine viewers is and I had
nothing planned for our conversation here today.
This is the only thing I've texted you in advance and said
make sure you I said make sure you have a fresh pack of smokes
because fighter people have seenyou smoke and you do love to
smoke. You are one of the great smokers
in history really. I mean, like, you've made

(47:03):
smoking seem somewhat cool at a time when really the marketing
is against you, but you have a ritual that you go through.
Like you beat the crap out of your pack of cigarettes before
you smoke it. Will you share that ritual with
The Humpers right now? Yeah, I mean, it's not.

(47:26):
I don't think it's that crazy. Does not everyone do that?
But let's have a look at it, andwe'll find.
You got to wake the cancer up. You know, it's just, I just keep
rotating it and not much to it. I just get get a nice pack on
it. You know they burn a lot better,
and they're less likely to drop your cherry in the boat and burn

(47:48):
your carpet when they're packed good.
And. They light.
They light a lot easier too, youknow.
And to be clear, this is pretty.Routine with it, yeah.
So what is it like 10? I I think I do fours and then
flip, so I don't know. It's probably like 16 or 20,

(48:09):
yeah. Then you just get a nice.
I don't know if you can see that.
Just a nice. It compresses everything.
Nice pack look at that yeah, we got a good good maybe 3/8 of an
inch, probably at least 1/4 all set now yeah, that a light that
a light batter you can light it faster.
You know when you're on 50 depending on the wind in the

(48:32):
50s. I can light a dart with a with a
back, and I got to say at. 50 miles an hour you can light it.
Oh yeah, yeah, no problem. With a BIC, we're not even
talking like with a like. A just your standard, just like
standard, yeah, yeah, no, I did a couple of boats.
I had that push button old school car lighter installed.

(48:54):
But yeah, just your standard BIC.
I had those installed. Then you got lighted on 70.
But everyone of them I had like you get a little rain in there
and they'd put they'd only work for like a turn and they'd quit
rolling. So yeah.
And then then just not dropping,not dropping your cherry in the

(49:16):
boat. If you don't pack them, if you
any little Grays to your dart, you're going to knock your
cherry off and burn a hole in your carpet.
So this keeps them just a littlebit more sturdy.
That way I can get them big magnum ashes going.
You know, that's guys of a good pack cigarette.
You can't do that on a Lucy. So if you pack it good, you can

(49:36):
get one of them. You know Grandpa Ash is going
inch plus inch and 1/2. Does that make it better?
No, that's just kind of me flexing, you know what I mean?
It's just like, I don't know, not too many, not too many
smokers can do that, You know what I mean?
Yeah, well, now there's. Yeah, it's just a flex.
It's just me showing off, Yeah. Yeah, gotcha, gotcha.

(49:58):
It I, I don't think the beating of the cigarettes is that
different, but it's the amount like I think the first time I
ever saw you do it, I was in your vehicle and you like, I
mean, I, I thought I've seen people go and then but you're, I
mean, it's a whole. Rich and I, I flip the pack
every time I do it. So I'm turning it.

(50:19):
Why the flip, Turning it just, Idon't know, make everything a
little more uniform. If you do it too much on one
side, you won't get a, you know.I mean, you won't get that, you
know? Yeah, that appetizing.
Yeah. Your buddy Maddie.
Maddie. I almost called him Maddie Wong. 00:50:43,320 Your buddy Matt Robertson, he

(50:43):
called you out as the most superstitious, unofficially
unofficial. He called you out as the most
superstitious guy on tour. You think that's legit?
I mean, I don't know that I don't know everyone else's life,
but I I bet you I'm up there. What are what are they like?
Will you open up? Just everything like it's

(51:04):
probably got some kind of something wrong with me.
But I mean, lucky socks, lucky shoes, lucky underwear, lucky
shirt, lucky jersey, lucky hat. Yeah, I got, I got a few rituals
I do every night. What?
What are those? What are these rituals can.

(51:25):
You I I say a prayer, my shave, obviously not my mustache, but a
clean shave my face every night and then one of them they don't
tell anyone about and then just stuff like at Saint Johns River,
we go out to eat the night before the tournament.
Corky bells catch them good. We weren't planning on it.

(51:46):
We were going to go somewhere else the next night, but
something didn't work out. We ended up with Corky bells,
caught them again. Like I didn't want to eat Corky
bells the third night in a row, but like at that point I can't
not go there, you know what I mean?
So if you don't go there, when do you think like do you think
about it all the next morning oris it just like if it starts off

(52:09):
slow, you're like, well, of course.
Yeah, I'll blame, I'll blame poor performances on, you know,
some stupid thing that didn't, Ididn't do or didn't or whatever,
you know what I mean? Yeah, well, I gotcha.
I gotcha. Are you a good friend?

(52:32):
I don't know. I think so.
I think you are. I'm not going to screw you over
The the a couple things I reallysuck at.
Not that I'm not compassionate, but I am I am really bad at
comforting people. Like if you tell me some sad
stuff and you like you're comingto me to cheer you up, but I'm,

(52:53):
I'm, I vote on my I'm sorry, like like that.
I'm real awkward with that stuff.
And some people are really good at it.
You know, they'll actually make you feel better about whatever
happened in your life. And not that I don't want to.
I just not a strength of mine. I think the fact that you

(53:14):
actually realized that about yourself says that you're a good
friend. You've actually thought about it
like there's a lot of people whowould be like, hey, my job to
make you happier, I mean. No, I just, I'm not good at it.
I just don't know what to say. You know, like when someone
tells you their dad died or something like that or something
went wrong or you know what I mean?
Like, I don't know. Yeah.
I don't know what to say. And I do feel bad.

(53:36):
I just, yeah, I don't know how to make you feel better.
Well, and the truth is, there's no way to make them feel better. 00:53:43,280 You.
Know what I mean? That's not true.
Because I, I know people that are good at that.
Like I have friends and people Iknow that can make me feel
better when I'm, you know, when stuff's going bad.

(53:57):
I'm just not one of those people.
Gotcha, gotcha. What's your favorite sound?
Favorite sound? I got 2 ones that that suck of a
on a frog and the other ones a Turkey gobble.
Those are those are my two favorite sounds.

(54:19):
A good sounds good sounds not the line braid braid.
That's a good one, but not quite.
It's all right. The problem with that noise is
it's kind of like past the moment of you know what I mean?
Like that you already felt the bite, you set the hook and then

(54:41):
that's when it starts screechinglike the, the, the things I like
about the other sounds that kindof come out of nowhere, you
know, like the frog bite or the gobble.
You know, everything's quiet before then still everything's
unknown. And then bam, like that, you
know, like a lightning bolt. Everything just changes.

(55:02):
What's your favorite smell? Oh.
Favorite smell? I I do like the smell of coffee
in the morning. Then I, I do enjoy some stale

(55:26):
Marlboro smell, so I don't mind it.
Well, you know what I mean. It's, I shouldn't say stale, but
some some fresh Marlboro burningin the morning.
Like, if you smell of smoke, you're like, God, get me some
yeah. Oh, yeah.
Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. What's the biggest mistake

(55:48):
you've ever made as a tournamentangler?
Lake Champlain, Yeah, one of theyears I had a good.
It was one of the times I got second.
I forget what it was. It was a year.

(56:08):
Forgot it might have been the Aeropolynic 1.
I was having a it was that day II caught that six pounder
underneath the dock and went crazy.
I don't know if you remember that dude.
I got like a limit up, you know,nice smallies, like 4 LB
smallies and like I got like a 6LB largemouth and like another,

(56:30):
you know, 4 1/2 LB large mouth. I got a big bag like you're set
for the day. And I went looking for some new
fish to expand on my area and I,I got one of those like big
flippin bites and I shook it offand in the tournament it was
like day 2, day three of the Derby.

(56:51):
I forget what it is, but in my head it's like, I know it's a
big one. Is it 4 lbs?
Is it 5? Is it 6?
I don't know. I know it's a good fish.
I can just tell by the way he's moving and what he's doing.
And I, I shook him off just because I was afraid like dude,
it's going to be a 4 LB or I'm going to gain 2 oz and I'm going
to burn this fish. And it probably was bigger just
knowing where the bite was on the lake and everything is just,

(57:14):
it was a big fish zone, like nota numbers place.
And I, I shook it off during theElite Series tournament and I
should have cracked it because I, I don't think I lost by very
much. You think that could have been
the difference? Between the yeah, yeah, yeah,
I'm independent, it was a four now, but if it was a five, yeah. 00:57:35,640 Yeah, there's.

(57:36):
No, but I just figured I'd go back the next day and he'd be
right there and I'd crack him and he wasn't.
And I'd try to tell myself it was a dogfish or mudfish or
whatever you want to call him. But I know it wasn't like I know
it was a 5 pounder. I, I know it was, it was the way
he bet and the way he moved and where he was.

(57:56):
I just I know it was a 5 pounder.
Did you instantly regret that like?
No, no. Was it like an exactly didn't
No, it was after the you know, it was like 2 days later when I
lost and that's when it like sawagain.
Yeah, and that's the only fish I've ever shook off in a
tournament. Do you remember the moment that

(58:18):
you had like officially decided in your head that this is, this
is what I got to figure out a way to do Like, do you have a
moment like that? Figure what out.
That you need to be a pro fisherman.
No, I that kind of, I kind of realized that after I already
was one that you know. I.

(58:40):
Mean it's it's a lifelong dream,but I think I'll you'll see this
with a lot of the guys on the elite series.
I don't think they're capable ofdoing anything else.
You know what I mean? Like, I don't mean to pick on
him, but Cooper Gallant. Like.
Dude, he can be an elite series pro or he can work at McDonald's
and that is it, dude. That that's it, that kid.

(59:02):
Could not do any. He's not capable of doing
anything else. And I think, I think that rings
true with a lot of the Elite series guys.
I didn't realize that about myself until I had already been
on the Elite series. But looking back now, it's like
this was, I mean, I'm kind of inthe same boat as Cooper, you
know what I mean? Like this or I'm going to work

(59:23):
construction or whatever, you know what I mean?
Like there was no other place for me on this earth.
You think you said what you think you would end up doing
working construction? Yeah, I'd be doing some sort of
Yeah, grunt work. What are you doing roofing your
frame? Yeah, it wouldn't be like high

(59:44):
end stuff. It wouldn't have been like
plumbing or electrician or nothing like that.
Yeah, it'd have been like roofing, sheetrock and maybe
just, you know, hauling junk around.
I think I could, I think I couldbe a semi truck driver just
'cause I don't mind. I could live that lifestyle that
that probably my best option in life.

(01:00:04):
It'd just be an on the road trucker.
As far as like making money goes.
Oh gosh. Yeah.
How different is your life if you're a trucker I.
Mean not much different at all. No, other than I'm guaranteed
I'm getting paid every time I leave the door.
Yeah, but you're also guaranteedto drive somewhere and then just

(01:00:25):
turn around and drive back like that's.
Exactly what we do on the Elite series, Dave.
I don't, but at least you got there's a pot of gold at the end
of the rainbow. You're like, I get to fish for
five days before I drive again, or seven days.
Yeah, like I think it'd. Be a different grind if you're
like, what are you doing next week?
I still driving, yeah. Well, I, I, I know I could.

(01:00:48):
It would be a good fit for me, is all I'm saying.
Yeah, At least you know you get paid when you leave the house.
Yeah. I mean it's different this year
with the entry fees and stuff, but on a normal year you drive
the house, don't cash a check and drive home you just lost 7
grand. Yeah.
What do you think? What do you think your handle
would be? Oh, I don't know, probably Marbs

(01:01:13):
something. Marbs Marbs is that the dream
sponsor? I mean, it's a pipe dream, but.
Why a pipe dream? I don't think they advertise
like that. I don't I.
Don't think they're allowed to. Yeah, exactly.
I think there's laws against it.So I don't think it's a
realistic possibility, but I would 1000 if they if I got a

(01:01:35):
hold of him and we worked something out, I would rock just
a big dart boat for sure. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, maybe you can sell them on it like I mean.
Everybody knows. I think there's laws against it,
you know? Yeah, but you could.
Be like, I just like to smoke. Just assume what kind of
cigarettes a guy like me would smoke.

(01:01:57):
People would assume Marps. Well, I mean, if you know
somebody at Phillip Morris, let me know.
I don't I. Don't.
I wish I did for you. Maybe we worked them out with
them, people with the big bags. Yeah, the I live right beside
the res and you get a big bag ofrollies and it is a giant bag of
cigarettes. I think it's like 20 packs in

(01:02:18):
one bag. It's like 20 bucks for like 20
packs it. Comes a little.
Oh, it's it's that's a. Steal.
It is. I mean, I'll bring you some.
Sample or. Saint Clair, I'm bringing it
this year. I'll bring you a big bag.
Of well feel. Feel them out when you go in
there to pick up your satchel. What do you mean they feel?

(01:02:38):
See if they see if they want to do some marketing.
I'll check it out. I mean, I think that'd be great. 01:02:48,000 You get a big bags of the.
Yeah, just hand them out to all the kids.
Yeah, drives her way and just talking darts at everybody.
Fistfuls. Oh, just spreading the love.

(01:03:01):
Then Marlboro would come running.
Hey, there's a dance. Throw cigarettes at children.
Well, so let me ask you this, ifyou found yourself in like a bad
situation, I heard this on another podcast and I will
totally RIP them off because it's really got me thinking
about people and how let's say you're at a buddy's house.

(01:03:23):
You go to the restroom, you go to flush.
I mean, you go, you go too. Like it's not like you need to
go and you went, you left your mark, you go to flush, flusher
doesn't work. Do you a exit situation and act

(01:03:44):
like nothing happened? Do you try to fix it?
Like what? How do you deal with that
situation? Try to fix.
I mean, you can probably pop theback off and just pull or I
mean, the worst, worst case scenario you'd it would actually
kind of flush and then start backing up.
That would be worse than no flushing because if it didn't
flush at all, the chain probablyjust popped off the little

(01:04:07):
plunger in the back. So you could just manually do
that. But yeah, no, I'm not going to.
I wouldn't, I would not do that.I'd ask for a plunger and.
You'd go and tell them. Yeah.
That's a good friend move, yeah.I mean, it'd be different if it
was a gas station bathroom. Yeah, I'm just, I'll leave.
But a, a person's house. Yeah, I'm going to get the

(01:04:28):
plunger and we're going to at least get it down, you know?
You use gas station bathrooms. Yeah, I'll go anywhere.
I have no shame. Like #2.
Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong, there's a couple times
I've opened up a Biffy or a Portage on whatever you want to

(01:04:49):
call them, or walked into a bathroom and it's like mounded
up to the sea and yeah, I'm going to turn around.
But yeah, I'm not afraid to poopanywhere.
Oh, I'm very, very sensitive sphincter.
I guess I'm very picky. I only go to like if I'm, I
mean, I guess in an emergency, anything can happen.
I get it, like you're in a bad situation.

(01:05:10):
But if I'm driving down the roadand I know I need to go, I find
a hotel. I mean, every one of them's got
a lobby bathroom, yeah. I mean you just a good idea.
Stay in there. Yeah, I'm just going to go Duke
it out at the gas station bathroom with the truckers and
is what it is. Yeah, I hear you.

(01:05:31):
I hear you. Where are you 10 years from now? 01:05:37,320 Fishing my last year on the
Elite series. Your last year.
Yeah, 20 years and shut her down.
I think we'll see. I mean I'll I'll probably be a
different person by then, but right now in my head I I plan on
doing 20 and just shutting her down.

(01:05:55):
Wow, why? I don't know.
I, I don't think I'll ever be like a Rick Klan.
Do it till I die. I'd like to still be involved in
it, honestly. I'd like to get a job like being
one of the college team coaches or something like that
Afterwards. Yeah.

(01:06:15):
Can you imagine? Oh yeah.
Oh yeah. Gold chain, pinky ring, just
dark 24/7. The only kids that flip it in
the hole. Yeah.
Oh yeah. So what do they call you?
Are you Coach Seth? Are you coach, Fighter or?
Maybe just coach. Just coach.
I'd be fine with just coach, yeah.

(01:06:37):
I could see. You that kind of that's kind of
where I want to be in 10 years, 11 years, I guess, yeah.
I think it's a great plan because if you look at it, dude,
like the way that keeps growing,I mean by that point there is
going to be. Oh yeah, there'll be a celebrity
coach. Yeah.
Oh yeah. Wow.
Yeah, I think it'd be awesome. Yeah.

(01:06:58):
I don't know what school I'd do but figure it out.
Probably not Bethel. Why not?
Well, because it's a it's, I don't know if they like you
smoking around. There.
Oh yeah, yeah, I gotcha. I might.
I might need to be more of a University of Miami coach or
something. Oh hell yeah, now we're talking

(01:07:20):
about Arizona. Florida State, Yeah, yeah.
No, I can't go there. Can't go there.
You can't go to Arizona. Why?
Then it's just. West Coast, no good for you.
No, not that I just I don't think I'd be safe there.
I'd rather I'd rather do Floridaor maybe SEC school.
It'd be cool. Yeah, now I can see it happen.

(01:07:42):
Maybe. Even Minnesota, there's, there's
some schools in Minnesota. They don't.
They aren't really unlike the power teams, but yeah, we'll
see. How long have you been thinking
of this exit plan? This is the first I've heard of
your coaching ambitions. Well, I don't know how I've been

(01:08:02):
thinking about it, but it's AI. Don't know handful of years now. 01:08:09,600 I always think about way too far
in the future. I don't know why would be more
of a tomorrow kind of guy, whichI am about a lot of things, but
I think that the end goal is kind of always insight.
Yeah. Yeah, it's not.

(01:08:23):
Makes sense. I mean, don't get me wrong, I
got a lot more bass derbies to do, but when it's all said and
done, that's that's where I'd like to be.
A little hobby farm with my wifeand kids and a bunch of critters
and you know, I'll be like a bass fishing coach or maybe
start a company or something. I don't know.
I think a bass fishing coach deal would be fun.

(01:08:43):
Yeah, no, I think it'd be great and I think you could, I think
you could add a lot, dude. I mean, I think you not only, I
mean, if, if collegiate fishing has one knock on it, it is some
of the principles that are around, you know what I mean?
Like, there's a lot of liberty taking.
We'll straighten them up. Throw him off the team.

(01:09:06):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. This is 0 tolerance, Yeah.
Coach. Set situation, yeah, but for
some first, you know, my definition of things, you know?
Yeah, yeah. Like if you're out parting and
whatever, I do not care. But like, if you call somebody

(01:09:27):
at the lake we're going to and get a dot like, yeah, you're
done. Yeah, you should.
You've been better. To be a part in, yeah, jump in
the transfer portal, you're gone.
Do you think they'll be jumping in the transfer portal by that
point? And.
I mean, I think they kind of already are right now.
I mean, you're seeing kids go topretty obscure schools, you

(01:09:49):
know, for fashion already. Like your powerhouse schools
aren't really where you would think kids, like, dream of going
to school, you know? Yeah, you're like Bethel and
you're Adrian and you're, you know, those aren't like, it's
not like Alabama and Auburn and Texas and stuff like that.
They're kind of off the wall of schools.

(01:10:10):
So I think you're already seeingkids do that now.
I mean, I don't want to fish on the team.
If you got a full team of kids and you're not going to get much
playing time, you're you're going to have to mose you on to
another another place, right? I don't I guess I don't know
exactly how it works, but I'm assuming there's only X amount
of slots at each school I would assume.

(01:10:31):
Yeah, I know, but I don't know exactly how it works, but I know
there's a lot in some schools and it's hard to, you know, it's
hard to stand out in that group.So you're so you're going to be
like the coach prime of bass. Fishing.
Well, we'll do some recruiting. Yeah, yeah, yeah, some players.
Yeah, I'm bad. I think you'd be strong at that. 01:10:48,880 Showing up.
Oh yeah. Hanging out in the living room,
meeting the parents. Yeah.

(01:10:53):
I think it'd be be a very strongpart for you.
Yeah. What?
What's the best thing you did inthe offseason?
Oh, you already know. You already know, I don't know
if many people caught it on thatlittle live in the morning.
I mean, couple of my buddies did, but yeah, yeah, got my wife

(01:11:16):
a huge set and it's been awesome.
She's happy with them. I'm really happy with them.
Like I said, everything's right in the world again, you know?
Yeah, I mean that. Are you getting in trouble for?
Telling it, I don't know, I'm I heard it's hard to hear his
headphones, but somebody just made some kind of noise.
Oh wow. Probably my wife.

(01:11:37):
I'm probably in trouble. Was she upset that you told me
that at Mercer in the morning? I don't know if she knew about
that yet. I don't think she did so.
It was actually funny because right before we recorded, I went
and saw my wife because she was going to be going out like
during this time. And I gave her a kiss and said,

(01:11:57):
hey, I'm going to record with Seth.
And I'm walking towards where I record from the studio and she
said, hey, hey, did Seth? Did Seth, did Seth, did they buy
a new? And I said, yeah, they did.
She said, I've been meaning to ask you that because I think
with the way you said it, you said, hey, I bought her a huge
set. People didn't, people didn't

(01:12:19):
pick up on. Exactly what it was a.
Set of yeah, I mean fun for the whole family.
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it'll fit right in
when you're a coach. I mean, yeah, yeah.
Great purchase, great purchase. What's what's the plan for the
rest of the year? Another AOYI mean you're in

(01:12:41):
contention, and certainly I know.
The Okeechobee thing took a head.
Don't get me wrong, it crossed my mind after St.
John's, but if it comes that it comes to that.
But you know, just try to keep catching them all year.
And I think we got a really awesome schedule.
I think that Bass did a really good job setting it up to, you

(01:13:04):
know, make it more diverse, you know, keep fishing.
Yeah, it's not going to be a jigheading minnow every tournament
this year, you know what I mean?Do you think that'll work their
plan? I think so.
I'm. I'm happy with it.
Yeah. You know, we got some more
rivers mixed in there and you know, some fisheries that are,

(01:13:25):
and don't get me wrong, the guyswill probably still do that at
some of them fisheries, but we're pretty much everyone with
the exception of Saint Clair. You got a, you got a chance to
win bass fishing. That's all you can ask for.
Whether it doesn't work out thatway and they'll get one on a
minnow, it might be that way. But you got a chance bass

(01:13:49):
fishing where last year you basically needed one rod to fish
the entire Elite Series. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, and nothing against it.
I just like to see a little more, you know, diversity.
I agree. You know, I agree.
I'm all for that. I mean, I hope we would limit
technology to a certain extent that wood forest that.

(01:14:10):
But I think ultimately if the rivers do that, then it's giving
us the result. I mean, I just want the guy who
holds the Angler of the year title.
I want to look at that dude and be like, yeah, that.
Oh yeah. Dude does everything.
Not just one thing. He caught him flipping, he
caught him frog and he caught him on a spending pole, you
know? Yeah, yeah.

(01:14:31):
What's your outlook on the classic?
Well, well, for me, I'm just in the.
I know. I'm going to have fun, enjoy
myself, meet some people. I wish I was at the lake.
I think it's going to be a really good tournament.
I was actually, I don't even know if they had announced the
Classic was going there, but I got a buddy that lives by there. 01:14:53,720 I was there last year before we

(01:14:53):
started in. We must have.
Did we start on fork last year or so?
No, we started Toledo Band then.Fork.
Yeah, but I was down there, you know, knocking off some rust and
went to Ray Roberts one day justfor fun, not for any particular. 01:15:11,440 I don't think they had announced
the Classic was going there yet,but the lake is way cooler than

(01:15:15):
the last time we were there. There's a there's a bunch of
hydrilla and mill foil in it now.
I think if I remember right, there's a bunch of grass.
I remember that. I, I think it's going to be a
really good tournament. Plus we're going there at such a
better time of year than the last time we were there in like
June, I think June or July COVID.
Year. Yeah, I think you're going to

(01:15:36):
see some really big bags out of there and I think the lakes prey
fishing better than it has in a while with that, you know, that
grass coming on. So I think it'll be a good
tournament. There'll be A10 pounder weighed
in, no doubt. I like that.
What kind of weights you think we'll see?
Like, are we talking like 30? Oh yeah.

(01:15:58):
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. I like that.
Yeah. It's been a while since we had a
classic like that. I I mean, I'm not saying a guy's
going to catch 30 something three days in a row.
No, I would, I would expect likemid upper 20s being good bags
and you know, one or two guys are going to have one of those
magical days where they get, youknow, a couple of real big ones

(01:16:20):
and some really nice ones with them and you know, have that 30
plus # Stringer. I don't know if the place has
the population for I don't thinkanyone's going to be able to do
it three days in a row. But you know, I could see like a
A-35 and A25 and A20 or something like that winning it.
As long as someone's doing it like that's my take on it.

(01:16:42):
Like, as long as that's there. You know, yeah.
Oh yeah, that's that is that's happening for sure.
Look at Okeechobee and St. John's River with what John
Garrett did. Just the fact knowing that
that's there, it keeps so many more people in play.
It it just it's it's almost. Last day exciting too, you know,
I got to get dumped and 15th or 20th and have one of those mega

(01:17:07):
days and and win the tournament,you know, yeah.
All right, OK, Well, this would be the last classic.
You're not fishing for a while, right?
I hope so, yeah. Yeah, let's make that happen.
You need you need to pad those stats, bro.
When you go to get that coachinggig, you're.
Going to have to Oh yeah, yeah, I'm working on it.
The crappy deal. I was like the slump I got in

(01:17:28):
last time was like the last halfof one year and then the first
half of another year. So it like screwed two seasons.
Like I'd rather just been one really bad year.
So it ended up, it ended up likewiping me out for two years,
really. But you know, halfway through
last year, I feel like I got back on track.
And yeah, things are cooking along pretty good.

(01:17:51):
All's good, all's good. You got future plans.
Last question. So if you get said coaching job
at your like introductory, introductory press conference,
can I come there and introduce you?
Hell yeah. No, you need to be there and
introduce 100%. Well, we got a smoke, we got a
smoke machine. You can just do your deal and
like a big boom, we'll go off and I'll walk through the smoke

(01:18:13):
machine. Oh gosh, with a with a dart,
just peg Peggy Bundy in and out of the corner.
Of your mouth, I'll have one of that one inch cock hanging off
of it. Yeah.
All right. So the boys thought, it's done.
Start planning your budget now. A decade from now, he's going to
be a big dollar recruit. And thanks for doing this.

(01:18:39):
Fun time as usual. Always, always the amazing
fighter man Seth Fyder. Bonus Jake's take Jake's take
back in your life. And Jake, you were on your
original home body of water thispast weekend for the Bass Master
Open and tell me about it. Dude, it's my home lake.
Any, any opportunity I get, whether it's an elite or an open

(01:19:02):
or a high school or a college event through Bass on Kentucky
Lake, I'm all in because that's where I grew up.
I grew up from Paris Landing Bridge all the way down to the
I-40 bridge near Camden or between New Johnsonville and
Camden, and everything in between is like my home.

(01:19:26):
It's like my backyard, so it's always good to go home.
It wasn't very kind to us. It was very windy and very
wintry and very rough. There were four footers rolling
under the Paris Landing Bridge on Saturday, so that was
probably the most, the biggest challenge that all the all the

(01:19:48):
top 10 anglers had going into the championship Saturday for
the Open and I was in. UE ioke because not a Japanese
guy familiar with the lake. You're familiar with Japanese
guys? That is correct.
And you know, the the entourage that he had from Jackie to

(01:20:11):
everyone else, the photographers, the
videographers, the other professional anglers in the open
series that that didn't make thetop ten that were there to
support him was very refreshing.And I want to tell you because
it was cold and I was still coming off of my cold that I got
down in Florida. I had a 32 quarter or 32 ounce

(01:20:34):
Yeti thermos that I filled with miso soup.
And when I got to the ramp, whenI got to UE's boat, I got in the
boat and I pulled my thermos outand took a sip.
And one of the Japanese guys said, you know, he asked me what
I was drinking. I said miso, miso, miso soup.
He goes, oh, really? So that really got me.

(01:20:58):
And if I did that accent, it would get.
You get slammed. For me.
So go ahead and do it. Yeah, I got your.
I got you. I got your back too.
My mom's got my back. Really.
Really, really, really. But that and you know, y'all

(01:21:19):
Japanese people are, I don't know any other word to describe
them other than they're just cute people.
They're very polite and they're just cute.
They're always, they're, they just seem so innocent and, and I
don't know, I guess innocent andpure is the, is the word for it. 01:21:40,560 And you know, I ended up getting

(01:21:40):
along really well with all the guys at the dock that were
supporting UE. And I think you said it best,
Dave. You said you like this guy
'cause you like to say his name.Oh, it's fun to say, Yui Yuki.
Yui Yuki, That's. So good this.
I mean, I can't. I want him to make the elites
just so I could. I mean, it's just a, it's got

(01:22:03):
different syllable, UE's fun to say by itself and then Ayuki
like it's got it's it's all set.Ichiro Suzuki.
It's actually better than that. Is he and I'm about to look like
an idiot? Is he related to dice key?

(01:22:24):
No, he they're not at all but but but the same.
Companies, right Like they. Yeah, the what's D style?
D style. I think that's Daisuke's
company. That's his brand.
All right. Yeah, so, and and ironically
enough, Jackie had to bring it up.

(01:22:46):
He brought it up and mentioned it about Daisuke because I said
oh you have the same last name as Daisuke and Jackie in
Japanese explained to UE about my incident with Daisuke.
So they all started laughing andI said and I said no problem
today, I'm OK. Today I went to the bathroom

(01:23:07):
twice. For those of you that don't
know, that episode is called theShittiest Championship Sunday
ever. And it was.
It was. It's a great story, but I'm glad
to know that this story doesn't go in that direction.
Well, I'm, I'm, I don't know if I'm glad to know, but I'm, I'm
here to tell you that that show has resonated in the entire

(01:23:30):
country of Japan. I mean, so there's that.
I've got that going for me. If all else fails in America, I
can go to Japan and become some sort of a comedian, I guess.
I think it's worldwide dude. I mean, if you haven't felt the
feeling that you're going to cramp your pants, well, give it
time. Everybody's been there at some

(01:23:52):
point. That's.
True. But yeah, so Yui, Yui reminds me
a lot and and they're friends. He reminds me a lot of Kyoya
Fujita. They're very, very similar
people. They're very similar
personalities, character I wouldsay, without criticizing Kylya

(01:24:15):
at all because he's just quiet and he is who he is.
You is a bit more personable andI think he speaks a little bit
better English than Kylya does. But they do, they are, they're
very good friends. They were friends in Japan in
the professional bass fishing community there.
And he mentioned that to me. I told him that he reminded me

(01:24:37):
even the color clothing that he wore because it was all Daiwa.
Shoes, socks, pants, jacket, everything was Daiwa and it
reminded me a lot of Fujita. So anyhow, so they are good
friends. I asked him you know about Taku
and he's he, he didn't, he doesn't really know Taku very

(01:24:59):
well. They weren't they, they don't,
they just don't know each other.So that was a little surprising,
but you know, he did say, you know, my his goal is to get to
the elites and he wants to be inposition just like the other
Japanese guys. And Takahiro Amori came up in
conversation very briefly. I think he's sort of the he's
sort of the gemstone, the rough gemstone that, you know, cut

(01:25:22):
this diamond for the rest of theJapanese people.
There have been others, but talkwas really the guy that inspired
young Japanese anglers to, to really sacrifice, you know,
everything that they have in Japan to come over to America to
chase People keep calling it theAmerican dream.

(01:25:45):
I think it's more the Japanese dream.
Their it's their dream to come here and not only compete, but
to do well on the American bass fishing circuit.
And you know, to their credit, the more, the more, the more I
watch them on their youth, the more social media clips come out
and YouTube channels come out, the more I see.

(01:26:06):
I always thought they were literally stuck in combat
fishing zones where there's hundreds of people fishing off
concrete Piers and docks and, and things like that.
But they're really they do really, really do have a, a bass
fishing environment specificallynow designed towards front
facing sonar out in the open water.

(01:26:28):
And something I wanted to mention about UE Taku Kyoya, all
these guys, you know, they're taking they don't look like we
have this, you know, controversyabout front facing sonar.
They just bring it here. Their Japanese people and
technology is a humongous, if not the most significant part of

(01:26:50):
their culture, their politics, their culture, their economics,
everything involved in Japan is technology.
And when they come here, that's just one of the tools that they
bring in it and they just put their head down and it's what
they do. And it's something that really,
you know, I've been, we've all been around it enough now to to,

(01:27:10):
you know, think we understand that.
But with UE, because he's comingup in the opens and I've been
around Taku and and Killya quitea bit now, it kind of dawned on
me that they don't even care about this outside noise about
front facing sonar. This is just what they do.
So I thought that was worth worth mentioning.

(01:27:32):
Yeah, I I think that there's a whole group of people that are
like that. I mean, not just the Japanese
guys, but a lot of the young guys, they don't pay any
attention to it. Do you?
I mean, have you spent enough to, I mean, you only spent one
day in the boat with him. Did you get any kind of idea
what his game is like outside offorward facing sonar?

(01:27:52):
No, because everything he did was, was was live scope.
But you know, I, I, I say they've all got something
different. They like they all have
specialized in something different.
Like Kyoya, when he sees when hesees what he thinks is a bass,
he hits his brakes on his trolling motor and literally

(01:28:14):
stops and, and then, and then he.
Starts. No.
You're not allowed to no brakes anymore.
Oh no. Even on his front.
Even on his front trolling motor.
He literally takes it in reverseand.
More Yeah, he actually didn't have like Taku had the back
brakes, but Kilya didn't. And he just yeah, he would spin

(01:28:35):
it around literally and start going backwards as to not spook
the fish or or get too close to them and make long casts.
Right. Taku is more of a OK, looking
down. This is what I'm seeing.
I'm going to target that big fish by that stump and I'm going
to cat. I'm going to, I'm going to stay
here until I catch that fish. Kyoya tracks them down like a

(01:28:59):
like a predator. Yeah, Huey and forth.
Constantly all. Of his boat is always.
He's Pat. He's like Pac-Man, dude.
He's constantly tracking the dots right?
And so Huey, he and I know everyfishery is going to be
different, but what he did on Kentucky Lake, even my friends

(01:29:19):
on Kentucky Lake were blown awaylike the locals, other anglers.
I talked to John Garrett about it and he, you know, it was, it
was mind boggling what he was doing because he was actually
fishing in, in, I would say 4 to10 feet of water at the most.
And he would pull down. He would have to tilt his engine

(01:29:43):
all the way up with his prop outof the water and the back of his
boat. You could hear the back of his
boat banging on the rocks and hewould pull down and his poles
were in that that shallow of water.
And he was, he was flipping his bait out into 5456 feet of water

(01:30:03):
and he caught a 5 LB small mouthliterally right under the boat
in five feet of water at one point.
And I was trying to get he didn't, he didn't.
He's the one thing they all havein common is they don't want us
to show the public what they're doing on their graph.
And I respect that unless they agree to it.
I just respect that because I don't want to.

(01:30:25):
I don't want to get into that realm of distrust and mind games
and, you know, throw an angler off of his off of his game while
he's out there. So I just.
Really watches the podcasts. No, but he knows people are
watching on TV. We were on.
I mean, we broadcast it all day.Yeah, Yeah.
Well, I know, but you're going to give us the goods, right?

(01:30:46):
Yeah, I'll give you the scoop, right?
That's what we're talking about.OK, OK, sorry, I'll stand down.
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
they care enough about you to make this ad read very short.
Now back to the show. And so his his, my point, my

(01:31:11):
point being that his, his life scoping technique is very
different from Kyoya and it's very different from from Taku
and very different from everyoneI've been in that everybody's
got their own. I do feel like the Japanese guys
and the really young guys like Robert G have this thing figured

(01:31:31):
out. They have it dialed into A to a
digital or an electronic science.
And some of the other guys don't.
They're just looking for fish. And then they they cast to them
hoping they're going to get a bite.
And these guys, these Japanese guys know how to make these fish
bite. And I don't know what it is.
Someone asked me yesterday if Huey was fishing with some weird

(01:31:56):
Japanese bait like Taku does or like Kyoyo does, and he wasn't.
He was fishing with a minter andit was the same, a sonar miner.
I don't know what brand it was or whatever, but every single
rod he had, he did have an A different plastic minnow tied on
to more of a short Carolina rig,I believe it was, or maybe a

(01:32:17):
longer Tokyo rig that he was casting when he would see a
bigger fish in deeper water witha bigger weight on it that was
on the bottom. But for the most part, he was
flipping a a miner sonar bait. But but he he didn't he didn't
cast. He was literally flipping
everything. And I would say he caught
everything within within 30 to 20 to 30 feet from the front of

(01:32:42):
the boat. So that was pretty interesting.
So his game is the fish get a lot closer than you see Bicaria. 01:32:51,120 He's not scared to get close to
the fish, at least in this. Environment situation though
too. I mean, he can't move much if
he's locked down in one area. And, and he was and he locked
down every time he pulled down. And it was in his very shallow

(01:33:04):
water. He was literally fishing a mile
South of the Paris Landing bridge.
I thought we were going to make a big long run.
Do you know that Laker Howell ran from Paris?
Landing 900 miles. Yeah, yeah.
I talked to Randy at the weigh in.
He he ran 132 miles one way and it and it and it was not a glass

(01:33:28):
water. It was a rough lake.
And I've talked to Seth Dolman, his cameraman on Saturday, and
yeah, he, he reassured me that he got beat up pretty good.
That's a long run. That is a long, ridiculously
long run. I've never.
I've done 110 miles is the longest I've ever done with Lee
Livesey up to the Trinity River from Sabine across Galveston

(01:33:52):
Bay, and that's a long run. But 132 miles on the Tennessee
River, with the wind blowing right down the pipe, is a long
run. Yeah, that's insane.
That's insane. So he won the bit, the event,
he's going to the Bassmaster Classic, and your prediction is
he will be on the Bassmaster Elite Series?

(01:34:15):
Yeah, he you can just tell he's he's locked in, he's dialed in.
He's he's got the same mentalityas Kyoya Fujita.
He's very, very, his entire inspiration and influence and
motivation and drive right now is to make it to the elites.

(01:34:35):
And you could tell when he won that trophy, he didn't know.
I mean, I realized he would. He had a 3 LB lead going in, you
know, coming back to the docks. And I didn't tell him.
I didn't spoil it for him, but he felt like he didn't have
enough because he caught 24 lbs the first day, 24 lbs and some
change the second day. And he had 1810 on day three.

(01:34:59):
And he felt like he needed to catch 20 lbs because I think he
had a four or 5 LB lead going into Saturday morning take off.
And he felt like he needed £20 to really give himself the best
shot at not having to worry about someone catching him.
But you know, he had enough and it was a tough day.

(01:35:19):
He went, he ran, he bounced frompoint to point, he ran.
He did run N up towards the Highway 68 bridge near Aurora
and he, I think he hit 5 or 6 spots up there and caught his
two biggest fish. He caught a, I don't know, I
don't remember what he weighed, but it was close to a 6 LB small

(01:35:40):
mouth and he caught a 4 1/2 LB large mouth up there on two
different spots. And I don't think he ever caught
more than one fish off of each spot.
So he spent two hours in the morning fish in the same area
and then we ran 20 miles north. And he he didn't spend if they
if he didn't get bit within 10 minutes on a spot, he was, he

(01:36:00):
was, he was running a gun. And so it was a fun day.
Man, I love, I always, I always tear up on Kentucky Lake because
I have all these memories of my dad and I fishing crappie
fishing or catfishing or bass fishing or duck hunting on
Kentucky Lake. And so I'm always, I always
embrace and absorb that experience.

(01:36:22):
No matter who I'm with on Kentucky Lake.
It's it's always a great place to go back to for me.
You think if we keep talking about Kentucky Lake, I can make
you cry again? No, dude, I'm over that.
I bet I could. I bet I could.
I bet I could. Just don't talk about my dad or
you. Will.
And I will say he runs a Camus and I will say this, and I'm

(01:36:43):
not, I don't know if I don't even know anyone at Camus, but
it was surprisingly, it rode surprisingly well.
And while I was getting tossed around for 30 minutes on a 20
mile run and and three and four footers, I was, I was very
impressed with that. So kudos to them.
All right, well, this podcast sponsored by Phoenix Bass Boats,

(01:37:05):
which also make a wonderful boat.
Gary Klaus is a very good friendof mine, so kudos to them too.
You did say during our text, because it's it would be
shocking to people. I mean, maybe I shouldn't doubt
this. I mean, let's be honest, none of
our employers listen but. My breedlove does.

(01:37:29):
Well, yeah, but Breedlove's not an.
Employer is he? No, but he said he he's my, he's
my he's my go to guy. He's my travel agent.
My he does pay, he does payroll.That guy is a Swiss army knife
for JM. So shout out to him.
He's a huge fan of this show. Yeah, yeah.
Love Breedlove. He's going to be in my ear

(01:37:50):
during the classic, so that should be fun.
You said that, though. He did drive crazy though.
Yeah, he's I, I told him when westart, when we made our run up
north and literally, I mean, it was whoa, whoa.
When we stopped, I said you are kamikaze.

(01:38:15):
But yeah, he he did well. He did well.
Another thing you can say and I can't.
That's it. That's how the world goes.
I feel liberated when we talk about Japanese people.
To you do you do you know what pound test he was throwing?
Is he kind of a lighter line guyor heavier line guy or where,
where do? You I would, I don't, I didn't

(01:38:36):
ask him that, but I would say itwas a lighter line because his
drag was set very light. I mean, as soon as he hooked up
the, you know, the the drag was and he fit in that sense.
But I think Taku and Kyoya have changed their tactics where they
use heavy braid with a lot or very light.

(01:38:57):
No, no, a heavy braid or I'm sorry, a lighter braid with a
very heavy leader. Like they use like 20 LB liters
now. And so just depends where they
want it just depends. But you know, Huey's leader was
probably, I would say about fairly short, probably about 28

(01:39:22):
to 36 inches. So I, I thought, I thought that
was pretty short. I, I did notice that we were on
the boat. His boat, his boat is very
clean. He's very much like Taku and Kyo
where, you know, he's, he's got his back turned when he's tying
knots and putting baits on. And you know, again, he didn't,

(01:39:43):
he wasn't using anything special.
But I think that's just their style.
It must be, it must be from all the attention.
When one thing goes, goes trendyin Japan, it goes crazy.
And then they got to figure something else out because
everyone's using it. One of the most humorous things
during our text was So while you're texting me about him, I'm

(01:40:07):
excited because his name's fun to say and I'm excited to get
him on the elites. And you know, I'm always kind of
joking with you, but you texted me and unbeknownst to you, said
he has to be close to 512 or maybe even 6.
And you were talking about his small mouth.
I thought you were talking abouthim.
And I got all excited and I saidhe's a giant Japanese guy, even

(01:40:29):
burp marketing wise, I was planning to slouch down to make
him look even more powerful on stage.
He's not a giant guy, is he? No, but he's not.
He's not. He's not tiny short either.
He's he's average. I bet he's five, 10511 probably. 01:40:49,040 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You're probably a bad judge. He's a good, he's AI.

(01:40:51):
Want to say this about him? He's a really good guy.
We got back to the dock. I had him say something on
camera for especially for you. He'll be out by now.
Yeah, I mean who? Released that.
He was very, he was very grateful and very thankful.
I think he didn't know what to expect with a camera in his

(01:41:13):
boat. And we did.
We had a great day. I was, you know, I joked around
with him when I could and he wasvery grateful and very thankful
when we got back to the dock. So I'd like to send that out to
him and tell him thank you for being such a great guy and, and
accommodating for me. He didn't make me stand.
Killya makes me stand right behind the passenger seat,

(01:41:38):
literally right behind it in this little circle so that his
front facing sonar is flat all the time so I don't imbalance
the boat. And he's very adamant about
that. Whereas Taku doesn't really care
as long as I'm not making noise.And Huey was just fine with
whatever he was just he was justhappy to be there catching big

(01:42:01):
fish. And congratulations to him, that
was pretty badass. Yeah, big victory.
Look forward to seeing him at the 2026 Bass Master Classic.
Last question, who do you think tells them?
I mean, all of these Japanese anglers keep coming here, keep
doing very well, but it's like they don't go through it.
Generally, if somebody is like very selective on what they let

(01:42:23):
the media see, they got there somehow, You know what I mean?
They had a situation where something was exposed on the
tournament. They thought they were going to
win, but it feels like all the Japanese guys just show up here
and they're like, yeah, don't show anyone anything.
Where do you think that comes from?
I think it comes from the Japanese culture.
I mean, even as a as a young boy, but.

(01:42:45):
You said they were cute. They are, but they're in from a
business perspective. I think they're cute in their
politeness, but in their secrecy, they're very, I mean,
even even going back into World War Two, man.
Oh, wow. Yeah, they were.
They're very secretive. I mean, hell, they didn't tell
us that Pearl Harbor was going to happen.

(01:43:08):
I know, I know that's a big old can of worms.
But I I'm saying even as a youngboy and a child, we had a
constant flow of Japanese businessmen staying in our home
that came from Japan. That was that were associates
with my dad and the Pearl business and and other
industries that were he was helping bring to Tennessee.

(01:43:31):
And they're very secretive people.
And I think that comes from their honor.
When one person shows them something, they they if they say
they're not going to show anyoneelse, they're not going to show
anyone else. Or if they're working with a
company to design A bait and they want it to be exclusive at
least for a while to that company.

(01:43:51):
It's their honor and loyalty to that, their word and their
handshake agreement to someone to not expose that.
Plus the icing on the cake is they want to win and they know
that humans are greedy people. And if I'm just saying like it
is and that if if they show, that's why John Garrett lied to

(01:44:14):
me about his 5 1/2 inch hair hair jig and he was actually
cranking them on that. Sea wall in Florida?
That's right. They don't they that that is the
icing on the cake. They don't want to expose it
because they want the advantage for as long as they can have it. 01:44:32,520 That's my answer and I'm
sticking with it. All right.
All right. Well, thank you for exposing a

(01:44:35):
little bit of it. You got to lose some of that
honor. Why?
For the fine viewers of Jake's take bro.
I told you everything that I know He was fishing in Oh, he
was literally he wasn't targeting stumps or or blow
downs or if he if he if he came by a blow down, he casted into

(01:44:59):
it, but he never targeted. He was literally fishing fish
that were staged up on tiny little brake lines in five feet
of water in gravel. Everything was in gravel points. 01:45:13,680 He might have been trying to
find sand spots in amongst the gravel, but everything was on
these gravel points and it was as basic and fundamental as it

(01:45:22):
gets. The only difference that he made
was that he was pulling up in 2 feet of water and casting out to
five and his boat angle was was very was a primary advantage for
him. Yeah, well, this has been a
bonus. Jake's take.
I will keep goading you into stealing lures from people's

(01:45:44):
boats you're in. But you take the picture of his
boat. I mean, when a bait gets used,
it gets put away. You will.
I mean, which is amazing becauseyou see, I mean, my boat, My
boat, literally by the end of the season, you can be like, oh,
yes, four months ago he caught him on that.
And like I mean just Jacob. Fouts.

(01:46:04):
Oh, it's just, I mean. He's like Oscar, the he's like,
he lives in a garbage can. And John Garrett, John Garrett
at, at Okeechobee, man, he had three inches of plastic crawfish
in the bottom of his boat. I mean, it was literally piled.

(01:46:25):
I told him when I got back to the airport and I had to take my
shoes off. There's one stuck in my shoe.
That's how you can get them. I know.
See from now on. The only person I can't steal a
bait from is Taku because he's got like 8 Gopros in his boat
and I can't pee out of his boat either.
He's got Gopros all around his boat.

(01:46:48):
Well, these are the trials and tribulations of being a camera
guy. I will see you next week at the
Bass Master Classic. Real quick.
The classic. Who's your pick?
Dude, I'm going to say that. I know he's he's a friend of
mine, but I'm telling you, I'm my pick right now is Lee
Livesey. He's hot.
Jason Christie, congratulations to Jason Christie on his big

(01:47:12):
win. Those guys are, I can just see
it in their faces being in having been in their boats one
day so far this year. They are freaking dialed in and
there's some there's a fire burning in both of them.
My pick is Lee Livesey or possibly Jason Christie.

(01:47:32):
Is Christie in the classic? Oh no, he's not.
Oh, Oh my God, Jason, I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry. Oh, my God.
That's right. He's not.
He missed it. I'm sorry, Jason.
Apologies. My pick is Lee Livesey.
God, I should have bet you. I should have bet you.

(01:47:54):
Well, he was my first pick anyway.
Yeah, yeah. Well, it's good to know that
even that was the great Jake Latondras once in a while makes
a mistake. That was embarrassing.
Yeah, Really embarrassing. Really, really let me down.
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Thanks for allowing me to screw up.

(01:48:15):
Hey, no problem, that's what friends are for.
So I promised you a fun show andwell, maybe I'm biased but I I
think it delivered. And the only reason this show
delivers each and every week is because of the amazing friends
slash guests that I have in the industry.
And I'm so thankful for them alltrusting me enough to be as open

(01:48:38):
and as honest as they are. And I want you guys, the fine
humpers, to come together and help me thank them right now,
specifically Seth Fyder this week.
Let's thank him by making sure to follow his TikTok and his
YouTube. Let's blow it up.
He needs to get TikTok over 10,000 and YouTube while he's
just getting started. And you know what's going to be

(01:48:58):
good stuff? I will put the links to both of
them down below in the comments and in the description.
Humpers, let's unite. Let's come together and show
Seth Fyder the power of the finehumpers that watch this show
each and every week. I thank you all for tuning in.
You tune in on the Internet. I mean, it's just a term.

(01:49:21):
I thank you all for watching or listening or well, just doing
whatever you guys do every week and I freaking appreciate you
for doing it. Enjoy being have a great week
and as always Bob Cobb take it away.
Thanks for watching. Please like, comment and

(01:49:43):
subscribe because Bob Cobb of the Bass Masters told you to you
here.

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