0:00

Man, Gunnersville is on fire, isn't it?

0:02

Oh my gosh, dure unbelievable.

0:04

Danielle and I had an opportunity to fish Gunnersville

0:07

a couple weekends ago, and we

0:09

were ecstatic. We landed on a spot

0:12

where we brought eighteen We called

0:14

every fish that we had there, right, every single one, eighteen

0:16

and a half eighteen point eight five pounds,

0:19

and both of us thought, damn

0:21

man, we might actually be doing something

0:24

with this bag.

0:25

We show up to weigh in.

0:27

This is a club tournament, right, so just a small

0:29

thirteen boat deal. We show up

0:31

to weigh in and we're sitting

0:33

in second place, and we're ecstatic.

0:35

We're in check, but we don't win it.

0:37

The winning team that had twenty pounds they

0:39

got us. We end up getting bumped down

0:41

to third. But then we

0:44

look at the results from a big

0:46

two hundred and fifty boat tournament. Guys,

0:49

when I tell you that, we wouldn't even

0:52

sniff like, we would have had an attaboid,

0:54

not even.

0:54

That, not even not even a pat on the back. And

0:57

we thought we were hammering them, but we were

0:59

hammering them.

1:00

They had sixty bags over twenty pounds

1:02

in that two hundred and fifty bow turnament.

1:04

It is so crazy.

1:04

It's just fishing unreal. And then I had an

1:07

abt. I went back to that same

1:09

spot. Second cast, me and my partner,

1:11

we caught a six point six to six. That's

1:14

probably why we didn't catch that fifth

1:16

fish, you know, six six six.

1:17

It's like, oh, the devil was against us.

1:20

But we thought for sure like

1:22

this was going to be a lights out day and.

1:25

It just didn't.

1:25

It didn't turn out that way for us. But it took

1:28

nearly thirty pounds. Every one of these tournaments

1:30

on Gunnersville, it is taking

1:32

thirty pounds for guys to win.

1:34

Yeah, yeah, I don't know. It's hard to say if that

1:36

spot even has thirty pounds on it, but the

1:38

way that we fished it, it's hard to stay. And when a

1:40

six to six comes off of it, like the first couple

1:42

casts, it's so hard to leave a spot like that,

1:44

you know, and just like want to stay there all

1:47

day.

1:47

We sat there for a while.

1:48

I want to go back to our tournament when we were in that club,

1:50

because I thought you and I fished

1:53

really smart throughout the day. We showed up

1:55

to Gunnersville. Didn't know anything. We didn't know where any of

1:57

the fish were. I'd had some knowledge on

1:59

that there, you'd only been there twice

2:02

or that was your second time, and we

2:04

started to kind of look around. There were a couple of things

2:06

that we wanted to hit. We wanted to hit some docks and

2:08

just see if they were on that. We wanted to

2:10

hit some grass to see where they were. And

2:12

we went to a spot immediately, and we knew

2:14

there must have been fishing in the area because we

2:16

were surrounded by a couple other boats, but

2:19

we weren't on the juice. So we went

2:21

over and you wisely said, hey,

2:23

let's fish this dock. You threw a chatterbait

2:26

out on the end in boom, you got walloped.

2:28

It wasn't a big one, but it was good enough

2:30

to get the ball rolling, and we built off

2:32

of that. What do you think the success was

2:34

with that cast and getting that fish? What

2:36

did it clue you into?

2:39

Well? I think remember when we pulled back in there, it did

2:41

have the warmest water temperature on the entire leg. Yeah,

2:43

so that was the main thing. And then

2:46

I guess and we were fishing those docks fast.

2:48

We were like burning through those docks too. I remember

2:50

we weren't fishing them slow.

2:51

Can you explain to everybody why you want

2:54

to look for the warm water, especially in early

2:56

spring that pre.

2:57

Spot era, you have to have the warmer water.

2:59

I mean, it just makes a fish want to move

3:01

back and like try to search

3:03

out that warmer water from the lake. And

3:06

that's when that's typically when you'll catch

3:08

some of your biggest bass of the year because the females,

3:10

you know, they have their guard down, they're moving

3:12

in and they're looking for that warm water to try

3:14

to set up to spawn. So that's what we tried

3:16

doing in the morning. But it was strange that

3:18

that didn't work out because we had had some

3:21

nice weather for those couple of weeks.

3:22

I wouldn't say that it didn't work out because it actually

3:24

didn't get enough time.

3:25

We give it enough time.

3:27

We had three off the docks, and I think what

3:29

ended up happening is when we found that warmer

3:32

water early, because we

3:34

got out of there before eight o'clock.

3:35

The sun was barely coming up when

3:38

we got out of there.

3:40

We had three fish in the live well. I

3:42

just don't think the females were up as

3:44

shallow as the males. The males are starting

3:47

to get ready to clear out those beds,

3:49

and in some places on Gunnersville they're already doing

3:51

that. M Yeah, that's a difference a week

3:53

makes.

3:54

Yeah, It's almost like if when

3:56

the sun's even brighter out this time of year,

3:58

they move up and it's like in the summer,

4:00

like you're like, oh my gosh, it's so freaking hot

4:02

hot out the sun so high in the sky. You

4:05

know, there's not going to be any fish up in two foot of

4:07

water. But I think the more that I'm starting

4:09

to fish these areas, the more I'm starting to realize

4:11

during the springtime, the hottest part

4:13

of the day is the best time of the day.

4:15

For those that don't know, Daniel moved

4:17

to Alabama from West Palm Beach, Florida.

4:19

He was fishing Okachobe all the time. What

4:22

have you kind of seen in the last

4:24

couple months of how different fishing a Florida

4:26

lake is compared to Alabama.

4:28

It changes every day every single

4:30

day. It's like almost like the fish

4:32

are bait oriented as well as

4:34

like seasonally oriented, so

4:37

you have to like stay on top of your game, which

4:39

is really really strange as

4:41

a fisherman to be able to catch fish

4:43

in one spot one day and then you go back the next day

4:45

and they're just not there at all.

4:46

It makes you realize how versatile some of the

4:48

pros that are from Alabama truly are.

4:50

Absolutely, and that's that is what I'm

4:52

starting to realize more because you and I

4:54

just fished a little tournament the other night where

4:57

I thought we were on them.

4:58

I want to talk about that because to me, it

5:01

was the one moment in fishing and I don't mean this

5:03

in a negative way where I actually felt

5:05

like I could show you something.

5:07

Yeah, absolutely, if you did me did You've.

5:09

Taught me a lot about fishing. But when

5:11

we and we'll get back to the Gunnersville thing

5:13

in a minute, but we'll talk about this Monday night

5:15

wildcat. We were

5:17

putting in at a ramp that was

5:20

about as far away from your fish

5:22

as we could get to, and there were so many variables

5:24

that came in, and one of them came true.

5:27

In my mind.

5:28

I was like, we're going to go down to this stretch of

5:30

docks and there's gonna be somebody on it. And

5:32

I remember coming around the corner and

5:35

when we cleared this one dock.

5:36

You went, damn it, somebody's on it.

5:38

And then you looked at the next doc and you're like, shit,

5:41

somebody's on that way.

5:43

And we just ran twenty eight minutes.

5:45

And we're getting those due

5:48

God just sitting on it like literally power

5:50

poles down like he's crappie fishing.

5:52

So we, you know, punt

5:54

and we go to another spot and I end

5:56

up getting tagged on a chatter bait

5:59

and I'm set in the hook and I'm sitting there going,

6:01

oh, this is the good one. I see the flash. It was the

6:03

biggest crappie I think I've seen.

6:05

And my favorite part of this is

6:09

for those that don't know, I'm your

6:11

typical white Anglo Saxon Protestant

6:14

white dude from America. Daniel's

6:17

last name is Vasquez, so you know he's

6:20

a sanded brown boy.

6:21

Baby. I'm

6:23

eating them fish, dude, I don't care.

6:25

We have fished several tournaments.

6:27

We fished several tournaments where I've caught catfish

6:30

and I'll look at Daniels.

6:31

Daniels like, oh, dude, go ahead and throw that thing

6:34

in the live one.

6:34

No the catfish, no more, no

6:36

more. Calf is the calfish just not good

6:39

around here.

6:39

So the crappy, right, we catch that, But

6:41

it gave me a clue.

6:42

It made me realize that there was life and there

6:45

was activities underneath the docks, and they

6:47

were in that open part. Like I was throwing

6:49

underneath a pontoon that was in a lift.

6:52

So once I noticed.

6:53

That you were working these outside

6:56

pilings and you started to get bit

6:58

but they were short striking short

7:00

strike.

7:00

So they were just trying to move it out of the way.

7:02

Yeah, it was weird. It was I think that they I

7:04

think the spots are around the dock spawning right

7:06

now.

7:08

That makes sense.

7:08

A lot of people don't know about spotted bass, but

7:10

they will spawn in six to

7:12

eight foot of water. You feel more comfortable

7:14

there, especially if that's a dock that

7:17

gets a lot of sunlight and you have

7:19

to look for that. Like those southern facing banks

7:22

on a lot of Southeastern lakes and just

7:24

a lot of bodies of water, it gets more sun throughout

7:26

the day, so you got to start.

7:28

Kind of looking at those things.

7:29

Yeah.

7:29

Yeah, the uh the

7:31

best part of that though, was we took that

7:34

crappie and we threw it in the uh.

7:35

We threw it in the live Weell because you wanted to try it. Did you

7:37

eat it?

7:37

Made a sandwich? Yeah?

7:38

Okay, good?

7:39

Yeah, it was delicious. It was

7:41

I love craffee, man. It was better

7:43

than the calfish catfish

7:46

no more that you

7:48

saw. We took really good care of it. That we caught

7:50

this catfish on Gunnersville,

7:52

by the way, you caught.

7:53

It right, yeah, and I always yeah,

7:55

we.

7:56

Bleed it out and everything like that. I

7:58

was like, maybe this thing will be good. It was not good.

8:00

It tasted like soil.

8:01

Dude.

8:01

It tasted like the bottom of

8:03

the lake. It was terrible.

8:06

I just love how we do this in tournaments because

8:08

I had a couple of tournaments when I lived in Georgia

8:11

and I caught a mammoth catfish and

8:13

I brought it back and the guys in the way

8:15

in line were like, what are you doing?

8:18

Yeah, because our friends are making fun of me too. Afterwards

8:20

are They're like, there's your friend want there's drum on club

8:22

too. It's like, no, dude, I don't want

8:24

your drum bro catfish maybe well

8:27

definitely not anymore.

8:28

I think what we need to do in our club tournament is we

8:30

need to do a side pot for trash fish,

8:32

like who gets the biggest trash.

8:34

Yeah, we should also do a tournament one day's

8:36

smallest bag. Oh, that's

8:39

fun.

8:39

I might be a shoeing.

8:40

Smallest bag is fun. Like

8:42

everybody bringing in little twelve intus. That's hard.

8:44

It comes down to ounces.

8:45

Let's get back to the Gunnersville tournament, because it actually

8:48

was a really good tournament for us. You know, your second

8:50

time on the water. I'd been there a handful of times,

8:52

and I had some ideas where I wanted to go. I treated

8:54

it like a practice for the ABT.

8:56

I just wanted to find some things.

8:57

We end up going to a couple docks where and

9:00

bid on docks where you're getting bid out on a miracle

9:02

mile. Then we end up

9:04

going south and we found this one

9:06

little spot that was an absolute

9:09

gem. Looking at

9:11

it, it's very nondescript.

9:14

It wouldn't It doesn't look like anything right,

9:16

It doesn't look like anything. But I think the way

9:18

that the current moves through.

9:19

There is something. It just funnels a fish

9:21

into this little pocket because it's

9:23

there's this narrow area that goes back into

9:26

another narrow area, and I

9:28

think that's what congregates them there.

9:30

It's like the perfect spot for them to stage,

9:32

like literally the perfect stop.

9:34

It was almost like you know when you go and you

9:36

have to stand in a long line, whether it be for

9:38

tickets or Yeah, it's kind of like tickets you're going to

9:40

a concert.

9:41

The main river was the parking lot.

9:44

We walk across it, we get to

9:46

the next area, which is the line before

9:48

you go through security. Well, the end goal

9:50

is getting into the show. That's exactly

9:53

what these fish were doing. They were hanging out

9:55

in the line leaving the parking lot, getting

9:57

ready to go through security, and we whacked

9:59

them. But Gunnersville is so interesting

10:02

because as big of a body

10:04

of water that it is on the Tennessee River, you

10:08

have to find the smallest little

10:10

pieces of structure, and for us, it

10:13

was grass. It was just this one pocket

10:15

of hydrilla that was holding these big fish

10:17

we pulled nearly twenty pounds off of.

10:20

And the crazy thing is Spencer. Imagine if

10:22

we got there earlier, who knows it would have happened?

10:24

Right?

10:24

Who knows?

10:25

Well?

10:25

Because we only spent what two hours there?

10:28

Yeah, yeah, we were there in the middle

10:30

of the afternoon. I think we got out there like

10:32

twelve thirty we caught nineteen

10:35

pounds off of there, and we.

10:37

Left, and people would go, why would

10:39

you leave? Honestly, you and I both.

10:41

Had to let him rest a couple times there worse, a

10:43

couple of times we had to let him rest.

10:45

Why wouldn't we have thought

10:48

when we were doing the way that we

10:50

were working that pocket where we

10:52

were kind of starting here going down

10:54

the line and then we'd move over about

10:56

twenty thirty feet we'd.

10:57

Go down that line. Is that

10:59

not enough of arrest? Is still they get

11:01

a lot of vibration.

11:02

Well, what happens is especially what happens

11:04

when they're because remember on Livescope, we could

11:07

see them like moving around, they'd like scatter

11:09

around, and then they'd come back in a group again. And

11:11

when they'd come back in that group again, we'd fire

11:13

over into the hydrill. That's when we catch them.

11:15

But when they'd scatter all about, it was almost like

11:18

they were lost, or like they were scared of our baits,

11:20

or like they were searching out and they were just

11:22

harder to catch.

11:23

They were just trying to get back to.

11:24

It or something, or maybe try to get back to where

11:26

they wanted to be and

11:29

I think I think that's the reason why

11:31

we had to leave them and we can't.

11:33

And we didn't leave them for that long, I think because

11:35

we only left them once once we found

11:38

that spot. Remember, we ran down to the other pocket

11:40

because you were like, maybe this other one will

11:42

set up the same, and it didn't. Well, because you have certain

11:44

there are four boats in there too.

11:45

There's certain types of lakes.

11:46

You have pattern lakes, right, guns

11:49

it's.

11:51

Like a spot specific.

11:52

Yeah, with you got and you go to Tin

11:55

House and guys are like, we're whacking them in Tin

11:57

House. You can be in South Bay and they're not catching

11:59

anything, right. Gunnersville

12:01

is very similar. There's guys that are like, oh,

12:03

I spent a lot of time in Sea Bowl. I was whacking them

12:05

in there. I go down to Brown's. I didn't

12:07

do anything.

12:08

Yeah, guys try.

12:09

To replicate, and that's when you get in trouble because

12:12

you can't run on Gunnersville. You

12:14

have to kind of expand your area where you find

12:16

your fish.

12:16

I learned this from a really, really prestigious

12:19

fisherman back in the day that

12:22

eighty percent of the tournament winning fisher

12:24

and twenty percent of the lake and that's

12:26

as a tournament fisherman what I kind of take into

12:28

consideration. That's why we made that

12:30

long run on Monday, because I'm like, this is the only

12:33

place where I've found such a big group of fish

12:35

that we could potentially roll through numbers and catch

12:37

a big one. Because during the spring,

12:39

that's the deal, right, and during the summer that's the deal. And

12:43

that's what we found on Gunnersville. You know that spot

12:46

was loaded, man, Well that next weekend

12:48

loaded. I've been like having dreams about it

12:50

and wanting to go back, but it's like and

12:53

it's like, do I want to go to Gunnersville and drive

12:55

an hour and forty five minutes or do I want to go

12:57

out and master my home lake, which is Logan Mark.

12:59

Gunnersville also had that the

13:02

weather that came through, the tornadoes that hit

13:04

a lot of places. We did have some fatalities

13:06

Alabama.

13:07

It's terrible.

13:08

Yeah, it's awful to hear about. And we're

13:10

fortunate to be able to go out and fish these lakes.

13:12

But I've already heard Gunnersville is blown

13:14

out and there's a lot of float all that kind of stuff,

13:17

and just a matter of days.

13:18

Yeah, you know, happens a lot.

13:20

The mudline is still

13:23

pretty prominent, but there's a real difference.

13:26

A lot of guys get scared of fishing clean

13:28

water, like clear water. We

13:31

were fishing relatively clear water

13:33

when the stingy.

13:35

But then when that mudline started

13:37

to settle in, boy.

13:38

Did that bike pick up.

13:39

It did well. We were we were fishing. We were

13:42

fishing the mudline, like literally

13:44

the mudline, and then when the mud line would roll

13:46

in, it was almost like they were change. Yeah,

13:48

it would change. It was it was, it would move around.

13:51

Uh, and it was like almost like the fish

13:54

were like using that as like I

13:56

can't say to ambush prey because

13:58

it's so hard to say because we're still firing on

14:00

hydrilla, you know.

14:02

I think but they were more comfortable.

14:04

I think Dustin Connell says, the

14:06

water ain't dingy, they're going to be stingy. Yeah,

14:09

so you know, and it's true, you know, especially

14:12

with the way that that bite was that day.

14:14

There was some pressure. There was some pressure

14:16

in that area. We had one low kid

14:18

fish into.

14:19

The like he'd go up and come back down, up and bat.

14:21

It was so interesting.

14:22

He was doing similar things

14:24

on his trolling motor that's why.

14:26

But he also he also wasn't catching

14:28

the size.

14:29

Yeah, because he was on the clean water because

14:31

you know, and he wasn't firing into that one little

14:33

patch of hydrilla that

14:35

we were firing into on that mudline,

14:38

and that that made everything, you

14:40

know.

14:41

Wes Logan is a guy who's been on the podcast

14:43

numerous times. He's a super good dude,

14:45

talented in the bass Master Elites. In fact,

14:48

this week, at the time we recorded this, he's

14:51

in the bass Master Classic on Ray Roberts.

14:54

You want to talk about weather, and it

14:56

looks like it's getting worse all week.

14:57

Oh, it's supposed to be bad. It's I didn't even look at

14:59

it. I haven't been paying attention to the cloud.

15:02

I know they had their little event.

15:03

Last night, but yeah, crazy windy,

15:06

you know, twenty to thirty mile an hour goes.

15:08

Oh my goodness, that's Oh. So it's

15:10

going to be like practice.

15:11

It's going to be interesting.

15:13

Wonder how they'll cancel a couple of days. It seems like

15:15

the bass Master has been doing that a lot lately.

15:17

I'm really curious to see if they'll postpone

15:19

or cancel one of the days.

15:20

Of the class for safety.

15:21

I could see him doing it, but for fish

15:23

ability no, like which is crazy.

15:26

You don't want to cancel the Classic because

15:29

fishing could be hard.

15:30

But if it's an unsafe lake, well that's unsafe

15:33

lake. Yeah.

15:34

If it's thirty blowing thirty, you

15:36

know they're gonna man. I don't know if you saw

15:38

some of those practice did you see Trey McKinney's boat,

15:40

and yes, oh my god, just trying

15:43

to load the dang thing.

15:43

But there wasn't anything that the main

15:46

event could have done. It

15:49

was his practice trailer to get practice

15:51

out.

15:51

Yeah, he was trying to get out, right, It looked like he was trying

15:53

to get.

15:54

Trey's boat, was trying to get on

15:57

his trailer. He offloaded his boat. He

15:59

was going to try to get out because it was a bad

16:01

scenario. He went on social media and talked about

16:03

it and people were like, why didn't you get out and try to

16:05

help them.

16:06

There's nothing you can do. The waves you're crashing

16:08

like that.

16:09

Trey has to try to ride the top

16:11

of one of those waves and it's gonna slam

16:13

down on top of that trailer just to get it close.

16:16

And Ben Milliken's account showed

16:18

shared the video, but he wasn't there one recorded.

16:21

Yeah, you know, there's a lot of so.

16:23

Much social media there.

16:25

Yeah.

16:25

Yeah. In fact, we need

16:27

to talk about some social media hate. We also

16:29

have to talk about some decisions that

16:31

bass Master has made and

16:34

they're not the only ones. The NPFL made the decision

16:37

too. But the

16:39

new information rule has

16:41

become highly politicized

16:43

with people, and I don't understand

16:46

why. I'm lost because

16:48

the anglers asked for

16:50

stricter penalties and better

16:53

enforcement on their rules, no information

16:56

rules one. What's your feeling on that.

16:58

If you do the crime, you god do the time.

17:00

So you're in agreement.

17:01

I mean, I'm not trying to be the rumor

17:03

starter gospel starter, but everybody knows

17:05

like Scott Martin gets information, everybody knows

17:07

that, right, it's a joke in the industry, you

17:09

know, everybody makes jokes about it. So

17:11

for him to finally get dcu'ed on Okachobe,

17:14

that just goes to show that they're being serious

17:16

about it.

17:17

And I'm seth Fighter said the same

17:19

thing. You know, he was like two guys a bass master

17:22

got pinched. One of them is a really good dude,

17:24

the other dude, it was kind of expected exactly,

17:26

and of course he was on with Dave Mercer,

17:28

and Mercer kind of pushed a little more like can I

17:31

ask who's and he's like, well, I've never heard a bad thing

17:33

about Matt Heron, That's.

17:34

All he had to say.

17:35

Yeah, it is like there are guys, especially

17:37

when you're in the fishing world, you kind

17:39

of know, yes, you get

17:42

senses and you get feelings, and then you find

17:44

out the way that some of these guys

17:46

are getting information.

17:47

I'm not saying it's Scott.

17:48

Watch the guy's YouTube channel for like an hour.

17:50

Yeah, just watch the guy's YouTube channel and you'll

17:53

be like, yeah, this guy.

17:53

Gets some of the ways that I'm hearing these pros

17:56

can cheat is wild

17:59

to me.

17:59

Yeah, yeah, because the schedule drops and they

18:01

have like a certain amount of time to be able to get

18:04

information quote unquote, and they either do

18:06

or they don't. And some of the guys that are the best in

18:08

the world, sorry, guys, they get information.

18:11

I hate to be the breaker.

18:12

And I'm okay with guys getting information, Yeah,

18:15

but I don't want you getting.

18:16

Information when the schedule comes out.

18:18

That's the rule.

18:19

If you want to go fish, Okachobe, let's

18:21

let's talk about Okuchobe. You want to fish

18:23

Oka Chobe. Scott Martin lives on Okuchobe.

18:25

Yeah, he's been fishing it for years. But

18:28

to get information within the seven

18:30

months eight months when the schedule's out, No,

18:33

Like you live by a different rule because you

18:35

play in that world. But if you know

18:37

that you're going to be there in April or you're going to be

18:39

there in March, and you know kind of what the fish

18:41

do, you already have a heads up. Yeah, but

18:44

you still got to go out and find them. So I'm okay with

18:46

guys getting information outside

18:48

of when the schedule gets dropped.

18:49

And once it gets dropped, you can't talk about it.

18:51

So Spencer, let me ask you this, what do you think

18:53

is the difference between like getting

18:55

information from a local guy and like going

18:58

on a Facebook page before it turns when

19:00

it's no off limit or when it's off limits,

19:02

and like joining a Facebook page for the local

19:05

lake and just watching, you know, because that's

19:07

that's never been brought into any rule situation

19:09

or a conversation. Because there are

19:12

some pros too that will go right on the Facebook

19:14

and join a local tournament group and just

19:17

look and watch. Do you think that's

19:19

no information real.

19:20

No, But here's the thing.

19:23

I listened to a pod the other day and

19:26

Gussie was talking about this and Gussie

19:28

was like, look, we can't talk about it, we

19:31

can't get information about it.

19:32

We can only see what's readily available

19:35

to us. You see.

19:36

So that's that's a great area.

19:37

But it's not really great area because no,

19:40

because look what we do for tournaments, right You

19:42

and I will sit down and we'll be talking about a game

19:44

plan of a tournament that we want to fish. We'll

19:46

pull up YouTube, we'll see what guys

19:48

did a year ago. But again, most of the time

19:50

is a year ago jumping on a Facebook

19:52

group. You and I both know the

19:55

worst people to talk to about fishing are

19:57

fishermen because they're one not

20:00

always going to tell you the truth. I mean, how many guys

20:02

across the stage at ABT and they're like, I'm catching

20:04

on rayburn red rattle trap and I'm

20:06

catching on chatterbait. That's

20:08

not always the case. They're not always

20:11

catching it on that exact color. There's variations

20:14

of what guys do, there's techniques that they do, so

20:16

you don't always learn that the pros

20:18

are smart enough to delineate what information

20:20

sounds viable and what stuff is bullshit?

20:23

Yeah, I mean, I

20:25

don't know. It's so hard to say. That's That's what I'm saying.

20:28

It's so hard to police, like who are

20:30

you going to DQ? Next? You know, like are

20:32

you going to DQ a guy that you know is in a

20:34

tackle shop and just hears it and there's some bass

20:36

message like it's so hard to police, like

20:39

like who's gonna be the next guy that getsdcuted?

20:40

But that's not what's happening.

20:43

Kind of is if you have a

20:46

little bit. When I

20:48

was working with Buddy Gross, Buddy and I

20:50

traveled to Florida. We get

20:53

into the truck and as soon

20:55

as the door closes, he goes, I

20:57

just want to tell you we can't

21:00

talk about this lake in Florida and

21:02

we can't talk about this like okay.

21:03

So it comes down to management as as as

21:05

yourself correct.

21:06

Yes, you have to be the one as a

21:08

pro to be able to say don't do

21:10

it. I had a friend of mine who called me

21:13

and said, it is like

21:15

four days before the ABT

21:17

and he says, hey, man, I just fished the

21:19

lake that you're going to fish this next weekend. And

21:21

I said, you can't tell me anything about it,

21:24

don't say a word about

21:26

it.

21:26

Okay, but then what happens if you when

21:28

you still fail the polygraph, When

21:30

you still fail the polygraph, it's

21:33

so hard to police.

21:34

Well, polygraphs are only sixty six percent.

21:37

It doesn't matter. If you fail the polygraph, you're

21:39

disqualified.

21:39

Most of the time.

21:40

Most of the time they're not admissible in court.

21:43

So there's a part of me that feels like, yes,

21:46

I understand that's the golden rule,

21:49

but I do appreciate the guys who

21:51

self report.

21:52

Look the Scott Martin thing.

21:53

Let me tell you about the Scott Mart's I

21:56

don't think he's self report. He didn't

21:58

because he kept saying at one point

22:01

I had to be reminded of the conversation.

22:04

If you self report, you don't have to be

22:06

remind.

22:06

Exactly exactly that was. That was what do they

22:08

call that? When you're saving face? He's saving

22:10

face?

22:11

Yeah, yeah, So I immediately thought

22:13

that was a little suspect, right.

22:14

The Matt Herron deal.

22:16

I've noticed with Matt Herron and

22:19

some of the things that have surrounded him.

22:22

Unfortunately, I think it's kind of a coup. Yeah,

22:24

I agree.

22:25

Un I think I think I feel kind for him.

22:27

I do too.

22:27

I think it was a way for for

22:30

for best to kind of look at it and go, now

22:32

we have an opportunity.

22:33

Yeah, that's exactly I agree. Because they knew he would

22:35

They knew he would probably just finish

22:37

his season off then because he has no he can't

22:40

requalify once you get decued

22:42

and a certain amount of times you know you're going to be the

22:44

lowest in the standings every turn you can't requalify

22:47

for the elites. Yeah, now Scott's going to have a

22:49

really hard time requalifying.

22:50

But because if.

22:51

He's the lowest in the standings, there's like that's

22:54

when our buddies from the EQS run

22:56

in and they take their spot.

22:59

But a lot of this up, a lot of the information

23:01

stuff came up.

23:01

He had to cut his losses essentially,

23:04

right, Yeah, so which is it's

23:06

You're right? I agree, it was a.

23:08

Coup with with some

23:10

of the the things that people continue

23:12

to talk about with you know, self

23:15

reporting in this and the one in the MPFL.

23:18

People are like, it's not that bad and blah blah blah.

23:21

Everybody knows the rules. So even

23:23

if you are on a live camera, which happened in

23:25

the NPFL, and you just ask how your buddy's

23:27

doing.

23:28

He's in the tournament. That's gaining information.

23:30

So that's what happened. What did he do?

23:32

Essentially, he turned, he

23:34

turned to the camera guy and he was just talking

23:36

about an area and he said, well,

23:39

I hope he's catching him down there, or

23:41

have you heard if he's catching them? Oh no, So

23:44

it's it's a matter of language, right, Like

23:46

it just sounds kind of easy

23:49

to say, but if you have a guy who validates

23:51

the question, goes, yeah, he's catching him down there, that's

23:54

information.

23:54

Well wait, who did he get that information though?

23:56

Is that like camera guy?

23:57

It was a camera guy? Oh no,

23:59

so oh man, that stinks.

24:01

But you say it on live, you know what I mean?

24:03

Like, it's because if you were to run down

24:05

there and then join his buddy, you know, that's that's

24:07

gaining a competitive edge.

24:09

I've been in tournaments before where they're like, hey,

24:11

look, you can call anybody who's in the tournament

24:13

and you can talk about things. But

24:15

they change that rule in MLF

24:18

now you can only talk to them while you're on the water.

24:20

Yes, that's what I was just about. To say, because

24:23

when I first started fishing the opens

24:25

back in twenty thirteen, I

24:28

was with a couple of guys that I jump on the phone during the tournament

24:30

and call their other buddies and ask if they're a fisher around, what

24:32

were the.

24:32

Rules for you guys in the open?

24:34

Uh? To be honest, dude,

24:36

I was so young. I was

24:38

following the rules obviously, but I wasn't paying

24:40

attention because my boater was responsible for

24:42

most of them. You know, as a co angler,

24:45

you don't really have that many, you know,

24:47

rules besides making sure you're Fing'll tell you a couple.

24:49

Of things that might blow your mind when it comes to gaining information.

24:52

Apple air tags, yes, putting

24:55

them in a guide's boat, letting

24:57

a guy dull.

24:58

People will start their phone like Navionix app.

25:00

They'll just start their phone. And how

25:03

hard is it to remember a spot too? You know?

25:05

So, and that's that's what really, that's the

25:08

man.

25:08

I'm hiring guides for your friends, yep,

25:10

and then having them report back. Yeah, there's

25:13

numerous ways the guys cheat. But

25:15

if we really want to save this sanctity

25:17

of fishing, you just can't have that kind

25:19

of stuff.

25:21

But like I'm saying, Spencer, how are these guys?

25:23

How is bass master? And the I'm going to be able to police

25:25

this? Like one hundred percent, They're not going

25:27

to be able to.

25:28

They they won't. But listen, I've

25:30

seen a lot of stand up things.

25:32

Gerald Swindle will stand up in a in

25:34

an event where I can't remember exactly

25:36

what happened, but something he did where

25:38

he caught a fish and he went against the rule I think

25:40

know he was trying to fish for a better fish

25:43

and the hook was outside the mouth.

25:45

Yes, yeah, I remember.

25:46

He didn't have anybody in his bow. There was no marshall,

25:48

there was no cameraman. He had his go pro

25:51

and he self reported to the tournament

25:53

director and said, I caught a fish it was outside

25:56

the mouth.

25:56

Well, I believe too. The elites have to

25:58

have a GoPro in their care. Were recording twenty

26:00

four to seven with their marshal and he didn't

26:03

just even tho if it doesn't go on live, they have to

26:05

have it in there.

26:05

When I was marshaling, and I

26:08

had Scott Martin, Greg Hackney both

26:11

in the Classic, and then I had

26:13

Mike I. Kinelli, all three

26:15

of them told me like, hey, you

26:17

can stand in the back of the boat, you can send the chair

26:19

or whatever. Please don't block the camera. Yeah, I said,

26:22

no problem, so I knew, like at all times

26:24

where that camera was.

26:25

It's a good way to keep him accountable. But it's also,

26:27

you know, good for them.

26:28

They don't want any They don't want anything

26:30

that happened from somebody else possibly

26:33

ruining their day on the water because

26:36

they don't know if they're going to go out and bag them. And

26:38

then they also don't want anybody blocking

26:40

the camera because if they have an epic day, they want

26:42

to be able to have that footage. So it's

26:44

good that the cameras are in there. It's great

26:46

for the organizations because they can use it. But

26:49

as far as information, I

26:51

really do just love the way that Bass has

26:54

it set up. Once we put out the schedule,

26:56

you can't I think. I think the

26:58

matter of the scheduling is the big problem

27:01

though, because when the schedule

27:03

comes out for the bas

27:05

elites in the past, the

27:08

opens guys are still fishing

27:10

and they're not held to the same standards

27:12

as the elite guys in the past.

27:14

Yep.

27:15

Now I'm happy because that's

27:17

like the minor leagues trying to go pro. You

27:20

have to be held to the same standard.

27:21

Absolutely, you're on Spencer,

27:23

you nailed it. Nailed it, dude. You're

27:25

really good at this bass fish and stuff.

27:27

You know a lot about it, bro, I know a lot about it

27:31

when it comes to fish.

27:32

I looked at the old tournament.

27:35

I looked at him and I was like, man,

27:37

I can't catch fish, and He's like, no, no, no,

27:39

you always catch the one, big one.

27:41

Yeah, dude, You're always good for a big

27:44

one and a catfish, sure, and craffee.

27:45

So I'll tell you what, if I come across the stage, if

27:47

they go Spencer Graves waghing into fish.

27:49

It might be an absolute stud.

27:52

You just don't know big fish.

27:53

You just don't know. All right. Good.

27:55

I'm glad that we got a lot of this uh talked

27:57

about today because the no information

27:59

rule is such a big deal and

28:01

a lot of people have jumped on social.

28:03

Media, Oh stop doing this. He's a good man,

28:05

he's a man of Christ and all this stuff.

28:07

It's great that they are who they are,

28:10

But the reality is, when you sign

28:12

up for any tournament, there's rules

28:14

you gotta follow.

28:15

Who is next to be d qed?

28:17

That's a big question. That is a big question.

28:19

Could we see a disqualification

28:22

in the Bass Master class.

28:24

Gosh, that would be wild.

28:26

We'll see you guys next week.