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Diaries of a Lodge Owner
In 2009, sheet metal mechanic, Steve Niedzwiecki, turned his passions into reality using steadfast belief in himself and his vision by investing everything in a once-obscure run-down Canadian fishing lodge.
After ten years, the now-former lodge owner and co-host of The Fish'n Canada Show is here to share stories of inspiration, relationships and the many struggles that turned his monumental gamble into one of the most legendary lodges in the country.
From anglers to entrepreneurs, athletes to conservationists; you never know who is going to stop by the lodge.
Diaries of a Lodge Owner
Episode 73: Jamie Bruce's Journey from Canada to Bassmaster Glory
Join us as we welcome Jamie Bruce, a pioneering figure in the world of bass fishing, who takes us on a remarkable journey from his humble beginnings in Dryden, Canada, to the prestigious US Bassmasters tournaments. Jamie shares how his early passion for fishing evolved into a competitive career, driven by his innovative approach to tackle design and his guiding work. From the creation of groundbreaking products like the Clean Jig and Smeltnator Jig Head to his resilience in facing the challenges of professional tournament fishing, Jamie's story is an inspiring tale of following one's dreams while balancing the demands of family life.
In our conversation, we explore the competitive fishing scene and the steep learning curve it presents. Jamie opens up about the intuitive approach required to thrive amidst the vast amount of information available to today's anglers, and how his time spent on the water has honed his skills. With personal anecdotes from his experiences at events like Cherokee Lake, he sheds light on the dedication and commitment necessary to succeed in this demanding sport, as well as the camaraderie and community that make it all worthwhile.
Our discussion also touches on the relentless travel and the chaos it brings, as Jamie recounts the thrilling yet exhausting aspects of tournament life. From unexpected challenges on the road to the joy of welcoming a new family member, Jamie's journey is filled with both triumphs and trials. As a podcast host himself, he reflects on the importance of storytelling and connection within the fishing community, and his efforts to create a platform where diverse voices and experiences can be shared. Join us for an engaging episode that highlights the passion, innovation, and personal growth that define Jamie Bruce's extraordinary career.
This episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner is brought to you by Nordic Point Lodge a luxury outdoor experience with five-star service.
Speaker 2:I was like I want to throw my swim jig wherever I want to throw it. I want to throw my swim coat where I can throw a frog. That was never an option before. So I just did some tinkering, just pulled out the bench like that night, and came out with this gaudy, you know swim jig that doesn't get hung up, and yeah, for sure as shit. I brought it out there the next day and caught a bunch of fish on it, and then it just like any tackle, it just evolves, and then you just find little tweaks to make it better and then eventually, you know, produced it this week on the outdoor journal radio podcast networks diaries of a lodge owner stories of the north.
Speaker 1:We sit down with this tackle innovator and co-owner of bt fishing, awesome family man, host of the Get the Net Fishing and Outdoors podcast and self-made bass tournament angler who kills it in this country and now has set his sights on the highest level in the world the US Bassmasters, where in just 14 tournaments he's been in the money nine times, with three third-place finishes and five in the top ten Folks.
Speaker 1:The start of this career is packed with promise and it is now our pleasure to introduce to all of you Jamie Bruce On this show. We dig into Jamie's roots and explore his love for fishing, how he took his passion to the next level, working at a lodge as a guide, then guiding on his own, and ultimately has honed his craft to compete at the highest level as a professional tournament angler. At the highest level as a professional tournament angler. And, most importantly, what does the balance between that and family look like. So if you've ever wondered what it takes to follow your dreams, set and achieve goals and understand if you can stay there, this is a great one for you. Here's our conversation with Jamie Bruce.
Speaker 3:Well, thanks for coming out today, jamie. We appreciate having you here. You know Jamie is a. You know we've got to know each other over the last couple of years here a little bit and through business, and you know I think I'm really excited to have you on the show today to get your story on the BT tackle end of things.
Speaker 3:You know you're an innovator, you're a bass pro to the point where you know you can roll with the big dogs in the world as far as I'm concerned and you've proven it over and over and you have a great story. You know that I've only gotten to hear. You know I've known Brian for a lot longer than you and you know he's only in the fishing world but Brian's always been great to me and I love him as a human and he always spoke of you and you know we ended up connecting through through your passion of bass fishing and it brought us together through Nordic and you know the whole story is kind of intriguing to us and I think it's a connection. So welcome to the show. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Jamie, jamie, welcome, welcome and welcome to all of the Diaries guests tuning in. It's really exciting to have Jamie Bruce on with us and it's an honor really, and I'm excited to learn who you are and where you come from and where you're at today. So, yeah, welcome, and Willie, take it from here. That was a wonderful opening and let's get to know Jamie.
Speaker 3:Yeah, bruce, let's start from the start of you. What's the Jamie? I know you grew up in the Dryden area, I know that, but I don't know your story. Like you went to school there and then you moved over to Kenora. Can you just walk us through how your childhood and growing up, how you're fishing life, and take us from there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, growing up how you and your fishing life, and take us from there. Yeah, oh, I was born in kenora and and spent uh most of my adolescence in uh in dryden and then moved back here and I moved kicking and screaming because I, you know, I thought dryden had the best fishing and um was like hardcore, onto the eater wall I scene. That's that's what we all no interest in. Big ones, they just kind of show up. We were just, you know, just meat hunting. There's no, no way around it. But I came to lake of the woods and uh got introduced to to bass fishing. There's no largemouth bass in the dryden area and this is the first place I've ever seen them. And yeah just kind of went hard at it and had no real reason to at all, like I wasn't prepping for a career in bass fishing, I wasn't tournament fishing at the time, I just went in all conditions and went every day and went no matter what.
Speaker 3:And this is like when you were a kid, kid.
Speaker 2:Well, like I moved back to Kenora when I was like 15. So I was like I'd take my mom's minivan up over Treaty Island and like, for those of you that don't know, At 15. Well, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was driving when I was 15 too, but I was going to a farm.
Speaker 2:We always had a buddy that was like 16 or 17. You know we made her legal enough, um, oh for sure. Yeah, I remember running her minivan up over treaty island, which is like pretty treacherous island, uh, that accesses the rest of lake of the woods, and I didn't even know it existed. I was just fishing the first two miles of ice road. You know, we didn't have like google maps or anything back then. It was just, oh, there's, there's an ice road, get fishing. And uh, I remember ran over that, that island in the van and finally got over and was just like, oh my god, like the keys to heaven, 75 kill me. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So I mean, like ice fishing is kind of where I started, because everything was so much more accessible. All you needed was like a beater car and, uh, and a little bit of willpower and you could just kind of get, you know, close to some unreal lakes and uh, and then I got, like I said, I got onto the large mall scene around canora and just just never really stopped, like the weather or species or any of that season, what, whether we're ice fishing or not, it just didn't matter. I always went hard. And then, uh, I started fishing tournaments, like in the bronzeback classic was the first one I've ever fished and that's a great tournament.
Speaker 2:Now, 125 boats and uh, how many people were in it back then when you first started brucey I think the first one was only like 70 or 80 and that's the only one they've ever had that hasn't been, uh, completely full and a lot, you know, and it's been going on for probably 50, I think 15 years now. Um, wow, but when I started I had a buddy, rob cavanaugh, and his dad hooked us up with this big, um shiny boat to use and and, uh, we just burned a shitload of gas like I had no idea how much fuel a 200 horse was, a 200 horse block max, and I had no idea how much fuel those would use. But, um, anyway, we, we had single digits, we had nine pounds the first day and 10 pounds the second day and probably got like in the bottom 15 of the whole tournament and like I didn't care at all, I, you know it was like this is awesome. And then, uh, just that was the start. And then did kbi, maybe a year later, which was like way out, punting my coverage at the time. Um, you know, I had no business being there. I didn't grow up tournament fishing, uh.
Speaker 2:But Brian needed a partner and he just heard I was a hardcore angler from Canara and we had met when I was going to school in Winnipeg, we both were and uh, we just kind of popped into the fire and, uh, somehow we got a check, we got 30th out of 150 in the first kbi we ever fished and that was just like a lift of fire. You know, then I had a bass boat the next year and just, oh yeah, I had had something to focus all the, all the efforts on, where before I was just fishing to fish and and then I got, you know, got honed in a little bit and uh, just went full, full nuts on it, like I still am. You know, it's most of what I think about so Bri, you knew Bri from school.
Speaker 3:You actually didn't meet him through fishing originally then yeah, yeah, and we were both.
Speaker 2:He was the first person I met like that was super hardcore, like as hardcore as I was into fishing, yeah, and he was. He was way further along in the tournament game like he had fished with uh, with some older guys, in the fort uh bass tournament and had fished lake despair and he had already been fishing tournaments for three or four years and and then you know, and it was just kind of there weren't that many people around our age that were into tournaments at the time. It's not like how it is now. So, yeah, we just kind of hit it off and went we'd go hard all summer at it.
Speaker 1:Awesome. One of the things that you said, jamie, that really piqued my interest is when you were younger, and probably to this day. You fished every day rain, shine, cold, hot. It didn't matter to you, you were hardcore. Now, obviously, when you do that, you learn so much about the species that you're targeting, and my question is what are some of the most significant things that you learned by fishing all of those different situations, and how do you apply that to patterning your fish today?
Speaker 2:And that's a serious question yeah.
Speaker 1:It's so interesting to me because and I'll tell you the genesis of that question I mentioned I'm going musky fishing here in about four and a half hours for a week and we have been doing this trip now. Wow, I own the lodge on the Upper French River where I'm going French River where I'm going and I had a ton of guides that worked for me back then and guests that were constantly feeding me information. So I ended up at the end I didn't do a whole lot of fishing when I owned the place, but I ended up getting a lot of information. And I go with one of my former guides, pat Tryon, and Pat is very technical and for the last six years we've been going up there and doing this trip and working on building maps and patterning the movements of these fish and the food and everything else fish and the food and everything else. So it's just a very interesting thing when you had mentioned that you fished.
Speaker 1:Every different scenario and how I see it would make you such a better angler, because one of the things that we constantly struggle with well, it's not we. Pat's very good and he keeps notes on every day he goes fishing Like I mean, he's got, he's got a, a log that goes back, you know, 12 or 14 years, because I couldn't remember it. But like I mean, I get out on the water and then you know you're looking around and you're trying to pattern and the weather is always so difficult you know you get an east wind one day and this and that, so what really the question is, how did that? What are the things that you kind of look for in weather for patterning those bass?
Speaker 2:Well, you covered a lot there. Uh, well, you covered a lot there. Uh, I'm gonna start with with back in the day and all the different fishing scenarios. And you mentioned information. Uh, I was on the other end of that spectrum. It was no information at all, you know, until I got plugged into the tournament scene with brian and you know, later in life, when I was 18 or 19 or so, um, it was just trial by fire.
Speaker 2:I, you know, um, my, my dad wasn't like a tournament guy or anything like that. I didn't have a bunch of buddies, knew everything was going on, so it was just like a full lack of information and had to learn so much in such a short period of time to to be able to, you know, break down a body of water that I don't even know what kind of fish is in it. And you know, I didn't have electronics when I started ice fishing and and breaking down these lakes and that just kind of it just gave you a vibe for, uh, feeling out an area and just, I think that's where some of the natural kind of ability comes from. Um, yeah, and that's what helps. When you know the bass master opens is the absolute pinnacle of information. Uh, that that's what you're competing against. Uh, pre-practicing, you know, guys will go before the tournament cutoffs and literally live at these lakes for a month or two months at a time, learn every single detail.
Speaker 2:They're pre-fishing that easy yeah, that's, that's what you're, that's what you're up against. Uh, it goes further than that to to hiring guides. It's legal too. Uh, you can hire guides really in pre-practice. Um, you can obtain information any any means possible, whether that's buying it or or just talking to people or having a really big network.
Speaker 3:Um so, is that actually a thing, brucey? Will people buy, like buy gps points and buy shit, are you?
Speaker 1:serious sure oh, I did not know that at that level, I did not know that when we were at the um the pan am uh tournament this year, shooting it in nova scotia. Um, I heard somebody talking and I forget the name of the angler uh, that's fishing down in the states. But um, that's a thing I couldn't believe it. But they, they're it, but they're buying all of the waypoints from people on these lakes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's lawful and that's the rules. And just feeling it out from there, where, if you're dependent on information and you're not the best at gathering it, or maybe you didn't get the best stuff, then you're you're going to have a terrible time. Yeah, I have a short way of answering that. You're gonna have a terrible time. Um, yeah, I have a short way of answering that. Um, but as far as weather patterns and things like that go, um, I I don't care about the weather at all like there's.
Speaker 2:When I first started tournament fishing, I saw like a lot of doom and gloom, like if it was, if it was in july and it was, you know, just above zero. Or the winds, you know, like a KBI. This year there was like a 70 K wind on the first day and and the, the air temperature just plummeted. Like it was crazy conditions here. Everyone's hardly going to take anything, no one's going to catch a limit, and I heard it all the time when, when I was young. And it doesn't matter, when you show up to the, to the scales, at the end of the day you're always surprised at how well they did. When you show up to the, to the scales, at the end of the day, you're always surprised at how well they did um. Yeah, well, you just, and and you know. Another thing was I did a year guiding up north um, where we fished every single day, and you know I was not brucey that was that uh delaney lake lodge on the english river system.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, okay so that's.
Speaker 2:That's really where I saw like, okay, you're fishing every day, you need shore lunch every day and some days were challenging, but no matter what, especially where we live, there's always biting fish and you just have to figure it out on the day, like I don't pull out the you know a million different details and pull on on past information, it's just feeling it out on that day. They'll bite every day, no matter what. But and just as you see it, enough you start to. It just starts to. You know, make your senses go off when you see something that you've run across before.
Speaker 1:That's just time on the water, that yeah so become second yeah there's nothing like time on the water right yeah, that's what they tell me.
Speaker 2:I don't have any of it anymore, but I used to oh yeah, a little bambino yeah yeah, oh yeah yeah, we're turning it now, and if it's a bass master tournament I'll get a couple. You know, I'll get the full pre-fish, but if it's a local one, it's pretty much just showing up. So that's uh, but I've got enough time that it's, you know, not as scary yeah.
Speaker 1:So listen, jamie, um, I owned a lodge, uh Will uh owns a lodge, uh, in Nordic. I'm interested to know what was your year at Delaney Lake Lodge guiding like? Did you enjoy it? How did the guides work? I'm always interested to know. I know how I run my guides, but I'm always interested to know how your experience as a guide working at a lodge was. Did you actually live on site?
Speaker 2:yeah, so we were. It's a fly-in lodge that you could actually access through, uh, by, by vehicle, and then portage, and then another portage. It's uh, it's up a double port. Yeah, so it's, it's a quick flight, but, um, that's how we'd access it and, uh, it was a wild one to start at because, uh, the head guide there at the time, chris manley, he owns it still. Um, he was a head guide and he had bought it and, uh, and they're still operating it and it's like being up there in the scenario they have. It's pretty pretty much twice the work as a lot of lodges I've seen, because you know every skiffs run it across the lake, unload everything into utvs and golf carts, bring it over the portage, which is only about a mile long, unload it all into your um guide boat and then go back, get all the guests and then all their gear and then go fishing for the day and do the same thing at the end of the day. So it was just like it was, oh my God.
Speaker 1:So where was the lodge? Like was the lodge at the end of the partage.
Speaker 2:The lodge was on Delaney Lake, across the lake, and you did all your fishing on a different lake.
Speaker 3:You fished on Tide Lake, wouldn't you? So it was amazing, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we'd access that every day because that's, you know, that's where it's loaded with walleye delaney's good for lake. But it's just a small lake. So, um, but yeah, it was. It was this huge river system. We'd cover about 30 miles of it every day and uh, one of the old guides brought me up, you know, we ran a 50 horse the 50 minutes or whatever we'd cover in a little outfitter and uh, did one run and then he's just like all right, how about? Or you're good to go, and I'm like I'm the worst leader you'll ever meet, if you know, I'm just not, so that was
Speaker 2:your training. Yeah, so like two days, in the first day I made it because there were enough boats like making it up, and the second day I, uh, I crushed a rock and and ripped the skeg off and like it was embarrassing, but it was a cool place, it wasn't. Walleye fishing was really good, but it wasn't. It wasn't like how some of the small lake fly-ins are, like you still had to know what was going on. You had to read the current scenes and and things would change. And then there were bass and, um, great big pike up there and yeah, it taught me a lot and pike fishing is really good.
Speaker 2:I heard yeah yeah, we'd catch you know plenty, plenty over 40 inches every week and it was uh, it was a great place to learn. It was a like to learn all the river sub lakes is kind of you know I, I pull on that experience a lot. Even learn it was a like to learn all the rivers sub lakes is kind of you know I, I pull on that experience a lot, even though it was just for a year yeah, yeah, very cool, I never want to lodge after being there, because it was just like anything that could go wrong did go wrong and they, they have all nice equipment.
Speaker 2:They'd change it out regularly. You know generators and everything like that and it was all like pretty new equipment. And uh, yeah, there were. There was a fire one night. There was just no way stuff would just break and it didn't. You know, it was just so remote that it was like not an easy fix and I'd see the head guide and we'd all just be running around like crazy. And yeah, it was something else. But I remember one.
Speaker 2:So you'd have like a chore every night kind of thing like a special assignment. One person would be on like after you'd guide and after you'd have dinner the guides would split up the duties. So one was one of the duties was dock duty and you'd have, you'd go down there in the evening. Uh, if the guests wanted to take the 15 horses out on their own, they could. It's just a small lake, it was whatever. So you set them up and uh, they'd get. I mean, we're up north, so it wasn't getting.
Speaker 2:In july it wasn't getting dark till like 11 o'clock, you know, you could be on the water light. Still, there was one. I was so tired because you got to wake up at four. Um, it's 11. I'm just like, oh, hurry up and get back. Like there was one boat left out like okay, they're not coming, I gotta go find these idiots.
Speaker 2:So I drive across the lake. I'm like okay, there they are. And I'm pulling up to him and the guy yells go back and get a bigger net. He's like we got a giant on a state record or whatever. I'm like what the hell is going on here? It's almost dark now, I can just barely see them.
Speaker 2:And I look, the guy's rods bent. I'm like, okay, he's not snagged, he's not in the prop. And then, like the rod is moving. I was like he's got a fish on there, um, and then I looked over and there was a marker buoy that was placed by the. You know the lodge would put them out to like mark humps. So if you could just wheel up before gps or anything. And uh, they had caught pike and it wrapped around the marker buoy which was like it had extra weights on it like a cinder block or something. Yeah, and this guy had this pike wrapped in this line and he'd feel the fish kicking as he's trying to reel in a cinder block so he like thought he had a 10-foot sturgeon on. I was so pissed.
Speaker 1:Oh no, I can sympathize with those guys, though.
Speaker 1:I remember actually, uh, your last guest on your podcast, uh, um, the first year, the fishing canada crew come up to show the air to shoot a show it was my first season and mike miller and pete bowman uh come up and, uh, I was out with, not in their boat shooting, but I was out showing them where to go and and everything up. And I was out with, not in their boat shooting, but I was out showing them where to go and everything else, and I was fishing. I've told this story before, but I ended up being very, very convinced that I had a huge fish, on to the point where I got on the walkie and called them and their crew over and it turned out to be a log. Oh yeah, no, and you know, I was so convinced it was a fish. When Mike asked me next time we're talking to him he said are you sure that's a fish? And I looked at him. I said, mike, I don't know what a goddamn fish feels like and this is a goddamn fish.
Speaker 1:And it was a stick. Oh, I can't believe. I'm asking. Oh fuck, he looked at me, both him and Bowman. They're like oh yeah, and it's wicky. You know what a fish feels like, don't you? Oh yeah, it's wiki. You know what a fish feels like, don't you?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, it was an embarrassing moment for me, but it was a wonderful, wonderful memory.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's gonna be a tough one to live. Oh yeah, well, I hey, I I'm happy it happened. It's uh, it, uh. It makes for a great story every once in a while, but um, yeah, yeah go ahead.
Speaker 3:Yeah, go well, I just want to hop in here, steve, for one minute. I want to just go back to so you in between there somewhere after meeting brian and starting to compete, now you got involved or you started, or I don't. Really don't know the story about BT fishing and BT tactics and the line of of of tackle and and plastics and all the things that you. You're an innovator to me beyond belief. It's. It's wild that the stuff that you and Brian and, I'm sorry, the other gentleman, his name is jeff- jeff that you deal with it yeah so there's three of yous that started it.
Speaker 3:Can you just take me through that story, jamie, and tell me how that I mean?
Speaker 2:my, my part in it isn't really that cool, like brian had been doing it. Um, he, uh, his parents owned the Great Bear gas station and he, uh, they had like a tackle section and he just got into the tackle game back then and pretty much had it for, you know, just kind of on a, on a small scale, like locally and in the tackle store and and they had, you know, some cool stuff and some cool jigs and just quality components that we weren't really getting at the time. And then, uh, a few years ago, I had started just tinkering lots like I've been making tackle for you know, 10 years or so and I just, you know, put this on this and change this mold to this and and why can't we do this and put this hook in here, and just, you know, changing stuff up like crazy for to meet, uh, tournament fishing demands. You know that I couldn't buy. It was never to like save money or anything. I just I just wanted, wanted cool stuff. That was very cool stuff, yeah. So, uh, brian started the store in 2015 lake of the woods sports and just that's. You know, that's such a a big job and, um, they've got, they opened the second location in winnipeg and and the website and his phone's pretty much going the whole time and the bt thing was just kind of parked, um, you know, and still selling locally into a couple distributors.
Speaker 2:And then, uh, I had, uh, come out with a few like innovative things that I talked to him about. Like one was the clean jig. Uh, that it was just me, him and gussy had it for a while and all it was was a texas rig, um, skirted swim jig that you couldn't buy anything like it, which was amazing that no one had seen the need enough for that. Um, so, you know, showed the boys and we started tinkering with it and we're using it in tournaments and winning tournaments on it, uh, you know, on the floor that no one's ever seen before which is pretty kick-ass, because you built your own baits, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, and that's fucking awesome is like you know, at some point you kind of have to monetize because you know someone's mind's eventually going to click and they're going to come out with this, so you kind of have to be it or yeah, so you have to be a little bit fast. So we enjoyed that for a couple years and then I had that, and then the ice fishing, the clack shot and and just a few other things we're playing with. And he's like, well, why don't you just build that into the BT brand? We'll mass produce it, so you're not choking on lead in your garage making these things. And he just said you just take it over and you know we'll just be partners. So, uh, and that you know that all that kind of happened at the same time as, uh, I started fishing. The bass master opens in 2022. Um, in that same year, gussy had won uh on the tennessee river on the smeltonator jig head.
Speaker 3:So where did that start? The smeltonator is that that start before you were involved in that?
Speaker 2:No, that's, that's uh, brian and JP, um, uh, john Peterson from Northland tackle, um and Brian had they did that like back in 2007. That's oh, okay, yeah, so, um, yeah, anyway, that exploded and yeah, it was a full, it was pretty much a full-time job, like we got into the tackle warehouse and Omnia and all the major retailers and then, of course, forward facing sonar was just like more publicly available at the time and everyone was getting onto it and, um, we made tackle like specifically for that and and it just kind of all blew up.
Speaker 1:Talk a little bit about that. How do you make tackle specifically for the forward-facing sonar?
Speaker 2:Well, at the time the Smeltnator jig was the only jig dedicated to the jighead minnow, what they call the Dimeke rig or whatever.
Speaker 2:But people have been doing that up here, like Kessler and Stuner and the Linders back in the 90s, like this is where it started and that you know it was a deadly technique under the boat and we'd blind cast it uh, and now it's the number one money winner in bass fishing. Um, you know, when you realize, if you, yeah, like Gussie exposed it when he won, uh, the Tennessee River Elite Series tournament and then won the bass master classic on it, um, so he got, he was on the right side of it, uh, because it just exploded after that. Now everyone knows how to do it, but back then it was like my first bass master open I went to was on cherokee lake in tennessee. I'd never been there, I'd never been anywhere around. It was my first us tournament and, um, I showed up and got third place there fishing the smeltonator with a five inch fluke style bait, uh, completely vertical, and uh, you know, cooper glant won the tournament one.
Speaker 2:I think that one he was the only other person probably throwing one in the field with that specific thing.
Speaker 1:So and you were using it vertical I was using a combination now we were facing sooner
Speaker 2:yeah, now we realize you can just, you know, throw it at fish 100 feet away and catch them. It's the most natural thing and everyone's on it now. So there's uh, and that's where that's what we're focusing on now with bt is um playing with different hooks and all kinds of different head sizes and shapes that aren't out yet, just to get to manipulate it to do what we want it to do. So we've got some stuff that's going to be mass produced coming out in the spring. That's pretty cool and same deal. I've been using it before anyone else gets it. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:So I'm intrigued with the thought of creating your own baits. So take me back to the clean jig and what motivated you Like the great thing is, you're like an absolute consummate pro out there when you're fishing and you're using these as tools. What were the things with that jig that you were coming up against where you needed to make the changes to incorporate into this jig, like why did you come up with it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I remember when I first came up with it I was pre-fishing for a bass tournament on shoal lake and, uh, all the largemouth that time of the year or this specific year, were all shallow like in a foot and a half of water last. Yeah, thick vegetation, but lots of it like it looks like florida in some of the sections. Um, and your options are pretty much flip a craw, uh, or throw a frog, or like a skinny dipper style, you know, like a buzzing that or a toad, and, uh, I was catching them prior to that on a swim jig like a, you know, earlier in the season, just a regular weedless swim jig, uh, with a four inch swim bait on it, and you know that was they wanted it the best. In that lake they eat perch a lot. Uh, you couldn't cover water enough. Flipping, uh, the frog was just being.
Speaker 2:Everyone was throwing the frog and I was like I want to. I want to throw my swim jig wherever I want to throw it. I want to throw my swim jig where I can throw, throw it. I want to throw my swim jig where I can throw a frog. And that was never an option before. So I just did some tinkering, just pulled out the bench like that night and came out with this gaudy, you know swim jig, that doesn't get hung up, and yeah, sure as shit know, brought it out there the next day and caught a bunch of fish on it and ended up we never won the tournament. Uh, it was one on smallmouth but we ended up having, you know, getting a third or fourth or whatever it was on, uh, using it for largemouth. So then it just like any tackle, it just evolves and then you just find little tweaks to make it better and, uh, eventually, you know, produced it.
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Speaker 4:Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's Favorite Fishing Show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right. Every Thursday, ang and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week? Well, you know there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 2:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
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Speaker 1:So tell me how you felt in that moment. That day, when you had went to the bench that night, you put together this gaudy looking jig, uh, and then you go out the next day and it works.
Speaker 2:Tell me how that feels well, on one hand it's like, well, yeah, why wouldn't it work? You know that's exactly what you want working. But I've also made a lot of dumb shit. Um, doesn't work at all. You know, just tinkering. So you know, it's probably about one in four like an actual success. Those are good numbers.
Speaker 2:I just, you know fishing tournaments with lots of boats. It's just so nice to have a step above, and all I could think about was you know how I, how I feel I I'm just thinking of more tournaments. I could use it out where they set up like that.
Speaker 6:Yeah, that's yeah I mean once you're in the tournament mindset.
Speaker 2:It's all you. All you think about is the next edge?
Speaker 1:yeah, well, you have to to be competitive, for sure, you know, yeah, and and at the, at the level that you're competing at, it's um, it's, uh, it's, it's crazy and you're, you're doing fantastic, doing it, and these little things are are imperative, like I mean, when you guys first broke onto the scene with all of this stuff, I remember hearing your names and that you're Canadian and competing. And Pete Bowman, he's always up on the tournament fishing. He loves tournament fishing. He'd do more of it if he had time, but he's always, always watching you and all of the guys from Canada, always, always watching you and all of the guys from Canada. And it's interesting to hear the backstory with the tackle and how you kind of made innovations to give you that edge, which is very, very cool yeah, you're a self-made dude man.
Speaker 3:To get there and that's it's your story I think is so awesome to get like the uh, the, the, the level, jamie, that you are speaking of, like that turn first tournament, that cherokee lake one, if we skip back to that, you know, that's that. Actually. I remember that event intimately, actually me and kristaista do. She's sitting here too and she's. We remember that because that was, it was just prior to that where we like met, I think, like you probably knew of me through here and through me, through Brian I probably. I remember I competed against like, like not competed, but like tournament fished in the same tournaments as you guys. I wouldn't say there was much fricking competing.
Speaker 1:You were a donator. Middle of the pack wasn't competing. Every good tournament needs donators like us Absolutely, brother.
Speaker 3:I've donated lots.
Speaker 1:That's called paying your dues, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you know.
Speaker 3:I remember seeing Brucey that you know. Kyle always said you know that guy, if there's going to be a guy besides Jeff to win the Classic, that's the guy. And I remember Brian, like when Brian first opened his shop, I remember I was fishing a tournament with Jason Tate. I was fishing a walleye tournament and I needed some. Brian gave me a little sponsorship and we had no stickers. He was just getting going and I went down to the shop. We took his logo and I went down to the shop and I made a giant one foot long sticker to go put on the boat because he didn't have any. That's how new he was and I remember him talking about this, jamie Bruce. And then so it was so long.
Speaker 3:And then the morning I remember I'm watching your YouTube show and your pod or it was something on your YouTube channel.
Speaker 3:You were just starting. It was like your third or fourth show and you were trying to get going on the elite qualifiers and they had changed the rules and it was 5.30 in the morning and me and Krista are having coffee and and it was 5 30 in the morning and me and chris are having coffee and that's what we do in the morning we just watch whatever's on for fishing and scroll through shit and and the look on your face when you were just like you were, your passion was so erotic on that fucking youtube show I was like man, like we need to help this guy. Like I know everybody has said he's a good dude and I don't even fucking know him, but we need to help him because he's local for one and I just the story is incredible and I and I remember reaching out to you and and uh, that first event at Cherokee Lake. I remember me and my family sitting in the fucking living room and we were screaming like it was the Stanley Cup at the TV East. Come on, brucey come on Brucey.
Speaker 3:Because it was a big deal for us at Nordic to have this guy's stuff running around with, you know, and that we were involved in that and your story was incredible and the journey that you went on. Can you tell us a little bit about that journey, jamie down and what you had to do that season? You know how many tournaments and how far you traveled and what you went through to experience that to try and get onto the Elite Series.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, in 2022, it used to just be you had fish, three opens in one division and the top three of those guys would go to the elites. And I was like, okay, well, you know, it's still a big commitment. It's going to be probably 15 grand in expenses and you know, all my time off for the year but had been like, leading up to it had a really good year in 2021. Um, I won four tournaments around, you know, around home. So I was like it's not, it's not ever going to get better than that. That's, you know, that's the peak. So either jump and and move on, you know, to kind of make it to the next level, or just hang your hat on that and and be, happy you had a good run.
Speaker 2:And I was like, ah, screw it, I'll jump. And I went to sign up and it's super competitive just to get into these things. And Gussie had like sent a message to the tournament director and like tried to help grease me in a little bit and a guy told me here's, when you sign up, you need this membership, this, okay. And I signed up just for the three and I used a Canadian credit card and it wasn't going through and it's like winning a radio show to get through. There's so many people. I was like what the hell? And it wasn't going through. It was on the phone trying to figure it out and what had happened is my credit card put a hold on it because the entry fees were so high it was like seven grand or whatever for the three tournaments, canadian. And they put a hold on it. They were all proud. They thought they had like stopped fraud from Alabama charging me a credit card. So I ended up not getting into the first tournament, uh, in Florida. And then, uh, you know the, I was like I was gutted. You know I'm like, oh, okay, well, I, you know this is, I finally was ready and and yeah, so gutted and uh, I got the call for the next one at Cherokee. That didn't really mean anything because I couldn't. Even if I wanted I wouldn't have qualified for the classic because you have to fish the whole division and I was out for the whole division because you know I could only fish two of the tournaments. Yeah, I was like I'll just go anywhere for the experience. Cooper galant was going and I I'd met him earlier. Uh, you know, musky fishing on lake of the woods, he was up doing so. I was like I'll go and hang out with the boys. And you know, musky fishing on lake of the woods, he was up doing so. I was like I'll go and hang out with the boys and you know it's a good excuse to go in march to get away from ice fishing and go. I was like I might not catch a bass but I'll try it. And yeah, sure as shit I could catch him how I wanted to. And uh, you know, had a, had a good tournament, got third. It's like okay. And then the.
Speaker 2:The last tournament of the division was on Lake Hartwell that year and there was an opening for that one. It was in October. I was like, all right, I'll try that too. I had another good year at home, you know, over the summer. So I was like, oh, I got some money, I can go. And I went there and had a top 20 there, you know, on spotted bass that I'd never seen before, and I was like, okay, I got a third and a 17th or whatever it was. I only would have needed to get 60th place at the florida tournament to make the elites. So I was like, ah, you know, whatever, still won some money and and had fun and got to, got to see what the national scene's all about to show yourself.
Speaker 3:You can compete with those guys consistently.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I was like, okay, no problem, I'll just go again next year and pick a division and go do three tournaments. Well, that that off season they had changed it and made you commit to all nine tournaments if you want to qualify for the elite series. So I'm like that's impossible, like you can't, it's, it's not possible to work and do that. Uh, just an, entry fees, you know canadian, you're around 25 grand and then travel expenses at least double.
Speaker 2:Oh, for sure, travel food lodging so I was just kind of like, oh, she's a good run, but it ain't happening. Like, um, you know, I I had, I think, eight weeks off saved up at work. So I was like, okay, well, I'm short there and that doesn't even count. You know, travel the ways or whatever might happen.
Speaker 2:Um, I was kind of out and and, uh, kind of made that announcement and and I got a poke from a buddy that I that I guided actually I met him through guiding and he just reached out and was like, hey, I'm not sure if you're going this year, but I can help with. Uh, I gotta help pay a few bills if you want. And then that happened again and then will reached out and then and I think will's kind of pushed it over the top and was like, okay, like we can do this, but we're not going to lose the house. I got to figure out the time off and the travel and figure out how I'm going to record all these and do podcasts with people as I meet and talk about all this as I go somehow.
Speaker 1:And yeah, we started it off and it was just nuts and uh, yeah, we started it off and it was just nuts like I would leave work and fit work a full day on thursday.
Speaker 2:And what did you? What do you do for a living there?
Speaker 1:uh, I'm a intel officer right on, and then you would leave work there, so I'd leave work um on like a thursday night and I'd have to be the first one.
Speaker 2:Is was in Alabama and practice started Saturday morning, like 20, 27 hours away. So I'm like okay doing the math, I'm like okay if I sleep for three hours in the truck, I can make it here and be there for practice. So I did that and you're towing your boat Yep, towing the boat, everything's driving.
Speaker 1:Oh my God, 27 hours. Okay, okay, I can't imagine doing the math. Okay, I can sleep for three hours, yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 2:Like on the way down it's fine. You know like, okay, well, it's winter still, so hopefully there's no storms or anything. And uh, yeah, I get down there. I'm like holy shit, that's a far ride and and totally I hadn't made a cast since october that year and it's now the end of february. I haven't looked at my screens on anything like just the boats, as ready as I can get it in the garage and just on this foreign place, and it's like all right, fish, fish for the week, okay for uh, and it's horrible fishing like you weren't.
Speaker 1:Where do you start?
Speaker 3:you know like like what I got?
Speaker 1:I got the boat turned up in the garage and I leave six feet of snow.
Speaker 2:And now I'm on the water in a foreign place where do you have all types of dumb shit tied on from? You know, watching bassmaster live when they were in 2018 and and, uh, yeah, you just kind of look at it as best as you can. I didn't know anyone around there so I wasn't gonna. I wasn't, couldn't obtain any info. Gussy had been there once, like in the summer or something, and you know, at least had an idea, he'd seen it before. Yeah, I went there fish for the week dog shit fishing. Uh, first day of the tournament rolls around canceled due to weather. Then the tournaments are thursday, friday and the top 10 fish saturday. So I was like, okay, and so when there's a cancellation date, the full field fish is friday and saturday. So now we're not fishing thursday. Now I got to fish Friday, saturday. I got to be at work Monday morning to fly out, to fly out of Winnipeg.
Speaker 3:Oh shit, so you got to go back, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then a day before that, my live scope had kicked the bucket. I don't know if it was something with the travel or whatever happened. It was an older one and it, uh, it just totally went out. So I was fishing, I had no scope, so I was like I'll just go shallow this is my first open ever, the first or the first one of the series and, uh, yeah, fish shallow and survived. It just had a mid-pack finish and, you know, got my limit. But then it's saturday night. I was me and ben millican were the last two boats to weigh in and it was almost dark because there's so many people that it's a staggered weigh-in. So we weighed in at like 5, 45 or 6 and I'd hop in the truck and drive through the night for two full nights to make it back for uh, for Monday morning made it back, you know, to Kenora.
Speaker 1:You drove 48 hours straight.
Speaker 2:Well, no, no, cause it was 6 PM. Um, where does that put us?
Speaker 1:Oh, it's a lot of driving.
Speaker 2:So 36 hours. So when I say 27 hours, I mean that's just windshield time.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The rest is, you know, you can add a couple hours for gas stops and whatever get out. So yeah, 27 turned into around 34. Because I got back at four o'clock in the morning on Monday morning I took Kenora not at home. Still, my boat is just an entire, it's the whole boat's a salt lick, you know, it's still winter.
Speaker 3:No shit, salt lick.
Speaker 2:I got to fly to Hamilton. I can't just put this boat in my garage. It's going to be like rusted by the time I get back. So I'm at the car wash, spray it off for an hour, fire it in the garage, pack a bag, hop in my work car and off to Winnipeg, to the airport. I was hallucinating like just no sleep. I was like how, how the hell am I going to do this eight more times? You know that was just the worst case scenario. It was so far away and then you build in the cancellation day and it's just yeah, not good. So I had a few of those. If you make the cut and make that last day like I had to do that two or three times where you got to drive back like from the saint lawrence was 23 hours, but you're high on life, you know it's fucking.
Speaker 3:you're cashing a check, man Fuck.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're on the phone a bunch and it's, it's a lot easier. But yeah, if it's a weather cancellation it just sucks. But so that was pretty much the whole year was just doing that and just crazy travel, no sleep. Literally my beard turned gray Just from. I'm not lying Like it went.
Speaker 3:No, I turned gray um, just from, I'm not lying like no, I remember he's watching your product, your youtube channel, and every episode ago it went grayer yeah, and I like I.
Speaker 2:We had lots of shit going on at home too through the whole time, so it was just like it was a. It was probably the. If I were to pick a year to do it, it was probably the worst year I could have picked to go try it but you went, didn't you go?
Speaker 3:and then you went and had the baby.
Speaker 2:No, that was this year.
Speaker 3:But that was kind of right at the end of it.
Speaker 1:Turning into it, it was the same weight, though, so before we leave that, year.
Speaker 2:What was the?
Speaker 1:most memorable point in it? Memorable point yeah. What sticks out the most Good, bad, indifferent. What was the most memorable experience from that season?
Speaker 2:Um, I mean, like the thing that sticks out the most is just how much of a grind it was on, like for driving. Like I put 70,000 kilometers on my truck that year, holy shit. But that like as far as good. You know, there's a reason I kept going. I hit after the first one, I got like a hundredth and then just hit a little bit of a streak and it never really died and it was.
Speaker 2:I remember going to Lake of the Ozarks and needed to catch them. It was like the second last event. I was in the top 10 before and dropped way down to 20th and just like got to go somewhere and just say fuck it and swing for it. And yeah, I remember just having fun there like we went. Uh, it's like the biggest party lake you'll ever see. So, like I was going for the first day I was there, I went for lunch with uh Matt Robertson and Kyle Patrick and my travel buddies Brad and uh and Raz.
Speaker 2:We all just picked a place, went for lunch, you know, had a couple of drinks and it was just like no pressure place. Went for lunch, you know, had a couple drinks and it was just like no pressure. Um, nice, and the lake was like super tough and whatever it was all docks the whole lake like you couldn't. If you look at on google maps you'll be shocked. Like there's zero natural shoreline, it's just all. Occasionally I was like I never fished these before and I was like, oh, but it's pretty fun, like there's some fish on some of them and uh, I ended up leading the tournament after two days there and it was just like you know that I had.
Speaker 2:That's awesome what a feeling that's gotta be yeah, on the last day I had a bass master camera in my boat it was Jake Latondris, he's always on Mercer's show and I was like this is awesome, like this is the pinnacle, you know, for a bass fishing nerd. Um, and I just went and had fun. Bombed, I didn't, I was just like I'm just gonna go swing for it and try to make the classic. I wasn't really on anything, I was just kind of grinding them out, but it was just a fun day. I was like okay, like at least if this is my last tournament like that, at least I'll have something to like show my kid and and look back on you know. And then you know, have had it a few more times. But at that point I was like there's no way I'm going to be able to do this next year.
Speaker 3:So um, yeah, how many times have you come in?
Speaker 2:uh, top three, jamie, since in the qualifiers two or three uh, three for sure, three, right, yeah, three, yeah, yeah, it's, uh, that's impressive. All smallmouth tournaments. They, the bass master, the guy that does the columns at leech lake this year, um, they did like a little write-up and they're, like they said, in every us smallmouth tournament I've ever fished, said never been outside of the top 10 that's incredible man.
Speaker 2:More smallmouth lakes, because you only give us one a year. But yeah, like I've had, I've also been in the. You know, I've been in a hundredth enough times too, so you know what, though, man, it was fun.
Speaker 3:It was fun watching you, though, like I remember going into the shop there, you know having a coffee with mike and lucas and you know the old, the boys there and just talking shit and, uh, saying that you know seeing you swing for the fences where it wasn't your backyard you know what I mean or where it wasn't fishing. You know that smeltonator pitching your your own bait right then and doing the things that you like to do and that you're better at, I would assume. Seeing you win so much shit, um, you know that's super cool that you were able to do that and just have that event, and, yeah, I think it was awesome consistently in third is big yeah, yeah, I'll take that.
Speaker 2:I said that Ozarks one was skipping docks and that's like you know, it's not a thing here. That was like the one thing that we never do at home.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I mean you got to be honest, how do you say that it's my favorite largemouth tactic down south? Here there's a ton of docks, muskokas and and all around there's a ton of docks and, uh, uh, using a wacky, rigged senko with a spin caster and just we used to be able to skip those things like 40 feet. I remember in a tournament that I was fishing and I just fished the small local tournaments, um, but I skipped one of those things straight underneath the dock, probably 10 feet under the dock, and a largemouth come up and hit it so hard it hit the bottom of the dock and knocked itself out. It come right out of the water and hit the dock and I reeled it in and it was stunned.
Speaker 2:It's an awesome way. I had a little gosh like that in this lake. I was using a in and it was stunned yeah, oh yeah, it's an awesome way. Like that in this lake it was. I was using a three quarter ounce jig, even though it was a hard to skip. Um, because it hit. The baths are so pressured down there. It's just weird. It's like just put it in front of one and that's the hard part is finding when to put it in front of. We're down there. It's like getting them to bite. So I needed a reaction bite. So like this big, gaudy tungsten jig and it was like, yeah, the hardest thing to skip, but yeah, I wish I could have wacky under it.
Speaker 1:oh yeah, it was awesome and not weighted nothing, just wacky, rigged senko, no weight and and skip it right underneath. But listen, I I've got a quick question before we move on, and this kind of relates to my experience buying a lodge and how taxing those years were. And even though this is just like a couple of years for you, I got to ask how did your family and your wife react? Like I got a good girl because for her to put up with what I did to own a lodge and to invest that time when I'm listening to you talking about driving you know 27 hours and coming back and catching a plane for work and all over the place how did you? Were you married at the time? And, if so, how did your wife react?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I had talked about doing the Opens for a while and when they made the nine tournament commitment I was like, yeah, this is going to be tough, but she was, she's an angler, she gets it, she knows that. You know, it was kind of like my one year to to go swing at it and was totally supportive. Now we've got, you know, now we've got a nine month old boy and, uh, congratulations, thanks. But the eye opener for that was, uh, this winter I went back to that, uh, ufo alabama. There was a nation qualifier there. You know, whoever makes the top 20 makes the national championship, which I just got back from a couple weeks ago. But, um, so I went down there. It was just like a low pressure thing, like kind of a jackpot, and she was due on March 4th I think, and this was February. The tournament was like February 9th to the 9th or whatever, 8th to the 10th or whatever it was.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that should be enough time. You're thinking, for sure, like I mean, that's what we all thought.
Speaker 2:And like she gave me the, I was like, was like, okay, cool, I went and picked up my project m truck camper in texas. I was like this is my one run of the year and and then went over fish the tournament. Uh, had a good tournament, got a top 10 there, made the like, qualified for the thing, fished the last day. And I was just snapping up my boat cover on the last day and you, you know, getting ready for the 27 hour drive, and I'm like I'm going to make this drive my bitch. Like I've got a camper now. Yeah, I'm outfitted, baby. Yeah, it's a, it's a Saturday, so, or a Friday.
Speaker 2:I was like I got, you know, I'm going to make it for work Monday morning, no matter what, pretty much. And she called you know, I'm going to make it for work Monday morning, no matter what, pretty much. And she called, she FaceTimed me, I hit ignore and then I hit the message. I was like just wrapping up, I'll be driving in five minutes and I'll call you. She's like, no, you'll call me now. So I FaceTimed her back and she's bawling, crying. I'm like, oh my. I said oh no and she was like like gave me the nod and I I thought like you know, something horrible had happened.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, she couldn't even talk and she passes the doctor and he's like where are you? I was like I'm in alabama, like my thing says 27 hours. I was like what the hell's going on? And he's like you're having a baby in 10 to 30 hours, like we had to induce her. He's like we can't wait for you, I can't do any of this. And I'm like holy shit. It's like, oh, I'm on my way and just put her to the floor. And the whole time I'm on the phone on the way back trying to figure out. I was like okay, maybe I can fly out of Birmingham and looking at flights, as I'm driving 85 miles or towing a boat, like I just had her to the floor and uh, there was just no way around. Uh, bufflin actually offered to fly down. He was gonna fly down. Take my truck and I was gonna fly and switcheroo and dustin was gonna.
Speaker 2:That's cool yeah and brian was on. Like brian was on the computer like trying to figure out shit, and my buddy john frost and like all these guys were trying to figure it out and all we figured out was the quickest way there was to drive. There was no way to even save like two hours. So same thing back from alabama two nights, no sleep. But like went even harder this time. Yeah, yeah, I was just bombing, like I had it to the floor. My truck was getting 30 liters per 100k are terrible on fuel anyway like they're not good as it is now I got the camper on.
Speaker 2:Now I got the boat on and now I'm to the floor fuck yeah, big rig and jimmy jr just flying yep this, jugs and everything like nice hey, I'm a master of that in the back and like three big one gallon jugs of water.
Speaker 2:I was like I'm only stopping for gas, just pay. Pay the pump, that's it, just go. And I made it up to the border and they're explaining the situation. They were cool. And uh, it's like getting dark now. I'm on the phone with her like every hour and it's like okay, I might make it. And made it over the border and uh, started snowing. It's February still and I missed the turnoff A turn I take once a week. Like only two hours from the house Missed the turn off to the highway connecting Fort Francis to Kenora, like I was just out of it. I was hallucinating, yeah, you know, watching mailboxes run across the road.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know that feeling Not exaggerating.
Speaker 2:I hit like almost rainy river and I was like holy shit, I saw a road sign. I was like I went the wrong way for 35 miles and I'm goosing her back. And I got pulled over in the rainy river district like, and the guy's like I was like shit, now I'm never gonna make it. And uh, whatever he pulls up, he's like what do you? Like? You're stunt driving and what the you? There's no good excuse to go this fast. And blah, blah, blah. And I was like dude, my wife's in labor, like she's gonna give birth in like two hours, and like I just drove.
Speaker 2:I literally left alabama two nights ago and I have been driving since and he didn't really believe me. I was like I'm still in my fucking flip flops. I told him why else would I be towing a boat with a camper through a snowstorm, you know flying. And so, like I showed him the text from Ashley and, yeah, he ended up being super cool about it, thank God, and he let me go and I made it and had, you know, about an hour to spare, but that was a really long way of saying that. Like that was an eye-opener to yeah, to what you can miss at home when you're on the road.
Speaker 2:And, uh, I got super fortunate, I made it for the birth, um, and yeah it's, uh, I'm not, I'm not looking to like go be on the road for nine weeks a year again.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I'm just, you know, I, I bet you that that I could go do it. And I went to a few this year and felt bad while I was gone, um, but she understands that, that's, you know, that's what I live for and uh, and you know in part how I I live for and uh, and you know in part how I make my living. So, uh, got the nod to do the Northern Opens and then, uh, it's going to be the same thing, same thing next year. I'm not going to go fish at nine tournament schedule, or seven, or whatever it is, or 11. They just changes so much that I'm just going to kind of pick the places. You know at times that I am able to travel and luckily for me, there's so many big national tournaments now and I've seen most of the places so I can just kind of go when it's time to go. So, I.
Speaker 3:You've got a little bit of skin under the grain, the beard right in that game now at that professional level, right?
Speaker 1:So yeah, hey, listen, coming from a father of four and I had the lodge for a decade, you know the first one's like exactly what you talk about. The second one, you know it's kind of it's, it's exciting. The third one, you know it's kind of old hat. And the fourth one I missed. So yeah, three to four, that's 75%. Sounds like high school. It's pretty good for me. Yeah, for sure, for sure. So you know, keep up. The fish is what I'm trying to tell you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, there's just no like every. Every hour of the water is precious, now you know yeah it's for sure, and there's nothing better than being a father.
Speaker 1:It's one of the best things ever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm just waiting for him to be able to pick up a rod and reel, and then it's been nine months.
Speaker 1:He got another six or seven months to go.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We went ice fishing last winter when he was like the size of a potato. You know what, Brucey?
Speaker 3:Those times. I'll tell you a quick story here and he'll never remember it, gussie. So me and Jeff don't really know each other. We've fished against each other. I think we know of each other, but we're just acquaintances. We't really know each other. We've fished against each other. I think we know of each other, but he doesn't really. We're just acquaintances, we don't know each other. But I'll tell you something. I'll tell you a story.
Speaker 3:My daughter so this was then like you used to fish bass and for bucks against me with Brian, and this would have been like 2012, 2013, 2011, in those days. So my daughter would be my partner all the time. Olivia so she's 22 now I have five kids and Olivia was. It was just. We would go to Totem Resorts. We'd stay there every year with the camper and Olivia was just little and she loved bass fishing and we'd go and we'd just throw in the lily pads and when she got tired, we'd go troll on the edge of the pads with a little you know a little number seven repeller or something, and you know she'd pee in my live. Well, and the dad would just kick the aerator on and flush it out for her right. And you know those times that are coming up for you, bro, they're the best times of my life and you know there's a.
Speaker 3:I remember one time, gussie, we were pulling up to weigh in and Olivia actually caught her first muskie. We were fishing on a little island right before the weigh-in there and we were throwing up a little. She threw up a little crab bait beside the dock there and, uh, or shrimp bait or crawdad bait, and pulling it back. Pulling it back and this little 30 inch muskie come out from under the dock and drilled it and it was like the most amazing experience in my boat. Uh, I'll never forget that from from her as a child. And we get into the dock and gussy this is when he just had his dr pepper boat.
Speaker 3:he just had his rap put on it there like I think dallas mossback ended up buying that boat off him, I think, down in nester there yeah but uh yeah, so he pulls up and we happen to be right in front of him and olivia was, so we had, like I think we had five little tiny baby bass in there, you know a pound and a half piece, and we went up and we weighed like whatever it was, and she turned around and she saw she knew Jeff was a celebrity at the time, right Coming up in the circuit. That was when he was just coming into his prime kind of. And she's like Mr Gustafson, I got my first muskie today and Jeff stopped and he took the time to talk to my kid and acknowledge her that she caught that fish and he has no idea who she was. He has no idea who I was and I was like that guy is fucking awesome right there and I just be, like.
Speaker 3:So those moments you're going to come up into, man, I'm super happy that you're going to have those moments, because I miss them every day, that's for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome dude. Yeah, they're great, they really are and cherish every moment with those wee kids. Because, you know, Blink and I and I remember when I had young kids, we had four under the age of five, so roughly every two years we had one, and people back in those days would say, yeah, you know what, they're going to be grown up and moved out before you know it. And I'm at the point now where they're 13 to 19 years old and now they're starting to spread their wings, leave the house, they're driving. It does really move quickly, but yeah, so enjoy them.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Now we also have another thing in common besides. Well, I'm not an awesome fisherman like you. You're an awesome fisherman, but we're podcasters, and you're the host of Get the Net Fishing Outdoors podcast, and Will had mentioned this to me and I looked it up and I listened to the episode. The first episode that popped up that I grabbed onto was the Mike Miller episode, and you know, because Mike is a good friend of mine and you're absolutely right, he's one of the funniest guys you will ever meet. But, um, how do you like being a podcast host and how did you? Uh, what got you into that?
Speaker 2:um, I play, you know, I found my like driving lots. I was like I'm just listening to a ton of podcasts and I didn't really like A lot of the guests were just like recent winners of tournaments or just kind of people that are good at catching fish and I was like there's way more good stories out there and good people we've met that that you know they might not be fishing tournaments or they might be on a on a reserve on the north end of lake winnipeg, like daniel stagg, just characters in the outdoors. I was like I know enough of these guys and I I can just sit there and and hit, play on them and listen to them talk and and I was like if I like it, probably you know some other people are going to like it. So that's what we rolled with and it's, you know I don't have, I'm not on a schedule, I don't do one every Monday or whatever. I just kind of fire one up when there's time and when there's, you know, when I kind of get my talons on a person that I think would be hilarious.
Speaker 2:And yeah, I just there's a lot of gold stories out there and they're. You know, back when I started it there wasn't a whole lot of places for them to tell it, and that's the reason I started. And then you know, luckily it took off pretty good and that's just fun. And now you know, luckily it took off pretty good and that's just fun. And now you know, now, traveling all over the South and being everywhere, I just met that many more people to rein in and do one. So I do plan on being a little. I'm usually a little more regular in the off seasons for obvious reasons, so I don't know who the next guest is, but they'll be a beauty.
Speaker 1:Well, and listen. All you Diaries folks out there. Look Jamie up Again. It's Get the Net. If you go to any one of your podcast providers, whether it's Apple Podcasts or Spotify or whatever, look Jamie up. It's awesome and you've got a great inventory. You're up to 40 podcasts, like that Miller episode. I'm not sure if you actually know, but it was your 40th.
Speaker 2:Oh well, that's just Spotify. So I mix it into my YouTube channel to feed the beast there, and there's probably 60 or 70 on there. The Spotify one is like well, if I have an extra eight minutes while I'm uploading, I'll put it on there. But yeah, youtube is where I mostly upload it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, don't that Spotify and Apple? Man, people listen to their vehicles all the time, although I guess you can listen to YouTube as well in your vehicle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you have YouTube Premium, that's how I listen to them, so that's always the first platform. And also, spotify is not, I'm sure you guys have realized, but as far as Canadian ad revenue to Canadian creators, it's just not a thing.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, it was not much better for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's uh.
Speaker 3:YouTube way seems to be the way to go, though you do, you've done it right with that way.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I like, I like growing my channel through that too and I'm, you know, all the fishing podcasts every couple of weeks and then a fishing video and then you know, like it's not, it's not separate, it's kind of an all-in-one so yeah, great content and, um, like I say, the podcasts are, are wicked. It's uh, it's a pleasure to have you on this podcast as well I appreciate that it's nice not to have to prep for one or set anything up, and show up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know, wow, there's. There is a little bit of prep, that goes on, but uh, you know I didn't do shit no, that's great you have to do a lot of prep.
Speaker 2:There's lots of lining up the calendars and everything. The guest just has to show up and and bs, it's the best part fuck, sometimes that's the hardest part.
Speaker 3:It was kind of a train wreck all three of us getting here. First my shoulder was a pile up, then I got stuck in the lodge and you were fucking sick, brucey yeah, well, I'm, I'm real appreciative that you were.
Speaker 1:Uh, you were flexible enough to fit us in, that's for sure yeah, thanks for having me on yeah and willie uh any any last uh questions for Jamie.
Speaker 3:No, you know I appreciate. From the Nordic Point family, jamie, I want to say you know we appreciate everything you did for us to give us the immediate stamp we did and we'll always be here to support you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I said, you guys gave me the bump to be able to go turn my beard gray last year.
Speaker 3:Well, you've helped us just as much. Let's say we did it for each other and you know what we continue. We wish you the best and maybe we get you back on here again someday and continue plugging along. And, matt, you got another bun to get in the oven. It sounds like soon. Here You're coming up nine, 10 months. You can't let that much of a gap go.
Speaker 2:We might pace her out a little.
Speaker 1:Well, you're only three behind. And Jamie, also on behalf of all the Diaries family here, thank you so much for coming. We really appreciate it and would love to have you on again in the future. Um and uh, uh, thank you folks for getting to this point of the episode. And um, uh, if anybody out there is interested in a great deck, uh and and uh, working with uh, working with Willie and I in a partnership, uh, reach out to Will. You all know how to get a hold of us Will at nordicpointlodgecom and steven at fishincanadacom. And again, jamie, thank you very much for joining us today.
Speaker 2:Absolutely fellas. Phone's always on. Let me know when the next one rings. And I do have to put an exclamation mark on working with podcasters. When I first started, I talked to Brian about it and both of us were guilty of the same thing. But he said when I was like I think it's the most effective way to connect with an audience, and he's like all I know is I've bought everything I've ever heard on Joe Rogan. I know.
Speaker 1:I know it is Like. I mean, podcasting is really the way that I think about it. When we're talking about sales and marketing. It's like word of mouth, because you build a relationship with the podcaster that you're listening to. Right, it's very intimate and I love it and it goes both ways. Like I mean, we build a relationship with our listeners as well, and a ton of people reach out to us and it is a wonderful, wonderful way to make connections with people.
Speaker 3:Storytelling. It's the oldest, oldest you know thing in time to do is storytelling.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Everything was created.
Speaker 1:Honestly, for me when I sold the lodge and I and I made a great decision. It was it was 10 years and and I needed to spend some more time with my family. But you know, I really missed that time when you build connections with people and make friends and this fills that void a little bit and like meeting people like you and and talking fishing and talking about outdoor experiences and talking about lodges and businesses and stories of the North, and it's just um, it's a wonderful um and and growing exponentially uh way of of communicating with people and um, it's uh and it's awesome. So thank you for that.
Speaker 2:It's already wrapped your good closing, but I'll just shut her down here. Closing's the hardest part. No, it's not.
Speaker 1:This is the best closing.
Speaker 2:Thanks everyone for listening. I got to go make dinner. I'm going to leave this.
Speaker 1:Thanks, buddy, I really appreciate it. And folks listen. Go to fishingcanadacom and get into those giveaways. You know how to do it. You've heard me preaching about it Give us a call, reach out and again. Thus brings us to the conclusion of another episode of Diaries of a Lodge Owner. Stories of the North. I'm a good old boy, never meanin' no harm.
Speaker 3:I'll be all you ever saw, been railin' in the hog since the day I was born, bendin' my rock. Stretchin' my line. Someday I might own a lodge. Bending my rock, stretching my line. Someday I might own a lodge, and that'd be fine. I'll be making my way the only way I know how Working hard and sharing the north with all of my pals. Well, I'm a good old boy.
Speaker 1:I bought a lodge and lived my dream.
Speaker 3:And now I'm here talking about how life can be as good as it seems.
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