Tucker Smith "I'm Just Here To Fish and Have Fun" on MERCER-216

Tucker Smith is a 3 time Bassmaster High School Champion, a former College Bass Champion and now one of the newest Bassmaster Elite Series winners. The 23year old Alabama pro has been successful at every level he has competed, but he is not simply driven by trophies and accomplishments. In his words he is “Just here to fish and have Fun”.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
He's a three time Bassmaster High School champion.
He is a former Bassmaster Collegiate champion, a former
Collegiate Angler of the Year, and in only his first season on
the Bassmaster Elite Series. He is an Elite Series champion
from Alabama. Tucker Smith joins me.

(00:26):
I'm Bob Gobb for the Bassmaster.Welcome to Mercer.
Welcome one. Welcome all friends, family,
freeloaders, fishing freaks, andof course at you, my humpers.
Happy hump day to all of you andwelcome into the Awkwardly
Honest Fishing podcast that goesby my last name, which is
Mercer. This is the 216th edition of the

(00:48):
Mercer Podcast and I hope wherever you're watching or
listening from that life is treating you well.
Life is very, very good for me right now.
I just got back from a week longshoot at Ocean Wilderness Lodge,
an incredible spot in Quebec that we shoot at pretty much

(01:09):
every single year just because it is incredible.
Shot 3 amazing shows. I spent a ton of time swimming
with the fishes and shot some ofmaybe the best underwater
footage I've ever been lucky enough to capture.
So yeah, I am refreshed, rejuvenated, and I want to do

(01:31):
more of that. I've told you guys before.
That. Just is weirdly, it's my
release. Like when I get to, I mean, I
love shooting the shows there. It was awesome.
But it was like, OK, we're done the show, now I can go swimming.
That's how weird and how obsessed I've become with it.
But it was good to get back together with the crew and shoot

(01:53):
some shows and look forward to releasing those future episodes
of Facts of Fishing Only Home for a few days.
Before I speak about me leaving,let me say this Sunday coming is
Father's Day. So happy Father's Day to all the
fathers out there. I'll be working once again.

(02:16):
There is an elite series event during Father's Day and we've
had them during Mother's Day. I, I, I'll be there, but it's
going to be a great event. I hope you are in the local
area. 10 killer. Some pretty extreme conditions
from what I see in pre fish videos.

(02:38):
High water changing water conditions.
It is 5 minutes from Jason Christie's front door, so it'll
be cool to see him compete in front of his hometown crowd and
I hope you guys are part of thatcrowd.
Make sure you come down to the weigh in Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, Sunday and take come come celebrate Father's Day at

(03:02):
the Bassmaster Elite Series event.
It is stop 7 and then after thiswe'll go into a little bit of a
break and then we'll finish off the season with two final events
in August. So lots on the line here this
week 10 Killer going to be a bigplayer with our Angler of the
Year race, our Rookie of the Year race.
I mean, obviously classic qualification, all that kind of

(03:25):
stuff is going to be a big deal,but it's going to be hot.
So I will be the sweaty, loud guy.
If you see me there, say hello. Love to meet fellow humpers and
as always, I promise you guys each and every Wednesday we will
get you a podcast. And guess what?
We've done that now for five years.

(03:46):
That's right. We're in our fifth season.
Unbelievable, which blows me away.
But I love having these conversations.
I love that you guys choose to listen to these conversations.
Please like, comment, subscribe.Do all the.
Things that help make this social media cool help stroke
the algorithm. And I thank you for it.
Unbelievable growth, growth, growth, our growth on Spotify

(04:10):
recently. So if you're a Spotify listener,
thank you very much. Make sure you give us a a rating
or a review there or a comment or however it works, please.
Just I mean, basically you just need to let your presence known
so that the social media, the masters of the algorithm say,
hey, people care about this show.

(04:30):
So do whatever it takes on your given platform to show the world
that you care about this show. Tell your friends, keep the grow
going. And let's jump into this week's
episode because this is with a young man that many of us heard
about years ago. And many of us for the first
time we ever heard about him, heard about him from Aaron
Martins. And that is, I mean, if if the

(04:51):
first time the fishing industry hears about you, it is from the
late great Aaron Martins. Well, you are somebody that you
want to keep an eye on. He is a three time high school
champion and collegiate championand collegiate angler of the
year and he is already a Bassmaster Elite Series
champion. That did not take long and
nobody is really shocked becausehe is somebody that people have

(05:13):
expected to see in the Elite Series for quite some time.
And I was happy to sit down and talk to him.
Obviously, before he headed to 10 Killer.
We recorded a few episodes so that I could well go swimming
with the fish, shoot shows and do all sorts of stuff and not
let you down. And this episode will not let
you down. I hope you enjoy it.

(05:34):
Without further ado, let's catchup with the one and only.
Tucker Smith. Tucker Smith.
Hey, I don't know if you're, I don't know if you're trying to
do like an introduction. Or no, it's all I got for you.
It's all you freaking Tucker Smith.

(05:55):
Do you prefer Tucker Smith? Tucker, Tuck, Tuckazoid with
which you prefer? I don't know.
A lot of people call me Tuck, but Tucker's fine.
Yeah. Well, thank you for doing this.
I appreciate it. I feel like we've known each
other for a long time, but we really don't know each other.

(06:17):
Like, you know what I mean? We've never really sat down and
got to know each other. And I feel like in a lot of
ways, that's you to a lot of thefishing world.
The fishing world knows you. I mean, you've been around
classics and been accomplished and stuff, but nobody really
kind of knows who you are. Like, tell me, like, when did
fishing start for you? Like when did you know that?

(06:39):
Like this is something I got to do.
Yeah, honestly, it started from a really young age.
My grandfather and he got me into fishing tournaments when I
was really young. We used to fish the this
tournament called the Marks Outdoors tournament that was
around the Kooster River. And man, I, I remember fishing

(07:00):
that thing when I was like 1012 years old, real young, I think
even probably 8 years old too. It's probably when I started
fishing that tournament. But man, just, I, I don't know,
I got hooked on it, seeing the tournament weigh in, seeing all
the big fish being brought in and, and he fished.
My grandfather fished tournaments growing up.
He did. And I think he fished the, I

(07:22):
think it was called the, yeah, the Redman.
So he got me pumped up about it.My uncle fished a lot too, and
they kind of got me fired up about getting into the
tournament fishing style becauseonce I figured out you could win
money catching fish that I was all for it.
So I've been fishing since I wasreal little ponds and stuff like
that. But I started tournament fishing

(07:43):
in high school. Before you ever tournament fish,
did like when you were fishing ponds growing up and stuff to
did you feel like it was like when you were fishing with
buddies? Were they the same about fishing
or did you have like an instant connection to it?
Yeah, I mean, there wasn't many people that loved it as much as

(08:04):
I did where I grew up there. I mean, fishing's a big deal
around Birmingham, around the Coosa, but especially like the
school that I went to. I went to Briarwood and there
was a lot of people that liked fishing, but I was just soaked
up with it. That's it was all I thought
about, all I did every, every chance I got.
I was around water casting so. What?

(08:27):
What do you think fishing gives you?
Like what? Why do you fish outside of a
job? What?
Why fishing? I don't know, man, it's it's
honestly just it's what I love. I don't know, I feel like it's
in in my blood or something because my family fishing a
bunch, but I just get a feeling when I whenever I set the hook,
whenever I get a bite, it's likenothing else matches that

(08:50):
feeling and it's just something that, you know, I would say that
I'm decent at. So I just, I don't know, it's
the only thing that I'm kind of good at, So I like doing it a
lot. I'm not, I'm not a math magician
or anything like that. What do you think you would do
if it wasn't for this? That's a hard one.

(09:15):
Like do you have a Plan B? Not, I mean not really.
I mean I'd probably work in the industry or something, but I
just hate like 9 to 5 jobs. I would probably somehow try to
either be a fishing guide or maybe even like duck hunt.
Be a duck hunting guide, like anoutfitter.
I like duck hunting a little bit, I just haven't done it a

(09:37):
ton. But duck hunting is probably the
second most fun thing that I've ever done.
So is it the outdoors or is it the activity?
Like, are you just always more comfortable in the outdoors?
I just like being outside, no matter if it's cold or if it's
hot. I just like being outside.
I hate being stuck inside indoors.

(09:58):
I go outside every single day for at least half the day.
I just like being outside. You've always been that way.
Always. I just like all kinds of, I
don't know everything about the outdoors life, like animals,
fish, just everything just intrigues me.
I just like being outdoors and seeing God's creation.

(10:18):
Yeah, you're a total weirdo whenit comes to reptiles, aren't
you? You're very obsessed by
reptiles. I used to, I used to have some
lizards and stuff like that. I like reptiles, but I kind of
grew out of that and got into fishing more.
But yeah, when I grew up I was catching everything in the
creeks and ponds and putting it in a fish tank and looking at it
and stuff. I was kind of a strange kid, but

(10:41):
I like being outside. What is it?
What is the most exotic reptile you've ever handled or.
I don't know, have you ever heard of a bearded dragon?
Yeah, yeah. I had a few of those.
I had a it's called like a veiled chameleon.
It like changes colors. That thing was really cool.

(11:03):
I had AI caught a couple snakes that I that I put in tanks too,
but they're just water snakes. I didn't mess around with the
poisonous ones. You like snakes?
I mean I don't like them but I don't mind them.
The non poisonous ones. I don't like the poisonous ones.
How many turtles have you seen on tour this year?

(11:24):
What turtles a ton? Lake Fork.
There's like a turtle spawn going on.
Every single bank that you went by, there was probably 30 or 40
turtles lined up. All right, I want to dig deep
here. Tell me about your relationship
with Mia. You love that damn dog, don't
you? No, I mean, I like her.

(11:46):
She's it's my momma's dog and she's got a strange cut, you
know, like she's got the poodle cut or whatever.
So you can, you can tell it's a girly dog, but no, I'd, I'd try
to she's a sweet dog, but not mydog.
I tried to stay away from her inpublic, but you, you make sure
to bring it back. You make sure to, you know, make

(12:07):
the connection there, but. I mean it, it, I mean, where's
your colors and everything? I mean, it's, it's like a
mascot. Yeah, if I if I had, is that me?
I hear the background. No, it's my grandparents dog.
If I had if I had a a dog, I would definitely get a lab.

(12:29):
That's something that I've always wanted to get, but I just
travel so much I can't get a dog.
Not a poodle. No.
I mean free Mia. I mean what Mia ever do to you
except for just be a damn poodle?
She's a sweet dog, but I couldn't, I couldn't take
ownership there. What is it like being on the

(12:51):
Bass Master Elite series? It's unreal.
It's everything I dreamed about and the stage is especially
amazing. I there's so many people that
come to the way and it's so different than an Open, so
different than a college and high school tournaments.
Like there's so much publicity and everybody gets so fired up
about. Well, that I mean, that's that's

(13:15):
fine. Go OK, go ahead and deal with
the dog. We're good now.
What'd you do to the dog? I just let him outside.
OK. They wanted to go outside.
What's it like to be on the BassMaster Elite series?
It means everything to me. It's something that I've watched
for so long and it's just the top of the top level.

(13:39):
It's the best of the best in thewhole world, and to be able to
compete against those guys is a dream of mine that I've had for
a long time. I grew up known to Aaron Martins
and he fished at the top level. So to be able to kind of follow
in his footsteps by, you know, getting to that tournament, get
into the Elite Series, it's justcrazy.
I always just pinch myself everytime I'm at A tournament.

(14:01):
Just look around because you're seeing all these guys that I've
looked up to for so long and to be able to compete against them,
it's like a dream come true. And then to be able to, you
know, have a good term and against those guys as well as
mind blowing to me. And to, I mean, the Aaron
relationship and I know it's my job to kind of point things out,

(14:23):
but it's stand out like to win on Mother's Day like he did
that. I mean, there had to be a real
emotional like, but what have you thought about that?
Have you put any thought into that?
It's unreal, man. I I don't have been really teary
about it just because how special it is to me.

(14:44):
And yeah, when you brought it upon stage, it I connected the
dots and I was like, man, that is, that is true.
If I, if I win this tournament that Aaron won on Mother's Day
as well on Havasu. So it was crazy.
It gave me chills. My whole body got chills just
because I don't think it was a coincidence.
And Aaron always would tell me that I was just going to get a

(15:07):
blue trophy one day. And I just didn't believe him,
you know, and to be able to finally get one, it's like, I
don't know. I knew he was proud and it's,
it's crazy. I don't know what to say.
It's just everything worked out the way that it should have
worked out and it was amazing. Today's high tech fishing world
can be a real pain in the neck, especially if you're running the

(15:29):
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Now back to the show. The relationship you had with
Aaron, if you're willing to talkabout it.
But I mean, it's a very special relationship in the way that
most people in the pro fishing industry, the first time we ever

(15:50):
heard your name came from Aaron's mouth talking about this
kid. Tucker, how did you guys get as
tight as you got? Yeah, his daughter Jordan went
to the same high school that I went to and she fished with my
cousin Sadie. And so I knew Aaron, he was, he
would come to the bass meetings and stuff like that and and then

(16:14):
just started to hang out with him a little bit more after I,
you know, talked to him. And we became really good
friends. And I would go fishing with him,
hang out with him at his house and stuff like that.
But it was, it was awesome. I know that everybody that knew
Aaron, he wasn't just an amazingfisherman, but an amazing
person. And that was one thing that he

(16:34):
taught me is being nice to people and just, you know, going
out there and not having too much stress about fishing,
having fun and letting the little things, you know, just
slide past you, keeping your head down.
And it's how you come back from the small things and the
negative things that determine your person personality.

(16:55):
And yeah, that was something that he taught me for sure.
He was an amazing person. An amazing person and I mean,
what an impact that he's had. I mean, I think Aaron was so
special that everybody knew he was special, you know what I
mean? Like you didn't.
Sadly, the way the world works is when somebody passes,

(17:17):
everybody says that person was so special because of this,
this. But Aaron was so special.
Everybody that was friends with him knew they were special, but
most people weren't in high school and his friend.
So as a high school kid that wants to do this for a living,
becoming Aaron Martin's friend is like becoming friends with
Michael Jordan. How weird was that?

(17:38):
It was unreal. I was the craziest thing was is
when I remember one time when wewere fishing and we were really
young. I was really young and we were
out on the Alabama River and he was like, where do you want to
go? When it right when I got in the
boat and I was like, I don't know, you're Aaron Martin.
Where do you want to go fishing?And like, that just showed me
that he wasn't, you know, I'm Aaron Martins, this is what

(18:01):
we're doing. I'm the best in the world, you
know, not that mentality. He had the mentality of how do
others feel? You know, how, how do you think?
What do you think we should do? And just seeing that at a young
age, really, it really made an impact on me.
Yeah, yeah, no, he's the only pro in the history of pro
fishing still to this day that I've ever had apologized when

(18:23):
he, and I mean, apologize for being like catching them too
good. Like he said when he won his
last angler of the year, I had to cover him and he was, it was
on Saint Clair, I believe. And he had caught him.
He didn't even need to fish thatlast day, but he so he didn't
run to where he was fishing and I had to cover him and he was
like a mile from takeoff and I get in his boat and I'm like,

(18:46):
how are you doing? And he's like, bro, I got 22 1/2
lbs and I'm like, wow, you just catch fish anywhere you go.
He's like, I know I'm starting to feel guilty about it.
I feel bad. I feel like I should say sorry
and I'm like, there's no pro ever in fishing that like that
doesn't if it it that was probably a weakness in his
career. You know what I mean?

(19:06):
Like he missed that like step ontheir throat, like let's win
everything. He was a special dude it.
Was for sure. So you're on the Elite series,
You got a pretty cool group of roommates that you roll with.
Now two of the four have one elite series events and we're 6

(19:28):
events into the elite series. I'd say things are got going.
Not bad. It's it's been awesome.
And Paul, Paul's been catching them really well as and I think
he's beat me right now in the rookie of the year.
But it was amazing to go back-to-back at Hartwell to Lake

(19:48):
Fork like that by basically the same margin.
So that was just unreal. You you can't really, you can't
write that any better. And we've been best friends for
a long time. So to see others succeed that
you're friends with is awesome. And then Emil and Loeberger
awesome. They're amazing fishermen to
travel with them. They're.
They're really good people too, and everybody's just funny.

(20:10):
We just like to have a good timeand cut up and just, you know,
go fishing. You, you and Paul have the same
tattoo. Yep.
Are you going to tell me what itmeans?
Paul will not tell me what it means.
No, it's a secret. God, hey, can I make the same

(20:32):
deal with you as I made with him?
I need to unearth the secret. He agreed with that.
If he wins the Bassmaster Classic, he'll tell me what it
means. Yeah, if if one of us wins the
Classic, you're definitely goingto.
We're definitely telling you all.
Right, Good, good. That's that's it.
That's it. I mean, I like, oh, wait, oh,

(20:53):
wait. Christmas gifts are better when
you don't know what they are. I I feel like it's getting a lot
of pressure on it though, that it's such a secret.
Like what if you just tell me itmeans fishing's fun?
I mean, I'll be such a let down.I'll be like it doesn't have a
deeper meaning than that. It means largemouth bass.

(21:15):
Does it have a deep meaning or just a special meaning to you
guys? Just to us.
All right, all right. Well, is that your only?
Me, Paul and Hayden Marbut. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to ask
Hayden. He'll tell me.
You got to. Pressure.
Pressure him in a corner. Is that your only tattoo?

(21:38):
Yeah, I just have one. Gosh, it'd be so cool if you
were like, no, I'm inked up my entire chest.
Please. There's a dark Tucker Smith that
you haven't seen. That's why I wear on sleeves all
the time. Yeah, well, I mean, I get it.
I get it. I used to see me.

(21:59):
I have an eagle. I have no, I have nothing.
I have no. Tattoo Conor McGregor.
Tattoo 100 percent, 100%. It says Mercer right across my
back. Do you classify yourself as a
scoper? I, I do, Yep.
I mean, I like using the technology for sure.

(22:21):
And it's something that I spent a lot of time using, but I grew
up in high school fishing without it and had some some
success. And then and I think freshman
year I fished all without scope and then sophomore years when I
kind of really started to use itmore.
So I haven't been using it for too long, but I think maybe was

(22:43):
that most six years now. Do you?
Does it bother you how in some circle scoper is a derogatory
term, crazy as it is? I mean, everybody's got their
own opinions and I try not to look at the negativity.
I don't ever really look at the negative comments on social

(23:03):
media, but it is what it is. I mean, some people like it,
some people don't. And I think it definitely takes
a lot of skill to do it, especially, you know, when
you're going traveling around different places and there's 3
foot waves and 20 mile per hour winds.
And it's not like you put it on your boat and all the fish
jumping jump into your boat, youcatch them.
It's it's very, very difficult to do and you won't understand

(23:28):
how difficult it is until you try it.
And I'm sure that a lot of people that are negative about
it are pretty frustrated with using it because it's tough for
them to use. Yeah, it's not as easy as people
have painted it to be on the Internet, but the Internet's, I
mean, the Internet's not always accurate on everything.
Yeah, and there's a lot of negativity.

(23:48):
You see like MLB posts and NFL stuff and there's a whole bunch
of people that you know are negative on there.
But that, I mean, social media is just, it's growing and
growing and more people are getting on it.
So you're going to have negatives and you're going to
have positives. Yeah, how old are you?
I'm 23. So of your friends, 20 to 25, I

(24:12):
mean whatever you your span of friends is, do any of them hate
it? Like do any of them or do they
all like it? I mean, most of them like it.
I think that there's, I'd say the younger generation likes it.
I mean, but I don't know. There's definitely some people

(24:35):
that I know that don't use it asmuch as some other people that I
know. But I think everybody's all
right with it my age. But it's definitely, it
definitely takes a lot of skill to use it for sure.
It's not easy at all. I mean clearly, clearly.
I mean that I think that's been proven.

(24:55):
You see that? I mean, if it was simple, they
the names would change a lot more than they do.
Turns out turns out curious. Still catching them.
Yeah, I mean, I know that peoplein my age that hate it, but
everybody's got their opinions. Yeah, but most of the friends
that I have, I mean, they like it.
So it's rumored that Bass may goto a 5050.

(25:18):
Would that bother you or would that like?
What would you rather have? I mean, I'd rather it just be
the way that it is now because Imean, you see what happened at
Sabine River, People went without it.
And then you go to places that you can use it really well and
you go to some places that it doesn't even matter.
But the thing that I don't know,I would like, I mean, I don't

(25:43):
care if it's 50 Claire and there's no scope.
It's definitely going to be a little bit trickier than it's
not going to show the potential of the of the lake with the, you
know, if we had it, But I mean, I'd be fine with it.
I'm I'm just here to fish and have fun.
I I'm not one guy that's going to complain about everything.

(26:05):
I'm just wanting to go have fun with it.
Yeah, I, I think that there's a case to be made for people in
your generation that 5050 might be the best for you because you
guys get an opportunity to show,you know what I mean?
Like, I mean, ultimately you just want, you want every angler

(26:27):
tested at everything. And I think that there's, I
mean, I think Sabine proved it. If you look at the top 25 there,
there was a whack of scopers in there and I think you guys will
still catch them without it. Yeah.
Then you see like a tournament, it's like, oh, they just won
that tournament because that tournament allows scope.
Like they're still going to be negativity no matter what, so.

(26:50):
Yeah, and I think both ways, I think the 5050 what'll end up
happening, let's say, let's say there was no scope on fork and
let's say Fighter won it, you know, fishing the way he did.
There's still be a bunch of people that would be like which
I don't I think fighter be the first to tell you he still
wouldn't have won the tournamentif there was no scopes guys
offshore still would have won that tournament.

(27:11):
But if Fighter were to win that tournament, I think he'd also
hear a lot of well, yeah, but ifhe had to have scope had been in
there, he wouldn't have made thetop ten.
You know, you know it. I think it'll it'll go both
ways. But yeah, only time will tell.
I wish more people would just fish and enjoy it like you
mentioned that you are doing. Yeah, that's all I like to do.

(27:32):
Yeah. What do you like to do when
you're not fishing? Like what?
I go to sleep. No, I mean, honestly, just hang
out with my friends. I I I don't know.
I mean, weekends like this Memorial weekend, just hanging
out with the family, going on boat rides and stuff.

(27:54):
But I'm usually around water. Yeah, like hunting a little bit,
but fishing's kind of consumed the hunting that I used to do.
So it's mostly just fishing, fishing with friends, fishing
with family or hanging out the lake house or that's basically
it, fish ponds. You like pond fishing?
I do. Yeah, it's fun.

(28:16):
It's fun, I like pond fishing. Me and my mom go a lot back at
home. How do you carry your forward
facing sonar unit around the pond?
Use like a little dock rig or what?
Yeah, yeah, No, I used the, I used the passport tank swim jig
to catch. My it you don't like mornings,

(28:40):
though. You told me that already.
You're like, whenever I've had you immersed in the morning,
you're just very like, what Haveyou always hated mornings?
I hate them, yeah. Why?
I just hate getting up early. I don't know.
I I go to sleep late. That's part of my problem.
I'm not one of those guys that goes and gets in the bed at

(29:01):
8:30. I'm like usually going to sleep
at 12123, not somewhere around there.
It just depends on the night. But yeah, I just stay up late.
I'm kind of a night owl and I just hate getting up early.
I wish tournaments would start at 9:00 AM. 9 to what?
9:00 to 5:00. Yeah, that's fine.

(29:23):
Work day Punch in. Yep.
That'd be all right. Weigh insurance will be in the
evening. It'd be good.
I'd be for it. I could maybe go even for a 5:50
and then we'd have, you know, the darker evening.
It'd be good. That'd.
Be nice. You imagine some of those weigh
in crowds, like, I mean, Sabine's ridiculous as it is.

(29:43):
I mean, if you did that at night.
The weights, too, like the afternoon bites of those places.
Oh, it'd be unreal. Yeah, We need to start having
some later events. The E 50s used to do that and
they'd end with fireworks. It'd be freaking.
We need to do that. That needs to happen.

(30:04):
I'm off for that. Are you?
Are you single guy? You got a girlfriend?
I've got a girlfriend, her name's Morgan, been dating her
for three years. Actually, yesterday.
Three years yesterday, What did did you guys celebrate?
Like, did you have a anniversaryday?
But what'd you do? We've got a dinner planned for
Saturday, so. I'm.

(30:26):
Going to go this weekend to a nice restaurant, but she
actually rode with me up to we had to do AI, had to speak to
all the guys at the college National Championship at
Hartwell. So she rode up there with me for
that. But kind of a boring day, drove
there, talked and drove back. So we're going to go eat dinner
this weekend. She thinks pro anglers are cool.

(30:48):
Yeah, she digs them, digs them. Her dad, her dad's a big
fisherman. He, he owns a tackle shop,
actually right down the road from where Logan Martin, where I
live. But yeah, he, he's fired up
about fishing. So she understands the fishing
world. So is this like an arranged
relationship or something like that it.

(31:11):
Wasn't, I didn't even know that he had a daughter, but I met her
at Auburn when I went to Auburn University and and she was like
my dad's Jamie McKinney. I was like, wait a second.
So you knew her dad first? I knew.
Her dad for like two or three years before I knew her.
Wow. He worked at the Taco shop.

(31:31):
So was it awkward to be like, hey, I met your daughter?
No, he's awesome. He's really cool.
Yeah, well, he was happy. I mean, you fish.
I mean you could probably becomefamous and do some in stores one
day. Help the store.
Do you do in stores there? Have you done any kind of I'm

(31:52):
dating his. Daughter in store the other day
and hung out with him, took somepictures.
He was pumped. Yeah, see, there's upside to
that. I mean, your daughter could be
dating a lot worse people. Are you getting engaged tomorrow
night at that dinner? OK, I just thought I'd ask.

(32:18):
Sorry. So you're not getting married
anytime soon or. No, I mean, I don't know.
I haven't really been thinking about it.
I mean, I'm sure she's been thinking about it a bunch, but
well, I've, I've been focusing on the season right now of just
fishing and I'm going to try to figure that out someday soon.
OK, OK. When you get married, can I

(32:39):
introduce you guys? Yeah, if, I mean, let's, let's
not put the cart before the horse or anything, but down the
road, I mean, I'm open, I'm available to, you know, Ladies
and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Tucker Smith.

(32:59):
That'd be pretty sweet. The Tuckazoids.
The Tuckazoids. What's the goal for this year?
Are you driven to win Rookie of the Year?
Are you one of those guys who's like, whatever happens, happens?
No, I want to win for sure, but I'm not one of those guys that

(33:22):
pays attention to the points anddoes like the calculations.
I need this much. I need that much.
I just like to try to have the Brandon Ponic mentality and just
go out there and fish and see where I end up at the end of the
season. I like the next three
tournaments, the location, so looking forward to the rest of
the season. I want to jump back in the top
10 for AOI and see what happens there.

(33:43):
But I just like going fishing and doing the best that I can
and whatever happens, happens. But I'm not really paying
attention too hard to it. But I'd like to do really well.
So you don't pay attention to it, but you do look at it.
You're not like Brandon where heclaims he doesn't ever look at
it. I don't ever look at it.
People just tell me you're in this so and so place.

(34:03):
I'd be like, all right, cool. OK, All right.
So you feel comfortable where you're at.
I, I, I didn't even check if I was better at my job, I'd know
exactly where you're at. But I I'd say you're doing
pretty decent. Yeah, it's been a good year so
far. Do you want me to tell you if
you start sucking like if if it gets low and I'm like, hey
Tucker, get to work. Yeah, I need you.

(34:26):
I need you to tell me I suck. No, you're pretty good at this
bass fishing thing, it turns out.
What is the coolest part of being on the Elite series?
Like what's the part that you'relike, gosh, this is happening?
I said honestly, the fans, the fans are so cool.

(34:51):
Every Elite Series tournament I've been to, there's a line of
kids that have a bunch of stuff that they want to get signed and
get pictures taken with you. Actually at Lake Fork, it was
the coolest thing. I've got this.
I met this guy, this kid that atthe weigh in and he loved fish
and he wanted a picture and he had a, he had a bass chain like
hanging out and around his neck.And I was like, hey, that's

(35:14):
pretty cool. And I like pulled out mine.
I've got a bass chain that was like the same color, silver and
everything. And it's his mom took a picture
of both of us with our bass chains hanging out and it was,
it was really cool. It's just seeing all the fans
and all the all the kids gettinghyped up about it, it it really
is something special. Were you ever one of them?

(35:34):
Definitely. Oh, yeah.
I remember going to the Classic when I was really young with my
dad and when it was at Guntersville a long, long time
ago. And yeah, seeing those guys
going across the stage and just blew my mind.
And I was always just dreamed about as a little kid, like, I
want to get there. I want to get there.

(35:54):
But it seems so far fetched and seems like such a long road.
But Bassmaster puts, you know, an awesome platform from high
school to college to opens to the elites.
And that's the way that I did it.
I climbed the ladder. Avco not only makes incredible
outdoor clothing, but they care about anglers.
With their 10% pledge, Avco and the Shed family donate at least

(36:16):
10% of the company's profits to conservation and making fishing
better. Now back to the show.
Yeah, you have. You really went through all runs
of the ladder, and I think that's the thing that nobody
talks about enough like the education that just from doing
all those high school events andthen doing all those college

(36:36):
events, like you've been to every fishery, nothing's a shock
to you anymore. I mean, you don't even have to
go through the trials and tribulations of being on the
road. You've been on the road before.
Yeah, and I, I think the biggestthing was college fishing.
That's why you see all these young guys especially coming up
and they're doing so well as college fishing.
I mean, they travel around the whole country and they go to all

(36:59):
these different places. They've got giant fishing teams
now. I mean, they're paying for a lot
of these people to go to school and fish.
So these guys are getting scholarships to go bass fishing.
They get their gas paid for, their hotels paid for their,
some of them that even their food paid for.
So they're going to fish at all these places for basically free
and just go into a tournament like that, figuring out the

(37:20):
bite. And, you know, people win a
tournament, a college tournament.
You see like how people are catching them and stuff like
that. Just learning so much traveling
around. Yeah.
I, I think that the amount of, Ithink that's the understated
thing, the amount of learning like that goes on amongst it.
Because in the opens, I mean, I think you guys, your rooming

(37:41):
situation's probably pretty unique where you guys really do
seem to be each other's biggest cheerleaders.
And, but I mean, for the most part, you come fish and you're,
it's an individual sport. You're not, nobody's going to
show you stuff. But in that college environment,
you guys are showing each other.I mean, it just, it seems so

(38:02):
apparent to me when I, when I'm watching it happen, I mean.
Yeah, and you fish as a team too.
So it's cool to have a buddy outthere and travel with a buddy.
And if something happens on the road, you know, blow a tire or
something, like anything, you got a buddy there to help you.
So it's it's really cool. What's been your most awkward

(38:22):
moment on The Elite so far? I've got, I've got the perfect
one. Did you at Hartwell, did you not
see when I guess you were on stage announcing?
Did you hear about me falling? No, I never heard about this.
I was, I was walking up with my bag of so on at Hartwell.

(38:49):
There's the long metal dock. You had to get up and around and
then back down the metal dock todrop your bag and pull the mesh
out to take it up to the stage. But I was walking around to go
down that metal dock. I had all my fish in my bag full
of water because I had a decent bag that day.
So it was chock full of water and I was wearing my big like

(39:10):
Hoka boots and they kind of got some big shoelaces and I tripped
over my shoelaces got stuck on each other and I completely face
planted on the dock in front of everybody.
And it was the loudest like likemetal clank like.
And everybody was just like staring at me.
I just face planted my thankfully I held my fish in my

(39:32):
hand and they didn't go in the water but it was the most
embarrassing thing this happened.
I can't believe I haven't even heard about it.
I I mean I didn't even see videos of it so you must have
done it quick. It would have been worse if
you're fish if you were just having to crawl around.
There was like 2 people that came and picked me up real quick

(39:53):
and everybody was like, are you all right?
And I was like, yeah, I'm good. Were you hurt?
Were you hurt worse than it seemed like?
I know in that situation you're like, it doesn't matter if your
toes sideways. You're like, I'm getting up and
moving. No, I was good.
I was good. My back was a little bit sore.
The next day, Matt Robertson waslike over there pointing,
laughing at me. It I'm amazed I haven't heard

(40:22):
about that story yet, but now, now a bunch of people are going
to hear about it. So hey, I mean, you got second
in the tournament, still pretty strong.
It was, yeah. Hartwell is one of my favorite
places to go and one of my favorite places to fish.
It's got so many fish in it and so many tournament sized fish,

(40:44):
you know, a lot of three to fourpounders.
And it was fun when we went, caught a bunch of fish every day
and it just didn't work out. And then I got second.
But I was happy that Paul won. Ended up catching some, catching
some nice ones the last day and made it a little bit closer than
I thought. Yeah, you've the same tattoo as

(41:05):
Paul, right? Yeah.
Yeah, What does it mean? What do you dream about?
Bass fishing. I do.
I don't dream very much though. No.
No I don't dream at all. I think it's because when I go

(41:27):
to sleep I'm so tired. I usually get like 5 hours of
sleep so by the time I wake up it's like I was so tired I never
even dreamed of anything. So why are you staying up so
late? What are you up to?
I just like watching YouTube. She just sit around and what do
you watch on YouTube? Everything I've watched, every

(41:49):
single video, probably on YouTube, all kinds of stuff.
Fishing, old bass masters everything, golf, everything.
Funny videos. So just putting in time,
watching the tube. Yep, it's one of my favorite

(42:09):
things to do. I guess that's one of my
hobbies, watching YouTube. Have you learned a lot from
YouTube over the years? I have.
Definitely definitely just from watching old bass master lives
and old bass master videos. I also watched the JDM like 1 V
ones. And.

(42:31):
There's no, there's not a lick of English in in the whole
thing, but once you watch it forlike an hour at least you start
to kind of understand what they're saying.
It's weird. No, there's some incredible
videos though, and like some of their it's very cool.
It's honestly, I mean, you watcha man skip a bait 74 times

(42:52):
literally in one skip. I mean, yeah, it some very cool
stuff that they do. You ever watch the Mercer
podcast? I do watch it.
Oh, you could have said no, it would have been a better answer.
No, I do. You got some good ones.
I have some good guests, some people that are willing to tell

(43:14):
me some stuff like falling on their face and stuff like that.
So if that was your most awkwardmoment, what has been your
greatest moment? And I don't mean just winning,
can't just pick just winning. But what singular moment stands
out to you as your greatest moment on the elites?

(43:39):
Honestly, trying to think honestly when it on Mother's
Day, my mom means so much to me and she grew up fishing around
with me too, like going to the pond.
She's the one that got me outdoors.
And when I was little, she was the one that she even rode dirt
bikes with me when I was real small, just like small little

(44:00):
dirt bikes and stuff just because she likes to be outside
and I think that's where I got it from.
But when it on Mother's Day, it made me break down because how
much it means to her. She's my biggest fan for sure.
And she's the one that got me outdoors.
So thank you to her for getting me out there because I would
probably be, you know, inside doing something else.

(44:22):
But yeah, I, I love going outside.
And I think it's all because of her.
What does it mean to have your parents at events they they try
to come to? I mean, I think it's great.
Did they try to come to a good number of events?
Like, do they stay with you guysat those events or did they just
like they got to live on their own, they can't be part of that
household? No, no, they get like an Airbnb

(44:44):
or a hotel room usually. Better that way, yeah.
They they usually come to as many as they can.
I think the only one they haven't been to this year was
Sabine. So having a supportive family
like that, I'm, I really, I'm blessed.
My dad's been so supportive of me fishing over the years.
And I used to play baseball whenI was growing up and I was like,

(45:05):
dad, I really want to go do thisfishing thing and wait, you
know, and it's something that I really want to try to do.
And over the years it's, he's been so supportive with it and
it's been, it's been amazing. What's your favorite movie?
Favorite movie? I don't know, I'm that's a tough

(45:28):
one. I'm not really much of a movie
guy. I'm just a YouTube guy.
Lot short attention span is thatwhat?
Why? Yeah, kind of.
I mean, not really. I just don't.
I don't like sitting down and watching movies for a long time.
I don't know. It's also like your generation I
feel like. I mean, even generic sports,

(45:49):
like there's a lot of kids your age that don't watch a full
baseball game, but they'll watchlike the baseball game in 30 or,
you know, the football game in 30.
What's your favorite movie? My favorite movie, probably.
Happy Gilmore. That's a good one.
I I do like that one. Probably Happy Gilmore.

(46:09):
My favorite line from any movie is have you ever seen Perfect
Storm? It's a crazy, but it's it's
about these lobstermen who it's got Mark Wahlberg and George
Clooney in it and they, they're lobstermen and they got to go

(46:30):
out and they Andrea Gale their boat and they're fishing and
they, I can't tell you how it ends, but yeah, doesn't end
well, Let's just put it that way.
The story It's the perfect stormyou can imagine.
The plot I. Need to watch that.
Yeah, no, it it's pretty bad ass, but there's a line in that
movie where the guy says I got awoman I can't stand to be two

(46:51):
feet away from. But then again, I love to fish.
That's like my favorite line in all movies.
Shout out to my wife. You see, that's, that's how you
you're romantic when you're still 50.
I hope you experience the same stuff in your life, Tucker.
Hope so too. Yeah, yeah.

(47:11):
Do you listen to music? Are you music guy?
Yeah, big music guy. So what?
What kind of music are you into?I'm not meant to all kinds of
stuff. I've been into Sterling Elsa for
a good bet. I feel like you told me this.
I'm a Mercer. In the morning, I'm recycling a
question to you. Yeah.

(47:32):
Yeah, Sterling Elsa, I I've beenlistening to him, but he's kind
of a, he's a young guy. I think he's only like 21 years
old, but he's kind of like a, he's like a rock slash country
kind of singer and he has some good stuff.
He's kind of like Trudy Oak, youknow, Trudy Oak is.
No, I didn't know who Sterling Elsa was until you mentioned it

(47:54):
either. That's how old I am.
That's I'm officially that kind of old that I don't know some
shit. Trudy hates like they're
getting, they're really big and he's kind of like that same
style, so all. Right.
Sterling. I'll check him out.
I like all kinds of stuff like rap music in the mornings to get
me pumped up too. And country.

(48:17):
Country and rap? Really.
Yeah, who's the most annoying ofyour roommates?
Probably Paul. Why?
'Cause he'll come, come into my room in the morning and start
just clapping his hands, like, get up, get up, get up, it's
time to go. And I'm like, what are you

(48:38):
trying to do? Go sing the national anthem or
something? Like he tries to get up so
early. It's like I can't do that.
Maybe he's trying to help you and get your ass out of bed.
Yeah, I mean. How would you rather him wake
you up? Just hey, Tuck.
Just flick the lights. On Tuck a tuck.
Don't make any too loud noises. Yeah, OK.

(49:03):
All right. But I need it though to Get Me
Out. Do you do a lot like does your
household all get up early? Are you all mode mainly like
you? No Loberg.
Loberg's like up at 4:30 drinking his coffee.
Responsible. Yeah, drinking.
Professional. Making biscuits for everybody,

(49:23):
all that kind of stuff. And then honestly, Paul's the
second one to wake up and amazingly, I'm the third to wake
up. And then a meal's the last one.
A meal's Emil sleeps longer thanI, I ever do.
And I've I've never met somebodythat can sleep longer than me.
Wow, wow. Emil just curls up in the bed

(49:46):
with all of his clothes on, the lights on, and just goes to
sleep. Come on, he's ready to pounce
the next morning. Yeah.
What's your goal in life? Like what?
What do you have checklist like?Would you?

(50:06):
I mean, honestly, just making a good impression on people and
doing the best that I can. Try not to slack when it comes
to fishing, fishing as hard as Ican and showing people that I've
got what it takes to be on the Elite Series.
And yeah, I mean, honestly, the biggest goal for me and my whole

(50:29):
life was to be on the Elite Series.
And now that I've done it, it's like I want to win big
tournaments. But man, I'm just enjoying the
enjoying the process here. It's it's been amazing.
Where did you learn to enjoy theprocess?
Like is that how you've always been?
Because that's rare for someone your age.
Like it's real easy for people to be like, well, I want to win

(50:50):
the classic, I want to win Angler of the Year and I want
to. But did you somebody just say
I'm enjoying the process? That's something that quite
often people older than you willmention.
Yeah, I mean, it's it's easy forI mean, I, I want to win big
tournaments. I want to win the Classic and
more Elite Series tournaments and hopefully that'll happen.

(51:12):
But just just being here, you see, there's only 100 of us in
the whole country that are beingable to do this for a living.
And I don't know, just wanting this for so long and trying to
get here, trying to get here, trying to get here and finally
getting here. It's like I've kind of taken a
step back and been like, wow, I'm, I'm truly blessed just to

(51:34):
be able to go across this stage and search against all these
guys because something that a lot of people don't get to do in
their lifetime and will never beable to do.
And so I just can't take it for granted and just have a lot of
fun with it and try to be nice to everybody that I come in
contact with. I've run a Yamaha outboard for
over 30 years. It has got me home safe each and

(51:56):
every 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.
Where do you think you are in five years?
I have no idea. Hopefully still on the elites.

(52:17):
Well, yeah, yeah, but you don't go ahead.
I was just saying, yeah, I mean,hopefully just fishing on the
elites and I don't know where I would be in five years.
I don't know. Only time will tell.
Oh, that pesky dog's in again. It's all right, Let the dog in,

(52:38):
let the dog in. It's fine.
We are a dog friendly podcast. I don't think she knows that she
can open the door. Here, hold on, open the door for
her. Be nice.
You said you're all about being nice.
Be nice to the animals too. It's.
My grandfather's dog. You like this one better than

(52:59):
your mom's dog. It looks a little bit more
manly. Yeah it does.
It does. It's it's pretty manly.
Dog is have a pink collar on though.
Yeah, it's. A girl, but that's fine.
It's fine. It's I mean, pink's fine.
Pink's a good color. Well, I think, I think what

(53:21):
you're what about this kind of stuff?
Do you enjoy this kind of stuff or would you rather just go
fishing? What kind of stuff?
Podcasts. Podcasts, public speaking, just
all that kind of stuff. I mean, I don't mind them at
all. I'd like anything that involves

(53:42):
fishing. Obviously I like to fish the
most, and that's what I enjoyed doing the most.
But yeah, I mean, I would never complain about being on podcasts
or doing stuff in public just because, you know, that means
I've been doing something right.So I'm excited to just do that.
And yeah, I love, I love gettingon fishing shows, podcasts, talk

(54:02):
about fishing. If it's talking about something
else I'm not too pumped up, but talking about fishing so fires
me up. So you you said you weren't much
of A mathemagician earlier. Was school tough on you?
What Like what was school like for you?
Yeah, it was tough. It's tough when you don't go to
class very much, but. That makes it way.

(54:25):
Tougher. Definitely.
No. I had fun at Auburn and I I just
fished a lot, man. I should have.
I should have gone to Class A lot more.
I had Morgan help me out a little bit with my school work,
but I was not the best student. I'm sure the teachers don't like

(54:47):
me that much because I was always gone fishing tournaments.
But. It's important to go to school,
but I just, I don't know, I likefishing so much.
I just couldn't. I couldn't stand it.
Feels like you've always been about enjoying life.
Trying to. Yeah, it's it's meant to be

(55:09):
enjoyed. What's one thing that most
people don't know about Tucker Smith?
One thing that they don't know about me, I don't know.

(55:31):
Are you pretty much what? Like do we know who you like?
You're pretty much what you see is what you get.
Yeah, I'm pretty mellow. I don't get too jacked up by
Kyle Patrick. I'm kind of kind of level
headed. I sleep.
I like to sleep. Yeah, you like sleeping fish.

(55:53):
Makes sense? Yeah, there's not much that I
don't know. That's a tough question.
I'm not too sure. Do you think Kyle Patrick's very
wound up? Is that what you're saying?
He has good energy. I wish I had Kyle Patrick.
He does have a lot of energy. He's, I'm pretty sure at night

(56:14):
he must just like, pass out. He must just be.
Yeah, it's literally like the flick of a switch.
He's just asleep. On and off, on and off.
Are you going to win Rookie of the Year this year?
Do you feel it? I don't know.
I'm, I'm going to try. Paul's really, really good.
I'm kind of in a tight race withhim.
But Easton's creeping up too. So there's there's some really

(56:37):
good fishermen on this tour and it could be any one of us that
wins that title. But it'd be really awesome and
be something that you can only win once.
So it'd be cool to win for sure.I'm going to try my best.
Which veteran intimidated you the most?
Which veteran on the Elite series?
Yeah. Or did any?

(57:04):
What do you mean just like in fishing or just like?
Walking No, no, I don't mean like 3 up against your car and
threatened you. I just mean like who were you
like? Like who was the guy that your
first week in the elite, you're like, Oh my God, there's so and
so let. Me think there's a lot.

(57:29):
I mean, there's honestly just everybody, I don't know, it's
kind of all in one picture. Just looking around and seeing
everybody, everybody out there is a big deal to me.
It's not like there's one guy. I would say, you know, if, if
Aaron was here, I would say Aaron.
But of course there's, I don't know, there's a lot of guys out
there that they're all amazing. They're all really good

(57:51):
fishermen. So I just kind of look around
and take it all. And I don't think there's one
guy that I was like, Dang, it's just like the whole thing was
jaw-dropping. This might be a tough question
to answer, but if Aaron was here, what do you think he'd say
to you? Man, he just say he was proud.

(58:19):
I don't know, I'm probably, I don't want to cry, but man, I
don't know. He just, he would be pumped up
for sure. He would definitely be excited
and he would probably say I toldyou so.
Yeah, it's weird. I the whole time I'm envisioning
him doing that, like I've just, I know, like he would grab you

(58:43):
and shake you and be like, I've told you bro, like you know, and
you have a special relationship and I think you're a special
part of this sport dude. And I wish you nothing but
greatness and happiness in the future.
I think you've got a lot of parts of life figured out.
And if your goal is to be happy,you got the right goal in life.

(59:06):
Thank you, I appreciate it. It's been fun.
One last question, you have the same tattoo as Paul Marks,
right? What?
What does it mean? Will you show?
Can I see it? Show it to me.
Like, what does it even mean? Oh, God, you can't see it.

(59:31):
Tucker Smith. Thank you dude.
Thank you for having me, it was a fun time.
Let me know when I can come backon.
Always welcome. That right there is somebody who
has some stuff put together, a young man that's figured out a
lot. As I just told him, if your goal
in life is to be happy, you havefigured out a very, very good
goal in life. And that's truly what you wish

(59:55):
for anybody just to be happy in life.
And the ironic thing is one of my favorite quotes of all time
centers around that and it's from John Lennon.
And it basically goes something like when I was a young boy in
school, my teacher asked me to write down what I wanted to be
when I grow up. I wrote down happy.

(01:00:17):
My teacher responded and said you don't understand the
assignment. I responded and said you don't
understand life. Very deep, but very true and I
wish you all happiness. Thank you for watching this week
and every single week. Enjoy being Happy Father's Day
to all the dads out there. Hope to see a bunch of you in

(01:00:39):
Oklahoma for the 10 Killer Events top seven of the 2025
Bassmaster Elite series. Have a great week.
I wish you all happiness, enjoy being and as always, Bob Cobb,
take it away. Thanks for watching.
Please like, comment and subscribe because Bob Cobb of

(01:01:01):
the Bass Masters told you to youhere.