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Eating Wild
Hosted by three hunting and fishing buddies with a lifetime of culinary experience between them, Outdoor Journal Radio's Eating Wild podcast brings folks from all walks of life to the boat, tree stand, and kitchen to tell the stories and answer the questions around the pursuit and preparation of wild fish and game.
Eating Wild
Episode 65: Cory Johnston
Ever wondered what happens when you combine a birthday surprise with the great outdoors? Join us for an unforgettable episode where Antonio has orchestrated a special birthday surprise for Christopher Showtime Johnston. The suspense is palpable as Christopher navigates a guessing game to identify the mysterious guest with links to both hunting and fishing. With guesses flying and laughter abound, this episode is a delightful blend of camaraderie and celebration, setting the tone for an epic adventure.
Our journey continues with thrilling tales from a recent fishing expedition on Lake St. Clair, featuring Moose and Cody. Feel the adrenaline as we recount the near-capture of a tiger muskie and delve into the nuances that make muskie fishing a unique experience. Cory Johnston, a titan in professional bass fishing, joins us to share his recent triumph at the Bassmasters Northern Open, his deep-rooted family traditions, and the excitement surrounding his upcoming moose hunt. Cory’s reflections on balancing a demanding career with family life offer a heartfelt glimpse into the life of an elite angler.
Lastly, we explore the vibrant culture of bass fishing, the evolving role of technology, and the strong sense of community among Canadian anglers. Cory Johnston opens up about his journey, the influence of his father, and the legacy he’s building alongside his brother Chris, the newly crowned Angler of the Year. This episode is a treasure trove of stories, insights, and future plans, making it a must-listen for anyone enchanted by the great outdoors. Stay tuned as we wrap up with a nod to upcoming adventures and a heartfelt thank you to Cory for his inspiring insights.
Follow Eating Wild on Instagram! To reach out to the boys, drop us a line at eatingwild@odjradio.com
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Speaker 5: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, ange 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 6:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 5:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors, from athletes All the other guys would go golfing Me, and Garth and Turk and all the Russians would go fishing. To scientists.
Speaker 2:But now that we're reforesting and letting things breathe, it's the perfect transmission environment for life.
Speaker 3:To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it.
Speaker 5:And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are. Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside.
Speaker 3:Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts here we go, welcome, welcome everybody to another episode of the Eating Wild podcast. I am your host, Antonio Smash Malecka. Joining me, of course, is my beautiful co-host, Christopher Showtime Johnson. See, we gotta, we gotta, we gotta listen. Man, we have a huge problem. This is Tuesday, brother. It's Tuesday. What's going?
Speaker 2:on. I don't know what you have up your sleeve. My man, it's Tuesday, my birthday's tomorrow. We never record on Tuesdays and you're like Siege, you got to jump on tonight Special guest. I get it. Who is it? Lou Top Dog Pereira? Who is it?
Speaker 3:No, you know what? Lou Topdog Pereira. I have been talking to Lou Topdog. He's back in town. Lou's been going nuts, you know. He's a man who travels this summer from Portugal to Dominican Republic. Then he went to a wedding in Mexico. He had to move out of his shop. So listen, louis Topdog Pereira, you know one of the original four skins. This guy's busy as anybody could be at this point in time. He will be back soon. But it's not Luis Top Dog Pereira. But you're close. Give me a hint. You're sort of close. You're sort of close. It's not Daniel Hooks at Martins. Daniel Hooks at Martins again, he is handling the fort at GCC. He's busy but slowing down soon. We're hoping to see Hooks at Martin's very soon. But, siege, it's your birthday tomorrow, buddy, and you know there's gotta be a reason why I pulled you in on a Tuesday. We just dropped our episode, part one with Moose, and we're recording already. Man, we're recording. And there's a big reason why I called you in today, buddy. Huge reason.
Speaker 2:Okay, man, you got to give me a hint here, somewhat of a hint. Does this person like a chef culinary guy into that stuff?
Speaker 3:Negative, negative Siege, great question? Okay, listen, it's your birthday tomorrow, man.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is man, I know that yeah.
Speaker 3:I had to come with a guest. I've got a guest for you. That is actually going to be my birthday present to you. Okay, that's a hint already. This is a gag.
Speaker 2:This is like an eating wild gag, I get it. You guys are going to like. You know Dan's going to come popping out of a cake. Ha ha, got you Blooper reel, I get it. Tone, I get it. But okay, I'm going to ask you another question. Go ahead. Does he or she like hunting and fishing?
Speaker 3:Well, Well, I mean, that's a great question Hunting or fishing? What if it was both? Okay? What if it was both? What if?
Speaker 2:it was both. Does this person, seeing how we are multi-species anglers, does this person, he or she, make a living by catching a certain fish, like pike or muskie? Or, if they're on television show, is it oh wait, is it Sarich Jim? Sarich muskie hunter.
Speaker 3:Mr Sarich, you know what? That would be a good, that would be a wonderful birthday present. But I'm going to say no, it's not. That's a great guest, though here's the thing. You did ask me a couple questions. You know there's a few points that you made in those questions that were, I would say, affirmative, but the species you mentioned okay, the species you mentioned that this person pops is not professionally popping, if that makes sense to you. So what I'm saying to you, see, just musky pike, walters, does this? Does this person pop them? Of course they do, but do they get paid to pop that certain species of fish? I think you missed out a key element to this whole professionalism with fishing. Because you're on the right course. Listen, you've already got off the tee. You hit the fairway, you landed on the green you just need to tap it in Tap, tap, tap it in buddy.
Speaker 2:You're getting there. So something, obviously with bass, then Largies, smallies. This is up my alley, antonio, I'm still waiting for the prank. Listen, it's not a alley, antonio, I'm still waiting for the prank.
Speaker 7:Listen it's not a good thing, you said professional.
Speaker 3:One more hint, One more hint. I'm going to throw one more hint. If you can't connect the dots, we do have a serious problem. Okay, this person might share the same initials as you Showtime.
Speaker 2:CJ Siege, siege.
Speaker 3:CJ Siege, flying Siege. We got to as you showtime cj siege, cj cj, now siege we gotta cut. I mean, you have a million nicknames showtime. I don't know they might share the same similarities to the name. You know, pop and bass. Maybe they get paid for it. Oh, I don't know, brother, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I only know I only know a couple people in the professional I don't know them personally that share the same initials of me, and they're professional bass anglers. And there's no way you got either Corey Johnson or Chris Johnson on the show. There's no way, tone, there's no way.
Speaker 3:Well, siege, I just want to say happy birthday bud, what, what, who do we?
Speaker 2:got Tone.
Speaker 3:I just want to say happy birthday to you, buddy. We are being joined today. Live okay with this guy. Just literally just won, okay, his first title at the Bass Masters Tournament, the Northern Open on the St Lawrence River, Thousand Islands. Mr Corey Johnson is joining us today, siege Happy freaking birthday.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, that's amazing man. I still don't. My God, that's amazing man. I still don't believe it. But that's amazing man. It is amazing, that is awesome man. Who would have thought the Eating Wild boys would have a stick? Like Corey on the?
Speaker 3:show. Oh, buddy, I am so proud. I could not wait to tell you that Mr Corey Johnson will be joining the Eating Wild podcast today. He will be joining the Eating Well podcast today. He will be in the green room shortly, but Siege, before he joins us me and you talked about the Johnson brothers, hookset, martin's huge, huge fan. I was talking to Dan today and he's absolutely gutted.
Speaker 3:You know he might. He's still Dan could be on the QEW right now as we speak. You know Hookset he's. You know he's a man that likes surprises as well and and you know he's been busy and I told him that we were having cory on today and he's like tone. Do you understand that? This is like interviewing connor mcdavid in the? Nhl.
Speaker 3:This is the status this guy has in the fishing industry. And I'm gonna be honest, man, we've we've all talked about the johnson brothers, especially you you mentioned before that with your name talked about the johnson brothers, especially you, you mentioned before that, with your name being chris johnson yeah, yeah, you get dms all the time for people on social media, thinking that you're?
Speaker 2:you're chris, right? Oh, they always slide in my dms. I am the weekend warrior, chris johnson, not the professional angler johnston. But yeah, all the time people are dming me asking me for advice on fishing and sponsorships and merchandise. But uh, now I go with it tone. I just give them advice. They say, oh yeah, I'm fishing this, I'm fishing this lake. I never fished before. You got any advice. Yeah, throw a chatterbait along the weed line, pop them pop them.
Speaker 2:you're gonna get. That's crazy, because best thing about cory and the johnson brothers is they're a great fit for the show. I mean, they hunt, they fish Exactly, they love their wild game. And the fact that we got them limed up, that is fantastic, man.
Speaker 3:That is incredible. I'd like to give a quick shout out to Moose, our previous guest, because the guy is an incredible, incredible person in our industry and we got to know him over the podcast and I spent some time with him. Actually, Siege, he came by to visit me in Port Perry last weekend and you, my friend, were out on LSC with a certain unified champion, Poppin'.
Speaker 2:Skis what the heck's going on.
Speaker 2:Best fisherman in MMA. I tell anyone that listens they think we make millions of dollars off this podcast. Popping skis. What the heck's going on? Best Fisherman MMA. I tell anyone that listens they think we make millions of dollars off this podcast. We don't. We do, okay. But the cool thing is we get to meet really, really cool people in this industry and the fact that we're fishing with them. And you mentioned Moose. He is now like he's a great friend of the podcast. Cody is a great friend of the podcast. Cody is a great friend of the podcast and, yeah, I got to sneak out with him on Lake St Clair for about four hours on the weekend and we grinded, we grinded. We had a time. We both had to get back. I had to get back to my family for dinner and he had to get back. He was visiting family at a family trailer, but we squeezed it in buddy and you know typical musky fishing. Yeah, they don't cooperate. Yes, and they cooperated in our last 20 minutes available to fish. So Cody had a beautiful follow-up.
Speaker 3:Seen it on social media. By the way, you can check out that GoPro footage. It was incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so he had a nice follow-up, did the figure eight and just went down. It wanted to chomp, but at the same time I think it was just trying to chase the bait. And then, about five or ten minutes after that, I got into a fish. It kind of came up, cleared the water a little bit and it was a nice-looking tiger muskie. You know how I love tiger muskies, but yeah, it was good man. Unfortunately the tiger muskie got. You know how I love tiger muskies, but yeah, it was good man. Unfortunately the tiger muskie got off. But that's fishing.
Speaker 2:And yeah, it's good, and the fact that we're meeting people like all walks of life in this outdoor journal, this is fantastic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, you know you mentioned something that's pretty. There was a point that you just made, without you even understanding what you said, probably, and you missed that fish and Siege. You said it to me losing a bass or losing a walter, or even if we're fishing for crappie and panfish, you lose a fish, you know you're going to go back out there, you're going to get them, you're going to work, you're're gonna get them. You're gonna work, you're gonna get them. But when you lose a tiger muskie or just a muskie in general on lake st claire the end of august, buddy, that that rod should be snapped over your knee. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah I threw a little, uh, a little bit of temper tantrum on the boat, maybe after it got off. And the same thing yeah, we all love bass fishing, we all love all species, but there's something with that muskie. You don't know if you're going to get that hit again and you know if you're around bass you will get that hit again. Probably Maybe not as big as fish, but that muskie hunt and that yeah, I got the itch now back throwing those. But I still have a good season left. We all have a good season left of, uh, big nickels, big smallies you know what I mean large season is this season and you know we're we're.
Speaker 3:I'm excited for a few things to talk about with cory, because you mentioned it before. Does this guy like to hunt? Does he like to fish? Absolutely, do they like to hunt? Are you crazy? This guy's going on a big moose. If you watch him on social media, uh, he's going on a big moose hunt with his brother and uh, he was at cabela's and bass pro and he was just like we're gearing up, we're gonna rough it, we're buying our sleeping bags, pillows and their tents and they're getting all ready for this big moose hunt, and that's something that you and I and the foreskins haven't done yet, you know I know it's not easy again now, unless you you want to.
Speaker 3:You want to head out west or east even, but like at the same time these guys, man, how do they do it? They got families. I know they fish competitively, had an unbelievable year with his brother winning Angler of the Year. We haven't even talked about that, but being a family. And then this guy apparently this guy plays hockey too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's a great fit and I'm really everyone's heard his interview before his or his brother's interview. We're looking forward to what he does after he puts down the bass rods and what he's getting into. If you don't know Corey's accomplishments or Chris's accomplishments, just Google. You'll see the Bassmaster Elite and he's talked about it so many times and they are the pioneer of Canadian professional bass fishing. No one's really done it before them, and Gussie and Coop and all that. But yeah, I'm looking forward to what he does, long story short, when he puts down the bass gear. And what is he doing, man? What is he doing?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I can't wait to dive into it with him. And man, what is he doing? Yeah, I can't wait to dive into it with him. And you know, I bet you, like you mentioned, he probably gets tons and tons of the same questions and it's almost like we all know what he could do with a stick. You know, we could talk about that, could talk about trophies, we could talk about him and his brother popping all over the states and in canada and, you know, putting canada on the map. I would say those, say those two guys are pioneers for doing that and I would put them up against anybody in the world at this point. Oh yeah, but yeah, but what else do they do? These guys are, you know, co-author boys. You know businessmen as well. Your parents have a shop out that way and you know, I'm sure there's a lot more to their story than just hooking into some, uh, some big base I'm looking forward to it, buddy.
Speaker 2:I still don't think it's true, but I'm looking forward to him, if you, if this is a prank, this is very elaborate because we just had a 13 minute intro and uh, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Man, I don't think you. That's you on your birthday, not this long. I wouldn't do that to you on your birthday.
Speaker 3:Well, listen, man, he's not in the green room yet. He's coming out soon. Just before we take a quick break, I'd like to talk to you about just cleaning up some housekeeping. You know I love asking you these questions, Siege. What's happening on social media? We just dropped the Moose episode. It's going to be an epic two-parter. By the time you've listened to this episode, you've listened to both parts. What's happening with the Eating Wild knives? We're talking spices and we're also talking merch, apparently. What's going on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're going to be teaming up with Moose and we're in the design stages of apparel and with the knives. Last time I was in studio was last week. I don't know if I mentioned to you already, but our, our eco is down to we have two of the echoes eco fillets left. That's all we got and then we have.
Speaker 2:We had another shipment of the pro angler. So, yeah, just keep on sending us. Uh, if you're interested, reach out. They're a great fillet knife, or for great for that angler, or if you know an angler, and it's a great present so great present and I would say again, chef approved.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't use any other knife for fish, for even cleaning meat with the uh, with the eco model. Uh, great, great knife. And uh, stay tuned, folks. Like we're gonna have some really cool merch hopefully gearing up before the fall season. And speaking of the fall season siege, it's almost time to get your gun out and start getting it all ready to go for the pop season. I'm so pumped I can't even tell you how pumped I am.
Speaker 2:Yeah, my wife. Every morning I'm like, oh, it's getting colder. She's like, shut up, she loves the heat right. She's like, shut up, she loves the heat right. But every morning when I go out there and go to the car, I just you know, you know, we've talked about it many times and anyone listening to this podcast probably can relate that it's go time of everything from fishing and hunting.
Speaker 3:Well, brother, this is going to be a commercial break and on the other side of this commercial break, we're hoping to be hooked up with Corey Johnson right after this season. I know you're smiling, you're laughing. This guy's insane. Get ready, brother. Get ready, because after this quick messages we'll be back live with our guest of the day, Mr Corey Johnson. We'll be right back after these messages.
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Speaker 7:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal use by Indigenous peoples all over the globe.
Speaker 7:After nearly a decade of harvest use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of the strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people. That will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. Find Under the Canopy now on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever else you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3:Welcome back. Welcome back to the Eating Wild podcast. I'm your host, Antonio Smash Malecka Siege. I promised you a birthday present, brother, and I got to tell you you are lying man.
Speaker 2:I'm looking at him right now, unless he's. Ai Is siege. I promised you a birthday present, brother, and uh, I gotta tell you you're lying man. I'm looking at him right now, unless he's ai is he ai cory johnson?
Speaker 3:he's not he's not ai buddy. This is a 17 time top 20 finishes in the three seasons on the elite series in 2021, this guy finished fifth in angler of the year standings. He has just claimed his first title at the Bassmasters Northern Open on the St Lawrence River, thousand Islands, with a combined weight of 102 pounds. Mr Corey Johnson, ladies and gentlemen, thank you, corey, for taking the time and joining us this evening.
Speaker 8:No, thanks for having me Appreciate it.
Speaker 3:I know you probably are going nuts right now because of how many people are probably reaching out to you after that incredible, incredible victory and siege and siege and I were just talking about it. We were watching the footage again. Buddy, that was a rough one, that, that was some rough, crazy waters.
Speaker 8:We got to ask you about that yeah, I mean the first two days it was, it was pretty nice out there. And then, uh, she got a little sporty on day three and four. So yeah, I had a little puke and rally on day three there, but made her through.
Speaker 2:So, corey, let's just say I was talking to Antonio. Let's just say you needed medical attention, like you weren't feeling good. If you were to go back to um, back to the shore and get medical help for some reason, and then you were fine to go, could you go right back? Or once you hit the shore, are you out like would there be a dq or anything like that uh.
Speaker 8:so this tournament's a little different because we're right on the canada us Okay. So part of the rules for that tournament was you're not allowed to touch Canadian soil at all. So we were not allowed to get on the Canadian side or anything like that. So, technically, if I had to go to the Canadian shore for help or whatever, I'd be disqualified. I'd have to go to the US shore to be able to stay in the country.
Speaker 3:Wow, so so you, basically you, you, you handled it, you handled it well and you came out on top and and you know, we were CJ and I and our other co-hosts that aren't here with us today we were talking about it and, buddy, we're all proud. I mean being Canadian and and obviously following yourself and your brother, chris, for a very long time, and for yourself, with this victory and your brother becoming Angler of the Year, I mean we're just proud of you and what's that feeling like Like, what's it like now that you know you got the dub and obviously your career is insanely impressive, but for you and your brother, this must be a real special time for you guys.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I mean it is Especially for Chris to win the AOY and then me win the tournament at the St Lawrence, where I mean all of our friends, family, they were all there. And St Lawrence is kind of I say it's our backyard but we're a couple hours from it. It's the closest we'll ever get to fish an Elite Series tournament at home. So you know, we were so close there in the past. Chris won there in whatever year. It was 2022. And yeah, it's just, it's been a special place for us.
Speaker 2:What I like is with you and your brother. I like the banter man. I like it. It reminds me of fishing with my buddies. Like I mean as much as you cheer for them. I love the chirps that you guys give back and forth on the water. It's fantastic man. I think everyone can relate that, especially being brothers. You got to love that.
Speaker 8:Yeah, I mean. I mean with all of our friends and the people we hang around. You got to have thick skin.
Speaker 3:Right Now. Listen, you probably get bombarded with a lot of tons of tons of fishing questions. We all know that the Johnsons are a stick, corey's a stick, we all know that. But let's dive into this. You know, if we can, corey, take a time and ask you where did this all start? Where did the fishing route start? And you know, a lot of our guests have incredible stories and usually you know it's a parent or a godparent or a grandfather, even grandmother, we've heard. But where did you start? Where did the love for fishing start? Did it start at a really early age?
Speaker 8:I mean, yeah, we were, I mean, basically born into it. You know our dad fished tournaments and to be on the water and so essentially I grew up in a bass boat all summer. So you know they had tournaments around here and he'd take us around and we would practice with them. And I mean we basically learned a lot at a very young age and we didn't really know a whole lot different. You know, we played a lot of sports hockey, lacrosse, baseball and fishing and hunting. I mean that's pretty much it. It's amazing, got busy and I mean I never dreamed it would have turned into what it did, but yeah, I love for it. I had an early age. My parents were good enough to take us along for the ride.
Speaker 3:That's amazing, brother. It's just one of those stories where, again, the roots are there from an early age. And you mentioned sports. Now we all know that you played at senior level hockey and are you still like playing hockey like competitively, like? Are you playing in the men's league, or because we heard you're somebody that you might not want to mess with on the dance floor? Is that true?
Speaker 8:I don't know about that. No, I don't know about that. But yeah, still playing. You know we, I mean I play, you know, a few times a week and I still still man. A few years ago I almost went back out and did one more year for senior and just to let my boys be watch one season of me actually play real hockey and I just man, I'm what? 30, 39. Oh, I mean, the body just isn't what it used to be. The hands are sore, the head's, you know not what it used to be and you know I just enjoy it now. You know it's men's league. I play a pretty competitive men's league and you know a bunch of guys have played junior and played real competitive hockey. So it's just fun. Now, man, it's all about going out and playing a little bit and having a few beers after 100%.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think, siege, one of the things about Corey that we can relate to is, you know, sports fishing, hunting, and you know we were talking about it off camera. Um, that you know we we kind of got the uh wind in our ear that you and you and your brother are having a big moose, uh, moose hunt this year we are, we are gonna do that.
Speaker 3:I was actually just got back in the bow, so I'm uh, I'm pretty excited about this one so hunting you guys did, you and your brother and your family you you mentioned that you got it at an early age, were you guys? Did you start off doing waterfowl or were you into deer moose right away? Being from the Carthor Lake area, obviously you know the hunting. I feel for us, siege, you could probably touch in on this too. We got to go north. I mean the deer. We have been seeing good deer, though, on the Scugog area that's my neck of the woods there but usually we got to head up north. Where did you guys mostly do your hunting?
Speaker 8:So we were pretty lucky. We grew up. My grandparents lived next door and they got a big farm operation and we grew up in a lot of places to hunt. And I mean right from. You know, when I was six years old I had a little red rider. I'd be out in the yard chasing critters around and learning how to shoot, and I mean, my kids are the same. Right now he's six years old and runs around with his BB gun in the backyard shooting cans, and I mean it's bred in them. You know, it's something that I love to do. It's, you know, a few of my buddies that live around here uh, been the rough boys. We all grew up on the same road and, um, we all, you know, hunted and fished and um, that's just what we did. And our kids, you know, aren't really any different. Yeah, you know, we teach them about the outdoors, teach them the right way, and it's just that's how we were raised.
Speaker 2:So, Corey, when bass season ends for you, are you chasing other fish around, like multi-species stuff, or are you going right to the bush and doing hunting?
Speaker 8:You know, by then I'm sick of fishing. You know Job. And people are like, oh, you know, by then I'm I'm sick of fishing. You know it, job and. And people are like, oh, you know, you're so lucky you get to fish for a living and yeah, they're not wrong, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. But I mean when you're on the road it's a grind like they don't realize. You know, when we have a tournament we get three days to practice water when the sun gets up in the morning and you're off when it gets dark, and those are long days. You know, 16 hours it's 100 degrees down south in Alabama with no wind, and you're on the water for 16 hours. I mean it's not fun. There's no part of that that's fun. So for me, when fishing season's done, there's a few tournaments around here that we do fish.
Speaker 8:But, for me.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm just ready to get in the woods. Yeah, I bet. I bet, because we take it for granted. We're weekend warriors, so you know we're only doing it like two times a week or whatever. Be doing that all the time, the hotels that travel, and not to mention like things that go wrong on the road with trail boat trailers and and all that stuff. I can't, I can't imagine it. I can't imagine it. Now, if you were, when you do fish like for fun, so Corey's fishing for fun right now, I know you like, obviously, larges and smallies. If you had to pick one, if you had to pick like I mean, I'm sure you have love for both, but what are you chasing for fun?
Speaker 8:For fun. I mean I'd rather go large motion for the most part for fun, pull out the big heavy rods, heavy line and pull on them. And I mean the small motion is fun, don't get me wrong. But I mean when you're using little rods and eight pound tests, I mean it just it almost gets monotonous and I'd rather go punch some mats, do something and catch some big, large mo.
Speaker 2:I kind of figured you were going to answer that question because I really like some of the sticks that you have with Daiwa and I noticed a lot of the sticks you have for Daiwa are the heavier action rods and I kind of figured that you would, for fun, be more of an aggressive fisher rather than, you know, doing the subtle presentations. No, that's awesome man, that's really cool.
Speaker 3:So do you prefer, corey, the subtle presentations? No, that's awesome man, that's really cool. So do you prefer, corey, when you're going out into the hunting and you're getting ready to go in the bush, are you a bow guy or do you have a shotgun rifle? What are you shooting?
Speaker 8:I'll kill them with whatever I need to. I mean, I really like my bow. I'm a big bow guy, but I mean, when shotgun season comes around, I'm taking my shotgun. You know, muzzleloader season, I'm taking the muzzleloader. But if I could pick one, it would 100% be a bow. I just enjoy it it's. You know, I'm not the kind of guy that just goes out and shoots the first deer. I see, you know I'm. I'm uh, I wait and and usually I'm up four or five on the atlas and um, I put a lot, of, a lot of time in, a lot of hours in the stand and um, I mean, we're, chris and I are running like somewhere around 50 trail cameras right now all over the place, umesus, we, we work hard at it and um, you know, we, like I said, we bought a lot of time in that's crazy, man.
Speaker 3:That's a lot of work, siege, for a guy that uh is is on the boat and he's he's rocking these 100 plus degree weathers and he's winning tournaments and he's grinding out there. He still finds time to have the family stuff with you know, it's Jack and Luke, correct? Your two boys, yeah, and we get to see them all the time, you know, taking pictures with you on stage with your wonderful wife. And how do you find time to manage it all, brother? I don't know if you get this question a lot, but having the boys, like you said, you're trying to get them into hockey, into hunting and fishing, yet you and your brother still find time to go out there and hunt and be the tournament angler that you are.
Speaker 3:How do you find time? How do you find you manage it? Because, siege, we're in the same age area, we're a bit older than Corey, but we got two young girls, we're girlfathers and you know I find it hard to to make angelina's baseball games. You know what I mean, siege, and and and cory. You mean, how do you find the time, brother? You must, you must really work very hard at it man, it's.
Speaker 8:That's the hardest part about the whole thing is is finding time. But, um, like I said, my boys absolutely love hunting, love fishing. You know they are not impressed when I leave the house without them, especially when I'm going, you know, hunting, putting trail cams up or baiting deer, whatever it is. I mean my oldest boy, I mean he's like you know he's six, but I mean the kids had a lot of experiences that most six-year-olds don't get to see. He's absolutely the best. You know I don't know how many deer he's watched get shot, and some big ones, you know, watching these, you know some really big bucks come right in and you know the kid's a trooper, like he sits there, freezes to death and absolutely loves it. So you know they kid's a trooper, like he sits there, freezes to death and absolutely loves it. So you know they want to come with me. You know you got to have an understanding wife too, because that's how I'm going to sit there 100%.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I agree with you on that one. I mean, we all have our wives put up with a lot of shit too. They put up with a lot, and we all have our CGR wives put up with a lot of shit.
Speaker 2:They put up with a lot, a lot of people in the fishing industry that that that's gone through divorces over this passion. You know what I mean. Like it's it's, it's tough, it's tough. So your family, you're out hunting so much with them, so they must really like consuming wild game. I'm sure you have a good freezer at home with you know, with venison, turkey, all that stuff 100%.
Speaker 8:It's always stocked up, no doubt. And that's the other thing is like. I brought my boys up, you know, eating wild game, and even the wife she comes from a hunting background, hunting family, outdoor family. So I mean we love it. You know, nice, chris shot an elk years ago. He went to New Mexico. And I mean we love it. You know Chris shot an elk years ago. He went to New Mexico and I mean that was some of the best meat I've ever eaten I can imagine. So you know we love it.
Speaker 3:So who does all the field dressing Corey, like if you guys are out in the field, if you're with your brother and stuff like that, do you guys? You know, if it's your buck're you're taking care of it, or as a team effort? Now I could only imagine moose siege. We've never we've never had the opportunity to get a moose yet, obviously, but I've worked with moose. It's one of my favorite things to to make and consume. I mean, we've had it at our hunt camp many times. Sean's always bringing us some moose stew and stuff like that. But who's the one who's got the knife out? Who's doing all the cleaning? Who's getting it all ready to go?
Speaker 8:generally, with, uh, with all the deers, whoever kills it. I mean, unless my old man, uh, unless my old man shoots one, there's jack what's going on jack. What's up jack but you, whoever, whoever shoots, it's generally cleaning it. But you know, like I said, if my old man kills it, it I'll usually jump in and get it done for him.
Speaker 3:That's amazing. And who's making the sausages? Who's making the pepperettes? Or you guys just making steaks? You got, obviously, roasts. What do you guys usually do? What's your favorite thing you make for yourself and for the family?
Speaker 8:You know, I love some backstraps, tenderloins, but we, I mean we, we do a lot of hamburger stuff like that. Yeah, you like the hamburger?
Speaker 3:Jack likes the hamburger.
Speaker 8:We mix it up quite a bit. To be honest with you, we we do a lot of sausages, chops, stuff like that. Eh, bud, yeah.
Speaker 3:Sounds good, eh, bud Sausage. Yeah, sounds good, eh, jack, I do it all. So one question I had, you know, on the topic we're talking about, consuming Is there a chef in the group? Is there a guy that always says I got to take the reins here because you guys don't know what you're doing? Do you guys have any of that syndrome going on when you're at the hunt camp or at home? Because see, we're, we're, we're a bunch of guys, but everyone's got to be the chef right, yeah, yeah, we got you, we got you for that for sure.
Speaker 8:Yeah, we, we don't really have anybody like that. I mean, we got a few guys that like to cook. I mean, by no means would I call any of them a chef, that's for sure. But um, we don't really have or a hunt camp. Um, you know it's, it's just we hunt in my place and, um, you know, we, we drive all all over the place hunting lots of different areas, but I mean, pretty much where I live is is the hunt camp right, right.
Speaker 3:So, cory man, you guys, I, I know we're going back to that, we're switching back and forth from fishing and hunting, but you guys, um, obviously have have had a crazy, crazy few weeks. I could only imagine. And what's next, brother? I know hunting season's around the corner, but are you, are you, already thinking about next season? Or are you just going to sit back, relax, be a father, be a parent and a husband, and hit the forest and go nuts?
Speaker 8:No, I mean you've got to start thinking about next year. We've got boats we've got to sell, we've got new boats coming, we've got all these electronics, motors, power poles, I mean you name it, but all that stuff has to, has to get shipped to, to where these are. We got a guy that puts them all together at fast pro shops um in missouri, and then they get shipped down here and then we got to go through the boats. You know it's uh, there's a lot to do still, but I mean, in the meantime that's all happening kind of behind the scenes and, um, I'm just basically hunting, hunting a little bit of hockey and, uh, you know, trying to be with the kids as much as possible. Jack's playing in a, um, real competitive hockey league in oshawa now, so he's on the ice like five times a week and so it's going to be busy.
Speaker 2:I heard an interview with you before and you're saying you're aging yourself, you and your brother. You're saying you know, we're up there in age and there's all these younger kids on the come up and I find that hard to believe because you're younger than I am and it's just, it's so crazy. You obviously live into it, but how fast the bass world's evolving and these, these young sticks, and you know what I mean it has for sure, and I mean this kind of stuff, podcasts and YouTube.
Speaker 8:I mean these kids can learn so quickly and we never had any of that. You know, if you wanted to learn something, it's get in the boat, go out on the water and figure it out, whereas now these kids can learn so much from just being on the computer, and whether that's a good thing or a bad thing I don't know, but you know they have so much knowledge just readily available.
Speaker 2:You're right, because when I was growing up I couldn't jump on YouTube and watch Corey Johnston teach me his favorite knot. You know, I was getting like Ontario Outdoors magazine or something like that. You know what I mean, waiting for that monthly magazine to come in, and hopefully it was a bass one and not like walleye. I do like walleye, but you know what I mean. So it's just you're right. The the information is just right there. But uh, yeah, I thought, if I thought it was funny, kind of weird that you know you guys are saying you're the older guys in the sport but, uh, more and more young guys into it, and it's in the fact that they have like I mean the universities, they have like bass programs. And I knew I wanted that when I went to Sheridan College. Where was the bass program there?
Speaker 8:That's right. In the States it's massive now, like all these college programs, high school programs, and I mean they hire bass fishing coaches. Now you know it's getting really big. A lot of people are doing it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was going to say Siege, one of the things about you know I saltwater fish a lot. You know up in Florida in the Keys a lot and I will say that I feel like sometimes we're behind a little bit here. Siege, with a few things, not technology, Like the technology is there, you go into a Bass Pro, you're going to find what you seem like they, it seems like they have it more dialed in. I'm not sure what it is exactly, I could be totally wrong, but coming home after from being in in the keys, you know fishing like crazy. Again, it's totally different style fishing, but I just find like the americans just have this. They're just I don't even know how to say it they're just a little bit one step further than us, the average anglers. Obviously c Obviously Corey and Chris and the boys. Like you know, they're always up to date with the latest electronics and stuff like that, with their sponsors and stuff. But would you say, Corey, you spent a lot of time in the States. Would you say they have it dialed in.
Speaker 8:Yeah, they do, and I think part of the reason that that is the case is because they can fish all year round.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they don't have a leader, it's so limited.
Speaker 8:Yeah, that's right, and I mean they got saltwater, they got freshwater. It's just a lot bigger down there than it is here and, like I said, that's partially because they can fish all year round, right, you know they can go out. There's no seasons on bass, you know.
Speaker 2:It's just you go fish for them, so I think bass, you know it's, it's just you go fish for them. So I think that has a big, big part of it. Oh, that's a huge advantage, hey, tony, if you could do something all year round. And then in canada it freezes up, we got a lid over our lakes and you know, unless you're into ice fishing, but uh, yeah, to be able to do that all through the season, that's got to be a big advantage. When you, uh, cory, when you get into, when tournament season's coming in, do you, do you do a lot of pre-fishing? Do you get, you know, the the, as they say, get the rust off the hooks or any of that stuff, or you just show up and it's go time I mean we.
Speaker 8:So for the elite series we have three days to pre-fish, so official pre-fish, right. We have an off-season so we're not allowed to be on the water. I think it's 28 days before the official practice starts. Really, we're on a thousand islands. In the tournaments of, say, the 1st of July, we can't be on the water up until 28 days before, and then we have a three day window right before the tournament where we're allowed to practice, right.
Speaker 2:Has anyone ever like? I mean, I haven't heard of, but has anyone ever been like busted for that being there? You know earlier pre-fishing. Has that ever been a problem, corey?
Speaker 8:Yeah, but not intentionally, like someone you know accidentally screw a date up and be like, oh man, you know it's um one day off. One guy got dq'd this year for it and you know it was just total accident. You know, no, there's never any. Well, very few times there's a intentionally a rule broke in the elite series, like it's right, you know we have marshals with us all the time. We you know everything's mostly televised for the most part and, um, you know they do random truth verification tests every tournament.
Speaker 2:So it's, you know, it's no one's there to intentionally break a rule how long did it take you to get used to have a cameraman on their boat? When you're like when you're in that you know you need a couple more pounds and all that stuff. Did that take you a while to get used to?
Speaker 8:Not really, it's the camera. Guys, I mean, you barely even know they're back there. Every once in a while They'll say, hey, you know, give us an update. But for the most part, I mean, you're so concentrated on what you're doing that you really don't even remember that they're back there. You know, and the guys that I've dealt with are just every one of them has been phenomenal. They're so good at what they do. I mean they. You say, okay, we're moving spots. I mean they got that camera closed up in the bag and by the time you got the motor started and they're ready to go. So it's not like these guys don't know what they're doing. They're dialed in. They try to stay out of your way as much as they possibly can.
Speaker 2:That's cool, man. That's really cool. I don't know if I could get used to a cameraman on the boat and seeing drones around me and then all that stuff. That's gotta be a trip, man. Uh, we just love all the Canadian flags that are out there now on the elite series and it's, it's. And we hear rumors about the Canadian house parties and we're hearing about everything. Man, it's so awesome what you guys are doing.
Speaker 8:Yeah, it's been fun. It's uh, like I said earlier, it's fun. But I mean it's a job, it's a lot of work and I don't know I wouldn't trade it for nothing. But I am glad when the season's over because, like we talked about, I'm ready to sling some arrows. Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:That's awesome man, that's. That's really cool.
Speaker 3:And and you know Canadian guys and I think you and your brother got to be up there, for you know Canadian pioneers that listen Siege. We've all watched Chris and Corey growing up and YouTube has allowed us to watch more, I would say, over the past. You know five to seven years, I would say. But you know, having these young guys come up, corey and you and, like I said, your brother, are like you know we could say you're old but you're not. But in the fishing world we've got these young sticks coming up, canadian sticks that look up to you and your brother, and that's got to say something for you guys. You're almost like the veterans out there and you know getting kids like coop coming up and and you guys are, are the originals you know. So it must be amazing feeling for you yeah, it's, it's super fun.
Speaker 8:You know, it's like the other guy that that we fish with one of the other canadians, gussie from way up north, yeah, yeah, and cooper now. So it's uh. I mean, the four of us are all good buddies. We don't all stay together, but we try and get together whenever we can and have a few beers and go for dinner. We try and make it as fun as we can.
Speaker 2:It must be an advantage for these younger guys too, because you and Chris and Gussie, I believe I don't know if Gussie has kids but you get coop where bass season ends and he's with his buddies, he can just keep grinding. You know what I mean.
Speaker 8:Chasing musky, take it, chasing everything yeah, and that's that's what he's doing right now. We just had a big party there on sunday. Heard about it, Heard about the karaoke. Yeah, karaoke, that's right. That's right. I mean, I feel good now, but I was a little foggy on Monday. I'll be honest with you. But we make it the like I said. We all are good buddies and we have a lot of fun when we can.
Speaker 2:We saw a picture of Moose holding up the blue trophy angler in the year and then the St Lawrence win, so he had both of them.
Speaker 6:He was double fisting. I didn't even know you were in it, man.
Speaker 2:He's like don't worry about it.
Speaker 8:Yeah, no, moose, I think. Hopefully he had a good time and we had Chef Todd. He did a bunch of food for us and he did a great job. So, yeah, there was probably 80 or 100 people there at Chris's house, so it was good, it was a fun time, that's incredible, I bet, man.
Speaker 2:What a great way to celebrate with you guys just killing it like that. It's amazing, man.
Speaker 8:The more parties we have, the more blue trophies we have, so parties are good Blue trophy parties are good.
Speaker 2:Yes, man, we got to make it out. Antonio and I, we got to make it out. We haven't been to one of these live events before, so, even if it's St Clair or something like that, we really got to make it, because I really want to see the weigh-ins and everything live. We watch them all the time and just to be there, and that'd be really cool. Antonio, we should really put that on the list.
Speaker 3:I already told Moose. I'm taking my shirt off and I'm writing CJ C on the front and J on the back. It could be for Corey or Chris, it doesn't matter, it might even be for you. Siege Me.
Speaker 2:What are you going to be celebrating for me?
Speaker 3:man, you inherited one of the best names ever. You're a legend. You don't even know it.
Speaker 2:How about you just keep your shirt on and we'll call it a day?
Speaker 3:Well, listen, man, I'm just so happy that we had the opportunity to have Corey on and join us. I know you're so busy with your schedule and you know it's unbelievable that you took time to sit down with us today. I know you got the kids around and stuff like that, but uh, listen man, good luck with everything that you're doing representing us canadians and, um, you know, have fun out there. I hope you guys pop a moose jesus siege. We got to get out there, man I feel like an idiot.
Speaker 3:Every guest we have. They're going for moose.
Speaker 8:We're still going for bunny rabbits and grouse, that's all right, you know I've never killed a moose eel, so we'll see.
Speaker 2:Fingers crossed, my man Fingers crossed.
Speaker 3:Well, listen, buddy, we won't take much more of your time. I really appreciate you joining us today. It was our pleasure, and good hunting, good fishing, and God bless you bro.
Speaker 8:Thanks, boys, appreciate you guys having me.
Speaker 2:And is there any way for our listeners how to reach you on socials or any of that stuff?
Speaker 8:Yeah, just Instagram, I think. Coreyjohnson underscore fishing, I think, or CoreyJohnson fishing, and that's pretty well it. I'm not a gigantic social media guy, but I just do what I can. Amazing. Well said, brother, we do actually have a YouTube thing. One episode's come out, the other one's coming next week. It's called the Derby Boys. I saw that. So that's Chris, chris myself, matt Robertson and Seth Fyder, and it's just kind of behind the scenes of what we do at the Bassmaster Elite Series. You know, a bunch of shenanigans, a little bit of fishing and kind of a real-life view of it all.
Speaker 2:What a crew that is. Eh, what a crew Motley crew right there bud.
Speaker 8:It gets interesting. That's awesome man.
Speaker 3:Well again, brother. Thank you so much, man. We'll be right back after these messages. This was Corey Johnson for Smash Meleka, and CJ Christopher Showtime Johnson. We'll be right back after these messages.
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Speaker 3:Welcome back folks. Welcome to the Eating Wild Podcast. Siege Buddy, you know I was so excited to get Corey on and surprise you with this guest. And buddy, how do you feel after that interview?
Speaker 2:I feel like we peppered him left, right and center with questions we fanboyed out. We were like, you know what I mean Fishing, hunting, and we kept him busy with answering our questions, that's for sure. And we kept them busy with answering our questions, that's for sure.
Speaker 3:Buddy, I cook for some of the most famous people in the world and I'm not. Listen, I'm not showboating, I'm not. You know, this is what I do for a living. But listen, I was geeked out more with this interview with Corey than I have been in a very long time, and it was so cool to get him right after the dub.
Speaker 2:Right after the dub and the season. Yeah, man, and it's just their journey and that's why we look up, we can relate. We fish the same waters as these guys. You know what I mean. And to hear his story, his father getting him into it and and both both him and Chris, it's, it's, it's their pioneers. And to see now that's passed on to his kids and his kids seem to really have the itch to to hunt and fish and and he's passing on that outdoor knowledge and I tip my hat to him.
Speaker 3:man, what a guy what a guy buddy and uh, it's, it was I don't know man, just to hear his story. It's like a cliche. You know started off with his pops and fishing, and I guess that's what you do out, out in those neck of the woods siege. I mean you're, you're think of all the amazing hockey players that come, or athletes that come out of, you know, from the Peterborough area, the Oshawa area, belleville, timmins, ontario. You got guys that you know are unbelievable hockey players and all these guys have something in common they all fish.
Speaker 3:They all grew up fishing.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean and mark my words. The Elite Bass Series tournaments are going to have more and more Canadians on them and you know all these upcomers are looking up to these Canadian sticks that are paving the way. And you're going to see more of it, man. You are going to see more of it. Mark my words and maybe even you Tone. You know it's not too late for you to get on that Elite Series. I am a stick, you are a stick, and you know. I think if we fish other lakes other than Scugog, you may have a chance. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:There's a chance Siege you know it's funny you mention that because I have been training.
Speaker 2:Yes, you have.
Speaker 3:I've been training, I've been flipping pretty well my wrist. I mean I just got it down pat. I was going to tell him you know, invite him to a dance. But I don't want to get into that. It was about him.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean, Right, right right, let's keep it about, corey.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but I'll tell you right now I'll wipe the floor with am, an absolute stick, and I'll fish with the best of them, and you know it Well.
Speaker 2:You'll fish with the best of them in their boat at a charity tournament, but you're not beating them, man. You're not beating them.
Speaker 3:Let's be honest here.
Speaker 2:I'm not beating this guy.
Speaker 3:I couldn't beat him with a 20-pound advantage. No, I love that.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean Siege, yeah, and it's so glamorous and I'm sure it is he. He, like he said he's, he's being paid to catch buckets for a living. It's phenomenal, but everyone thinks you know he lives a life and I'm sure he does, but it's tough man.
Speaker 3:I'd want to take a break too.
Speaker 2:I'd want to take a break at the end of the season. I want to put the bass rods away and I'm in. You know, I'm with Gags and Coach and Tone and Lou and Daniel and we're popping and we're at Hunt Camp. So yeah, man, it was great. Thanks again for Moose to have him on the show. We hope the connection went okay. We had a little bit of problems with Wi-Fi, but that's the beauties of podcast world you never know what's going to happen.
Speaker 3:You never know what's going to happen and the fact that he came on took some time. Right after you know the dub and his party mentioned his party and his brother winning Angler of the Year. I mean that family's just blessed. And those guys are absolutely. Not only are they cool, dudes're, family dudes, they're, they're siege they. You know, they're in within our, our age group. I would say they're a bit younger than we are but you know, at the end of the day, we can relate so much to these guys and the fact that they hunt, they fish, they process they, they kids play hockey, they're in sports, it's like you know, the great ontario father family man, that's, that's, that's the book right there, that's the recipe. And, uh, to have him winning that, getting that dub, and his brother getting that trophy, I mean it's, I'm proud brother. I don't know what else to say.
Speaker 2:I'm proud, yeah, and I I'm not, um, I'm not going off. Well, I'm kind of going off the limb, but I I can probably guarantee it that there might be more johnston jerseys down the road between Corey and Chris's kids on the bass, you know, on the Leet series, like I mean, their kids may be into it one day too, and I think they have that same passion. But, yeah, thanks again for coming on the show and it was a good one. Bud, doing any podcast with you is definitely a good one, and it's just crazy what's happening with the Eating Well podcast.
Speaker 3:It is man and I would say it's a turning point for us having a guy like that on our podcast just to talk to him, and the fact that you know he's heard of the podcast, which is really cool. You know, we never know who's listening, siege, and you know, it's just the fishing community. It's a small community. The hunting community is a small community, but when you put them together and you add a recipe, um, you know it just, it's a. It's a recipe for a good night. Yes, good listen. And, uh, you know. Cheers to everybody.
Speaker 3:Siege, a couple things before we move on. Edub podcast is moving into a different season. We're going to call it a quarterly season. We, we just passed the old summer pop, yeah, it was a great summer, brother, anything that I you know. Siege, what can you reflect on this past fishing season? I know we're getting into the fall buckets and the footballs and we're going to be getting, hopefully, more 50s. Um, we are, it's tis the season, but what can you reflect on in the summer, siege? What can you think back of that?
Speaker 2:uh, really sticks out to you I would just say, um, a lot to do with family time and being on the water and, uh, the guests that we've had, they have that one thing in common is passion, and passion with the outdoors and it's contagious. And to to get kids and and people that haven't been out there get out there on the lake or the bush. And, uh, you talk about it being a quarterly or quarterly uh season, and you're right, man, we're going into the fall quarter now and we're shifting gears and we're going to go in the bush, we're going to go on the water and I'm looking forward to it. What about you? I'm just trying to think in the back of my head, off topic, when your birthday is, and what guest am I going to line up?
Speaker 3:for you, for your birthday. I'm going to tell you right now you better bring Prince back from the dead, because that's one guy I'd like to have an interview with yeah, the best guitar player in the world?
Speaker 2:Does he pop? Does Prince pop? I don't care, does he pop?
Speaker 3:Guy's the best singer, best performer in the world. You bring him on my show, siege. That's all I can ask for. It's a tough one though. Well, I was thinking about it.
Speaker 3:Considering that he's not with us anymore. Yeah, that's a big ask on your. See, what I can do, might as well bring back Elvis while I'm at it. Oh boy, no, you know what, man, I think back of the summer siege I actually go back as far as the spring and to sit in a blind for turkey for the first time with producer Dino and Hookset Martins, top Dog Pereira, and I would say that was really cool for me.
Speaker 3:Um, now that you know we're talking quarters here, and one thing that I will mention and and it was it sticks out to me is fishing with taro. Taro was probably one of those, really, and simon berth, but you add those guys together, yeah, you know, and their buds. I would say that was was for me reflecting back on the summer. Um, because by the time this airs, you know we're well into september and you know I I would-Dub. It's been a really good summer, met a lot of cool people, interviewed a lot of cool people, and I'm just excited for the fall brother. We got news happening, man. We got tell us about the brawl Siege. What's going on? There's stuff happening.
Speaker 2:Oh, the musky brawl. We're just a season bro season bro. So we were going to have dave gray on shortly and he's going to talk more about the musky brawl that's held in on lake st claire. And anyone that doesn't know anything about the musky brawl just follow the musky brawl on all the socials and you'll see what's going on with there. That's quite the tournament. That started out with like 15 guys and now it's getting up to 200. So, yeah, we're going to be proud sponsors one One of the major sponsors of the Muskie Brawl, and you know Chef Antonio is going to be serving them up some delicious food and we'll be there, man, and I'm excited for it. We got the Airbnb ready to go and stay tuned and get a picture with Antonio smashing us. You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:I was going to say get a picture with Siege, but sure you want to take a picture with me, that'd be great. I would say this Siege, you know, not only the musky brawl is happening, but the foreskin's got to get on the water buddy. We need to start collecting some material because I'll tell you, man, this is. You said it to me off camera. You said smash when I walked outside and you just felt that cool brisk this morning, right First week of September, and you get those cool mornings, 10 to 12 degrees, man, you get that fever, you get the goosebumps. And for me, the first thing I thought of was getting that Benelli ready to go, because I can't wait to use that and hopefully we get into some waterfowl early.
Speaker 3:But muskies and smallies and buddy, I'm just excited to create some more stories with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we're going to be chasing comorants around all the waters as well. We're going to be. We're big time trophy comorant hunters, so I'm just joking.
Speaker 2:There's trophies in that section. No, I have no idea. I just know they're an issue and everyone knows that's an angler. They are a big issue. But yeah, back to serious note. I can't wait, my friend, and stay tuned, and we're going to be fishing and hunting with some major players in in the industry this this season and we're going to bring the stories from from the water and the bush right to you guys and and thank you for all the support that's beautiful, brother, and I got a question of the day I I pulled this one up I know you're the king of questions.
Speaker 3:Oh, you got an email one. I got an email one I uh, because and the reason why I'm taking the question to you is because it's towards bass fishing. Okay, and you know we do get a lot of mostly, I would say, cooking questions, but there is the odd fishing, you know question that comes in. Actually, no, there's been quite a bit of fishing questions that come in and guys, again, feel free to DM Siege on Instagram, also Facebook and at the I guess it's theeatingwildpodcast at gmailcom. You can drop us a direct email, let us know your questions. So this one here is from Dave Sangara. Dave Sangara, he is from Timmins, ontario. We just mentioned that too. It's so weird, timmins Ontario. He says hey, boys Love the podcast.
Speaker 3:I noticed you guys, I sorry not you noticed. I heard you guys talking about consuming bass a few episodes ago and I loved it. I know a lot of people don't like talking about consuming bass, but where I live and where I fish, that is one of our favorite things to eat. I know you guys love to bass fish one of our favorite things to eat. I know you guys love to bass fish. My question is would you go out to target a bass just for consumption, or is it one of those things that if it's not hooked properly and the fish isn't going to make it, you put it in the live? Well, for a short lunch that I'm going to put towards you Siege because you are the bass.
Speaker 2:We're getting so many questions on that and you know what? We're fortunate enough to fish on waters that have amazing panfish, amazing crappie, perch, walters and pike. I can't say for myself anytime soon I'm going to go try to get largemouth or smallmouth, but there is a lot of lakes that those are the only fish available and there is limits and if you follow the guidelines and and let's face it like I mean, a fish is a fish and if you like, eating them, and from what I hear, more and more people are and and you know, there's this misconception that they're terrible to eat. But people are saying the same thing Cold water, cold water bass are delicious and it's funny we had Corey on the podcast.
Speaker 6:And now we're talking about consuming bass.
Speaker 2:But it's not one thing that we target by any means. But it's not. Yeah, it's not one thing that we target by any means. But hey, man, get your limit or don't keep the trophies by any means. Don't you know the two and a half, two pounders? Sure, yeah, do it up and send us your recipe and send us your pictures. We do not discriminate?
Speaker 3:Yeah, great question, dave, and I'll just touch quickly on that Siege, just because I have, you know, just a quick opinion on this. It's one of those things that I feel like and again, there's a lot of fish that we target Siege, and that you know they'll come up and they're bleeding from the gills, whether they're hooked into the gills, and it just makes even a panfish. Yes, my goal is to keep this thing alive so it could come back another day and we can fight it, unless we're going out there to consume, right. But we have never, as a group, ever gone out there and said, boys, we're going out there to fish for smallies or larges for dinner. That's just not happening.
Speaker 3:But I get it, I understand the question. In a sense. It's like, okay, is this fish going to be swallowed by, you know, a bunch of comrades? Or you know, like, what's going to happen to this poor fish? And I think consuming it is probably, you know, especially if it's, you know, bass. Some people say it's some of the best stuff to eat. Why not? We do it up. And again, it's nothing we target personally, but, um, you know, if it's, if it's, if it comes up and it's not going to survive siege, I'd rather, you know. Oh yeah, bless the earth, bless us, and and and consume the fish. So it's a great question.
Speaker 3:It could be a whole podcast siege. We could talk about this with many people.
Speaker 2:This topic, this topic is it is we get, we get flooded by it and, uh, you know, there's been just like anything in life and there's people that are saying I can't believe you guys even would discuss that, or on your podcast. And then there's some people being like I eat smallies all the time, and in deep cold water. What did you get? What are these guys and girls talking about? To each his own man, to each his own. You're not doing anything illegal by any means. Um yeah and uh yeah, especially if, like you said, if they, they, you catch one and the hook is down their gills and they're bleeding and everything. You got two options. You know you can. You can seagulls may eventually get it, or turtles or comrades, or you know what you go on to uh, you go on some of these uh websites and you can make yourself a beautiful dish out of, at the end of the day, there you go well, said buddy um siege.
Speaker 3:We are closing up this episode. It was probably one of my favorite ones to do with our guest, cory johnston. Um, we we did talk about doing an instagram giveaway. I know it's happening soon. Um, can you give us a little insight of what's going on with that and when do you think we're going to be dropping it?
Speaker 2:With the what Sorry.
Speaker 3:With the Instagram giveaway, with the Cucushion Chef giveaway. Sorry.
Speaker 2:Sorry, I just had one of our next guests texting in to see what time they can come to the studio. I'm always working behind the scenes, always working the Cucushion giveaway that's going to be coming up very shortly. I have the product from you and it's going to be strictly Instagram only and, yeah, stay tuned to that. It'll be Eco Filet and one of the chef knives and if you follow us on Instagram, you've seen these knives in action and they go through things like butter and I'm excited. I'm excited for the lucky winner and make sure you post us in your pictures and we can't wait to see it.
Speaker 3:That's awesome, buddy. And one last thing before we go Siege, you mentioned that we possibly will be name dropping a couple new sponsors on our next episode. Yes, You've been working really hard. People have been reaching out to you, which is pretty cool, and you've been doing a lot of hard work on the road. And you know, can you give us a sneak peek? What's happening? We're going to be dropping a couple new sponsors. What's going on?
Speaker 2:It's a done deal. It's a done deal with my favorite Marine. It's a done deal. It's a done deal with my favorite marine. It's Extreme Marine in London, ontario, and I do believe that actually they have a new one, a new location as well, in Kingsville, and it's the owner. It's a family run business and the owner name is Rob. He's a local business. They have top-end boats, they have top-end gear, they have anything with the garments and they have fishing tackle and the beautiful boats and they came aboard of the Eating Wild podcast. It's a done deal. Stay tuned to hear the commercials from them and we can't thank them enough to sponsor us. And, man, we're looking forward to it. There might be, we might be demoing boats for them. Did I say demo or demolitions? Well, you're not going to be demolishing any boats. We'll be demoing, demo some boats on the water. So stay tuned for that. And we're talking big brands and we're making a big make, big waves with them. Man, it's great.
Speaker 3:That's awesome, buddy. Well listen, congratulations on that Siege. It's been quite the week brother for Eden Wild and I got to say I'm overwhelmed having Corey on and Extreme Marine with Rob and Moose and the boys, and I think we got some pretty big guests lined up as well for the fall talk. Oh, my goodness, we got Coach and Gags and the boys. We got to get our listeners all geared up for the hunting season and the big fish, big bass. You know the big football season as well. So stay tuned, folks. Again, thank you for listening. In this is Antonio Smashmalek, alongside a beautiful co-host, christopher Showtime Johnson. We'll be right back, folks, with another episode next Tuesday and we will be live from the studio. Ciao, we're out of here, get the net.
Speaker 5:Get the net. It won't be long. They'll be pulling our fish and we'll be serving them their favorite dish. All the feeling screaming reels on fish and fire.