0:00

It would be inappropriate if we didn't

0:02

say congratulations to West

0:04

Logan.

0:05

Congrasp yeah West

0:08

Logan.

0:08

Come on, man?

0:09

What four?

0:10

What?

0:10

Because you just got married?

0:12

I did? I did.

0:13

I just got back from a from

0:15

a. I guess it was the wedding and the honeymoon

0:17

all combined.

0:18

Oh really?

0:18

Yeah?

0:19

How long were you out in Utah?

0:21

I want to say eight days we

0:24

were there? Five days? Like, no, I'm

0:26

sorry, my math wrong. Seven days

0:28

we were out there and then

0:31

yeah, you know it all runs together when you know what

0:33

you actually got married September twenty fifth.

0:35

Okay, yes, I do know that day.

0:37

How many years until he forgets on?

0:41

Better not forget?

0:43

See, I'm late of easy. I got married in

0:45

two thousand, so I

0:47

know, and in July, so

0:50

I'm pretty good. That'sh always around the four.

0:52

I tried to keep it.

0:53

We tried to keep it, or I guess I tried to

0:55

September twenty fifth when we got engaged. We

0:58

got married on September twenty fifth. Surely

1:00

it's ground in my brain now that the

1:02

twenty fifth of September's what I need to remember.

1:05

I just saw a video the other day of a

1:07

woman like secretly recording her husband,

1:09

She's like, is there anything you want to say to me?

1:12

Oh?

1:12

He's like no, and

1:14

then she goes.

1:15

Nothing at all, like a day like today, and he's

1:18

like, what is your birthday?

1:21

Here's a shovel, just keep digging. Yeah,

1:24

well, congratulations, I.

1:25

Appreciate it was a It was a cool experience.

1:27

It's a whole different world out there. It's beautiful.

1:29

Really, it's really high, I know, and I don't like heights.

1:32

So whose idea was Utah?

1:35

It was kind of a combination of

1:37

me and her wanting to go out there because we had been

1:39

to the bad Lands when we went to South Dakota last

1:42

year fishing, and then we had heard that, you

1:44

know that Utah, that Moab area was like

1:47

ten times you know, more scenic and all

1:49

that, and we didn't really feel like paying

1:51

for a wedding like the traditional spending

1:53

twenty five to thirty grand, and the one

1:55

venue that she wanted around here was booked for like three

1:58

years, and we finally just got fed up

2:00

with it, look like, let's just go get it done.

2:02

Wild to say to her when twenty five to

2:04

thirty grand came up, you didn't go, well, that's five entry

2:06

fees.

2:07

I didn't say nothing, you know what I mean, But

2:09

just just the way our both our situations

2:12

are, it was it was better to go do that and then come

2:14

back home and have a reception party here in a little

2:16

here in a few weeks and that'll be it.

2:18

Oh, that's cool, that's cool. Congratulations.

2:20

Yeah, it's gonna be on November fourth. It's the album

2:22

My LSU Game, so maybe it'll go okay.

2:25

Does it feel different being

2:27

married compared to just having a fiance?

2:29

Not really, except for this this ring

2:31

on my finger, I can't get used to They.

2:32

Had a lot of things will change.

2:35

I've been told.

2:36

He just better. But remember the early years.

2:40

Remember yep.

2:44

If you're just tuning into lines and times, I'm

2:46

Spencer Graves. I'm a radio personality.

2:48

Wes Logan is a bas elite. Joseph Webster

2:51

is a bas elite. But one of the greatest things

2:53

is Joseph's been married for a while.

2:55

The way that he met his wife, Diaz one of the

2:57

coolest stories I think I've ever heard. Wes

3:00

obviously just got married. You've

3:02

been with your girlfriend fiance now wife

3:04

for what five years?

3:05

Yeah?

3:05

Five years? A little over five years. So

3:08

we got we got a good start on it. But I'm

3:10

not I'm not to Joseph's level yet.

3:12

I changed my wife's life

3:14

a long time ago.

3:16

The story, could you tell the story?

3:18

Come, we don't have time for this.

3:23

Well here I'll give you some highlights.

3:24

So, h Joseph's wife, Dia,

3:27

was.

3:28

A single mom, and.

3:32

DIA's mom was not a fan of Joseph

3:34

Webster sneaking around her

3:36

pretty flipping around.

3:39

That's a true story out there now, I

3:41

can account for that.

3:43

And as as their time went on, the mom

3:45

started to kind of soften a little bit and realize

3:48

that Joseph was a good guy. And but

3:50

I mean it was cats and dogs that are for me.

3:52

Had her fold still does.

3:53

Well, you know we're not no GQ

3:57

magazine here, and you know we're

3:59

all getting a B of our

4:01

average here, so absolutely so,

4:03

you know, so I got her when she was vulnerable,

4:07

That's when I got her. So you

4:09

know, I still got her food, but I don't know how long

4:11

it's gonna last.

4:13

And she's okay with you fishing, which I think

4:15

is I mean, that's the biggest catch.

4:16

Of them all.

4:17

Yeah, Yeah, you find a girl that's okay

4:19

with a fishing schedule and a fisherman's lifestyle.

4:22

That's that's a pretty good catch.

4:23

Yeah, absolutely, well, I guess

4:25

we can trick them to you

4:28

know, I you know how

4:30

that goes. So she just

4:32

uh, she's a good and she's good to me. But you

4:35

know it's just now I kind

4:37

of where's she gonna go? Now?

4:39

How difficult is it fishing when you're

4:41

in a relationship. I mean, you guys are on the road

4:43

quite a bit.

4:45

Oh, it's tough. I feel like, you.

4:47

Know, I quit for probably

4:49

twelve or thirteen years when these girls

4:51

of mine was playing ball, and

4:54

I that that'll be a

4:56

person fishing when they have kids and when

4:59

they probably get a around the three or

5:01

four year age

5:03

group. That's that's when it gets tough. They miss

5:05

you being gone, phone calls coming

5:07

in. It'll make you. Yeah,

5:11

you know, there's some guys right now on elites

5:13

that may not come back because of

5:16

the kids situation.

5:17

You can't falter them for that though, not at all.

5:19

They better not because fishing won't always be here.

5:21

Your family and your kids will.

5:22

So what was it like personally

5:25

for you when you had to take a step back and focus

5:27

on family and all that, but knowing that you really wanted

5:29

to fish.

5:31

It wasn't a hard decision. I mean, you know,

5:33

baseball was one of my things at heart, and

5:36

the girls wanted to play some sports, and

5:38

that's kind of what I stepped back to, and you

5:41

know, coached him in that a little bit and it

5:43

was good. I don't regret it one bit. And you

5:46

know, maybe early in the years of fishing,

5:48

I probably wanted it more than I want it now.

5:51

But the uh, you

5:53

know, my mind's probably better at a better place

5:56

now than it was in.

5:57

So I remember when you and I first met and I

5:59

met Dia. Deal is like, I'm

6:01

happy to kind of support him on

6:03

his dreams of wanting to fish, because

6:06

she really took it as you supporting

6:08

you know, her daughter and then ultimately your

6:11

daughter together, which are both.

6:12

Now your girls.

6:13

And she really kind of looked

6:15

at that and said, man, he's he stepped up to

6:17

the plate for me when I needed him, so I want to

6:20

step up to the plate for him now.

6:21

Well that's kind of when I had a tricked you

6:25

know, It's when she was vulnerable, back in the vulnerable

6:27

days.

6:29

I got her.

6:30

I had her fool back then.

6:31

So but this was a So this was

6:33

a tough year for you and Dia because you were

6:36

kind of fighting for your spot to stay on the

6:38

elites and you'd had so much success in fl

6:40

w did that kind

6:43

of weigh hard on you, Like going

6:45

into that last tournament not knowing if you were going to

6:47

be there. Were you kind of resigning yourself

6:49

to whatever happens happens.

6:51

Well, you know, I think

6:53

it was bothering her worship. It was me.

6:54

I know it was blowing me

6:57

up all your.

6:59

I'm kind of you know, I don't say no them to

7:01

it, but you know, I've kind of got the mentality

7:03

that if it's meant to be, it's gonna happen, and if

7:05

it don't, it don't. And you know, it

7:08

ain't like that I'm gonna go broke if the fishing

7:10

don't work out, And if the fishing works

7:13

out, we're gonna keep plugging along.

7:15

Wes.

7:15

Now that you're married, your girlfriend

7:17

fiance now wife has kind of seen

7:19

you come up in the fishing world.

7:22

How much does this marriage change your

7:25

goals and aspirations for how long

7:27

you want to fish or keep going?

7:29

Uh, it's it's I

7:31

don't know. I wouldn't say it's gonna change anything. I'm

7:33

still gonna work as hard as I can to you know, be successful

7:36

to support our family. But she does have a

7:38

very good job and she works her butt off, and I

7:40

mean I feel like we kind of have a good deal

7:43

going just supporting each other equally.

7:45

I mean it's not like she's all in on

7:47

me and she has nothing and I'm not all in on her.

7:49

So I mean we have a really good balance. And I

7:51

think that's why we've I mean we I

7:53

from a like relationship standpoint, I

7:55

mean, I bet we haven't had three arguments

7:57

in five and a half years, like, and they have

8:00

been real serious because I think we just understand each

8:02

other. And I mean I's been a good fit basically,

8:04

So I think we're doing pretty good.

8:07

You know.

8:07

And from the fishing standpoint, like she's

8:10

she was there, you know when I was

8:12

at FLW. I think Jojo was there

8:14

in eighteen and both years

8:16

I was there, and uh, you know it

8:18

was it's a whole different ballgame than the elites

8:21

obviously, but she saw the struggles

8:23

at FLW that I went through and then being

8:25

in the opens and the struggle with that. I

8:27

mean she was there for all. That's just she knows the work that's

8:29

been put in, and she I know,

8:32

and I hope she knows that I probably wouldn't

8:34

be.

8:34

Here if it wasn't for her.

8:35

So just the support of it.

8:37

Oh absolutely. I mean I when I met

8:39

her, I probably wasn't in the best place in my life. So

8:41

and I mean she turned all that around. So I really

8:43

have her to think for probably sitting in this room with

8:45

you.

8:45

Honestly, by the last time that we talked,

8:47

you know, the open schedule

8:50

kind of came out. How crazy is

8:52

it to know that there are guys that are

8:54

going after your jobs and

8:56

they have to fish nine events. I mean, that's a full

8:58

tournament schedule on its own. How

9:01

difficult of a life is that?

9:02

Now?

9:04

Well, I can tell you. I mean I

9:06

know boys that are in it, and they

9:08

don't have no sponsor help to most

9:11

of them don't, and the majority

9:13

majority of there's not. I

9:16

mean, I

9:19

know they think fishing is great

9:21

and wonderful and it is a big part of my

9:23

life and Wes's life and all of our

9:25

lives. And still they

9:28

are putting theirselfs in a financial

9:30

buying. Whether anybody knows it or not

9:32

to just try to make it. And

9:35

if they don't make it, you know, you've

9:37

either got to just give it up right then, or

9:40

then you're kind of sold. You sold to the devil.

9:43

I'm gonna try it one more year. And

9:46

you know, over the years, man, I have seen

9:48

families get destroyed because of fishing.

9:51

I mean because a lot of

9:53

times when you get down, it's just hard to get back.

9:55

And you know, if you don't have you

9:57

know, some sponsor help, some financial

9:59

backing, it's

10:01

a hard road to overcome.

10:05

I think it's interesting because we were having a short

10:08

conversation in here right before we started recording

10:10

the podcast, and you guys were talking about you both got

10:12

camper shells for your trucks, and

10:15

last year you said you spend what around nine

10:17

thousand dollars just on hotels to be a

10:19

bas elite.

10:20

That's that's that's just on hotels. That's

10:22

nothing else.

10:22

So at that point when you get a camper

10:25

shell, like, is there room enough

10:27

for your your wives to come up and

10:29

join you guys in there on tournaments or.

10:31

Well, way I see it is if I can get

10:34

her hemmed up in there, you know she can't

10:36

get away and I've got her right where I want her

10:39

now.

10:39

So you know, So

10:41

that's so she might be spending nine

10:43

grand on the hotel.

10:44

She might like, Hey, i'll

10:47

come, but I almost that hotel, so it's

10:49

it's, uh, yeah, they're nice. I mean they're they're

10:52

not not staying in a hotel by no means.

10:54

But you know, most of the time mine,

10:56

if she comes, it's just for a couple of days.

10:58

And maybe on the Northern Swing you'll stay for a

11:00

week. But I'm good on my

11:02

end. I don't know about Wes.

11:05

He's a newly wed, so.

11:08

Hey, hey, I'm gonna be honest. It was her idea. The

11:10

truck camper was one hundred percent her idea because

11:12

and I like the way she thinks and the way

11:15

she looks at it is it'll be more familiar,

11:17

like every time we go somewhere. Once we get it packed

11:19

for the bending of the year, all our stuff will be in there when we come

11:21

in, when I come in from practice, it'll be my

11:24

bed and my dirt, my nastiness that I'm

11:26

coming into, not some random Yeah,

11:29

I don't care that they're dirt if it's just me.

11:31

But like you go into these hotels and stuff. Man,

11:33

you don't know that.

11:33

And then I don't know you can cook your own

11:36

meals and stuff. And just the airbnb's

11:38

per night in the past two years have went up

11:40

like skyrocketed price and it's unreal.

11:42

And you, I mean, you.

11:44

Make a little bit of money if you if you cut a check

11:46

at our tournaments, if you stayed at an Airbnb, but it

11:48

ain't.

11:49

It's nothing crazy by it looks

11:52

like.

11:52

Y'all have to watch your coin more than probably

11:54

anybody I've ever met my life.

11:56

It's I mean, you gotta watch every penny in dime.

11:58

And you're like, well, if I go here here to cost

12:00

that, but if I do this and go this like it's it's

12:03

there's a lot of a lot.

12:03

Of numbers going into it.

12:05

Mmmmm mm hmmm.

12:07

All right, Uh, I've already heard Wes's

12:09

opinion on on the schedule. There's

12:11

one that sticks out, Joseph. It's your home

12:13

lake, It's Smith Lake, it's in June on

12:16

the bass Elites. Is that setting

12:18

up to be a kind

12:20

of free for all tournament where you can catch them on the bank,

12:22

you can catch them out deep. It's gonna be that kind of

12:24

spot or is it gonna be a brush

12:26

pile battle.

12:28

Well, I think

12:31

how it's gonna be. It's gonna be more of

12:33

a not just not talking about spotted

12:35

bast but a spot. You know, you might pull

12:37

in fish two docks, you might

12:39

fish the end of a bluff wall, you might

12:41

fish a pile of brush, you might scope

12:44

a little bit. I think

12:46

it will probably be one

12:48

for the books of how tough

12:51

one's gonna be. Come

12:54

June. I mean it's into June.

12:56

Yeah, into June.

12:57

Is it kind of feeling like what the Sabine River

13:00

was last year?

13:01

No, I think the Sabine would be better.

13:03

Absolutely, really, there's no doubt.

13:05

I mean, because you've got to catch fifteen inches

13:07

on smith. It ain't like they're gonna let us weigh in

13:09

unders and like that. It's gonna have to be you

13:11

know, pounding three quarter fish and you

13:14

know it's it's it's not gonna be easy,

13:17

but uh, you know, I don't

13:20

know. I mean, the frustrating part

13:22

to me is

13:24

is I can't be on the late

13:26

when my brother, I can't

13:28

be on the pontoon with friends. Oh

13:31

that's right, yeah, it's and

13:34

I bout made the mistake Saturday morning, I invited

13:36

my brother up, let's go fish, let's chase some scooters

13:38

around, and I woke up at five o'clock, got

13:40

my rule book out in red. Nope,

13:43

couldn't go. I finally got a hold of Lisa about

13:45

in ten thirty and she said,

13:47

you can't do it.

13:48

I tell you, Ray that that's something that I

13:51

kind of skipped in my mind, is that when

13:53

it comes out in the hall, it's off limits.

13:56

And that's your home late you have a cabin on

13:58

that way.

13:58

And I mean where the world's worst to go

14:00

pick up friends on a pontoon and eat on the lake,

14:02

And I mean, I

14:04

can't even do that. I told them I hope they don't ever come.

14:07

Back because you're missing then,

14:09

I mean I am.

14:10

I am tied down right now from

14:12

now until the end of June.

14:14

I saw it was when they came to Newly. I mean I could

14:16

you couldn't go. I mean, you could get like we always went crappee

14:18

fishing in the spring. You go by yourself. I mean, I

14:20

ain't no fun. But I

14:23

don't know, I don't I don't know what to do about

14:26

it.

14:26

And sometimes the home lake is not all that it's corrected

14:28

up to me. I mean, you can think about will Davis Junior

14:30

one on Late Lake last year.

14:32

That's his home.

14:32

Lake lives in Silicagap and

14:34

I hadn't even thought.

14:35

About that Lee Livesey. I'm what

14:38

Lake four.

14:39

I mean those guys that comes out and they're sitting there

14:41

going great. Well, I'll never see any

14:43

of my local friends until a year.

14:45

From the Only difference is

14:47

if you are considered a guide, you

14:50

can still take trips.

14:52

So you can be a pro vasilye

14:55

angler and also be a guide

14:57

why the rules were, and you can

14:59

be out to my home lake rights

15:01

for the twenty eight days.

15:02

Yeah, now that in the twenty eight days

15:04

like the leading up to the tournament. Yes,

15:06

you can't be on the water then, but any like

15:08

right now, if Joseph was a guide on Smith

15:10

he.

15:11

Could take all the way to about June the first take.

15:13

Whoever, our client's out, all right.

15:14

So when I lived in Georgia, you don't

15:16

have to have a guide license in

15:19

the state of Georgia.

15:20

You don't own Smith Lake either. Only

15:22

on inavitable waterways light with

15:24

booies and stuff like. That's the only place by

15:27

law you've got the house.

15:28

So technically anybody could be a guide.

15:31

Quote unquote before the schedule comes

15:33

out.

15:33

I think.

15:33

I think in the rules though it does say license

15:36

before you have to be a license guide before

15:39

the schedule is announced. You can't

15:41

like like Joseph couldn't go get his now, Yeah,

15:43

like I'm a guide or me, like whoever,

15:46

cancel the mail.

15:47

You don't.

15:47

You don't want that guide license to show up anytime.

15:53

It just it's just kind of frustrating.

15:56

So it's a loophole.

15:57

Well it is, but I mean I don't

15:59

know. I mean, we had a survey

16:02

about you know about

16:04

twenty eight days you know, getting information

16:07

or whatever and all that, and I

16:09

voted for it for one reason because

16:12

I wanted to be able to be on the lake. I

16:15

mean just with friends pontooning. It wasn't

16:17

nothing to do with the fishing and right. I voted

16:19

for it just for that reason. And people don't understand

16:22

when they put this rule out and they you

16:24

can, you know, have help or whatever for

16:26

the twenty eight days. I mean a

16:29

lot of these college anglish

16:31

for one, they're getting help out

16:34

tail on that, but you know you

16:37

still got to catch them. I mean I voted

16:39

for it for one reason.

16:40

It was just.

16:42

Because if they come to Smith, and they usually

16:44

do come to Smith, and I

16:46

just wanted to be able to hang

16:48

out with my gang and I can't do it now.

16:51

Yeah, that's so interesting that.

16:52

I mean, even the off limits is you're

16:55

not even fishing, like you're

16:57

not you don't even have a poll on the deck.

16:59

You're just out on the water. And they're like, Nope,

17:01

I'm not gonna work.

17:02

Can't be on the one, I.

17:03

Mean, which I guess I appreciate

17:05

too, because it does feel like he keeps

17:07

things relatively square and even the

17:09

guide thing to me throws it all off though.

17:12

Well, we can fish all

17:15

tournament and draw out who you want, too long as

17:17

you get it to prove before time. Yeah,

17:22

yeah, yeah.

17:23

Boy, I'll look. Look, I voted

17:25

for the same thing you do. Yeah, And I didn't vote

17:27

for it to be able to be on the water. I voted for it so it

17:29

would make it as even

17:32

a playing field as we could get to, because right now

17:34

it's not even close.

17:36

And why is it not close?

17:38

Because you have people getting all that rule

17:40

is set there for us, for the honest guy and

17:43

every one of them, one hundred and three people we got fishing

17:45

right now.

17:45

Note that's that's

17:47

that's true.

17:48

So say out of one hundred and three are being

17:50

honest, I.

17:52

Don't probably twenty five percent.

17:54

I would check you could eat. I would check the

17:57

tournament results.

17:59

Huh. I mean in

18:02

my eyes is and I mean men.

18:04

Lisa had to talk on Saturday about

18:06

it. I said, you know, I

18:09

think that the twenty eight day rule and

18:12

just open it up would make it more fair

18:14

for everybody, no doubt. But to

18:16

people that's kind of on

18:18

the fence about it and voted know about

18:20

it, I think some

18:23

of them has got it figured out, that they've

18:25

got a ali that they've

18:28

figured out.

18:28

The famous Gray area, the Gray

18:31

Area.

18:31

I was riding with an angler in an event

18:34

last year, and you know,

18:36

I got to kind of see his thought process

18:39

on fishing an area. And

18:42

he was fishing this one spot that he'd

18:44

been inconsistently all week through practice

18:46

and then all the way through the tournament,

18:49

and he automatically saw a boat pull right

18:51

in, I mean on plane,

18:55

locks up about one hundred yards away, throws

18:57

the trolling motor down, goes right up,

19:00

up, hits the power poles, starts

19:02

fishing on one spot. Third cast

19:05

sets the hook and he turns

19:07

and he looks at me and he goes, how'd he know

19:09

a bed was there?

19:10

Yeah?

19:12

And I'm like, I don't know because

19:14

I'm not in his mind, Like, and

19:16

he's like, I've been here every day

19:19

for a week. I've

19:21

never seen his boat in here. And he

19:23

pulls up and he finds a bed in six feet of water.

19:27

And then I just said, so what do you think

19:29

that is? And he goes, I'm not saying

19:31

he's getting information, but I'm wondering

19:34

what's happening to how he knows

19:37

that exact spot is right there? And

19:39

karma came into play because the guy lost the fish

19:42

right the boat and

19:44

that was shot. That was shocking to me because I I mean,

19:46

obviously I'm having competed in tournaments

19:48

to the level that you guys have, But to watch

19:51

something like that and then you hear a professional

19:53

angler go how does he know about that?

19:56

It makes you.

19:57

Wonder like there's got to be something

19:59

where a guy as you're getting information outside

20:01

of the rules.

20:03

Reckon how the vote went.

20:05

I haven't I know the two or three

20:07

people I talked to feel the same way.

20:08

Mean you do the two

20:10

or three people I talked to voted

20:13

no on it really and you voted yes.

20:15

I did.

20:16

I voted yes.

20:16

Or It wasn't a yes or no vote, it was do you want to

20:19

do you want to keep it the same or do you

20:21

want to make it a free for all until the twenty eight

20:23

days and then our lie detector, you

20:26

know, be based on the twenty eight days.

20:28

What happens after a tournament? Like does

20:31

everybody have to go through a polygrapher?

20:33

Is it only the person that wins?

20:34

I think it's a draw. The person that wins don't

20:36

even have to get polygraphed.

20:38

I didn't I when I won, I didn't get one.

20:41

Now that seems a little it's a it's a random

20:43

draw on day day one too,

20:45

But does draw at.

20:47

The end of day one?

20:49

You want an event?

20:51

Does it seem weird that you don't get asked?

20:53

I thought I was going to take one, like I mean,

20:55

I've I mean, you've taken polygraphs from Smith. I've

20:57

taken plenty of them at Neili Henry and everywhere, like

21:00

you know, in team tournaments or something, and good

21:02

enough to take I just kind of I was just I

21:04

mean, not that, I mean I wasn't worried about it. I

21:06

was just like, oh, well, that's just gonna be one of the things, and

21:08

it never was. I actually

21:10

took one at lay Lake this year on day once

21:12

because it was me and Ed. I think they draw like,

21:15

however, they.

21:16

First guy that weighs in pull

21:19

it out of a hat.

21:20

How that was two random people on day one, and

21:22

then that's the two and they do that every

21:24

for all nine events.

21:25

Because obviously, you know, cheating,

21:28

suspected cheating, and fishing has been a hot

21:30

button issue. I mean, I don't think

21:32

anybody that had a TikTok or social

21:34

media. What was the year and a half ago during that walleye

21:37

tournament where we saw professional

21:40

pro that's air quotes walleye

21:42

fishermen stuffing walleye with

21:44

fish filets, and that's

21:47

I mean that that's crazy.

21:49

But these guys had.

21:50

Won over three hundred thousand dollars in money

21:52

and boats, and you know they

21:55

they got put down. I mean to the

21:57

fullest extent of the law. I mean, I

21:59

think both of them serve

22:01

jail time if I'm not mistaken. But when

22:04

we see level of cheating like that, I think

22:06

it opened up a lot of people's eyes. I mean, there were tournaments

22:08

where I thought, on the local

22:11

level, I'm not gonna go fish that

22:13

Wednesday night or or that Saturday

22:15

jackpot because it

22:17

just seems too unregulated.

22:20

You know, a guy could have a bass box, and

22:22

you hear all.

22:22

The stories about what people have done before to

22:25

kind of cheat in tournaments and how they've gotten

22:27

caught. I mean, there was one guy in the story

22:29

that I heard where he convinced

22:31

a homeowner who had a pondtoon

22:33

had a dock. He said, hey, let me bring my pontoon

22:36

up and just let it sit on your dock.

22:38

And the home owner was like, oh, yeah, sure, no problem, didn't

22:40

think anything of it. The guy went over and

22:42

fished. Well, little did his co in

22:44

the back know that he built

22:47

this box in the back of the

22:49

pontoon boat. So he would just flip

22:51

a jig or something like that in there. It would just

22:53

sit and he'd have it loaded full of fish.

22:56

He'd throw him in the back and then he'd take off and he

22:58

go. Finally, during

23:00

a lie detector that co had to provide

23:03

a lot of detector and they said,

23:05

did you see anything suspicious? And he said

23:07

no, But somehow it made

23:09

him think there was and

23:11

they followed the angler the next day and

23:13

went back to the same exact spot. They watched how it did

23:15

it. As soon as he left, they inspected the

23:18

pontoon boat and they were like, that's what he was

23:20

doing.

23:21

Was that the flw days.

23:22

I can't I can't remember what tournament it was.

23:24

I mean, this is a story that somebody told.

23:26

Me he'd

23:28

won nearly a million.

23:30

Yeah, it was a bunch of money, but that they did

23:32

catch him though.

23:33

Yeah, but you guys are also, I mean, this is what you do

23:35

for a living. You know, Like

23:37

if I go out for a tournament, I'm doing it because I

23:39

got a couple hundred bucks that I that I think

23:41

I might be able to win back. But we all know in

23:44

tournament fishing, if

23:46

you want to make a million dollars, you better have two million

23:48

if you want to make.

23:49

You know, there's thieves and everything,

23:51

And I mean, you talk about cutting a check,

23:53

a ten thousand dollars check when somebody's

23:56

at a low in their life,

23:59

it can have and a lot of times,

24:02

I think in the professional level, kind

24:04

of agree gets into you and

24:07

some of these guys get a little success

24:09

and it makes it worse.

24:11

You know, earlier in the podcast, we

24:13

were talking about sponsorship when we brought up

24:15

the opens and how there's nine opens

24:17

and a lot of these younger anglers and the

24:19

majority of them that are going for the opens, they

24:21

don't have sponsorship dollars. I

24:24

sent Wes a video yesterday

24:26

because we were having a conversation earlier in the

24:28

week. Even in NASCAR when

24:30

it comes to sponsorship, those teams

24:33

don't really have full.

24:33

Sponsorships for the entire year.

24:36

They're having to peel the paint and peel

24:38

the wraps off their vehicles and slap

24:40

other sponsors on there, or they have dual

24:42

competing head sponsorships. So sponsorships

24:45

at every level are getting tight.

24:48

Yeah, I never realized they like the

24:50

like you could have two title deals pretty much

24:52

like it would be like us fishing five tournaments

24:55

with so and so and then five tournaments

24:57

or four turns with snow and so like, and they've split it up as

24:59

I was pretty interesting.

25:00

Even when I worked in NASCAR, you

25:02

know, back in the early two thousands, you

25:04

know, I was part of Sony

25:07

Racing, which was the secondary

25:09

sponsor of all tail racing. The driver

25:12

was Ryan Newman the number twelve car and

25:15

Sony Racing was given. I think at the

25:17

time two races under

25:19

their color scheme and their logo package.

25:22

The rest were all tell So everybody

25:24

knew Ryan Newman. He drives the Alltel car, but

25:27

for two races it was Sony Racing.

25:29

And I mean with Sony Racing, we

25:31

made.

25:31

A big deal about it. I mean when

25:34

it was.

25:34

Our car, we were all there. It was a

25:36

big deal. But we

25:38

were still on site when he

25:41

was running under All Tel because we'd have this little

25:44

badge on the backfender that said Sony Racing.

25:47

I looked at the cars at Talladega,

25:49

at the most recent race.

25:50

That they had there.

25:52

Car logos and sponsorships are completely

25:55

different. It's starting to look more like a bass

25:58

boat than anything else. I mean we've all seen it.

26:00

You look at somebody's boat. You got

26:02

some guys that have like five sponsors. You got other

26:04

guys that got fifty, and I

26:06

mean every available piece of space

26:08

is there. It was crazy

26:11

to watch.

26:12

I wonder in the best elites,

26:16

how the numbers stack up of sponsor

26:19

money from

26:21

top to bottom.

26:23

And you're talking about like.

26:24

Levels, how many who

26:28

yes, like who gets the or what

26:30

would the top angler and the elites get sponsoralized?

26:34

And you know, how far down does

26:36

it go that

26:38

people gets at least their

26:41

interfees paid and you

26:43

know, expense money. I just wonder how how

26:46

many people gets that.

26:48

It'd be interesting to dive into some

26:50

of the sponsorships that certain guys have, you

26:52

know, not even not even just to it's

26:55

not to criticize, but it's more just to kind

26:57

of learn where do brand

27:00

and where do marketing professionals

27:02

view this entity?

27:05

Because that's what you guys are an entity to these

27:07

companies. They want to know like if

27:09

your social platform is getting up, or

27:11

if you're really good at doing interviews or you're awesome

27:13

on stage. I mean, we've talked about Gerald

27:16

often. You know, Jerald is probably the best

27:18

when it comes to being on stage right.

27:21

As good as you get.

27:22

Yeah, and yeah, he's the mold like

27:24

you would want to be.

27:25

Right you want to be.

27:26

But what he actually does

27:28

is something that I that I preach to a lot

27:31

of people is he's.

27:32

Who he is.

27:34

Wes Logan needs to be who wes Logan is. Jojo

27:37

needs to be who Jojo is. So if

27:40

you can maximize who you are and

27:42

showcase it. That might get you up

27:45

with the sponsorship stuff. But

27:47

then there are guys that get sponsorships solely because

27:49

they continue to win. But

27:52

it's more about how you can help sell

27:54

for a brand than it is how many fishs.

27:56

You put in a boat.

27:57

I don't know about that. I think a

27:59

lot of it in the industry is

28:02

is maybe more who you know.

28:03

I was about to say, it's about relationship.

28:06

Now you do have to build some and

28:09

that's I feel like that's what I was fortunate

28:11

to do.

28:11

I got in.

28:12

I kind of got my foot in the door when I got my rookie

28:14

and this kind of built up every year. But I worked with

28:16

some you do too, some really good

28:18

companies that I I mean, my companies

28:21

are like my family, like we're all very close.

28:23

And I have had situations with a few

28:25

companies that didn't feel that way

28:27

and think that way, and I'm I'm no longer with them.

28:29

But it's a trying air deal too,

28:32

from the sponsorship wise, but I'm

28:35

I would see I talked to one of our

28:37

guys or I have in the past.

28:39

There's a pie. The fishing industry is a pie.

28:41

That pie has gotten no bigger, and

28:44

the anglers have off

28:46

of it exactly, and so there's only only

28:48

so many slices that are going out, and

28:51

them bigger ones are staying big, and them smaller ones are

28:53

getting smaller.

28:54

I mean, it's I.

28:55

Mean the amount of times that I get hit up by just

28:57

local anglers who are young. They're chasing

29:00

the dream, they want to become a professional fisherman.

29:02

They're like, hey, what do I need to do to

29:04

get myself to a level of

29:06

a Joseph Webster or a Wes

29:08

Logan. I sit there and I go, look,

29:11

they're looking for the same sponsorship dollar

29:13

that you're going for. They've built

29:15

their brand, they've built their company up. They

29:18

know what it takes. They've got to continue

29:20

to work for the sponsor, continue to sell for

29:22

the sponsor, and they've got to build those

29:25

relationships that you guys were talking about. There

29:27

are a lot more people that are coming for that pie.

29:30

And I

29:32

think too, a lot of these younger people

29:35

are coming in and saying,

29:37

you know, we will take a product

29:39

deal and

29:41

you know, and you know they're liable to

29:44

throw it on their boat or you know, give a.

29:46

Boat ute boat route for

29:48

free product.

29:49

Free product and then at the end of

29:51

the day, you know they're going in a year

29:53

or two because they can't afford it. And

29:55

really that's hurt a guy that is trying

29:58

to feed miles, you

30:00

know, or put gas in the tank, because

30:02

it's just a one and done deal. And

30:05

you know, a lot of these sponsors

30:07

they're looking at if I do fifteen

30:11

of these guys that way, you

30:13

know, I get a little more media time if I

30:15

spread my money that way, and then you

30:17

know, but it's just it's

30:20

it's not easy, but is.

30:22

It quality media time?

30:24

Because that's what I would say to somebody, is just

30:26

because you have fifteen votes with your product

30:28

on it, if they're not there after a year, you're

30:31

going to have to try to fill that spot. Yeah,

30:34

So if you don't have somebody who's repping your brand

30:37

talking about your brand has created

30:39

enough influence within the community

30:41

that people trust and they want to

30:44

buy with that person selling, it's

30:46

not going to help the brand anymore. It's

30:48

a billboard, they're gonna see it. But

30:51

people are always going to gravitate to the people

30:53

that they trust.

30:54

You know.

30:55

Yeah, it would depend I guess it would depend on a bit

30:57

their business strategy from a company standpoint,

30:59

because if you got fifteen college dudes

31:02

running your boat and truck wrap all over the country fish

31:04

in the college term. But yeah, they may not have the following

31:06

or the media exposure to me and Jojo do, but they

31:09

gonna have to pay me in Jojo something to do it. They don't

31:11

have to pay them a dime, So I guess

31:13

they would have to weigh it. And I think some

31:16

companies think it's a good idea and some.

31:17

Of them don't.

31:18

So I guess it's just who's in charge what

31:20

their marketing do. But

31:22

yeah, you would think the media,

31:25

like your exposure, would come into

31:27

play, but sometimes it does. Sometimes I don't think it

31:29

does.

31:29

Here's something I wanted to discuss because I saw West

31:31

post this the other day. How do you carry

31:34

and story or tackle? What are

31:36

some different tricks that you do that

31:39

a lot of fishermen might not think about Because

31:41

for a while I was a big plastic bad guy.

31:44

Like a zip lock.

31:45

Yeah, so I would take like all

31:47

the individual packages and I'd put them

31:49

all on a zip lock and that I'd label them green pumpkin.

31:52

Oh you saw my my omnia thing,

31:55

dude, It is the smartest

31:57

thing in the world.

31:58

I can't believe I didn't think about it. Everybody

32:00

what you do?

32:01

So I take a a I normally

32:03

do it with like a coffee because I

32:05

like the coffee scent, you know how the whatever. So

32:07

I'll take like coffee grounds from Walmart, like it

32:09

don't matter, like the cheap ones, and I'll pour all

32:11

the coffee ou because I like coffee. But I

32:13

put all my chunks in the coffee

32:15

thing and I just ride on the top of them. The color

32:18

and people have went crazy over that. I'm

32:20

like, what, I don't have to keep all those plastic

32:22

bags in my boat that blow out?

32:24

Well, you could be like one of mine

32:26

is you know, mix scent and power bait.

32:28

You buy some of them packs, you go down the road and you

32:30

think somebody has took a dump

32:33

in your back seat and you go to looking for it and you've

32:35

got a bunch of them in there, and you're like, which pack

32:37

is it? And that's just like who

32:39

knows?

32:40

So where do you how do you store those

32:42

types of baits, the ones that have the powerful

32:44

scent.

32:45

I try to keep them in the bags that come in because

32:47

I think if you open them up, it just loses

32:50

it. I think so, I mean.

32:52

The way that max sel is scent or the

32:54

scent is sealed, and I could because

32:56

I mean, once you take it out, it's never unless you use it

32:58

right then it's never the same.

33:00

Yeah.

33:00

So I saw your figure or whatever.

33:02

And my buddy David text me

33:04

like right before we started doing this podcast, and

33:07

he goes, hey, I'm running over to Mark's

33:09

outdoors.

33:09

What do you need?

33:11

Open up in that bag and just set it

33:13

there because I ran out of these when I was jigging

33:15

on Logan Martin the other day.

33:16

Yeah.

33:17

Oh god, he got the rock color and everything.

33:20

I knew it. I knew it.

33:22

I said, I said, if you buy these, bring

33:24

them over to the studio because West Logan is

33:26

gonna have to take a look at what's in that bag.

33:28

Well, the thing about it is everybody

33:30

on the coast of the ain't but two colors that fire

33:32

blue and green pumpkin.

33:33

I mean, so if I say it, what what color

33:36

was in the was in the.

33:41

That's what he's got right here.

33:42

I started laughing because you know, I

33:44

think a lot of time we talked about confidence

33:46

and baits and things like that, and you know,

33:48

I'm I'm learning how to fish. So I'm learning

33:51

what my confidence level is. And I

33:53

was out on a tournament the other day. It's just one of these

33:55

local charity tournaments and fishing

33:57

with a buddy of mine. We had five fish for nine

33:59

pounds and felt like we were okay. Winter got

34:01

sixteen pounds, and we found this pattern

34:04

that was working.

34:05

Well.

34:05

What it had to do with the jig bite And like an

34:07

idiot, I'm not expecting them to bite my jig

34:09

right, like they'll bite everybody else. But I don't expect because

34:11

I don't fish it a lot. I'm starting to fish

34:14

it more now than I'm on the KUSO. Well, they

34:16

went through every one of my trailers. I

34:18

mean as soon as they hit that chunk, it

34:20

was done. Well, I was down

34:22

to one like I was getting silk, Like I was

34:24

having to like turn it a little bit and work the hook

34:26

in just so I could keep it up

34:29

and like keep it going. And then

34:31

all of a sudden, I'm on social media. I

34:33

see his posts and I'm like, that's what I need to

34:35

do. I need to get a bunch of these and then

34:37

put him into those those little containers.

34:40

Well, there's the guy that used to make them all

34:42

over here? Is it alb what they used

34:44

to call himl LC. Yeah, that's

34:48

the old timey five eighths. Nice

34:50

for what they've been for years over here. So

34:52

Spence, you got some of them? No, they

34:55

don't. The West don't bring

34:57

you none.

34:58

No, we you still

35:00

got so.

35:01

Though, I gotta get

35:04

Yeah.

35:05

Hey, that was a that was a wild goose chase this morning.

35:07

We wouldn't tell you, but I got it though, I.

35:09

Hear the man.

35:10

So when it come when it comes to storage,

35:13

though, you know, I've been to your shop, Joseph,

35:15

and and your shop is Berkeley,

35:17

Berkeley, Berkeley, like you have everything laid

35:19

out. You're meticulous. You probably

35:21

border the.

35:22

Line on OCD.

35:24

It's probably it's probably not me, Oh really

35:26

probably Okay. You

35:29

know, when you're controls a lot of

35:32

things.

35:32

Remember, So when you guys are fishing a tournament

35:35

and anybody that has a bass boat, you've

35:37

got your rod lockers, and then you have

35:39

your you know, day box and all that kind of stuff.

35:41

What do you guys keep ware that

35:43

might be a little different than the next guy.

35:46

I don't know. Mine's simple. Everybody

35:48

looks in my boat says, can't believe that's

35:50

oh.

35:50

You carry, So what what makes your

35:52

simple?

35:53

I just don't carry a lot.

35:54

I may not kind of, So you're not the type of

35:56

guy that thinks like, well, maybe I'll just

35:58

try to trick him with something else.

36:00

You go with what you think they're biting that week,

36:02

and that's it.

36:03

Yep, we're gonna send it.

36:04

That's that's I do the same thing.

36:06

I'm not a big like trialing aer especially

36:09

now if like I'm just going fishing, I

36:11

might like around the house from just to try something different,

36:13

but in practice for an elite term, no, it's it's

36:15

what I've called a bass on.

36:17

But my friends like I've got buddies

36:19

in mind, the fishies local tournaments and they're

36:22

running with every better tackle they've ever

36:24

bought in their entire life.

36:25

We have guys like I cleaned my boat

36:27

out, especially after practice, down to just

36:30

what I think I'm gonna do. I don't want my mind to play

36:32

chicks on me, because listen to

36:34

horns can go off in a hurry anyway, so

36:36

I try to limit that.

36:38

That's wild.

36:39

Yeah, absolutely, I need bought

36:42

all all right?

36:43

Where do you guys keep your heavy terminal

36:46

tackle, like your weights and all that kind of stuff. You

36:48

keep that in the back to help load down the back of the

36:50

boat, or are you up front because

36:52

it's easy to grab when you've got the coffin open.

36:55

I keep mine up front. I don't care a lot of it.

36:57

Mine's in the mine's in the front. But I

37:00

I don't have a lot of weight in my boat. Like there's

37:02

I got one the middle sections, got like ten boxes

37:05

in it, and there's a few of those clear bigger bags.

37:07

In the right hand rod locker. And know is it?

37:09

You guys keep your boats really clean up

37:11

until uh, up until the tournament, because I know the

37:13

tournament you're.

37:14

Just kind of going through whatever most of the time.

37:16

Yeah, Because I.

37:17

Rode into pros boat the other day that a buddy of mine

37:19

bought, and that thing was beat to hell.

37:22

I destroyed, dirty,

37:25

dirty dirty.

37:25

I was like, I felt bad

37:28

sitting in that boat because I'm like, I don't know how any baking

37:30

fish out of this.

37:32

That's one of the main reasons I like to keep mine

37:34

for like, if a marshall gets in my boat, I don't want them

37:36

going someay saying, and his boat

37:38

was a rig man.

37:39

So the boat that got bought, did

37:42

the owners see it beforehand. Uh

37:45

No, maybe I need

37:47

to sell mine that way. I

37:50

need a guy like that to call me want mine.

37:52

I started Uh, I started laughing because you know,

37:54

you were talking about how you didn't want a marshall to

37:57

see, you know, and talk bad about your boat

37:59

and all that kind of stuff. One

38:01

of the best tournaments that I was riding in last

38:03

year as an elite, that angler

38:06

was so proud to tell me what they were

38:08

biting. He opened up his live

38:10

well and I swear to god, there

38:13

were twenty dead shad and

38:15

he's like, they've been in here since Monday and

38:17

this was Saturday. Gosh

38:20

mind, And I'm like, how do you do it? Like me, I'd

38:22

be like, I can't. I couldn't do it. I'd have to clean it

38:24

out that day. But I've also

38:26

never had that much bait in my live well because I don't

38:28

put any fish.

38:29

In a live well.

38:29

So reckon what that would smell like? Can you

38:32

shop after a few days?

38:34

Like I don't understand, like brutal.

38:36

You wouldn't forget it when you throwed the lid open.

38:38

No, you would barely smell it

38:40

when you open the door. Where where's it coming from? And then

38:42

when you opened the livl it'd be a big game.

38:44

I mean I was.

38:45

I was sitting in the boat. I wasn't even close to the live.

38:47

Well, I think I was up front because he

38:49

was moving around doing stuff. He opened up the lid

38:51

and I could smell it. We were out on the water.

38:54

I mean, that's how punging it on was.

38:55

No.

38:56

The marketing side of hunting

38:58

and fishing is

39:00

is wild. Like all three of us like to hunt.

39:03

You know, Wes has been up at a farm in

39:05

Tennessee that he's got a lease on this year, and

39:08

fortunately I can't hunt until December

39:10

because I'm not going to pay an out of state tag in

39:12

Alabama.

39:13

And I waited on getting my license. That's a whole nother

39:15

story.

39:17

You know, it's not illegal if you don't get

39:19

caught.

39:22

That's uh.

39:22

That's Joseph Webster. He

39:25

lives on the.

39:26

Other side of the state.

39:27

Yeah, you guys want to check him out. But you know, it's

39:29

so funny.

39:30

Is I got my license?

39:31

You're a good man?

39:32

Yeah, you're good.

39:34

Well, it's funny.

39:35

Is I went over to Joseph's house one day and this

39:37

is last season. We were talking about doing some hunting

39:40

and uh. And I walk out of his front

39:42

door west and I kid you not, he had

39:44

some absolute slammers fifteen

39:47

yards away from where his boat is parked.

39:49

Oh my god.

39:50

And he feeds him and I said, man, why don't we just

39:52

get the bows out and we'll just right here. He goes, now,

39:54

those are pets, pets.

39:56

Well, then we're not really my pets. Them

39:58

are number But yeah,

40:01

she's got out where she even tries to talk to him

40:03

now, and I'm like, that's not good.

40:05

Nah.

40:06

See, this is what you have to look forward to.

40:07

This is this is the you know, guy

40:09

that's been married for a while, your wife

40:12

is going to get to a point where she's trying to talk to deer.

40:14

Does does deal like to hunt?

40:16

Well, well, I've got a story behind that.

40:19

She got one last year he did.

40:21

So that story was we went and sat in the shooting

40:23

house. It was on my birthdays. Come on, let's go. It

40:25

was a big shooting house. Was sitting there and we're

40:28

looking down there and there walks out three all of

40:30

them probably seventeen inches wide. And I'm like, she's

40:33

like, boy, they're goode Oh yeah, yeah,

40:35

I said, want you shoot one of them? Well, I might. I'm

40:38

like, look, if you're

40:40

I mean, I only had my gun, and I said, if

40:42

you're gonna hunt and you're going to kill one,

40:44

you know you're gonna want your picture made with it. So

40:47

you've got to have hunt license before you

40:49

kill this deer if that's what you're going to do. So

40:53

she said, well, I'll think about it and we'll let in a minute.

40:55

I looked over and bore she was on.

40:56

The phone and

40:58

that stupid little

41:04

did they know she's pretty quick on the phone.

41:06

Yea dead dear so.

41:09

But anyway, but.

41:11

My phone starts going off, Oh yeah, and

41:13

it's a picture of her beaming.

41:14

That's good.

41:15

I mean brow time to brow time.

41:17

She's just yeah, she's good.

41:20

And she's like, I think we're gonna put this up on

41:22

social media. I was like, that's a that's a hanger

41:24

right there. That's a good one.

41:26

So well, that's pretty good. But you know them

41:28

around the hoiuse though, that's just kind

41:30

of off limits. So Leevie'd be probably

41:32

the only one to shoot one of them. But you

41:35

know, Wes, when you get married, women control a lot

41:37

of things and a lot of angles, so

41:39

you just keep that in mind.

41:41

I will I will. Don't

41:43

worry. Don't worry. I've done, but I figured it

41:45

out any.

41:45

Well, if you hadn't, they'll let you know.

41:49

Too good, too good.

41:51

This has been lines and times. I'm Spencer Graves,

41:53

that's West Logan, that's Joseph Webster.