Learning to Find & Catch Bass in Unique Fisheries!

Are Northern anglers built differently? In this episode of the Serious Angler Podcast, we sit down with professional bass angler and Canadian powerhouse Jamie Bruce to talk about his incredible journey from guiding on Lake of the Woods to grinding it out on the Bassmaster Opens EQ trail.

Jamie gets incredibly transparent about the culture shock of leaving world-class multi-species fisheries in Ontario to chase the professional bass fishing dream in the States. We dive deep into the Northern vs. Southern angler debate, discussing why anglers from the North are making such massive waves on the national trails and whether a finesse-heavy, walleye-guiding background is the ultimate cheat code for tournament versatility.

📌 Important Links:
Jamie's Channel:  ⁨@jamiebrucefishing⁩  

📌 Baits Discussed (Click the link and use code SERIOUS10 for 10% off your order):
25% All Fluorocarbon Line (https://omnia.direct/foro)
Minnow: ZMan Scented Jerk Shadz (https://omnia.direct/eag)
Coike: Hideup Coike Fullcast (https://omnia.direct/rsy)
Jig: Outkast Tackle Stealth Fighter Jig (https://omnia.direct/qef)

📌 Check out Serious Angler Network lifestyle and podcast apparel here: https://seriousanglernetwork.com/

📌 Click here to start your FREE trial of Omnia Fishing Premium PRO: https://omnia.direct/SAPremiumPRO

📌 This episode is brought to you by our amazing partners:
• If you're a fishing guide, check out the Bloodknot App here: https://www.bloodknotapp.com/
• Amped Outdoors Lithium Batteries (https://ampedoutdoors.com/)
• RecLending (https://www.reclending.com/): Looking to buy a boat or RV? Or already do and want to pay less money? Reach out to RecLending for help!
• Check out Humminbird and Minn Kota products here: https://humminbird.johnsonoutdoors.com/us
• RoadActive Suspension Kit (use code SERIOUS10): https://www.roadactivesuspension.com/

Connect with us: 
📱 Follow us on Instagram: @seriousangler
🐦 Tweet us at: @SeriousAngler 
📘 Like us on Facebook: Serious Angler Podcast Network
📷 Check out our TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seriousangler
For inquiries, email us at: theseriousangler@gmail.com

#BassFishing #FishingPodcast #FishingTips

We now have lifestyle and podcast (Serious Angler, Lure Lab and Kayak Fishing Weekly) apparel live now at www.SeriousAnglerNetwork.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:20

All right. Welcome everyone to the Sirius Angler Podcast, where as always, our main course for you guys will be talking and hopefully teaching you more about bass fishing. And of course, that comes with some rabbit holes here and there. Whether you guys are here to learn or just hear some bass and banter, you guys are in the right spot. As always, I'm your host, Bailey Igbrett, and we have a great episode for you guys today. We are joined by Mr. Jamie Bruce, another angler from the Great White North. And uh we're gonna be talking a lot about adjusting from the north to southern fisheries, but this can apply to any of you guys that regardless of where you are in the country and you're going to another region, another new fishery, another location, just that has a new diverse uh lakes, fisheries, things like that, where you can help adjust yourself prior to going there and getting on the water and trying to learn that body of water. That's obviously a lot different than what you're used to. This is a great one where we talk about that. We talk about, you know, especially for some North guys, you know, the wintertime, it's everyone down south is fishing while we have ice in the lakes and talking about keeping up with bait trends, learning about new applications and techniques, you know, while we're not able to be on the water. This can apply for those in the south too, in regards to learning some of these new techniques, staying up on top of trends, learning how to rig some of that stuff. We get into a little bit of the koiky talk um and much more. We have a lot of that with Jamie on this one, a lot of juice in regards to mindset and how he approaches new bodies of water, new techniques, and figures things out when he's about 20 hours away from just about every single lake, which is just when he digs into that, it's crazy. Um, but before we get into that episode, obviously, no deacon, no Andy on today's episode, riding solo for this one and potentially the next couple episodes. So you guys are stuck with me. Um, one thing I want to do say is thank you guys again uh to the folks um that made it down to the Bassmaster Classic, said hello. It was great seeing all of you guys. Um, trying to catch up on that as we are cranking out some episodes here. Obviously, we have Jamie this week. We had uh Luminetti with a bonus episode last week. Um we have new episodes coming up. We got Tucker Smith in the next couple weeks, Logan Parks, Andrew Benke will be next week. We got some real biology episodes coming your way. Uh just the support we've had here in the podcast has been awesome. So appreciate you guys tenfold for all of that. And um, I want to say one quick thing. Um, as you know, we've always been positive on this show. Um pushing the positive message uh as negativity is just it's been lame, especially here in the fishing industry where some folks try to seem to push the negative narrative and it's uh just dumb. In my eyes, does no nobody any good? And um just want to say if you're seeing anything out there, uh it's not worth your time. You can choose to see positive or choose to see negative. And here we choose to see the positive side of things, and the sport is in a great spot, especially seeing the classic and seeing how alive bass fishing is. Uh, and shout out to you, Mr. Dave Mercer, for not only being the GOAT of MCs and doing a great job with the classic as always, but also a great episode with Bassmaster Classic Champion Dylan Nutt. Encourage you guys to go and listen to that episode. Um just feeling good about our sport and we're headed in the right direction. Obviously, there's always things to work on, things to improve, but um a great episode nonetheless. Uh, before we get into the episode with Jamie, a couple things for you guys. Um, as always, well, we try to anyway, um, is we have the business from the bass boat segment. And that is some of our industry news products, things like that, uh, that are going around um tournament news, industry news. Um, so we try to stay on top of that. Some weeks are quiet, some weeks are obviously jam-packed. Um, but as always, this segment is brought to you by our friends over at Rec Lending. And if you've not seen the previous episode from this one with Jamie, uh, Deacon had on Todd from Rec Lending to talk about the current state of the boating industry, fast boat brands that are out there, things to look for when buying a boat, finance rates, especially with all this craziness happening in the world right now. Um, but if you have a boat looking to refinance or you're looking to buy a new boat or getting into your first boat, make sure you guys call the folks over at Rec Lending. It'd be much worth your time to do so just to make sure you guys are getting the right rate, making things as affordable as possible. To go get that new toy and enjoy your time on the water. Um, with that, uh another win by Bank Shaw. I don't think anyone's surprised. Uh one on Wheeler Lake. Not surprised in the slightest. Uh, that UNA bass team is racking up the trophies right now. And if you know what I mean, uh Dylan Nutt, Carter Nutt, uh Trip Princey, Bankshaw, I think they're all on the same UNA team, which is just unfathomable to even think about. Uh, might be one of the greatest college bass fishing rosters. Uh we'll have to pitch it over to Ken Duke and see if we're correct in that, but it's it's pretty dang good. Um with that, I don't know if you guys have seen, but uh Zeman actually put out a pretty cool special, uh kind of like a I haven't watched it fully yet, but kind of like a documentary style deal on the chatterbait, which is really dang cool, really awesome use of marketing um and just talking about the history and the revolution of the chatterbait. Go listen, go watch that. Highly encourage that. Uh, also, if you've missed it, Garmin launched a new 360 transducer, which is I'm still kind of a little bit confused on it. I gotta do some more reading on it because it's supposed to integrate with live and kind of give you a double view of their 360 and live, but it's not like Humminbird 360 where it works nonstop for you. You have to uh basically engage it to work and to refresh. Um, it's kind of interesting. Deal. We'll get Deacon on here uh and talk a little bit more about that on the next episode, some of this new tech stuff. Uh, we might get a specialist on here um to kind of dig into that and kind of like the sonar update of 2026, if you will. But uh some interesting things from around the industry, especially with some things uh not being able to come over right now because of current world affairs, but also prices rising on things like that. And the bait trend is just nuts, which we talk a little bit about that with Jamie too. And speaking of baits, right now, OmniFishing, as always, every single show, guys, down below in the uh YouTube description or the podcast description. We always have links to the current sales going on at OmniFishing or links to some of the new arrivals that are there, or baits that we talked about in the episode. We always leave it there for you guys to go and take advantage of. You can always use code Sirius10 and all your orders to save some money, especially for your pro members. It's always an asset there to do that too, because you save money and also rack up rewards to then you have free money to go buy more baits after the fact. Um, so we always have that in there. Um, I just saw recently they added new the new Shimano's uh uh Zodiaus rods, they added to um the new arrivals page, uh, as well as the pro sales. If you're a pro member, there's a sales page specifically for that. There's a lot of stuff still on there. And then lastly, if you're not uh using the app in regards to Omnia Pro with the mapping layers, they added a new update. And the new update is one, you have a new measurement layer. I know for one, me, I've been using a you know a combination of a few different apps, but I also have Google uh Google Maps, which allows you to have a measuring device so I can map out how far certain distances are away from ramps and locations and try to build up my day. Um now you have that in the Omni app, so you can do that in one spot, which is nice. Uh, they added new tide stations um as well as water level stations. Um, so that is some of the new stuff for that. I'm gonna play around with that. Um, but especially for folks that you guys have fluctuating water, things like that, that's a big advantage for you guys. And then lastly, again, this is the time of year to use that historical water temperature layer. The spring is that time, especially for me. It's when I'm using big time right now, especially up in the north, trying to find where that warmer water is at, trying to find where the creek mouths are at. Uh, that can all be pretty telling and help um make your day even better. So make sure you guys check that out. Use our code, save yourself some money. And uh, I think that's everything that I have. Lastly, if you're watching this, you can see I'm wearing a Mount Bassmore hoodie. Literally, it's Mount Rushmore with largemouth heads on it. Uh, if you guys want to get any of our lifestyle apparel or podcast apparel, if we've had a few people ask where they can go represent the podcast, it's seriousanglernetwork.com. Again, the link down below, whether you're listening or watching. If you guys want to get some of our apparel, uh, go down below. We have a fresh restock of bass boat hats uh on there as well. We do have kayak merch coming too from my kayak anglers. Uh, so be on the lookout for that. And I think that is about it. So without further ado, we're gonna hop into today's episode of Mr. Jamie Bruce. All right, we're here, Mr. Jamie Bruce. Jamie looks like you're uh coming into us from uh a hotel room. We were just talking offline, some lovely Wi-Fi issues, which is always seems to be the biggest hurdle when on the road. But uh man, thanks for joining us. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Good man. You caught me on at the perfect time. I just left the Toronto uh sportsman's show and I've got a work thing tomorrow and Wednesday, so I've got like this is like the one I feel like I'm at a spa at a holiday in express. I feel like I'm at a damn spa. I've never had this much time in the last five years to chill out, like went and floated around in the hot tub, got to go to the gym just ripping coffees here. So I'm doing good, man. I'm like, I got everything in me but the cucumbers in my eyeballs.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Pampered. No, pumped to be on. Well, I'm you know, I'm on the road a lot and I listen all the time. So I'm uh glad I got the tap from you boys.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

Yeah, well, dude, it's been likewise. We always tune in to your shows on YouTube and things like that with some of the guests you have, and obviously it's a long this is long overdue, long time coming and getting you on here. Uh, are we stateside or are we in Canada right now?

SPEAKER_01 10:30

I'm in I'm in Toronto, Ontario. Um, so you're still working the show, or you just got done with the show. I just finished it and then I've got a real job too. Um, and there's uh, you know, I have to come to Toronto pretty often, and it's actually to drive here. Uh, it's closer for me to drive to Texas from where I live than it is to drive to the uh you know the capital of Ontario, which is nuts.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

That's cra that's crazy, dude. I think I remember Gussie saying something similar to that, like driving to St. Lawrence is longer than Fork or something crazy.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yeah, yeah. No, Gussie and I live in the same town, and uh he's a little bit older than me, but we're you know, we're good fishing buddies and grew up in that zone, and yes, you know, he's he's kind of the reason. I was like, okay, it is you know, it is possible to go do from here, it's just a challenge.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

Yeah, dude, that's awesome. Is he kind of like an inspiration for you and kind of why you're chasing this thing?

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yeah, he kind of made me a few times. I did the co angler thing with him way back in the day, um, when he was on the FLW tour opens, and uh he was like pretty insistent that I, you know, go with him and see it, and uh yeah, he it helped me out a lot. And then, you know, when I was younger, like he would always whip our ass in tournaments, like he was untouchable for for a number of years at home, and then you know, as soon as I started like getting up on first, it started with like you'd beat him one day of the tournament, and then it was like, okay, if you could if you could start to compete, you know, nose to nose with uh with Gussie and the other hammers around us, it was like, all right, well, you know, you ain't getting any younger, get on the road or hang them up.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

I like that, dude. What's what's it been like for for you in the years now trying to adjust and learn a bunch of these southern fisheries that are so vastly different from our fisheries in the north?

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Man, it's so different. Um, but it's like that it's everything I love about fishing. Like, I I it drives me nuts like going to you know the same spots. That's why I'm a terrible fishing guide. Like, I can't I can't do that. I can't just go to kind of the same lake all the time in the same spot. I love the adventure component of it. So, you know, all winter I'm like beating into these back lakes that you know no one fishes on my snow machine in the middle of nowhere, and then kind of just carry that same mentality going down south to a lake that's totally foreign. You get three days, and then you got you know, one of the biggest tournaments of your life. Um, but I just love that. I love the challenge part of it. Um, what I'm doing right now doesn't make any, you know, any fiscal sense. Uh doesn't make any sense when I explain it to people that tournament fish back around us, they're like, you know, what do you mean you're just jackpotting opens in like Texas or places you've never been or not a local? And I'm like, I just I just love that part. I love the uh the pursuit part of it uh and just bringing down new water and is just so much more rewarding to me.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

Yeah, absolutely, dude. What what do you think has been the most challenging aspect of some of those new fisheries? Like, is it just a a feature thing, or like what do you think has been challenging about it?

SPEAKER_01 13:55

Yeah, I mean, we live like Lake of the Woods where I live is a Canadian Shield Lake. Um, so for the most part, everything's on structure. Uh it's like unlimited boulders, any bottom bait, you're snagged every other cast. Um, and then you go, you know, somewhere like St. Clair where there's there's not a boulder in the whole damn lake. Um or you go to a reservoir, it's it, I mean it's it's totally different, but the the most challenging aspect has been the travel. Like I feel like I'm gonna die. I'm 36 now. I feel like I'm gonna die of old age in the next two years. My big day. Um, you know, because I tried to do this. Well, you know, I I am doing it with uh you know, I've got another a business on the fishing side, making videos, podcasting, doing content, working shows for sponsors. I've got a regular, you know, Monday to Friday job. And uh so I'd be like, you know, the first the first open in 2023 that I went to is on UFO or uh whatever, Alabama, whatever that lake's called. One of the big ones, Ufala. So I went there, I was like, okay, I gotta work Monday morning. So I did this first open of the series. You know, everyone had already been there like pre-practicing, and it was, you know, that was when there was only five-day cutoff of pre-practice. So like the guys were living there for a month already. And I show up, I'm like, okay, I gotta be at work Monday morning. Well, the first day of the tournament's a blow day, so now you know, the whole full field fish is Friday, Saturday. So I had to drive through the night, Saturday night, and Sunday night, go home, spray the salt off my boat, and go to work the next day. Like, yeah, it's so um that part's been just insane. Like I had uh in 2023, I think I put 90,000 kilometers on my truck, so about 55,000 miles.

SPEAKER_03 16:03

Yeah, that's a lot. Yeah, that's a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Yeah, do a lot of podcasts.

SPEAKER_03 16:10

Yeah, no joke. Uh, I gotta ask selfishly for somebody that's been dealing with lovely truck problems for the past like two months straight. What's your what's your tow vehicle, Dan? Have you found one that's been reliable?

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Um, so I I bought uh the first like new generation tundra in 2022, and because I was like, ah, whatever, you know, I'll burn a little more fuel, but I'll be able to rack the miles on this thing and keep it for a few years. And that wasn't the deal. Like, I was I would throw ignition coils all the time, and so like I'd throw them on the interstate, you know, in Kansas City, and wouldn't be able to get over in traffic. So in 20 the end of 23, I bought a three-liter uh Duramax diesel, and that thing's been a killer. Like it uses probably 40% less fuel, which it costs me about a thousand bucks in truck gas, depending on where you're going. So you start doing the math, you know, you're saving 400 bucks a trip. Like, even even with dealing with the deaf and higher diesel prices. Um, so that's yeah, that three liter has been you know my my rig the last little bit.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Yeah, that's where uh I keep getting brought back to. Granted, I'm still in the kayak side, but just for travel's sake, like people keep saying just get a diesel, just seems like less problems, or anything pre-2020. That's what people keep kind of going to.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Yeah, there's no right answer there. Like, no, I just I just had uh uh like a tax audit, so I had to explain all this stuff. You know, it was from 23 and 24. They're like, what do you mean your truck was 98% business? I'm like, okay, well, you know, here's everywhere I went um in 2023. Like I if I put 90,000 kilometers on it, these trips account for 86,000 of those 90,000 K. Like, like, yeah, it's it's hard on vehicles.

SPEAKER_03 18:17

So on the flip, talking about some of these new southern fisheries that are just, I mean, like you follow, yeah, there's nothing like it up north. You know, what's been challenging, but also what's been easy for you, I guess, in in in translating to some of these southern fisheries, something that you you've gone to that like okay, this part's kind of like home, something that is kind of made sense pretty quick.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

Uh, not structure-wise, but species-wise. Uh, if there's a smallmouth there, like the first open I ever did was on uh Cherokee Lake, Tennessee. It's 23 hours from my house. Um, first open ever. Tried to sign up for all three. That's when it was the three tournaments. Uh my Canadian credit card, like I was on it right away, and uh because I wanted to fish the three series and try to try to make the elite. And uh they're like, yeah, a credit card company calls me and they're like, yeah, uh, we just stopped a fraud$2,500 in Birmingham, Alabama, trying to scam your credit card. I'm like, you guys just ruined my life, man. Like 31 on the wait list. So I was like, Well, I guess I'm not going to the opens this year. And then uh the one, so that was Florida, Cherokee, and uh uh Hartwell. That's when like Joey Sefuintes and and Coop Glant, that's when all those guys qualified. So I missed Florida. I was like, got the call for Cherokee. I was like, yeah, whatever, like I'll still go, even though I don't have a chance at anything. And I showed up there, you know. I had three or three and a half days to practice. Same thing. Like at Coop had already been there for like three weeks sleeping in a tent. So I was kind of calling him. And uh, you know, I knew I was lucky I knew some guys down there that were kind of fishing buddies from back home and got to the lake, and that was before anyone had the minnow. Um and like where I live in northwestern Ontario is where that, you know, that's where that technique came from. You know, you know there's small pockets like you know, at Cherokee specifically, where they um, you know, they call it tight lining, and there are pockets where where it was popular too, but uh that was just like cakewalk. You know, it wasn't I was still freaking out because I'm not used to going four or five hours and practice without a bite, like we catch a hundred bass a day every day at home. Um yeah, but uh yeah, it was just even though it looked different, it was still boulders. So I ended up having a good tournament there, got third, and then uh up until Leech Lake last year, anytime it had been a smallmouth dominated tournament, I you know finished in the in the top three and three of them, and then the top ten and the other two. So it was like, okay, if there it doesn't matter if it's on St. Clair, St. Lawrence River, if it's a smallmouth, I generally, you know, know how to know how to catch them. So that if there's smallmouth around, then then I'm I'm usually fine and and don't, you know, don't get spun out as much like I do on largemouth.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

Right. Now, and then if it is like a largemouth, dirtier water kind of dominated fishery, is that one that you've tried spending more time at or or trying to learn, or kind of what's your mindset with those kind of fisheries? Like, like a U follow.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Yeah, so I mean for me specifically, I I have the same time to learn in in every tournament, and that's the that's the three days of practice you're given. Um yeah, so I don't have I can't go pre-practice or just fun fish in the US and learn how to deep crank a shell bed. It's whatever I learned is during the the official practice and in the tournament. Um so you know, somewhere like Efala, I I've had like a mid pack finish there my first time and then went back. It was the first time I've ever returned to a lake for an open. And uh, you know, I just picked something simple, like I was using a three quarter ounce jig, ended up leading the tournament after the first day, and and walked out with it with a top 10. Um just On a jig, so you know, Toledo Ben, same thing, just kind of kind of like a Tyler Williams program. Um, yeah, yeah, just pick up the jig and throw it everything that looks good. Because you can't I'd drive down with my whole truck box full of tackle, all kinds of wacky stuff that like you know it's way better off. And Gussie told me too. He's like, just use what you want to use and what you've caught fish on before because it's too hard to do both. You can't take you can't use a new lure on a new lake, you know, in in that tournament or in that specific practice and expect to to do okay. You if you're looking for new fish on a new body of water, you kind of have to use a bait that works everywhere that you know you already know catches fish and know the intricacies of it. So it's uh it's real easy to get spun out. I'm sure lots of guys will attest to that, or maybe their ego won't let them, but lots of guys are spinning in the first few opens, I'll promise you that.

SPEAKER_03 23:20

Yeah. Would that kind of be your advice for somebody? Not even to say if they're from the north and going south, but any other part of the country where they're traveling to fish something brand new to them, is maybe that your first time there steer away from the quote unquote what you should be doing and just go fish what you're confident in and just let the fish tell you the rest.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Yeah, like every lake we go to, there's always like a you know a local bait that the the lake's famous, you know, Hartwell is famous for those like high-end, like jointed uh you know, like magic swimmer style baits, and yeah, and everyone thinks if you go there you have to have a bucket full of them. Um where like yeah, I did the same thing. I was the only the second tournament, second open I've ever been to, and like I was buying all these stupid things that that I've never caught a fish on. I'm like, oh Nedrig sounds good, and just kind of went to work with that. So yeah, yeah, there's there's baits that work everywhere. If you look at um if you look at the top 10 lures of any elite series, Bassmaster Open, you're gonna see a familiar bait that you know how to use. And obviously lots of times guys bullshit on that, but it's usually the a general, you know, a general thing. So if you can see a couple of those baits, and there's lots of baits that just show up over and over, like a chatterbait, a jig, you know, a minnow, like just run with that. You don't need to hit the world on fire with some crazy lure, which you know, now that I've been doing it for a while, it's like, yeah, I want to, you know, I want to get more dialed in, like on, you know, these tiny adjustments and and these, you know, like Japanese baits, and I just I I don't have the the fear anymore. You know, kind of got to prove myself enough where I'm not because when you're from Canada or you know, uh a place in the world where there's not a lot of bass fishermen coming from, you have the whole support and pressure of the you know community behind you. So you really just don't want a bomb. Um yeah, but now I'm just I just go in with the mindset of like, all right, what's you know, I gotta try to win one of these and figure out how to win it.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

So you need gear that works as hard as you do. That's why Amped Outdoors is the official power solution of a Sirius Angler podcast from unmatched battery nerd customer service to performance that thrives in extreme winter cold or summer heat keeps you on the water longer. Click the link in the show notes to get you powered up with Amped Outdoors. Now back to the show. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, it's it's a weird. I guess yeah, you kind of know it with pressure of hearing that where it's like you have all this support where it's like, I think at the end of the day, they don't care if you're first or I mean obviously they're happy if you're first, but like your difference between first and a hundred, they're just happy to see you trying to chase this thing, but you feel in your mind you're like, I gotta do this for the people that are you know cheering me on, type of thing. Like you're in your head, the voices start creeping in when you're on the water, and you're like, How am I gonna explain this to people why I suck today? Um, but I I totally get that. I if you can get over that fear of failure aspect, I feel like that's like one of those things mentally that makes you dangerous where it's to learn just to not care.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Yeah, for sure. And it you know, it makes it a lot easier if you have some success out of the gate. Like I got lucky landing on Cherokee where it was full of smallmouth in the middle of Tennessee, like you know, so yeah, it was like okay, well, I got that one, just let me you know, got a little bit of hardware, not a win, but um, you know, then it just kind of takes a little gas money off, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:00

Uh speaking of the bait stuff, dude. Have you seen that new page? That's I don't know if they're still active, but they were a couple weeks ago. It's like pro bait report or something like that, where they were putting the these guys in their the top 10 baits, whatever, on blast of like what guys are actually throwing.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

And uh I haven't seen that specifically, but I saw everyone going at Peg South Um for A Burn. Um you know, he's catching them on the Koike, and on the on the third day of the camera and and held up a jerk bait on the on the morning of the last day, and people just attacked him. And I'm like, well, yeah, like maybe he caught someone a jerk bait and caught them all on the koike on the last day. Like, you don't know, but um, I mean, there's I always hold up, you know, what I'm catching them on, and for me it's usually pretty easy because um you know, I've kind of I'm set up enough now where my sponsor's baits are actually what I use. Like with Crush City and Rapla VMC, there's you know the spreads covered. Um yeah, I don't have I don't have to lie. Where if yeah, you know, if your only sponsor doesn't have it or or you know just has subpar stuff and you're just working for them for a paycheck, then yeah, you're gonna do some doing some BS and but I'll have to check that you know that sounds like a good laugh.

SPEAKER_03 28:25

I'll have to send you the page after this because it's it's quite a trip. Uh it's uh it's pretty funny. Um well dude, so I'm gonna ask you this. Being you know that you've gotten to the Cherokees, you've gone to the Ufalas, things like that, and uh our little traveled at this rate is uh do you have a favorite lake in the south right now that you like going down to?

SPEAKER_01 28:46

Uh I mean all of them I've only really been to once, except for Rayburn and Eufala. Um I really liked the Ozarks when we were there. I know it's like the weights have been really tough there, and you know, I might have just landed in the right creek arm or anything, but I loved that place. Um St. Clair is the that's the best small mouth fishing I've ever had in my life, and I didn't expect that going into it, but I'm like, you know, I'm trying to find a way to go back there and kind of justify a trip back to St. Clair, even though it's not in the south. Um, you know, like I said, it's the it's pretty much the same distance as going to Texas or Oklahoma or whatever. So it's so crazy, dude.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

Yeah, trying to fathom that part.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah. Oh, it was funny when we went to St. Lawrence in 2023. Um one of the Bassmaster guys, I was kind of in there running for uh you know, for the top nine. I think I was a few spots out when we were going into that one. And he did like one of the pre-tournament write-ups and you know, called me for an interview. And you know, what's it like being in familiar water? You're from Ontario, and I was like, Man, the only advantage I have to being from Ontario where I am at the St. Lawrence River is I don't have to buy an Ontario license. Like it's I'm like sick, yeah, I'll I'll give you the interview, but I'm like clueless. And you know, luckily that that tournament worked out, and I had a good tournament there, but um, yeah, yeah, it's it's funny because the perception is like, oh, Ontario, you're right, you know, right in the right in the thick of the the Great Lakes and all that. I got buddies from the south or co-angers I've met over the years that are going on trips to like Lake Ontario and they're asking me for info, and I'm like, man, I don't like it's close to me. Thank goodness to me.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

That's funny, dude. Yeah, it's crazy, just like when people like if for people that may not understand, just pull up a map and just clock it out because it's actually I remember Gussie saying that when he said the first time of like how Fork was closer. I went and pulled it up, and I'm like, no way. That is actually just nuts to me when you actually clog out the distance. But um, on the flip, dude, is there one fishery that you haven't been to uh that you it's like on top of the destination list for you?

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Uh Champlain. Um that's that's kind you know, I've kind of been to the the big two, uh St. Clair and St. Lawrence. Um, you know, and I've done like Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, but I've never been to Champlain. And um, you know, back in the day, Chris and Corey Johnston kind of told us they're like because they were doing you know Toyotas or Everstarts or whatever they were called, and they were like, Yeah, that you know, that translates the best to like Lake of the Woods and you know Rainy Lake style. Um, but it's so far, man. I was just looking at the the Bass Nation schedule, and I signed up for uh national qualifier on Toledo Bend uh next month, and it was you know, I could kind of pick one tournament and it was between that and Champlain. I've got a way better chance at doing good at Champlain, but I'm like, eh. Um, you know, Toledo Bend's 24 hours and Champlain's like 27 or 28 and in the summer. So yeah, it's just really hard to justify because all their tournaments are, you know, kind of have the same open water season as us, so it's not like I can just go in April and go fish a tournament there or go in February or anything. So it's it's been tough to uh to try to find a good excuse to go there, but that's the one that's circled.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

Yeah, yeah, you'd have a great time there. That is that is the one that is just ridiculous. And that's why a lot of the guys, especially from the south, too, they always get excited when it's on the schedule because it, like you say, gives them an excuse to get up there, and it's just the fishing's worth it when you're there.

SPEAKER_01 32:50

Um, yeah, I'm sure by the time I get there, it'll just be beat to death and hard to get a limit, you know.

SPEAKER_03 32:57

But it's getting to that stage. That's that's for dang sure. A lot of our fisheries here. I I'm in Buffalo, but I grew up on Cayuga. That was home lake, and that is kind of at that stage right now, where as soon as it's ice out, you know, it's kind of the the ramps are packed. Uh a lot of out of state plates to St. Lawrence as well.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Yeah, that one got a lot of major tournament love, you know, what, seven or eight years ago, that kind of explained.

SPEAKER_03 33:23

When that Gussie almost won, it's kind of when it started.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:28

Looked and that that was kind of when things kind of started getting better, I think. Um from a fishing standpoint, when that goby started getting more prevalent there, because like I think when Kevin won there with when Jordan Lee almost won it, I think that was what 15 or 16. Uh, I think they only won it with like 16 pounds roughly a day. Um, but now because he won it, it was 20 bags for everybody. Um, but yeah, yeah, that's that's crazy to think. You gotta get the champlain eventually. I mean, if it takes a flight, I'm sure there's some, I'm sure like a Jody White or somebody will take you out for a day just to show you how nutty that thing is.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

But yeah, maybe he'll just throw me the keys to his boat and I'll just go beat the hell out of it.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

There you go. There you go. It never fails. Uh that's awesome. Uh, dude, talking about the tackle stuff. You you brought up, you know, learning some of the Japanese stuff, things like that. And we actually they kind of how this show started uh stemming because I've been using like the Koiki stuff for over a year now, and I saw you posting stuff about it, and I reached out asking about like setup, things like that.

SPEAKER_02 34:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:33

Um, when it comes to that kind of thing, obviously you do a lot of ice fishing, and that's a lot of months out of the year where you're not in open water, and so to learn all these new techniques, like how do you you know, and you talk about the practice windows where you kind of keep with what you're confident in? How hard is it for you to go learn some of these new things off the wall, and where do you make time for that?

SPEAKER_01 34:55

I mean, now, like actually physically learning a technique, um it just doesn't take as long as it used to, you know, with electronics and just you know, as you get better at bass fishing. So it's I'm not freaked out about trying to learn it, it's about trying to stay ahead of the curve and and find it. Um, so something like the Koiki, I got so lucky with that one. So when I went to St. Clair in 2024 for an open, uh, I got a buddy from back home. He fishes once a year, he fishes a big fall tournament with me, a 130-boat open team tournament. And you know, he's just a good buddy, and we have fun, and we've been fishing this tournament for you know 10 or 15 years. And that year I couldn't do it, so he said, Well, I'll come and do the co-angler thing with you. He had no interest in in fishing as a co-angler, he just wanted to come hang out in the boat for a week and and see what it's all about. So on day two, he drew Koya Fegeta.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

So I had I had the sea urchin. Um, we found it on online, we didn't know what it was called, like just found a picture of it, you know, had a like a general picture, no name, nothing. And uh Taku was also in the top ten in that tournament, and I was you know, parked beside it. And I said, Hey, what do you guys call this thing? And he like his jaw dropped, and he's just like, Oh, you know, and I was like, Oh no, you know, I played it off, like, yeah, I've been, you know, had this thing for three years. I didn't say any of that, but I was like, Yeah, I know. And he opens his rod locker and he's got a bunch of them rigged up. Um, so I'm like, all right, this is Taku and Koya's hidden juice. And I I bought a couple of them for I think it was like 220 bucks US for three baits. That was before Spro. Holy smokes. Yeah, that was that was before Spro was bringing them over. And there was, you know, they're sold out in Japan everywhere, so like they were really hard to come by. And then I just kind of, you know, I knew they worked there. I messed around with them a bit at home. I caught some fish on them, but never is never really like better than any other bait. And then uh uh just kind of you know, just like through open source. So I I'm an Intel officer, that's my that's my regular job, and um I've got a lot of like open source training. Um, and you know, I I learned to leverage that to try to get ahead of of some of these bait trends, so I kind of try to learn them as as fast as I can. And um, you know, they just come and go. There's they're like a flash in the pan now. You you pretty much get a a year head start on a technique and everyone's got it by the next year. Um so like something like I don't know what's next, but um yeah, that was a cool one. That's uh, you know, it started started blowing up in Texas and then just kind of went from there. And it seems like Texas is kind of the place where baits are are really refined and then goes out from there.

SPEAKER_03 38:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:03

I don't remember what your question was, but that's my koike story.

SPEAKER_03 38:07

No, yeah, no, that's perfect, dude. Um, I feel like you know, you mentioned half the battle is one staying on top of the trend, but two, it's like the fishing application of it is I feel like the easiest part, but it's the like especially the koiki, I feel like people are still dialing in the hardware aspect of it, like yeah, hook and rigging. Uh, I think we're still exploring that. Like, I'm seeing some wild ways people are rigging and catching stuff on it. And uh, do you think the next year or two is gonna be more of just this wild fuzzy stuff? Uh or do you think there's something brand new down the pipe that we haven't seen yet?

SPEAKER_01 38:44

I don't know. Um there's definitely gonna be some weird stuff, but there's there's baits that are just always gonna work. Um, you know, the minnow like every bass where I live has grown up being caught on the minnow, you know, since the 80s. And you can't take you know our old setup from from 2002 and go catch fish and be competitive anymore. Um, but there's so many intricacies now. Um, you know, like you see the Crushed City lineup. Like you guys don't have the a couple. There's a couple other minnows we have up here in Canada, a couple of sizes, uh, the jerks, you know, rolling out in in the US now, but just all those options, the way they're scented, and the way you rig those, and it that's just such a natural bait that uh it's always gonna catch them, but you're gonna have to change the, you know, just make those fine-tuned tweaks. So I I don't know how many other crazy baits are gonna come out in the next little bit. Um, I think it's just gonna be more of a kind of refinement.

SPEAKER_03 39:54

Hey guys, real fast, if you are a fishing guide trying to book more trips and spend less time chasing DMs, you need to check out the Bloodknot app. Bloodknot lets anglers find, book, and pay guides all in one place. While you manage your schedule, availability, and clients from your phone. So it's less administrative work, more time for you on the water, more trips booked. If guiding is your business, blood knot is a no-brainer. Best part is it's free to use, extremely easy. Check out the blood knot app at the link below. Now back to the episode. Yeah. Well, and dude, um, you mentioned it to me, but for the folks, because I've gotten some questions on it too, through like the DMs and things like that. Like rigging that that quakey style bait. What what is your your setup and all that stuff for throwing that bait?

SPEAKER_01 40:42

Uh I've tried it three different ways. Uh you know, one is the standard nail weight. I guess I've tried it four different ways. One is the standard nail weight and a big Nico hook, um, which I don't like at all. Um, if you put a nail weight in that thing, you're just liable to lose it. And if you've only got a few of them, which there's not many people with like a war chest of them, uh you're you know, you're gonna lose some. The fish will rip it off and it'll sink. Uh, and that's how Koya was originally rigging it. He had like a wire uh nail weight through it with a Nico hook on top. Um, but the one I use, so I the full cast one I just started using when I went to Texas a couple weeks ago to Rayburn, and I used uh you know, I knew I'd be dealing with giant fish, so I used a three-ought uh VMC red line heavy duty, and I just built a Jika rig. There's that new BT tungsten weight, it's it's black. Uh, I just used that in an eighth ounce and added a VMC swivel to it, and that one, like you could just you could boat flip, you know, boat flip the seven and a half on it. And if it would have caught a 10-pounder, I would have boat flipped it too. Like you can just oh man, you could just bitch them in, you know, 17 to 10 pound suffix fluoro on that seven, three medium heavy myth. And um, that was by the time the tournament came around, you know, you could stuff a jig head in it, uh, like a wide gap jig head, uh, or do the treble thing. They do a lot of swiping and everything at it. So there's a lot of uh yeah, the treble was a good one for just kind of catching keepers that would like poke at it and swipe at it, you know, in that three-pound class. Um, but I ended up taking uh treble hook off the Rapala Jowler. They have okay, they have a specific treble hook that you can't buy separately in a package. Uh it's red line, it's coated, it's super sharp, and then it's beefed up for that big top water. Uh so I was using that treble hook.

SPEAKER_03 42:54

I like it, that's a little sneaky.

SPEAKER_01 42:56

Yeah, yeah. But there's you know, there's gonna be a million ways to for that, you know. Guys are gonna be Carolina rigging that thing.

SPEAKER_03 43:03

Like, oh, I'm sure they are, dude. Now I'm sure people are doing a pile of things that we don't even know about yet. That are we'll see you here in the next few months how much more of that transpires.

SPEAKER_01 43:14

But yeah, the kid at the tackle store at Rayburn figured it'll be good till July. He's seen some of these come and go.

SPEAKER_03 43:23

Yeah, I mean, dude, my buddy just literally called me uh earlier this morning and was like, Hey dude, I'm at the shop. They literally just brought in a pile of 17s, and he's like, Do you want one? Because it's gonna be gone by noon. And I called him like, Yeah, like I'll take five, like send them my way. And he said, Literally by 11:30, they had probably over a hundred of them come in, they're all gone.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:47

And then you have it's crazy how this the trend stuff flies off the shelves before it doesn't even make the shells half the time.

SPEAKER_01 43:54

Yeah, and then I don't know how you are with it, but I always end up with a pile of baits, you know, by the trend that's blowing up, and then you just end up with a pile of baits that end up in a yard sale bin, like you're just on to the next that's why I love the pillow so much because it's just always, you know, just always there, it's gonna be there. It's just too natural. It's like the little black marabo jig that was born around us too, and that's been catching them from you know. 1996, and you can still win tournaments on it where we're at. It's just it's too natural. Like they're not gonna kamikaze it all the time, but it's always gonna have a place.

SPEAKER_03 44:31

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we just saw the classic minnow.

SPEAKER_01 44:35

Something like a big spike ball. There's just there's nothing natural about it, it's something new, and you know, that's it's gonna be what it's gonna be. I don't think it's gonna have uh uh a huge shelf life on it, to be honest.

SPEAKER_03 44:48

Yeah, they're gonna get used to that and know exactly what they're looking at, and something like that. I think it's a curiosity thing, yeah, still right now. Um, dude, so talking back on adjusting to some of the southern fisheries, do you think now with the way technology has gone? I mean, people used to say that a lot of the guys from the north, especially like the Minnesota guys, the fighters, would adjust so well to southern fisheries versus southern guys adjusting to northern fisheries. Do you think that playing field's been leveled now, or do you think that's still true or different?

SPEAKER_01 45:23

Uh I think it's pretty much even. Like it's just whoever out there is gonna put the time in and the work. Like it doesn't really matter where you're from, you know. Like um, I think where you live in the south matters. Um, like Jack York is a buddy of mine, and you know, him and I like we live geographically so far apart. He's a guide in East Texas, and I'm in northwestern Ontario, and I think for like five tournaments in a row, um we've ended up in the same like creek arm or pocket. At some point in the day, we're gonna be fishing the same stuff. Um, like it doesn't matter if we're at Leech Lake or Sam Rayburn. It's and and it's just you know, we've kind of got the same style. Um, but you know, now it's kind of like, yeah, if you're if you're good at pressured fish and you're good on the scope, then you're gonna be good at small mouth fishing. If you're good at small mouth fishing, um, you know, scoping around, you're probably gonna be pretty good in Texas. It's it's just one of those things where you know, or if you're good on the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, you're gonna be good on the Sabine. Likewise, if you're I don't really know anyone that's grew up on the Sabine, but they're probably gonna do pretty good on uh on the Mississippi River. So there's a lot of them translate, but I don't think like I don't think that's you know, there's not the fishermen up north aren't any better than the fishermen are are down south. It's just there's there's way less opportunity. So the ones that come from the north and the ones that come from Canada are the cream of the crop. Where if you're in Alabama, everyone's a Bassmaster opens pro, and you know, you just see the five the five best make it, it's the same thing, but the five best have already up north have already established their place and figured out how they're gonna drive 25 hours and compete in these tournaments down south. So that's the kind of way I look at it.

SPEAKER_03 47:31

Yeah, no, that makes perfect sense. Um I I think with that too. I'm trying to remember my my train of thought was going here. Um we've seen it like with the Minnesota guys, like you see, you know, the Keith Tumas, uh, you've seen a lot of Wisconsin Minnesota guys do well on you're talking about Sabine and some of these grass fisheries, Florida seems like Minnesota guys for whatever reason always translate well to uh to that area. Um but yeah, I in my opinion, dude, I think it's definitely the playing field has been leveled. Um yeah, I agree. But one yeah, one thing I'm curious your take on, though. We you know, going back to somebody that is, you know, in your case, everything seems like a 20-hour drive now, but like somebody that's traveling to a new part of the states or a new fishery, regardless of what it is, especially the south. We don't have I mean Lake of the Woods is a whole different beast, but like it at least here in New York, we don't have any there's no such thing as creek arms. Like we don't have those, it's all big bowls of grass, yeah. Uh, and so when you look at like a Norman, a Hartwell, um, you look at the TVA and you got all these different creek arms, and then you have the main lake, it can kind of be like a little bit overwhelming. Um what what's your advice to somebody that's traveling to something like that that doesn't deal with all the different, I guess like Island Reservoirs, the crazy topographic, you know, maps they're studying all these fisheries. When it comes to breaking that down, what would you give somebody advice to stepping on the water the first time?

SPEAKER_01 49:06

I mean, it come kind of comes down to what you're doing around home. Um, you know, almost everyone that fishes has more than one option of a place to go. Like switch it up around home, get used to fishing for you know, fish in different situations. Like we're lucky on Lake of the Woods, there's lots of different options, but there's you know, we don't really have bass that like solitary smallmouth that go floating around like they do, um you know, at like St. Clair. But we have lake trout that do that, you know. That's and it's kind of they're chasing the bait and it's it kind of aligns like that. So uh, you know, even though I'd never caught smallmouth like that, I've I'm used to fishing like that because I've switched it up. So someone like Coop Gallant, like he's he's obsessed with multi-species, and you know, I I think that's part of the reason he's so good. Like he's he's seen a bunch of different environments before he started going down south. Um, but that's you know, that's the biggest advice at home. Um, and you like you've got it, like I mentioned open source before, which you know, layman's terms, all that means is is stuff available to the public, um, you know, on the internet, and there's more of that now than there's ever been. So um, you know, before you even go to the lake, you're you should know how it lays out. You can look at a at a map and you know, figure out, okay, well, that's a big basin there. If you're if you're used to fishing New York and big basins, then that's probably gonna fit you a little bit better. So maybe focus your efforts there. You know, if you're if you're from the Mississippi River and you're uh you're a swamp donkey, then you know, look up this arm. Um so most of these lakes offer something that you know will kind of match your style a little bit to make you a little less comfortable, but um yeah, you gotta you gotta watch some videos and and you definitely have to put in your homework, especially if you don't have any time to to pre-practice, which you know most people don't.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

Right. Love that, dude. Um, as we start winding down, I got two things left for you. Sure. Uh and to end it on the conversation of you know, some of these southern fisheries, new fisheries, what would what do you think is your biggest learning lesson so far in fishing the opens? What is the biggest thing you've taken home?

SPEAKER_00 51:28

At Sirius Angler, we're a half-ton truck crew, and we're towing boats all the time. You already know the deal. You load up the bed, you hook up the trailer, now you've got squat, sway, and that moment when the wind hits or a semi passes you, then you tighten up on the wheel. After looking at a bunch of options, road active suspension was the solution that made the most sense for us. It's built to help your truck feel more level and more controlled when you're towing or hauling. If you want a calmer, more confident drive to the ramp, check them out and use code serious10 for 10% off.

SPEAKER_01 51:57

The biggest thing I've taken home. Uh I mean, for me, it's just like if you stop letting it be so overwhelming, then it even though everything's totally different, it's kind of all the same. Um, you know, you're not fishing against like immortals, you know, every everyone's the same. But uh if you don't do your homework, you're gonna get steamrolled. Um if you don't work as hard as you absolutely can, you know, and spend every second on the water that you're you're given, uh, you're gonna get run over. I mean, you know, everyone likes to everyone likes to say it's easy for guys like Trey McKinney and and Dylan Nutt and and all those guys, like, oh yeah, they just show up, you know, tons of resources, tons of time on the water. But for every every one of those guys you see, there's a hundred you don't see that like have the same options they do, um, but just aren't working as hard as them. So uh that's that's kind of my take on that. Um, I don't know if that really answers your question. I kind of went on a tangent, but um, that's perfect. Also, you know, you know, staying fresh, fishing new places, uh and you know, trying to kind of chase a goal is is what's kind of helped me from being complacent. I'm in that age uh where it's really easy to be complacent. Um, so I I just love the pursuit of it. Uh, I don't think that if I actually made the end goal, which I don't even have a goal, I guess I'd call it the clock, just making it to the classic, um, which is really hard to do if you're not in the elites, by the way. Um hard to do on the elites too. But it's just that pursuit of it, like I don't know what the quote is or who said it, but it's uh it's not the pursuit of happiness, it's the happiness of the pursuit. So that, you know, is as long as you have something to work towards, you're gonna you're gonna want to stay on the current trends, you're gonna want to do the research, you're gonna want to learn new baits every time you're on the water and new techniques instead of just going through the motions and running with the same old. So I think that's the the biggest thing that happens to anglers, you know, all anglers, no one's no one's really uh bulletproof from it, but the guys that don't get complacent, it's one of the few sports where the older or one of the few occupations where the older you get, the harder you have to work, um, just to keep up with everyone. And I think it's really easy to get complacent and uh and just with how good these new kids are, we're we're just seeing it more more prevalent now than than it's ever been. So like went on a tank there, but that's uh that's my my spiel.

SPEAKER_03 55:04

Ah, dude, that's perfect. Uh that's nail in the head. And it's pretty much what Dylan Nutt was preaching on Mercer's podcast, was just the time, time on the water, um, that they put in, and outworking people from you know, the guys that get off the water at 2 p.m. They're out dark to dark every single day, uh, as often as they possibly can. Yeah. And yeah, that I mean, that it could you see those many hours difference, and it could just be the the difference of one spot that they found that you didn't find, or simply just being, I mean, you know it full well. People listening to this know it full well. Just the more you're out on the water, the more in tune you are with everything, where things start becoming just much more fluid. You don't have to force yourself to make decisions, it's they become natural. Um, and that is that's the biggest key, I think, in what you're saying is that's where it that's where the advantage is, uh, is in getting I call that the flow state is where everything just makes sense and you don't really have to like sit and think about anything, you just kind of do, and that's kind of what those guys are doing, man. I don't think they're thinking too much about what they're doing, they because that's they seem so lax too at the same time, and I think that's what it is, man. They're just they know what they're doing, they've been doing it for 300 plus days out of the year.

SPEAKER_01 56:24

Yeah, and it's just another yeah, it's crazy to try to compete with them with you know, doing what I'm doing and what lots of guys are doing, where you just show up for your practice and you can't you don't have time to fish every day. But um, you know, there are ways to mitigate it, maybe not beat them every time, but you can at least slug with them, and that's you know, that's get just getting out of your comfort zone in general.

SPEAKER_03 56:47

Absolutely. Well, dude, last thing for you here, and I'll I'll let you go get pampered in your holiday in uh is uh we every time we have a new guest, it's your first time here on the show, we like to end it with this question. And that is if you could take three different people, sit down, have a steak and a beer to pick their brain, these three people they don't have to be fishing, they could be from a thousand years ago or alive today. Doesn't matter. Any three people sit down, stake in a beer, pick the brain. Who are you gonna invite?

SPEAKER_01 57:22

Shane Gillis, number one that is amazing. Uh Taylor Sheridan. Okay. And he's the dude from Yellowstone, right? Every good show, if you look at who wrote it or directed it, it's him. Perfect. Um oh man, who's another one? I'm I'm the do you know who Bob Azumi is? Oh yeah. I'm yeah, I'm his absolute biggest fan. Um, I have been since I was a kid, and I just you know, I just hung out with him for an hour at the boat show. He brought me one of his board games from 1988, and we're buddies now, you know. I'll call him on the phone and everything, but um he's uh you know, and that like the I shouldn't be saying this on a podcast, but in uh like a password reset, it'll say who's your favorite athlete of all time or whatever, and it's always Bob Azumi, so he's gonna he's gotta be on my list too.

SPEAKER_03 58:23

Oh, that's amazing. That's so good.

SPEAKER_01 58:27

Yeah, so that's uh that's my answer there. I knew you asked that question. I should have thought about it a little bit more before you asked it, but yeah, it's all good.

SPEAKER_03 58:35

We like it spontaneous in the moment. I like it. Uh, because I love getting the messages after the fact from from guys that we've asked this to, and they're then message after the uh the episode, like ah damn, I should have said this guy, so this, and it starts to get you thinking.

SPEAKER_01 58:49

I'm thinking now, like that'd be a wild party, like a zoom that would be pretty nuts. Because Gillis and Azumi would be fine, but he'd be out of it a little.

SPEAKER_03 59:02

Plenty of Bud Lights, plenty of laughs. Uh, you'd have a time, that's for dang sure. Yeah, yeah. Well, dude, thank you so much for taking time out. I know you're on the road, uh, but appreciate you jumping on this thing. And uh well, yeah, like I said, long overdue getting you on the pod, uh, and hopefully get you back on here soon, man.

SPEAKER_01 59:20

Appreciate it, man. It was fun. Keep uh keep hammering. Everyone's enjoying what you guys are doing, and uh there's a lot of uh there's a lot of podcasts out there that are hard to listen to. Trust me, all the time on the road. I've uh I've listened to them all, and uh, you know, I I tune into you guys often. There's a lot of juice in here and a lot of good stories. So thanks a lot.

SPEAKER_03 59:41

Appreciate that, dude. Well, if you're ever 24 hours out this way, uh let me know. You gotta you gotta place to stay in Buffalo. Likewise. Yeah, dude, appreciate it, and uh we'll talk to you soon. Okay, man.

SPEAKER_01 59:54

See ya.

SPEAKER_03 59:55

All right, guys. That is gonna do it for today's episode, Mr. Jamie Bruce. Good to get him on here. He has a great show himself, creates amazing media. Uh, make sure you guys follow his socials and his YouTube and all that stuff. We'll have that linked down below. But uh great to get him on here. Definitely not the last time he's gonna be on here. Uh, but make sure you guys uh look out for future episodes coming up. Again, we have Tucker Smith coming, Logan Parks, we got Andrew Benke, some real biology shows. Uh, we have much more in The Hopper that we just need to get set dates on uh with future anglers uh to get on here. Um so look out for some of that new shows coming up. Uh I will be traveling here in the next two weeks. I'm actually going down to Cattle Lake in Louisiana for the next Bass Mr. Kaik event. Uh so I'm looking forward to my travels there. Might stop in Tennessee along the way, uh, fish a day or two, but um looking forward to some travels and we'll get all these podcasts stocked up ready to rip so that you guys are not getting a delay again like we did at the classic. Um, but uh great episode. Appreciate y'all as always for tuning in, taking time out of your day to listen to us means the world to us. And uh we'll see y'all on the next one.