Look for This When Bass Fishing Becomes Tough this Summer

In this episode, I sit down with Noah Winslow to break down one of the most important summertime bass fishing patterns: flipping grass when the bite gets tough. If you’ve ever struggled to find and catch bass in the heat of summer, this conversation is loaded with tips to help you understand where bass go, what grass to look for, and how to generate bites when fishing feels impossible.

📌 Important Links:
Noah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winslow_fishing15/

📌 Baits Discussed (Click the link and use code SERIOUS10 for 10% off your order):
Beast Coast Flippin Delight: https://www.beastcoastfishing.com/soft-baits.html
Craw Tube: https://omnia.direct/ethsrt

📌 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

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

All right, welcome to the Sirius Angler Podcast, where as always, our main course for you will be talking and hopefully teaching you more about bass fishing. As always, I'm your host, Bailey Igbrett. We are Deaconless on today's show because we have a fun little bonus episode for you guys this week. We've been ripping podcasts over here at Sirius Angler as well as we've been putting out a bunch of new videos over on the lure lab. If you guys have not checked that out, we've changed on the format and uh some more quick hitting information for you guys over there. We got a great show talking about the dog days of summer, some flipping talk in there. Uh so of course, as always on this show, you'll have some rabbit holes. So we have some of those today. But we have Mr. Noah Winslow, a fellow Northeasterner, a guy that fished the classic this past year. Uh is gonna be fishing the EQs this coming fall, hopefully uh challenging his way to making the Elite series. And we talk a lot of dog days of summer, summer bass fishing, finding them shallow, finding them deep, and the process in between. So we have an awesome show for you guys today. And without further ado, let's get on with Mr. Noah Winslow. This button, the record button likes to screw everything up too. So you still got me okay?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Yeah, we're good.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

All right. All right, folks. We're with uh Mr. Noah Winslow. Uh no stranger to the Northeast, but uh hopefully introducing you to some more people around the country, man. How how are we doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Yeah, I'm good, dude. Hopefully uh it's been it's been great uh up north and we're starting to travel a lot more and uh hopefully it keeps on going the way it's going.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Yeah, it's uh some of our topics today are gonna be talking about like the dog days of summer, and we we say that when the south they're like, dude, we've been in the dog days for like over a month now, but like you know it's dog days when us in the north, like we finally turn the ACs on, you know, constantly. And it's we were just talking offline uh for people tuning in. Uh we're dying up here and it's like maybe touching 90. So people in the south are like, yeah, shut up, bro.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Yeah, it gets over, it gets over 80, and I'm I'm kind of all set with that. I'm a big uh I like shorts and sweatshirt weather, like pants and like a t-shirt or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

Oh hell yeah. Get give me those early days of October where it's like 50s in the morning, high of 60s, you know, like pants and a hoodie.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Yeah, I want April weather all year long where it's like fishing's fantastic, like those like third you might have some 30s in the morning, but I could deal with it. And then like 60s in the afternoon, 70s in the afternoon, like that's weather for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yeah, you get just past the days where you have to wear like winter clothes for the first couple hours, and then you can yeah. I I want to I want to not change attire for the whole day.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

I just want to exactly well, dude.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Uh for you, you know, it looks like open season is done. Uh what where are we at in in your calendar year, like derb wise? Like what is what does it look like for you now that we're into into July?

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Yeah, so we uh you know I fished a classic this year, so and with that, I um I came in second in the national championship, the nation championship last fall. So I already qualified directly to the EQs with that, uh with that. So I just decided to fish uh division one of the open. So I actually still have one more open uh up in Buffalo on Erie.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Oh duh, that's right.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

Yeah, so I'm pumped about that. I haven't been there. Last time I was there was like 2018. Um, but so I'm definitely pumped to go back there. Hopefully the wind doesn't blow because that tournament we only fished one day. So hopefully it'll be a little bit better win-wise, but you never know. Um but other than that, now like uh fish division one of the open. So already fished three of them. I'm ninth in points there and fished the classic. And now it's just basically just a ton of uh I fish a ton of team derbies and like regional tournaments. Like I was at Oneida the last two weekends, Cayuga, and then uh I'll be on Champlain for like the next like three or four weeks. So pretty yeah, pretty pumped for that.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

So terrible fisheries, worst place to be.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Yeah. Oneida's quickly becoming Oneida in June. Oneida in August last year. I fished a BFL and it might be the worst tournament I've ever had in my life. But Oneida in June is quickly becoming like one of my favorite places to go.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Oneida's a fun one. I was just talking about that with a couple buddies that are, you know, some of the sticks here in New York. And where where you're gonna be at is like where I grew up. KUGA was home. Now actually Erie's home. Uh Safe Harbor is literally 10 minutes away. So if you need anything when you come out this way, just holler at me. Sweet, thank you. Um, but we were just talking about Oneida and just like it's the one fishery we think in New York that could be a great training ground for like, especially like when you go down south where there's a lot of trash fish, because yeah, the amount of walleye and drum that are in that place is insane now.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Uh but yeah, how how did you end up on the the past couple derbs on Oneida?

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Uh so we were gonna fish one tournament. We were supposed to have two tournaments back-to-back weekends, and like for me with a Skeeter, like they have like Skeeter contingency money. So Skeeter has a really, really good program there, um, and it like pays a ton of money. But the first one got canceled because it was gonna blow like 25 out of the west. So I actually jumped down and fished another one. We were up there, and a friend of mine lives uh right at the south end of Cayuga. So I was like, well, might as well just hop over there and go fish that. Um, so we went and fished that, and like five hours of practice, everyone caught spawning smallmouth, and we just dirt dabbed around for some largemouth and caught like 20 pounds for six, so nothing great. But uh fished the Cash and Rods tournament uh this past weekend on Oneida and came in sixth. Um, which like that was a great trail. Like they got a hunt, they had like 111 boats. Yeah, um, so they that was a really good run tournament. Um, couldn't get the largemouth going. Pulled up on uh the rando patch of grass to catch some largemouth, and two of my buddies uh had also just pulled up and I watched them catch uh the two they won the tournament that I watched them catch the two in largemouth. So that was a little tough to watch, but I was cool. They're they're great dudes.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

It's stuff like that, dude, that stings, but like I try to like because I've had a few moments like that where it's you try to take away the mental small win of like okay, I at least I was on the path of winning it, right? I was just I got beat to it. Exactly. So it still is like a small mental win, but it always stings, especially having to watch it, dude.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

It definitely sucks, it definitely sucks. Um, but like it was also like I was like, all right, like we were gonna pull up there, and probably what I caught at least one of those. It was just like this little hole in the grass, like it was just they're just cruised through there, but yeah, it's what it is.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Yeah, that's cool, man. It's it's I always want to talk home on this podcast, but literally, New York isn't even in our top five state demographics for this show. So I do like I do like to go down the rabbit hole every now and then of talking about home, and it's cool to get a we don't get too many northeast guys on. Um I do, someone's like, Oh, stop talking about smallmouth. We don't fish, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Yeah, they're gonna have to some great largemouth fishing up here, too.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, yeah. Uh but dude, uh, before we get too carried away down into that rabbit hole, it's your first time on the pod, and every time it's somebody's first time, we like to just start it out with like, dude, who who is to blame for this lifelong addiction of bass fishing? Tell us the story.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

Uh, so my dad, uh, and like my grandfather fished a lot too. But my dad, like when I was young, like got me into bass fishing, or didn't even like he didn't really bass fish. We trolled for trout and like trout fish my whole life, but like I fished every single day growing up, like kayak fishing, like john boat fishing. Um, and then like we always just like we have a 14-foot like little john boat that when I was like eight or nine, I started doing like casting kids tournaments or like competitions like through Bassmaster, and then got into the junior Bassmasters and my dad like decked out it was like my grandfather's old like smoker craft boat, and we like decked that out. I still use it to this day all the time in the winter time. Um but we would like go bopping around Candlewood, like practicing for like my junior tournaments when I was like 11 and 12, and uh and so basically my dad like he got me like really into it, and he never fished a bass tournament in his life. Like we used to laugh at the bass fisherman driving 100 miles an hour up and down the lake and making three casts on one spot while we were like trolling for trout. And uh you know, crazy, crazy where life went after that. But uh then I I just started fishing like youth tournaments like all through like high school and I didn't fish college. I just fish I got to go fish uh with a buddy of mine and fish some Toyota series and stuff like that. Um, and that really like kickstarted everything. I got to see like all the places in the northeast, a couple places down south, and um was was pretty successful. I won a Toyota as a co-angler, so like that that really helped me a lot too. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:23

Yeah. So is Candlewood home then?

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Oh yeah, Candlewood's home. I guide there full time. Uh I have a guide business there. I fished, I've been fishing there. I don't even know how many days a year since I was like 16, basically. Like I got my license and it was just Candlewood every day. And now it's gone through, I've seen it go through a lot of changes, um, but it's it's still incredible. It's incredible. Like in the springtime, if you don't have like 25, like you could have 25 pounds and you're still sweating it out. Like, are you are you gonna win, you know?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

So that's what I've heard is Candlewood's a special place, but it sounds like no grass the past couple years.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah, so 2020. We used to from the time I was 16 to like like right now, like I'd be driving to the lake to go flip grass, like the craziest milfoil you've ever seen. Like it would top out some years, and then they put grass carp in in 2015 and 2017. They don't even know how many they put in, but they put them in and uh just randomly, I don't know if it was like originally the grass carp or what went on, but randomly, like in 2022, one night, like pretty much like it was almost like one night, but like in like a two-week span, like all the grass just disappeared and nothing to be seen since. So um really sucks. Like that last year, there was grass, like in the fall. A buddy of mine like was when like the largemouth, like final, like I don't know if it was we just figured them out, or I think they just got bigger, honestly, like everywhere because we've had warmer winters and everything, and like these fish just got giant, and it was like pretty common to catch like 25 to 27 pounds of largemouth, like and like all that grass disappeared, and that still exists a little bit with scope, but there's not the population that there used to be. Um, so it's pretty pretty unfortunate, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yeah, we'll have to uh for folks that are listening, uh, we'll have a link to your guide business and everything down in the show notes so that they're looking to come out that way, definitely link up with Noah. Um, but yeah, dude, it's we keep hearing this more and more, especially these northern fisheries. Like, I just don't understand why we want to get rid of this grass. We dealt with it and still dealing with it at KYUG. I'm sure you saw that. All the lovely crappy string grass that they decided is the one grass they want to keep, which is like makes no sense. It's the worst for your motor, and also fish hate it. Yeah, the worst part hated it. I like it makes no sense.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

When we were practicing, I like texted Casey Smith. I was like, is there like coontail or milfoil or anything in this joint? He's like, Not a chance, gone. Like just gone. I found one patch of it in like the worst place you could ever find. I'm like, there's not gonna be any bass here, like, but that was it.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Casey's Casey's an awesome dude, obviously, one of the best that we have in New York, and he's been one that's been trying to spearhead of like the movement of like let's at least get an explanation of why we're carpet bombing this lake because they're still spraying it right now, this year, and it's just like, yeah, what more is there even to get rid of? And it's so hard, dude. It's so it takes every ounce in me to when I leave the the water there, and there's a steward, and they're like, Oh, can I check it for grass? to not be like, Don't worry, you already killed it all. Like, there's nothing to check for. It takes every ounce to not be snarky about it. But it's uh, dude, it's so sad because like what you were talking about with Candlewood was a lot of our our finger lakes, yeah. There was the milfoil blooms everywhere, it was awesome. Yeah, I mean so many things.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Yeah, I mean, like those videos of like those bass masters of like Hackney flipping coontail, like down by the college, like out on a flat in 20 feet of water, like that's not even there's not even grass that can run out there anymore.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

Like, yeah, yeah. To to folks that are coming up that have uh, I mean, obviously Kyuga, the name has blown up the past couple years. Yeah, you're looking to come because I've had dude. If I had a dollar for how many DMs I've had asking me how the grass is on Cayuga, I could retire right now.

SPEAKER_02 13:24

Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Uh and I just keep it simple. I'm like, if you're looking to come up and grass fish, keep driving up to Champlain because just don't even bother.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Just don't even Champlain doesn't have grass like it used to, you know. I mean, even when I from when I started going there in like 2017 or 2018, like there's just not milfoil in there, even like there used to be. There's some hydrilla in there now. Like hydrilla seems to be taking the place. Like Connecticut, that's like a huge problem right now. We have our own strain of hydrilla, actually, um, that was dumped into the Connecticut River from an aquarium, and it's like the most invasive type of hydrilla you could ever imagine. So, like now they're like closing lakes because of it. Like some of our like one of my like sneakhole guide lakes, uh, that was just it was a great, like it was pretty private, but it was public but private at the same time. And like as soon as they got a whiff of like, oh, there's hydrilla like in the next lake over, like, done, never to go there again.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

So yeah. Yeah, I always I I tell people, like, especially around here, is if you find any grass, don't tell anybody, don't even mention it to the steward, don't say anything, because they catch wind and the the spray boats will be out the next day. Uh like on unfortunately, one of the guys that caught a freaking giant out of Cayuga mistook milfoil for hydrilla and mentioned it, and of course they went and carpet bombed it.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Of course.

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Uh yeah, go figure. But it dude, it's I hate to go down this rabbit hole because I I was going down it for a while, like a year or two ago. Uh and I don't think the DEC here is a huge fan of when we talk about it. Uh because I do they're all great people, uh, and I I know they're just doing their job. Oh my god, it drives me up a wall, bro. It's just like I remember one time I'll cap this rabbit hole with this story, and this is more of an uh a point for education, but I went to one of these stewards, and I I know they're not the professionals, they're just the one, they're the middleman, they're the messengers.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

This was like 2019, 2020 when the really the heavy spray kind of started. Yeah, and I I brought in two strands of milfoil, it was both milfoil, and I walked up to them afterwards. I'm like, hey, can you tell me which one's milfoil, which one's hydrilla? And they're like, Oh yeah, that's hydrilla. I'm like, they're both milfoil, right? And so that's where we're at.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

That's that kind of sums up uh I work like I work for in the wintertime. I work for uh like our DNR uh with like inland fisheries biologists, like doing all like electro fishing and all that kind of stuff. So I love I love listening to like your uh biology stuff because like I that's what I've done for the past like four years in the winter time. But uh like same thing, you know, like we I it's like a fine line sometimes because like they they kind of get it, like we don't want to spray, but it's like we're still like why are why are we giving permits out to like nuke these lakes? And there's just no reason to, you know.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Yeah, and you know what? At the end of the day, I am look at the end of the day, does grass need to be managed in certain fisheries? Sure, sure it does. Because like at the end of the day, people that are going out there to not fish to boat, they pay to be out there too. I'm not saying like it should be fishermen only, but right the states that are that can that recognize that, but also recognize the importance of angling and work with the anglers that bring them in there and communicate, right? I am all aboard that train. It's when states don't and they kind of leave you in the dark. It's like, okay, you guys are at least shooting yourselves in the foot by at least not filling us in. Right. Uh so it's that's yeah, we'll save that conversation for another. Yeah, that's a tough that's a tough one. I'll start going, yeah, I'll start going in the soapbox. Um but yeah, dude. So talking about flipping, because it's almost nostalgic. I feel like I have to go to a whole nother state to go flip in the summertime. Genuinely, me too.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Well, I literally do.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

It feels like it, bro. It sucks. Uh, but when it comes this time, you know, the dog day is the summer. Like flipping is some of the most fun you can have in the summertime. Like you look at guys on like Gunnersville and other fisheries that you know what when the post spawn hits, they're punching all summer. They're flipping grass all summer. Yeah, which is some of the most fun we can have bass fishing. What is walk us through like your full setup? Like, what's your go-to? If you know that you're going out to go flip millfoil, flip hydrola, whatever. What's the uh what's the standard go-to bait, line, rod, reel, all that jazz?

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Uh like in the north, like it was typically like we don't have like we wouldn't always get like mats of hydro or milk foil and stuff around here. So like it was pretty open. I was pretty big on like uh a lot of times, like I would use uh NRX 895, which even then was like a little, that's uh like it that's just a seven foot five uh heavy, um, which even then was like a little big. Like a lot of times I was using like a 7.5, 7.3, uh like medium heavy. And a lot of times you get away with like a half ounce. I'd usually like flipping milfoil. This was like in the morning, all the fish on candlewood, and I've even noticed it like on Champlain um and some other lakes where those fish would be like suspended in the grass. So I'd start like my mornings with like a half ounce because like they're not like matted up, like it's not matted up, they're just cruising through the grass. Um, so I would always like forever, I was huge on a half ounce with uh like 30 or 40 pound braid to like a short 17 or 20 pound leader. Um, I was never a straight braid guy. Um, I always did a leader, and then um a zoom speed craw was like my like my jam forever. Um, and then we kind of lost grasp before I got to like do other things, but it was always like a zoom speed craw, still to this day. Um now I flip the beast coast flipping delight like a pretty decent amount. Um, you could do some different things with that bait, so it's it's a is a great little bait. And I also flip like a gill bait a lot too, which we also made with Beast Coast, and I happen to have one right here. So this little sucker is definitely gonna be getting bit. Um, I helped design it, and it's kind of different than other gill baits. It's like this one's gonna be like made to like come through the grass a little bit better and not like as like blunt and bulky as some of the other ones. So that thing is uh that's a great little sneak for northern fish, even southern fish, but northern fish love to eat bluegills, so that thing is gonna be unreal.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Now, two things. First thing with that, are you going EWG or are you going flip and hook?

SPEAKER_02 20:06

I'm an EWG guy. Uh I've I I'll go flip and hook if it's like real I and I don't know why like I do this. I think it's just because it comes through the cover better, but like in Florida on Kissimmee, um, my on day one of the tournament, I my first ever punch fish in Florida was a 7-10 um in the tournament. And I caught that one on a straight shank. That one was on a straight shank, but that was my first ever punch fish in Florida.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

So that was pretty much that doesn't suck. No, it did not suck.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

I didn't even realize it was that big until like the mat I was fishing was like it look I didn't even to be honest with you, the first day of practice when I drove by it, I didn't even know there was water underneath it because there was like trees growing out of it, and I like drove by it and I watched the whole thing move in the wake, and I was like, Oh, there's water under there. And good thing I did that because that carried me to the top 10. That that mat.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

So yeah, because that was not an easy derb for you guys.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Not at all, not at all. We got cold, it was like perfect, got cold, all the fish got up underneath there. Um, that turned out that had to be like a two, like a two-ounce weight. I had to like flip it up 15 feet in the air just to get it to go through that mat. I don't even know how I got the 710 out, to be totally honest with you.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Yeah, dude, it was it was funny. We were talking about offline is uh we had that bass master character right after you were watching. I was watching the live as we're going down there, and you got guys out like Stephen Browning was out crankbait fishing, you got guys doing the trap thing. Of course, the trap thing ended up winning, but then they panned to you, and it's the one guy in a t shirt and shorts, and he's flipping Toulies and stuff. And I'm like, yeah, that's that guy's in the north, man. Uh but uh dude, the my second part to that, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but my gut told me, I'm like, this guy looks like a braid to Florida Lee. Kind of guy. Oh, yeah. And to add on to that, bro, if if you shaved the beard and kept the stash, you would be like the Seth fighter doppelganger that hit the gym.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

That's that's the point, dude. That's just two guys that like to flip braid deleter and milfoil, you know.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Yeah, dude. You got the hair for it, you got the stash, even almost the same freaking hair color, bro. I know. Oh, that's awesome, man.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

Um that was why I started flipping braid to leader more. Like, he gave me like he like honestly, like when I was a kid, like watching all his or younger watching all his videos, like a lot of them are at Cayuga flipping grass, and I was like, Oh, Seth's flipping braid deleter. He uses way longer of a leader than I do, it seems, but I'm a big braid deleter, never had it pop, so just use that.

SPEAKER_00 22:49

I I was waiting for you to come up with the craw tube as well, because none of you follow Minnesota.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

No, I'm not from I'm not from Minnesota. That seems to be a Minnesota thing.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

Dude, I tell you, I do love, I do love me at Crawtube, especially especially this time of year. Uh are you an FG guy too? No, I'm not.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

I should be. I should be, but I'm worried. Yeah, I'm not. I'm an Alberto knot guy.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

All right, we're in the same boat there. I I I did the FG for a while and I got so sick and tired of tying it, I just got away from it.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

Yeah, my tournament partner's really good at it. So, like, if we're like if I'm using like braid to a leader, like with a free rig, like hat like actually casting, or I need a longer leader, like I just hand him my rod and just say, Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

That might be the one knot, bro, where I trust somebody else than myself to tie it.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

Yeah, well, that's how I look at it. I was like, you know, if this breaks, it's your fault. So people are doing a good job.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

Yeah. That's awesome, dude. Um, I don't know if you mentioned it, but what pound braid do you go when you go braid to leader? Because I know there's a lot of people that are still looking towards doing leader to or braid to leader.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

Yeah, it's kind of crazy how many guys like aren't on that train. Like, I I go back and forth a lot. Like, I've noticed like throughout the like 15 years I've been bass fishing, I've gone from like when I was younger, I had no idea anyway, but really like the last 10, I've gone back and forth a lot from like straight fluoro to braid deleter to straight fluoro. Now I'm like pretty much back on the braid deleter deal. But um, if it's a casting rod, like 30 to 50 pound, you really like 30 pound up here is all you need. Um, like a 30 pound uh power proper uh power pro super slick braid. Yeah, um and then like 50 pound, even I'm using uh PowerPro Max Quattro, which is way thinner than like any other braid, but still really coarse, like it cuts the grass really good. Um, so I've been using that a lot as well. And then I just use uh forever I've used P-line like 100% fluorocarbon um for my leader. That's been like I could I would never use another fluorocarbon. Uh I've kind of gotten to that point. Um but that's always been like that's kind of my setup with it. And then I just tie that like personally, I tie that uh Alberto knot. Um, and if you're like flipping like shallow cover, like you're not casting real far, like really only need like a two-foot leader. Um I don't know, I don't know how much it makes a difference. I go back and forth. If I'm punching, punching like heavy, heavy cover, I kind of have to go straight braid, right? Um, but if it's just kind of like some typical like northern milfoil or even hydrilla, like I I recommend going to like braid to leader. Those fish, especially now, they're pretty smart. Um, you know, because there's so little grass, those fish got caught somewhere else before they got in that grass. So they they kind of know the deal and what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah. I was gonna say too, if it's a little bit dirtier water, will you switch to a straight braid or you still keep that leader?

SPEAKER_02 25:57

No, I still keep the leader. I'm all about confidence. Like the mental game, it like I'm all about the mental game in bass fishing, and uh, I just need the confidence that like I'm gonna get a bite.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

Dig it, dude. Uh now that you know the grass is going away in a bunch of these different fisheries, like, and this can relate to anybody. You don't have to be in the northeast to relate to this when it comes to flipping in the dog days. Like, now that the grass is going away, what's your move? Like on fisheries that might not have grass, beyond just hitting obvious you know, laydowns of things up shallow, like, do you just divert to something completely different or what's your move?

SPEAKER_02 26:34

Yeah, like on candlewood, we don't have a big, huge option. Champlain, I just go smallmouth fishing now. Um, or like I don't know if a quakey is the wrong answer to that, up shallow, but it seems like you throw that to one and they like to bite it. Um just like shallow cover, like fishing, like candlewood now um for me is like fishing a lot of stumps, uh, shallow stumps, and just like any piece of shallow cover when the fish are shallow. Um, but I've noticed like they just like on a lake that had grass, and like once the grass is like so far removed, like those fish just like they just leave it and they go out deeper and start getting on deeper cover. So it's a lot of um, it just turned into it's kind of what made me pretty good with scope now. Like it just turned into like scope and like deeper cover and shallower cover, um, things like that. And then like on Champlain, just I just go smallmouth fishing. Those fish have gotten so big um with warmer winters and they've gotten the LY population there seems to like really taken off. So I just I just go smallmouth fishing up there because um the largemouth, unless you spend a bunch of time to find the little patches of grass, it's it's pretty tough to do like in a couple days' time.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Yeah, yeah, and a lot of people they they think that you know this time of year in the summer that they have to go deep, and not that it's doesn't work because it certainly does, uh, but they almost think that shallow is completely written off. Yeah. Uh and so like when you go to a new fishery or you know, a fishery that's changed, maybe you haven't been there in a little bit, what's your process of trying to find fish in the dog days of summer? Are you completely writing off shallow, or what kind of do you start somewhere and then work deep, or vice versa?

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Um for me, it depends on like before I go, always look at like for Champlain, for example. Like if it's really, really hot, um I'm gonna like look and see how hot, like what the water level's at. Because if the water is like lower, um, I'm just not gonna fit try to fish shallow. Like, there's always fish to be caught shallow, like especially on northern lakes or any lake in the country. Like, there's always fish shallow, but a lot of times, like you're fishing for like one fish here, one fish there. Um, you're not fishing for a population of fish, and I'm big about a population. Like, I I'll do everything I can. I'm gonna start offshore first. Um, even if offshore is five feet of water, uh I'm gonna fish offshore first. Um, because that's where those fish could slide the deeper water easier, come up, um, and just kind of do what they need to do. Um, and you have way better of a chance, like in my opinion, have way better of a chance of finding um some kind of like basically like special thing going on. We're up shallow, like if you're going up and practicing for a tournament, like don't hook those fish in the dog days of summer because that's the one fish that's there, you know. So, like you the day before, like I even see with myself sometimes or like buddies, they're like, Oh, yesterday I caught like all these big ones, and you know, I was just fishing like shallow cover, and it was like, Well, yeah, you're catching, you're not fishing for a group of fish. Yeah, you're just catching resident fish. Where um I always largemouth or smallmouth, um, I want to go find offshore fish. Um, they're usually a little bit more reliable too. They're like if you have an offshore grass patch and like let's say like 10 feet or an offshore rock pile surrounded by grass um for largemouth, odds are those fish aren't gonna be as affected unless it like randomly gets muddy or something, um or like really windy. That's what happened at Cayuga. I like Cayuga is fishing offshore grass um as you would this time of year, but it was still only like four or five feet of water. The only problem is that it blew so hard and there was white caps rolling over the top of it, and the fish just like immediately stopped, like shut down, stopped biting.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

Yeah, that doesn't help. No, not at all. Uh with that, too. There was there was one thing I heard from Brian Thrift. And Thrift is one of those guys like him, Justin Lucas, that I really idolized and kind of like not modeled growing up, but like really studied a lot growing up. I remember one of the things Thrift would say is that you know, that seven to twelve foot range is one of the most overlooked ranges when it comes to an offshore thing, where it's people think some are you know offshore. I gotta go to 20, I gotta go to 30, you know, and go find these fish. Do you agree with that? And that that seven to twelve range is very overlooked still.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Yeah, that like call it like mid-depth offshore range is like heavily like overlooked, I feel like even for smallmouth, like a lot of guys just want to immediately go to like the big like suspender schools and stuff like that. But some of the biggest smallmouth live in like I would say like 10 to 15 feet, like sometimes seven, but really like that 10 to 15 foot range for like big smallmouth, like that's where a lot of the like the giants are. Like they want to be, they're way tougher to catch and like they're way smarter, but that's where like the really, really big fish live. And a lot of guys, like, if you could figure out, figure that out and like how to catch those fish, like your your average smallmouth is way bigger, even largemouth too. Um, we don't have like a ton of like deep largemouth anyway, like 20 like 20 plus feet, at least where I fish. Um, but that mid-depth range, I think it's like really, really, really overlooked.

SPEAKER_00 32:12

Yeah, why why do you think it's overlooked?

SPEAKER_02 32:15

Um, I think a lot of people just picture like, oh, I have to go fish offshore, and like they don't know what that means exactly. Like they think it's you know, 15 to 25 feet or 30 feet, where in reality, you know, a lot of offshore places could be four feet, five feet, and um, especially if you have grass, like you especially places like Champlain, um, and down south too, you'll see it a lot. Like, I remember I did terrible like on Kentucky Lake and some of these like TVA lakes. Like a lot of I like I thought, for example, like the first couple years I went to Kentucky Lake for high school national championships when I was younger. It was like, oh, these guys you gotta fish offshore, and it's just looking for like 15, the 25, 35 feet. And in reality, a lot of times I should have been fishing, you know, like 10 to 15, or even five to fifteen. Um, that's where a lot of those like big schools would get, especially like in the morning time. Um, those fish would be significantly shallower than we thought they were gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

Yeah, and I'd love that you say that because I feel like I I was in the same boat where it's like, okay, I gotta go like major switch, I gotta go look super deep now. Where reality, like when you look at the spawning ground, what is the first stopping point outside of it? Yeah, because a lot of times these bigger fish, dude, they're they're lazy in nature, they don't want to move, so it's like when they get out there, they're like, Okay, so I got a little more water. And like I don't need to go deeper, but people kind of overlook that.

SPEAKER_02 33:46

Yeah, that's that kind of goes back to like my whole like thought process of like the puzzle or however you want to word it, like how how I've always looked at bass fishing, like I always like take the spawn as like my baseline, right? Like you know where they spawn, it's the easiest thing to figure out, and from there you could just jump from the spawn, and then where were they before that? Where were they before that? And then, like, you go into winter mode, and then it's the same thing, like right after that. Where do they go? They're not swimming out to like this offshore structure, like out in the middle of the lake first. They're going to the next available piece of cover. So you usually like if they spawn on like a big gravel point, just go look at the end of that point and see if there's stumps. And like the end of that point might only be you know eight to ten feet, but that's where you're gonna have schools of like right now, for example, on Candlewood, like you do that right now. There's a couple places that have schools of bass that are like 50 to 60 fish. They're really tough to get to bite um because they're post-spawn and just like out there hanging out, it's kind of become like a little veneer. Um, but yeah, exactly. You can point a live scope at them and see right where they are, you know. I mean, yeah, they'll they'll go from there, and you know, you check the offshore, like the really offshore stuff right now, and they're just not there yet. Um, but they will be, you know, I think after this heat wave, like you kind of could time it by the heat wave and like the moon a little bit, and after this, they'll like really get out there. But you see the same thing, you know, with Champlain, like some of the movements there of fish, like you know, how they like transition like in the north end of the lake. Like you would see a ton of tournaments won, like up in like the Hog Island area, like for years, like, and that's all like those were scope fish, like 15 to 18 feet, like Zaldane in like a Toyota series or in an elite tournament in like 2021. Like, there's just all those bass, those fish were just all like cycling through that area um up there on this big, giant, shallow flat, and like they're not out in like the inland sea yet. Like a lot of guys are looking out there, and those fish just weren't there yet. Um, they they'll migrate out, and then you know, as it gets hot, like up there, it stays like cold enough where August is really like the dog days, and then you watch Kyoya, you know, a couple years later like wreck them out on the islands and stuff like that, and that's or basically the whole top 50 by the end of the tournament with out there, you know, and those fish aren't out there, and you there's some out there, of course, but you know, those that giant mass of fish wasn't out there then, you know. That takes yeah, they they all cycle through, you know, they go from spawning to the next piece and then they keep going out.

SPEAKER_00 36:27

Yeah, it's not overnight.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

There's a lot to yeah, that has a lot to do with bait too, like owlwives. Um, a lot of guys don't want to like pay attention to like what bait does, but that's probably the most important part of it. Like the owlwives uh up in the north, like go to Cayuga right now, go to Champlain right now, Candlewood, any place around here, like those fish, um, those owlwives are spawning, and it keeps the fit they spawn up on the grass, they spawn just like shad spawn down south, and that those fish are staying up in that region. And once the owlwives pull out, those fish go out. They they're totally dictated. A bass in the north is totally dictated dictated by what an owlwive does, unless you have a goby lake, of course.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Yeah. I I feel like, and feel free to disagree with me here. Like, especially when you get into the springtime, your priority is going to find fish, is spawning area, food, then cover.

SPEAKER_02 37:24

Yeah, pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty much spawning area, food, and then like what kind of covers around there. Um, but like you you just want to find them like I would say food is almost like the most important. Like before. Like, if there's not like that's early spring too, but um, if I could find like where there's food, I don't care what kind of cover is there, like there's gonna be ass there, you know.

SPEAKER_00 37:56

Yeah. Well dude. As we start wrapping this sucker up, uh two questions left for you. And the one is this time of year can be an amazing time of year. It can also be the most deceiving because you get there, so many things can look good and you can struggle. What do you think is one of the biggest mistakes that people make this time of year when they're trying to catch a fish in the dog days?

SPEAKER_02 38:24

Um I think a lot of guys like wanna just I think a lot of guys just wanna fish like everything that's in front of them. Um and I don't always think that like they want to visually fish a lot of targets. And I don't always think that's like the case. I think guys really gotta like spend some time and find um like some like some more like hidden pieces of grass because fish will get in places that um like you would never think. Like even like the Potomac River, for example, like everything looks great. And I think if you just spend a little time and figure out like where the like what's the main forage the fish are fish like eating, um, like is it bluegills, is it owlwives, is it gobies? And gobies is kind of tough, but like bluegills and owlwives, you could figure out like what like where those are and then fish the cup, like find where those are first, and then go fish for and then find the fish. I think a lot of guys try to do it backwards. A lot of guys try and try just try to find the fish, and then you kind of hurt yourself because you once they like once the bait moves, the fish move with it, and you have no like a lot of guys like I I just don't know where my my fish went. My fish left, and like, well, it's because the bait left. So I always say if you could find this time of year, if you could find the bait first and then the fish, way better off. Um, find like the area of the lake that just has the most going on. Like if you're fishing a mat, find where there's bluegills popping a mat or bluegills in the grass or Lwives in the grass, and then find the patch of grass or like the hard spot or something around there that's holding the fish. Because if you just find that hard spot, that's great. It might work out, but it also may sting you because you you kind of didn't really figure it out where the like what the fish were doing, like what the why the fish were there.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

Yeah, just because you landed on them doesn't mean they're gonna stay.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Yeah, exactly. It's like kind of like I always ask like the process I go through, like every time I show up to a lake, is I just asked myself, like, what, where, and why? Like, what are they on? Like, where are they and like what are they doing? And then once I caught one, like, why did I catch that fish? Yeah, then that's kind of just led me to the bait idea, um, and finding like the forage fish first before I find um it's a little bit longer of a process, I feel like it's way easier to just pull up on them and be like, Oh yeah, they're just right here. But and in the in like the grand scheme of things, it's way more effective, like successful wise long term.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Yeah, I was talking to a guy the other day, and I said this time of year, the most important thing is gonna be food, and then from there you can kind of break it down into there's two different fish in my mind. There's gonna be your fish that I call the turbo missiles that are just going to follow those fish and not stop swimming all day long. And there's fish that are gonna be where the bait is, but they're gonna use the cover because they're lazy and they want the bait to come to them.

SPEAKER_02 41:32

Yeah, and those those cover fish are the hardest ones to catch, too. Like, um, a lot of guys, like especially with scope now, because you could just see them. So, A, they get tart they get fished for a lot more, but they're usually really big ones, of course, but they're also way, way, way more difficult to catch, in my opinion. Um, so I I do like going and like understanding where the bait's going and why the bait's going, because I want to go fish for their like as you said, the turbo missiles. Like I want, I want to go catch those ones. They're out there with a purpose, you know.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They have no hesitation. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:09

The ones that the ones that are out, that's what I always say. Like, you could look at all the fish you want up on a piece of structure, but like they're not there to feed, they're there to just hang out. Like, yeah, you point, like you go find a fish, like whether it's a largemouth or a smallmouth, like I want the one that's away from the cover a little bit, or you know, not on like the big main piece of cover. I want one that's hanging out somewhere else because that's the fish that's gonna bite.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Yeah, if they're on that bait, they're gonna eat all day long. If they're on that cover, it's either you're gonna catch one and then struggle, if at all, or it's gonna be super window based.

SPEAKER_02 42:43

Yes, exactly. Very window based.

SPEAKER_00 42:45

Yeah. Well, dude, this has been awesome. Uh, appreciate your your time and jumping on here. And uh, it sounds like you've done a little bit of prep for our last question, so I'm very curious. You know, high expectations for this one.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

I wouldn't I dude, I thought about it so much, and it's still I still don't I wouldn't have high expectations because I have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Well, we're throwing you to the fire, anyways. And uh that's our our last question for everybody that's new on this show is if you can invite three people to a dinner with you know steak and a beer, could be alive a thousand years ago, alive today, doesn't have to be fishing. What three people are you gonna invite?

SPEAKER_02 43:20

Um, I'm gonna be boring and go three fishing people. Um, but it's and they're like pretty obvious ones, but not like I don't want to talk fishing with them. I want to talk, I it would be Kevin Van Damme, Wheeler, and Kyle Welcher. Um and all three of them, I want to know about their mental game. Um, I want to like really like dive into that and like like Kevin talking about like how he used to like not catch a bass until two o'clock on like the final day or like the second day of a tournament, so people didn't watch him and beat up his fish and like all that stuff. And Wheelers obviously got something. Like that's not just like you know, you're just a good like you have some crazy mental side figured out, like especially with the way MLF runs their tournaments and stuff. He's yeah, um, I want to know that. And then Welcher is uh, you know, that's what he's kind of known for, is his mental game. Yeah, exactly. I want to know all about that. And then with Kevin and like with Kevin and Jacob and Kyle too, but like really Kevin, like the you know, like the business side of fishing, like they've they've that they've got that figured out too. It helps when you win as much as the two of them, but um, they've also got that figured out. But really, it would be to like talk about the mental side of fishing with them and um understand like their thought process, like going to a lake once they get there during the tournament, during the day, like what's going through their mind, you know.

SPEAKER_00 44:49

Yeah, dude. I mean, you got a guy who helps shape an entire what tournament fishing is now in regards to strategy and starting new trends. You got a guy that is likely, if not, the greatest tournament fisherman by a strategy standpoint in the world, or maybe all time. And then you got a guy who lives on an island when it comes to his own mentality and how he thinks of things. Uh, that it's that, yeah. I mean, if you're gonna have a three, I'd say would be even cooler is you throw the fourth in there with Pollinic, the way he thinks about things too. And then you got probably the four greatest minds when it comes to tournament fishing from a strategy and just approach standpoint that you'd ever have in all of bass fishing.

SPEAKER_02 45:31

Yeah, I was gonna say Pollinic, but I got to talk to him a little bit at the classic, which was super cool. Um great dude. Yeah, it was it was awesome.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Heck yeah, man. Well, dude, uh it exceeded expectations. We're we're good there. We're good there. We're approved. Uh, but man, thank you so much for taking the time out. Definitely not gonna be the last time we get you on here. And uh, bro, holler at me when you're over here in New York, man. If you need something, definitely will.

SPEAKER_02 45:56

Thanks, dude.

SPEAKER_00 45:57

All right, and that is gonna do it for today's show. Appreciate you guys taking time out of your day to tune in. This one, like I said in every intro. Hopefully, you guys learn something new from this one. Not the last time we're gonna be having Noah on this show and uh definitely potentially having him on some real biology segments where we get him and one of the state agents from where he's at um in the Connecticut area to talk some Connecticut, New Hampshire, or some Northeast stuff on the real biology and kind of give you guys an angler and agent POV on all of that as we dive in with Mr. Steven Barden. When uh Steve is has a crazy schedule, so we're trying to get some more new real biology episodes out for you guys to know you love them. Um, but we'll have some of that new content coming your way here soon. But appreciate Noah for taking the time out. If you're looking to go up and fish Candlewood, fish that neck of the woods. Uh the link for Noah's guide business is down below. Give him a follow on social, reach out to him, uh link up with a trip, and you're gonna have a great freaking time. But like I said, guys, thank you so much for taking the time out. A little bonus episode for you guys. We've been ripping out so much content that I felt like we just need to put out multiple episodes for you guys beyond just the standard schedule and give you guys some more bass and knowledge to be learned from while you're out fishing this summer. So, guys, appreciate it. Like, subscribe if you're watching on YouTube. Please leave us a rating interview if you're listening on podcasts. You guys are amazing. We'll see y'all on the next one.