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I'm Brian Bashore, Professional walleye angler and owner of The Walleye Guys Guide service. I am here to reel you in with captivating stories, expert tips, and interviews with some of the biggest names in the fishing community. So, sit back, relax, and let the drag scream!
Brian Bashore (00:01.262)
Hey everyone. Thanks for tuning into this episode of Real Talk Fishing. Today we're going to talk to the river rat himself, Mr. Joe Ocado. Been fishing the AIM river circuit recently and want to get a dig in and just find out all the ins and outs about that. Joe's launched a new YouTube channel or re -launched his YouTube channel to say, and just talk to your craft boats, all the things Joe knows. Joe's a good friend, longtime tournament angler. He's been around this fishing world for quite some time and is one hell of a nice guy. So.Let's go see what Joe has to say.
Hey folks, thanks for tuning in to this episode of Real Talk Fishing with No Limits. We're heading over to talk to the River Rat himself, Mr. Joe Ocotta. The guy's been taking aim over there on the AIM River Walleye Series. And Joe, I want to hear all about that because I'm a River Rat myself and you have definitely turned yourself into one.
joe (00:28.1)
No, I'm far from a river, right? But that's why I'm doing it because that's like one of our that's one of my biggest weaknesses is Learning, you know getting a feel for all those rivers and that's what's fun. So that's why I'm playing in them
Brian Bashore (00:41.546)
Yeah, nothing that's, that's the best way to conquer the weakness, right? Is, is do it. I have mine and I do the exact same thing. If I suck at it, I do a practice at it more. So I don't suck at it. Cause we got to be pretty, uh, versatile in this tournament angling spectrum. Cause we go everywhere and do everything.
joe (00:59.568)
That's right. Yeah. I know we were just down in the Illinois river and that was, that was a fun little warmup with I got to get the vertical jigging sticks out and that's a little more forgiving down there because you can play with heavier jigs and the Saugers don't seem to mind too much. So even if you're not the world's best vertical jigging, you can still, it's still not that hard to do there unless the wind's high.
Brian Bashore (01:21.226)
That was the, you got to warm up, but I don't think you were really all that warm at the Spring Valley tournament. It looked kind of cold.
joe (01:28.192)
It was warmer than last year though. That's for sure. Last year it was in the twenties and blowing 30 and it was just miserable. Although we did find a good little stretch of river that was a little more protected. But, but yeah, this, this year the sun peaked out a little bit aside from the sleet and snow and it was, well, it's spring valley. It's what, what do you expect? You could, it could have been the fifties leading up to it and you know, what's going to happen on the day of.
Brian Bashore (01:33.314)
Yeah, that.
Brian Bashore (01:48.595)
Right, right.
Brian Bashore (01:52.626)
Yeah, I was, uh, you know, their practice for that NWT while you guys were fishing that NWC the week ahead last year. And I, I sat in the parking lot that day and I watched a lot of guys come in real early on day two and went, there's not as many people leaving out there. Cause a lot of guys didn't even go out because things are froze up. I mean, it's, you just, it's just hard on the boats, man. It's just tough. And, and you had a lot of debris in the water. I mean, the fishing wasn't, wasn't horrible. I mean, but it wasn't a typical spring Valley. It looked like a lot of limits, like a lot of, a lot of fish were caught this time.
joe (02:09.729)
It is.
joe (02:21.4)
Yeah, a lot of fish were caught. Some guys, the first day Jason Klein and his boy, they had almost 19 pounds, which is a huge weight for there. But when you catch a 29 or 30, I don't even know how big it was, an upper 20 inch walleye that does help the cause a little bit, when it can swallow my entire bag of saugers that I brought in.
Brian Bashore (02:31.982)
It's almost a two day total.
Brian Bashore (02:36.948)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (02:45.482)
Yeah, if you can get a wallet in that tournament, that's, that's kind of golden that happened to obviously JJ, but already got that for the NWT and brought in three fish, but when you bring it to seven, eight pound wall, I, you just equibled most of our bag of Saugers, right? So that was a.
joe (02:57.7)
Yes. And there must be more and more of them in that river, you know. I think, I mean, every year.
Brian Bashore (03:01.802)
Yeah, I was having dinner that night, Saturday night with John Ballant down at the master classic. And he fishes that a lot and his fish that tournament a lot. And that's what he said, if there's a lot more walleye are moving down into that system, so he anticipated just to kind of get better over the next few years.
joe (03:19.248)
cool. Maybe actually start targeting them. I mean maybe you can already. You know what was interesting is you creep up into those seams and the really fishy looking spots and your graph just lights up with life crawling all over and it's mostly Asian carp is what you found. But you just say, if I was a 10 pound walleye holding a pile of eggs, I would
Brian Bashore (03:37.89)
Yeah.
joe (03:45.9)
and I didn't want to be sitting out in the main river channel right now. I'd be sitting right here. Now how do I, I just couldn't figure out how to get fish out of those fishiest spots. So we ended up just joining the club in the channels and edges and even the main channel. The river was dropping day to day. So as that whole river drops, the life continued to flush out into the middle of the river channel. And you could catch them from one bank to the other and all the way into the middle. So they weren't.
Brian Bashore (04:12.226)
You pulling three ways probably or jigging? Vertical jigging you said, right?
joe (04:15.268)
We did both. I troll upstream with a stacker rig. That's just two inline floaters behind each other. And then when we got bored of that, we'd bring them up and then just jig our way back down and then jigging was way more fun.
Brian Bashore (04:29.694)
Yeah, yeah, for sure. Did you go down to the High Lines area, I think it's called?
joe (04:33.388)
Yeah, we went all the way, we went down just below Hennepin at the furthest downriver point and then we, um, and then, but we kind of just hung out in the Peoria area for the majority of the tournament, especially once our back was against the wall up at day one, we were in, we were sitting in 37th and, uh, that was the only place we actually caught walleye in practice. And I've, I mean, if we were going to get that lucky unicorn, it was going to come from there.
Brian Bashore (04:38.173)
Oh, yeah.
joe (05:03.701)
So that's kind of where we hung out. We were hung out to dry for the second day when things got a little tough
Brian Bashore (05:08.906)
Yeah, I caught one or two walleye I practiced and they were both up closer to the dam and that just kind of seems like that's where those walleye are that time of year.
joe (05:16.416)
Yeah. Last year I caught a nice, like a five pounder up there and we never even really messed with it up there too much in practice. Well, I only practiced for two days. We just kind of locked into a couple stretches and just that's kind of where, where was that for us a little bit. I had him ready to go for the tournament. One thing I was worried about was it being overly congested on our starting spot.
Brian Bashore (05:34.774)
Did you pull any flies? Good.
joe (05:46.004)
And so if it's super busy, instead of just trying to plow through with plugs and weave your way in and out of people, I wanted a slower presentation where you could kind of creep and tack and just really work specific stretches of that channel edge nicely without trying to, you know, oh, I just missed it on my trolling pass. So now we've got to go back for another one. And, you know, if you're, but then if you pull the flies out or three ways with live bait or something like that, then you can
Brian Bashore (05:52.854)
Right.
joe (06:14.832)
really take your time and be thorough in those spots. So I was prepared to do that, but we just, we just kept pulling plugs.
Brian Bashore (06:22.202)
We always have a plan and something we want to do, but then you just, sometimes you forget and sometimes it just doesn't work. And then you get done and you're like, damn it. If I would have did that, I know that was the trick, you know? And yeah, right. Uh, you know, what if I would have, should have, could have, uh, I want to get into flies. You've been dialing that in, but before we get too far, I like to think everybody knows who Joe Ocotta is because you should, but I think, you know, this industry is growing and we're getting some new people. And.
joe (06:26.916)
Yeah.
joe (06:32.584)
All the honey to say.
joe (06:37.988)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (06:50.21)
His podcast is going up pretty good, blowing up a lot more than I anticipated. So we have new people out there. So for those, those new guys are, you know, not even just young guys getting in and gals, just new people in general, give them a little background on, on Joe, where he comes from, um, what you're doing when you're not fishing, which is still fishing, you know, and where they, where they can find you, I know you got your kind of reinvented your YouTube, you got that going good. So.
joe (07:14.528)
Yeah, no, I've, uh, I was kind of born and raised in south central Wisconsin, uh, close to the Madison channel lakes, which is a series of inland lakes here that are really fertile and, um, diverse. And that's kind of where I cut my teeth in, in fishing, uh, still live in the area here. So I've been fishing those lakes my whole life. Um, as soon as I got out of high school, I started guiding on that chain of lakes and did that for almost 20 years.
Um, slowly have tapered off in the guiding, but the guiding is what helped, you know, build the skill sets to eventually start competing in tournaments. And I started doing that in about 2008 on the Pro-Am side, uh, played around in team tournaments, leading up to that, just to build some experience and then, um, over time, it just kind of leaned more heavily on the tournament scene and, uh, through relationships that I built through tournament fishing ended up kind of, um,
I mean, for my job when I'm off the water now, to take over what I was doing guiding is just kind of started my own one-man band advertising agency to help out some of those partners that I continue to help out today. And so that's kind of what I do when I'm not fishing and then when I'm fishing, I'm just trying to hone skill sets that you need to work on hard and so that you can still stay competitive when it's time to play. You know?
So that's kind of what I've, that's kind of a quick 20 plus year history of what I've done. Yeah, that is. And, but no, every step along the way has kind of, you know, through relationships and just through experience building has just kind of kept me in the industry in one facet or another, and hopefully we can continue that for many more years to come.
Brian Bashore (08:50.495)
That's down and dirty.
Brian Bashore (09:10.483)
That's how this industry rolls, right? You know, as well as anybody, it's all about the relationships and, and you've been with Yamaha and other places for, for a long time and yardcraft, right? So doing stuff with the, the yardcraft boats and I mean, those are.
joe (09:22.208)
Yup. Been with them since 2014 and then started doing some of their advertising and media stuff in 15 or 16 and have been doing that ever since with them. And yeah, things are good with them.
Brian Bashore (09:38.838)
Yeah, Kinger was on and gave us a big update on how the, all the aircraft stuff's going and, uh, sounds like it's good. So, I mean, the boat market is the boat market right now, but, you know, when you build a good product, it's, it, uh, it makes it through the ups and downs and stands at test time. So.
joe (09:48.504)
Yeah.
joe (09:55.364)
There are ups and downs, no doubt. And when it's up, it's ridiculous. And when it's down, it's just like a light switch hit. It's pretty crazy, isn't it?
Brian Bashore (09:57.641)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (10:04.342)
Yeah. And I think, you know, it's this, this COVID crap from a few years back. It, it's still an issue. It's still, it caused a lot of the problem in a sense, right? Supply and demand. Um, and now here we are with, now we have plenty of supply, but the demand's dying cause people are back to work and they're not going fishing every day. And, and, but when things inflate, you don't ever hear about the deflation process in the economy because it doesn't come back down, you know, very, very little.
Gas goes up and down and fuel food may move a little bit, but the boats have went like this and they're probably, you know, they're got a damn near stay there.
joe (10:34.881)
No.
joe (10:45.764)
They're, I don't see them going back down anytime soon. I still remember it wasn't that long ago, Brian. Remember when, you know, 30 to 50 grand was, I mean, was a chunk of change to invest into a boat. And here we are, I mean, that's where we're at with electronics and engines now before even at the fiberglass. So.
Brian Bashore (11:04.79)
Yeah, that's just, yeah, that's just, I mean, my first Ranger was 68,000, which was, and I wouldn't, I guess I was a little while ago, but now it's, you know, that's a hundred and that's almost double that price now for that same boat and that same boat is still out there. Nothing has no, and the, uh, you know, you're talking a lot of tournaments and I don't, the payouts haven't gone up, you know, but
joe (11:12.794)
Wow.
joe (11:20.644)
Double. Yeah.
And the fish aren't twice as big.
joe (11:31.18)
Hold that too!
Brian Bashore (11:32.674)
Right. You're not making any more money. There's a lot of noise out there in the bass world. I just got off the phone with somebody talking about this and, uh, we just, w we'll just hit on it a little bit that cause you do, you know, you've been doing the aim stuff, you did the head to head thing, which was cool. You did NWT for years. What, what's Joe going to do this year? He's sticking with the aim river series.
joe (11:53.5)
Actually, I just talked to my buddy Galen who lives over by the Mississippi. He's partnerless for this season, so I told him I'd hop in a couple with him. I might hop in with another buddy up on the pool tour three. So maybe.
Brian Bashore (12:05.63)
Who's guy? Guy, that's your guy. Who's guy?
joe (12:09.316)
Oh, Guy, Guy Engenbretsen, he's fishing with his son again this year, who has a little time freed up. That was super fun to fish with him last year because we've always bounced, we've always communicated and fished a few times a year, but we never got to devote time to fish as a team together. And that was a lot of fun. And he was one patient dude because it's hard to... Finding a good teammate is hard.
Brian Bashore (12:13.825)
Okay.
Brian Bashore (12:23.042)
Alright.
joe (12:38.112)
You know, cause everyone, they, you have to compliment each other and you just have to, no matter how the flow of the boat's going, you have to work together. I, but when you, that's, that's one thing that I really liked about that season on head to head is it was, it was fun. And I mean, it's just, just you in your boat against just me and my boat. And.
Brian Bashore (12:38.583)
Yeah.
joe (13:02.724)
And by the fourth day of being on the water, you're still in practice mode. So you're still flying by the seat of your pants and it's, but it's, but it's just you and your thoughts and your program. I mean, it's just, that was, that was one of the, that was the most enjoyable year I've ever had tournament fishing. But then to get to fish with great friends like Guy, Robert Blosser, I fished a bunch of tournaments with him over the years, just getting to fish with some of your best friends is pretty special too.
Brian Bashore (13:13.409)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (13:28.898)
So I cut you off, but you're going, you got a partner now, you're gonna do the River series again? Or a couple of them.
joe (13:34.016)
A couple of them. I'm, I, with scheduling this year, um, I'll probably play in one or two NWTs, some aims, um,
Brian Bashore (13:43.586)
Let me guess, Red Wing and Green Bay might be a couple of your favorite places.
joe (13:45.912)
No, I actually, I'm coming out, I'll probably come out to Erie cause that one is open on this schedule and I haven't been to Erie in years. Uh, so it's, I'm due to get out there and fish on a lake with a hundred million walleyes swimming around.
Brian Bashore (13:58.498)
Cool. That'd be good to see you. Yeah, right. You know you'll catch him. As long as it doesn't turn into a mud hole, you've got to catch fish.
joe (14:05.14)
I hope so. Yeah. And I haven't been out there since, you know, I've played with my forward facing and so like I said, it's been years prior to 2021 was the, I think 2020 was the last year or 2019 even was the last year I was out there. So I just want to see around here we have lots of drum and carpool, which you also have out there, but you also have mega schools of walleyes swimming around. I just want to see a bunch of walleyes swimming around and try to catch them. So that'll be the...
Brian Bashore (14:32.106)
You, uh, you're going to focus on the forward facing technique out there. Like all the rest of us, I imagine. I mean, you have to, right? That's, that's what it's for.
joe (14:35.616)
I probably will. Actually on Erie, I think if there's one place you don't have to, it's Lake Erie. I think a good portion of checks will be cast just pulling meat or cranks through wads of...
Brian Bashore (14:44.148)
Oh, yeah.
Brian Bashore (14:49.666)
Traditional cranks. Yeah, but I mean But you got to try the forward face, you know, I mean, I think you're gonna see everybody try it cuz why the heck not, right? so
joe (14:55.671)
Oh, yeah.
joe (14:59.204)
Well, yeah, that's what that's that. And that's the main reason I'm going. I just want to, I just want to continue to expand. I want it, I want it to be a training week for me and, and try to be better at the end of the week because of it. So that's my main reason for going out there. And yeah, but maybe green Bay too. Um, that'll be fun because by green Bay, most of you guys will still have points on your mind. And.
with that three fish limit that they put in there, you know, you'll be, you'll be to have tempted to box a five to six pound fish just to save your season and I can toss them back and wait for my bigger bites.
Brian Bashore (15:23.574)
Right. Yup.
Brian Bashore (15:35.614)
Yeah. And you know that lake and you know where to get them. I know you've had some monster bags and, uh, that plays right into your hand. They're perfect. I mean, I imagine like Woodke is going to be in the same situation. If he's just fishing one, it's, you know, here's the three or four hammers you better watch out for. Cause they don't have points on the line and they know where to catch them and how to catch them big ones.
joe (15:52.868)
more. And if it might actually, Red Wing might open up to, I don't think Sikakawea, just the way the late summer scheduling was going, I don't think I can make it out there, but maybe Red Wing too, because that's a fun place to play. And you guys, now you can fish Wisconsin for that one. Is that true? Okay.
Brian Bashore (16:09.194)
Yep. And you can fish the whole system. Of course, sounds like the water's so low you can't get around right now. But we're going out of Treasure Island, not Red Wing. So we're going to be up to pool three and it's four walleye, one over 20.
joe (16:16.12)
I'm gonna shut up.
joe (16:20.962)
Okay.
joe (16:26.864)
for fish. Hmm. Okay. Well, that'll be interesting.
Brian Bashore (16:28.194)
Yep, one main limit everywhere. So, I don't know.
Yeah, cause it's Red Wing. We know there's big, you know, there's big ones in there and catching two is a separator, but one, you know, one over 20 should be feasible and there's a big saga in there. Um, so yeah, it's, you know, it'd probably be some pretty close weights in that one. It'd be kind of like a South Dakota tournament. Except. Yep.
joe (16:39.556)
Yeah.
joe (16:51.596)
Are you doing all of the NWTs this year? Nice. Cool. Yeah, man. I'm just going to hop around to whatever is available when I am free and we'll play where I can, but yeah, the river should be fun again this year. That's just a whole, I've got a year under my belt now.
Brian Bashore (16:57.078)
That is the plan. So we'll take one at a time.
joe (17:17.288)
on some of those pools and I got to do a lot of exploring but it still feels like new water on every spot whenever you roll up on stuff. I know a lot of rocks don't move but the water fluctuates and it's a different system every time you go and the fish move too. Yes it can.
Brian Bashore (17:29.697)
Yep.
The timber can move, but the water level does. And also there's rocks you didn't know were there and that are there. And I mean, there's not a whole lot of hidden underneath the water anymore with all our electronics. Right. But yeah, when the water level is low, you find new stuff. And when it's high, you find new stuff the hard way sometimes. Um, you know, but it's, yeah, it changes. It might move six inches to a foot on you in a day and everything's out the window. Right. Those fish are now they're sliding up tighter and.
joe (17:49.23)
Yeah.
joe (17:56.132)
That's right.
Brian Bashore (17:59.619)
And you have exposed wing dams and yeah, it's just, I love the river, the Mississippi river, the Missouri river. Those are awesome.
joe (18:05.848)
I caught myself last year playing, last year I caught myself trying to rely too many on several spots, what I was hoping to see, but then the right cast through the right spot was still extracting fish that you didn't know were there. And that's one cool thing about the Mississippi is that it's like the, the fish can still tuck in stuff and be hard to.
pick out sometimes and so still setting, you know, both positioning and making the right cast and giving a spot a chance, even when your eyes are telling you to just pick up and bolt is still there. So it still leaves a little, you know, there's still a little uncertainty under the water line, even though we've got everything we need to hopefully expose everything at the same time. But when you roll up to a spot and everything looks right, it's still worth a cast on the Mississippi. There's no doubt about that.
Brian Bashore (18:51.374)
All right.
Brian Bashore (18:58.41)
And it can just, it just, it can just keep reloading, you know, throughout the day and you can go back day after day if you hit the right spot and be like, I don't know, I caught 20 pounds out of this yesterday and you go in there the next day and you catch 25 or 30, you know, it's just, it just, there's the rivers for you, especially the Mississippi. So a lot of those pockets are obviously just off the current or off the channel. So those fish slide up and especially this time of year when they're looking to, to spawn and pre-spawn. Yeah. The Mississippi is awesome. And I foresee it in the future of NWT is.
joe (19:01.487)
Yeah.
joe (19:12.856)
That's forever.
Brian Bashore (19:28.002)
probably at least once a year. But I mean, it used to always be a couple rivers and a couple bigger bodies, if not a great lake. That kind of looks like the theme moving forward. And I think you'll see either the Missouri to Mississippi probably in play every year one way or the other. So.
joe (19:45.832)
I wouldn't doubt it. It's cool. And those fishermen out there, the river rats out there are hard to beat because they just know where that one big one will set up and live. And they just have a run to, a milk run of those spots to go. They're just so intimate with that river. They can look at the boat ramp and notice the...
Brian Bashore (19:54.826)
be honest they are.
Brian Bashore (20:09.32)
Yup.
joe (20:12.744)
the water come up three inches from the day before and so that puts something else in play and they're just so dialed, it's pretty incredible.
Brian Bashore (20:21.266)
Yeah, it is tough to locals always. I tell them they always have the advantage on a river because it's especially miss it because it is spot on spot, uh, Missouri, not so much bigger, not as shallow, you know, unless you're on the shoots at Lewis and Clark, where that is definitely a local has a huge advantage there. That's just doing where to how to get to places period. Cause it's sandbar city. Uh, but you don't have that on Lake Erie, you know, sure as a charter captain or something, you're out there every day and have experience, but
joe (20:25.644)
Yeah, for sure.
Yes it is.
joe (20:37.712)
Okay.
joe (20:45.326)
Right.
Brian Bashore (20:48.894)
Sometimes, as you know from guiding in the past, that can also bite you in the butt, so.
joe (20:53.129)
Oh yeah, yep, you know too much.
Brian Bashore (20:55.858)
Yeah, exactly. Too much, too much memory. If you touched on it, we were talking about tournaments that a, you know, how the head to head thing was cool. Cause it's just you, but now you're doing the aim thing, uh, the river circuit with another person and having it's you're right. It's a teammate. Now you're a team. It's a whole new dynamic. You know, you're as a pro am you're the pro you got the entry. You're making decisions. You all the choices are Joe's. I know what I'm my program. This is what we're going to do.
You're told not to talk to me anyway or tell me anything right at the amateur level. I mean, you're going to tune them out. I imagine it's like, I do like, you can tell me whatever you want. I don't, I don't care. You're going to do your program. But the team thing. All right. What, what do you think? What I think let's, let's try to figure this out. And if you don't mesh very well, it's a, it just, it doesn't work.
joe (21:35.054)
Yeah.
joe (21:42.264)
The chemistry has to be there and it's hard to have two cooks in the kitchen. So that's, uh, so at some point you either have, you just have to say, let's, you know, let's roll with what you want to do. And if we're doing this, this is, you know, I really want to work it this way or whatever, and if everybody's cool, then the day goes really good. And that's where guy was so good. He's like a fricking mind reader. He just.
Brian Bashore (21:46.986)
Yes, it is.
joe (22:10.048)
He, he, I didn't even have to say words and he just knew what I was thinking or, or knew how to, you know, if he, he just very, he's, he's a very intelligent person and he was very easy to fish with. And.
Brian Bashore (22:23.638)
You're thinking about picking up, moving. You look over and he's already reeling in. He's like, yeah, let's go. Yep. So I, uh,
joe (22:26.924)
Yes, 100%. Yes. But, but that's, that's when I fish my best is when I can just, when I'm not thinking about what somebody else is thinking or when I, when I'm not, when there's no other thoughts other than your own and, and just your rod in your hand, that's, that's when I do my best.
Brian Bashore (22:45.474)
Yep. That's the fish whisperer comes out. I, and I would struggle with that in NWT having that coangler. You turn into guide mode sometimes. Like you feel obligated, like I got to get this person on to fish or they got to catch some fish. And I feel bad if we zero because a lot of people don't understand the zeros. It doesn't mean you didn't catch any fish. It just means you didn't keep any of the fish, which we're going to probably, you know, this year is all about keeping the right fish with these, these one main limits. Um, and it's also not.
I mean, you know, as well as anybody on Green Bay, when you're up north, it's you're fishing for five bites. That's it. You know, and I can't lose any of them. Cause that's probably all I'm going to get. Hopefully I get seven or eight, you know, but you know, when you're doing that rip and wrap or shiver minnow type bite and you're going or may not get any of them or whatever the case may be, which is why we're doing three fish limits this year. Uh, but it's, it can be boring for, you know, you're just not, you're not throwing in numbers of fish and it makes for a long day.
joe (23:44.928)
Yeah. Nope, that's okay with me though. I don't mind waiting stuff out. At all.
Brian Bashore (23:49.93)
Patient is a patient man sport. So I have our first tournament or mine is the Cedar Shores tournament, uh, first part of April. And my other guide, Scott fishes that with me normally, but he had back surgery. So Randy Humble is going to jump in and fish you with it. So you said trying to find the right teammate, where Andy and I have been fishing in David T forever and we're complete opposites on chill and I'm not on the chill side, Randy's on the very chill side. Uh, so yeah, we'll see it. It should be, you know, fun.
Nonetheless, but that's exactly why we stay on a team, you know, traveling and stuff, cause it's, it's a complete balance. You know, I come in, I'm usually the first guy out, last guy to come in. And Randy's been that way a little bit lately, but he very methodical. He can do the, you know, he's one of the, I think he's a great crawler harness guy because he's super patient and that's too slow for me. I want to put a crank on, go faster or cast or get up there, you know? So I'll maybe cover a lot more water throughout the day and find.
joe (24:19.184)
That might actually help balance you out a little bit then.
Brian Bashore (24:48.662)
You know, more spots, but then Randy can go and kind of dial that thing in just cause he's, he's just more, more relaxed. I'm not. So it's high speed and low drag and it, you know, sometimes you get that opposite and it's a good, it's a good balance. So, but it is tough to find those, uh, those tournament partners that mesh. You see it, you see it change a lot. And you even see it at NWT with our, our travel teams in a sense. Right. I mean, you guys, you had a great one for years with you and Bloster.
joe (24:56.832)
Hehe
joe (25:03.844)
That's right, that's right.
Brian Bashore (25:18.55)
you know, and King and just, and you guys are all still close and good friends. And I, and for the most part, all the anglers are, are good guys. And I mean, there's very little. When the boat one takes off, it's a whole new deal. And then it's game on, but before and after all that, all good people, all good friends, all just, it's as good. Fishing community is pretty cool.
joe (25:39.44)
for sure.
joe (25:43.028)
Yes it is. Nope, man, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be fine.
Brian Bashore (25:45.054)
Well, yeah, it'll be awesome to see you back out there on trail. And I told King, I'm like that close to hitting that river circuit. I like that. I like that idea, like that format. You're not, I'm only four or five hours, you know, east of most all of that. And Randy's over in Minnesota and we're like, we like the river. I think we'd like to spend a little more time on the river. The same entry fees are.
600 or something.
joe (26:16.108)
No, it's like half that. I think it's... yeah.
Brian Bashore (26:17.93)
Oh, is it? Oh, I'm thinking NBC is like, so they're like, cause they're one day or most time. Right. Yeah. Okay.
joe (26:22.228)
One day, one day, and the, the river division has had smaller fields overall, but no lack of talent in that field. It's, it's still fun to go and try to compete against guys that, you know, know every rock and damn by name, you know.
Brian Bashore (26:32.659)
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Brian Bashore (26:42.482)
Well, all it does is make you better. I mean, you know, when an NWT or a bigger, or maybe it's, you know, they do, uh, those bigger entries and they aim, try it there on the river. When a bigger payout or a bigger circuit comes to town, you've been fishing that thing, you know, there's fun fishing and going out with your buddies, but when you're tournament fishing and your few days of practice, this is a whole different level, you know, and you can probably remember everything or you document everything and.
Now you've got your YouTube. So you've got some of it up there and thanks for sharing it with the world. So all of us can, can watch it and learn a thing or two about the river. Is that all comes back into play later and you're like, Oh yeah, I have these spots or when the water does this, I know not to do this or to do this. And you get certain baits dialed in. Um, but of course, you know, you know how baits work. They work. Wheel of cats are a staple. They're going to work no matter what. When you're at the river either, you know, this year in 20 years, most likely. But.
joe (27:16.414)
Hahaha
joe (27:27.108)
That's right.
Brian Bashore (27:38.154)
you know, certain colors and other baits are going to have their, their moments to shine and moments of they suck. That's just not working.
joe (27:45.712)
The Willowcat phenomenon is that's something else. There's, I don't think there's another bait in another part of the country. Well, I guess Creek Chubbs out in your neck of the woods, but there's, but the Willowcat is a special bait on that river. But the cool thing is I, I was babysitting them throughout the, throughout the year. And I, I take a handful and play with them. I mean, fish in other bodies of water will eat them, but
They, I don't know what it is about them, but there's something, there's something magic to that bait. It's pretty crazy.
Brian Bashore (28:20.746)
Yeah. I mean, it's, I have no problem handling them. I just grab them and hook them and throw them. I'm not allergic to them. I've been stung. I've sat on a bull head before, so I'm whatever. Maybe that was my immunization shot. I don't know. It was little, we just stood up and had a bull head fin stuck into your butt cheek and you know, I guess that was my like small, small pock shot or something, but I have no problem. And so many other guys can't hardly, you know, they put the gloves on and, and handle them and they're little and they're. Floppy feisty little things.
joe (28:32.3)
I'm sorry.
joe (28:41.232)
I'm going to go ahead and close the video.
Brian Bashore (28:48.954)
Obviously a crick chub is much easier to just grab and hook on. But I think Walleye, anything Pike, Small Mouth and Walleye, it's a kakua eat the crick chubs there. Like Walleye and Small Mouth and Drum and everything else eats the Willowcats on the Mississippi. There's no feeding it. There's no, I mean, you know, maybe sometimes a little bit, but more or less it's just, they're on it. I mean, yeah. Yep.
joe (29:05.014)
Yeah.
joe (29:10.456)
They attack, it's a different bite. The bite feels different when they hit it. But I did learn that when you handle them, it's like a gentle firmness. If you're timid and scared to hold on to it, it'll get you. But if you're assertive with it, but gentle at the same time, I don't even know if that makes sense, they'll just kind of relax your hand and you stick the hook in and you're done.
Brian Bashore (29:30.914)
Nope, it does. I get it. Yup. I grab them and don't squeeze them to where you're going to kill them, but you don't just lay it there because then it's going to flop around and get poked. So you got to have control with a firm, firm grip on it. So that's yeah. I mean, this is how I grab a crick job too, I guess, reach into that bucket. And I'm like, Oh, pick them up and hook them and go. And they're not as big as crick jobs, but they are expensive as hell. So you obviously want to handle with care.
joe (29:40.203)
Exactly.
joe (29:49.744)
I'm sorry.
joe (29:58.916)
Yes, don't drop it overboard and hopefully get more than one fish on it.
Brian Bashore (30:00.97)
No, no. Yeah. They're dollar or two bucks a pop or whatever, but you can't, you better have them in your boat if you're going to a tournament on Mississippi river. Period.
joe (30:10.432)
Yeah. And if they, if tournament circuits banned Willowcats, I wouldn't really care either, but they are fun to use. Like if it's, if they're in play, you got to have them. But if they just said, don't, there's no Willowcats in this tournament. I wouldn't care either. Cause I, I've, I've got other ways to catch a walleye out there. And as long as everybody else also doesn't have access to Willowcats.
Brian Bashore (30:18.338)
Oh yeah.
Brian Bashore (30:32.442)
Right, exactly. As long as there's nobody can have them, that's fine. There's liquid willow cats, which, hey, I have some. I got the juice I've used, but I have the bag of liquid ones and I never have any and opened it up yet. But I bought them last time I was there. But I'd imagine they would work. But it certainly isn't the only way. Right. Flies. Let's bring this to the flies. Are you catching them on the Mississippi on the flies? Tell us about the flies and then how are you using them? There's people who find your videos on how to tie them.
joe (30:58.604)
Yeah, there's a bunch of ways to use them. I just have, I have a little river down the road from me that is really receptive to them pretty much most of the year. And so, and it's just a, it's a fun little way to extract when they're bunched up in little areas, it's a fun way to just get a bunch of fish without having to keep rebaiting minnows. And it's, it's a very forgiving method too, cause you're lobbing out a fairly heavy rig, but it fishes as finesse as anything you could
possibly throw down there, just a little puff of hair. And I'm no expert in, you know, the experts live on the Fox River in the Fox Valley. Those guys on Winnebago that stroll those upstream and pump them and those guys are really good at pulling flies. And that's where I started doing it many years ago. My buddy, Mark O'Brien lives up there.
Brian Bashore (31:35.319)
Now.
joe (31:53.452)
And he kind of, he showed me the ropes just on the basic fundamentals of how to pull flies up there and you can do so many things. You can stick your rod in a rod holder and drag it upstream. Like you're pulling the bottom bouncer in a crawler harness. You know, you can hold them and, and pump them in place in sweet spots. And you can, and what I love to do most is cast mostly behind the boat and sweep through fishy areas with a lighter rig. That's my favorite way to fish them and just keep making repetitive casts through an area, but they're.
They're so versatile and they get bit. I think, and down here, they don't, I don't always catch the biggest, the biggest bite of the day still usually comes on a piece of plastic or in minnows, but you can't, I've caught really big fish on flies. They'll still eat them too. And it doesn't, and I've tried playing with different amounts of hair and, you know, but it doesn't take much hair to get a big bite either. You know, you try to make.
I was trying to tie these big profile, I don't even know the flight streamer names of all the files or whatever. I don't even know what they're called, but big poofy stuff. And it doesn't get bit like a wispy, mangled little puff of hair that you put down. Yes, that's all it takes. It doesn't take, I think the less it has down there, the better it dances.
Brian Bashore (32:57.666)
I'll just say like a streamer probably. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (33:09.622)
Something with 10 strands of feather on it, right?
joe (33:17.788)
around or just sways around better or something. I don't know what it is. Or maybe I just use it more and it gets a bit more. Maybe that's it.
Brian Bashore (33:24.89)
There's always that, you know, why is this your favorite? It's only for the one that catches fish. Like what else are you using? Well, just this one, it catches all the fish. I'm like, well, that's why it catches all your fish. Cause it's the only thing you use. Come on guys. But that same thing, I never touched those and heard about it going into, you know, a bagel years ago and like flies. What, you know, it just, I didn't understand it until I got there. And I guess I researched it, but get there, hit that bait shot by the park, grab a handful of flies, tie them up on a three way.
joe (33:30.04)
That was pretty much it.
Brian Bashore (33:53.554)
And when I first caught my first wall out of fly, I was like, this is pretty cool. This is neat, man. You know, it is. It, you know, yep.
joe (33:57.6)
Yes, it is really cool. And it's a neat little bite because it's just a little flick. And, but then when you load up and there's a five pounder on there, it's really cool. But the first few big fish I caught, a couple of them rolled off when they got close to the boat and you know, they, those, those light wire Aberdeen hooks that they use, you know, bend out pretty easy. So I started, that's when I just started tying my own.
And that little Berkeley Fusion Aberdeen hook is just a little bit heavier gauge. And I've been using that hook a lot for my flies. And it's got the holding power you need for bigger fish when you're pulling them upstream, but it's not too much hook to compromise the action of the fly when it's down there.
Brian Bashore (34:40.062)
Right. Because the small hook is part of the gig and they always, you know, those locals down there, I told me not to set the hook because you're dealing with a super, a razor sharp, small hook and you, you know, like a bouncer, if you're just sweeping it, you're, you're good, but you rip it. You're just going to rip right through.
joe (34:55.852)
Yes. Yep. So that is one thing. You need a forgiving rod when you're reeling them in. You just play them easy. It's hard for me not to set the hook like I'm jig fishing when I'm casting it because as soon as you feel that whack, I'm on them pretty good. But that hook does hold. I haven't bent out that hook on a fish yet. I mean, I've lost fish on them, but it's, but it isn't that's that hook has been a difference maker for the, when I'm pulling flies or casting flies for sure.
Brian Bashore (35:21.718)
The good thing is when they do bite it, they got the whole thing in their mouth. I mean, cause there's nothing, a little tiny, you know, feather, but yeah, they're, they're smashing it. Do you, uh, you loop yours? I loop my line with the loop and then have the fly. So it has more give. Yeah.
joe (35:25.424)
Mm-hmm.
joe (35:31.784)
Right. Yup.
joe (35:41.384)
Oh sure, more kick. I usually smell my back one, just because my hookup ratio is better when I smell it. I believe it is anyways, but then the front one, I come off a little T-loop, but that's still on a smell connection, but it's got more freedom than the back one does. So then you've got two different actions going.
Brian Bashore (36:03.308)
Hey.
Yeah, I tied them direct and then Winnebago and just experience and talking to local guys like, Nope, you got to put a three inch loop on that sucker and let it and like that. So I did that last time and I still caught fish, got them both ways and I probably caught more with the loop. I totally get it. It made, made sense. So, but every time I do it, I got to look up how to tie that knot. Cause I can't remember how to tie the loop knot.
joe (36:23.46)
Sure.
joe (36:29.476)
There's so many different ways and those guys up there, they all have their own, they're very set in their ways and I've experimented with all the different variations and I've caught fish on every variation and I haven't been able to establish a hard set rule on what gets bit because then I'll just go, I mean I'll smell two in line so they're both stuck and kind of crooked and you still lob it out there.
Brian Bashore (36:35.511)
Nope.
joe (36:55.832)
If the fish are there, they just, they'll eat it. It's a, I think a lot of it is also how much action you're giving them on your, on your twitches, you know, if it, on your pumps, as you're, as you're coming into contact, if you, if you're allowing a little bit of slack to initiate the pump before you come in contact with a sinker, it just kind of gives the whole thing a whip anyways, I think you can, you can impart some really good action in those flies, no matter how they're tied onto your line. I do. And then you can change your.
line diameter and stiffness of the line that you choose to use to tweak it too if you want. So yeah, I use mono. A lot of guys use, but a lot of guys use fluorocarbon too. So see the fish don't, you know.
Brian Bashore (37:32.03)
You like them on a mono? Or...
Brian Bashore (37:40.994)
The fish don't care, but the action changes, right? I mean, the model makes sense on that, on this technique, just because it floats and it's going to allow more of that flutter and free nature, but.
joe (37:43.253)
Yes.
joe (37:52.16)
And typically when I'm casting them, it's further behind the boat. And so when you're further behind the boat, the whole rig is collapsed more, which wants to shove that whole rig into the bottom even more. So if you've got a little bit of extra buoyancy thanks to the mono, maybe that does, you know, help keep it up off bottom a little bit. So.
Brian Bashore (38:08.878)
So Salmo makes a, I don't even know what it is, but it's their version of a fly. And I use it at Bagel when it came out. I had some like, oh, this probably ought to work. Like a fly, even though it's not a fly. It's like a one inch minnow plastic, kind of a hard body, but then it's got fuzz. It's not, this isn't feathers. It's a chunk of cotton ball on the back that's supposed to be the fly. And I just took, yeah, pretty much. And the...
joe (38:24.709)
Oh yeah, yep.
joe (38:33.176)
Looks like a fuzzy grub.
Brian Bashore (38:36.458)
You know, the problem is the eye is really hard. So I would just stuck it on a hook and I've got my biggest walleye bago using that like a fly. Yeah. That's a, what is that 41 bridge? That's the one. Yeah. Up there. I'm like, this should work. Drop it down and boom. I'm like, yeah. And it, uh, orange.
joe (38:43.864)
Did you? That's cool.
joe (38:49.101)
Yeah.
joe (38:52.92)
Which one? Fire Tiger or Pink and White?
Orange, gotcha.
Brian Bashore (38:58.538)
Yup. I think it is an orange firetruck or something, but yeah, I have the pink ones. I have a fire and there's an orange, but I don't, I like orange on those rivers for whatever reason. Crawdads. Mm-hmm. It is. That is a, and those, yeah, I like bago. So I'm, I'm down with, yeah. Well, I'm apparently one of the only guys that likes bago. I've never done well there, but I've had great practices. I've always caught a lot of fish. I like anywhere that's very versatile.
joe (39:07.428)
That's a good one on that.
joe (39:11.672)
Are you sad that you're not going there this year?
Oh, you do? Ha ha ha.
Brian Bashore (39:26.85)
So I like that's why I like rivers. Cause there's, you know, you're, you're trash fishing, right? But here is great. You roll out your boats pretty clean. The end of the day, it's not, you're not, unless you're maybe tying some spinners or something, it's a simple deal. You go to the rivers, you're, you're breaking off 20 times a day on different stuff, you're re rigging, retie and trying all off the wall type stuff, which I like. Um, you got jigs and three ways and cranks and trolling, you know, but like devils and bago and it's kind of, those are places where.
You can do whatever your strength is. You want to slip Bobber, you want to cast cranks, jig and wrap, you know, so, and I think bagels a lot like that with, with the chain of lakes and you may, I mean, I remember two tournaments ago and I was there all five fish I waited in that day. We're all five cotton doing something different. All five.
joe (40:15.096)
Nice, so then your boat looked like an atomic bomb went off in your boat at the end of the day because you got 30 rods strung about everywhere.
Brian Bashore (40:22.418)
Yeah, because I remember him saying on stage, it's like one was on a while I was fly popping a one, I caught one on fly, caught one on slow death that was in the rod holder over here while I was fly, you know, I just ran one fly. Caught one pulling a crawler harness, caught one cranking a reef, and caught one pitching a jig. You know, so like two came out of the river, other ones, like two or three came off a reef, but doing all different stuff on a reef. Put a planer board out and
banging up flicker shad on the rocks and then pitching to it. And then pulling a crawler harness over them. Like, yeah, I don't know. This is yeah, exactly. The boat was just a disaster. And it wasn't even a good weight, but it's like, that's how I had to do everything just to bring it a limit of fish. So I don't think the next day we got three or out of the five, I think three or four were all kind of different things. So yeah, I like bagel. I think there's big fish. There's good fish there. And it just gets fish so much. It's so much pressure on that, that body of water, but.
joe (41:18.104)
Yeah, there is.
Brian Bashore (41:19.918)
I mean, last year there was, there was decent weights and I don't know. It can, and the field can always spread out, you know, depending on the time of year you're there, which is, which is nice too. So Devil's Lake is, you know, another one you've been there. It's Coquia, I love it. It's the Missouri river and it does set up to where you can do a number of different things. It doesn't fish like a Wahe or Francis Case where it's jigging or trolling. It's Coquia's.
It's got enough humps and underwater structure where you can be casting cranks and, uh, you know, pitching jigs and swim baits and plastics. And of course, throwing lead, but bottom bouncers, jigging wraps, and it doesn't even matter what time of year you go there, you're going to catch fish.
joe (42:02.568)
We get to go there at the end of May there for that aim shootout. That'll be fun. They're, they're cutting us off just east of shell, but we're launching up in new town. So, but that time of year, that whole river could be chucked full of fish still, isn't it?
Brian Bashore (42:14.602)
No.
Brian Bashore (42:17.874)
Uh, yeah, you're at the right place at the right time. That will be, yeah, that'll be real good. And you don't, you can catch them clear down in garrison easy, you know, not easy, but not as easy as they are up on the upper end, just like Francis case. They migrate up and the Chamberlain area of the dam is obviously great, but they're catching big fish on the lower end right now. I mean, there's.
joe (42:39.332)
Give me your prediction for first week of June. What does it take to be in first place after day one on that tournament? Five fish. Yep.
Brian Bashore (42:50.45)
On skakua 25 problem
You'll be postponed so, oh, yeah, maybe 30.
joe (42:56.157)
Aimweight.
Yeah? Hoofta. Sweet. I'm looking forward to that.
Brian Bashore (43:03.966)
I would say, cause even then all of our NWTs, I've always had, my wife's been, I guess, had a 14th and a fourth and I always had like 22 and 17. And that you needed 25 to 30 to be in the lead. That a two day or a one? That one's two, right? Cause it's your two days. So 22 plus a day to win it, or you have a big day and a mediocre day.
joe (43:19.116)
Okay. Two, two days, yep.
joe (43:30.256)
Perfect. That sounds fun.
Brian Bashore (43:31.938)
You can't go, you can't go pass shell. You can go to shell.
joe (43:35.788)
No, you can go past it. They cut it off. What's, yeah, yes. I don't know names of stuff. I do know Shell.
Brian Bashore (43:38.254)
slides.
Brian Bashore (43:41.87)
slides.
Brian Bashore (43:45.426)
Yep. Which should be far enough. And that shell alone has put out a lot of 25 to 35 pound bags.
joe (43:53.812)
Perfect.
Brian Bashore (43:54.198)
know about June but probably because you're at the mouth of Van Hook which is its own you could have the tournament never leave Van Hook I mean I think it's huge
joe (44:03.028)
Yeah, there's only 40 boats in that tournament too. So I don't think anything's going to be too piled on. It should be a lot of fun. I, I'm looking forward to it.
Brian Bashore (44:11.15)
Yeah. Yeah, I know that place is never not, not fun unless it's blowing like crazy. Of course. Um, but if that's the case, get down there, tuck yourself into Van Hook and be fine. So, or maybe they'll move it and say, just launch out of here today and, and you'll all be good to go. Unless it's coming up from the South that it blows right in there, but it's still the river, you can still get on one side or the other and, and what have you. I mean, you were there when we did that first NWT and went, went 90 miles from majority of people one way. Um, yeah.
joe (44:22.02)
Right.
joe (44:39.776)
Yeah, most of the day was just driving your boat.
Brian Bashore (44:40.938)
That sucked two hours to two plus each day was, uh, I didn't, I went 68 miles, I remember on day two and caught my bigger bag, but there was definitely a lot of fish up there and it was, it wasn't hard and it was fun. Fun. It was very fun. That place is healthy. I'm always go there in the fall and fish the upper part or there isn't, there's maybe a few, you know, eight pounders caught, but there's a lot of 18 to 22s.
joe (44:56.193)
No, it was fun.
joe (45:09.592)
by upper part, like the tobacco area? Okay, gotcha.
Brian Bashore (45:13.202)
Yep. All the way up to almost to where the river begins. Last year they took the river out of it. So it's Lewis and Clark state park, which is Williston basically. And our, we can't go past Newtown. So Newtown's the south boundary, the bridge. You can go under it, but you can't go past it, which is I think 30 miles from takeoff. So, but if you got a 20, 30 mile an hour wind, upper down river, no thanks. Cause that 30 miles becomes a.
joe (45:26.242)
Okay.
joe (45:35.376)
Very good.
Brian Bashore (45:41.662)
an hour and a half, two hour drive and you don't have to, there's fish. They're just scattered all over at that, at that time. So that's the, the big 10 tournament. And that's usually the first week in an October. Um, you got to come up and fish it. Cause it's a good one. It's a thousand dollar entry, 30,000 a first.
joe (45:44.139)
Right.
joe (45:49.24)
Nice.
joe (45:59.084)
Wow, what's the field usually like 100 boats?
Brian Bashore (46:01.322)
Uh, a hundred boats, limited. We haven't, we had a hundred the first year and then COVID, it got canceled last minute, their governor wouldn't let nobody go. And then I think we had 80 something. We were down to like an upper sixties and then back up into eighties. And now they're, it's got a lot of sponsors ran really, really good. Super smooth. I mean, in and out, you pull up. I mean, you're in, you're in a boat or guys in your truck and he gets out and weighs the fish quick and then back in the boat and off you go.
joe (46:30.925)
Nice.
Brian Bashore (46:30.982)
Um, yeah, they got a lot of volunteers. Jeff runs that thing and it's, I mean, a hundred percent, I don't even know what it is, I think he's over a hundred percent of entropy. It's, it's the top, the big 10. So only the top 10 get paid.
And then they have day money, big fish pots. So if you have a hundred field, you know, tournament, you got 30 grand at first, but you could be, you know, 40 plus thousand with all the side pot stuff. So yeah, it's, it's good. And the state park, it's, it's one of the best tournaments of fish every year is why I go back. So, and then I think last year, Carol was the MC, but last year he's like, damn it, I want to get in. So he fished it last year with hyzer.
joe (46:58.896)
sweet.
joe (47:12.235)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (47:14.158)
Um, but Yorkman's fish did before. I haven't seen them the last couple of years. Um, it's been just a few, a Hoyer fish did one year. So the guys got a dip in their, their toes in it. So yeah, you go up there in May and June and you're like, I love this place. Come back in October. So, but it's October. You don't know. It could be 70. It could be, it could be snowing in, in Tkakwee. I, yeah, hit it. It's I, I rolled in there once. I went, oh, there's snow on the hills. And then it was, uh,
joe (47:27.056)
Nice.
joe (47:31.92)
Okay?
joe (47:36.524)
in the same day.
Brian Bashore (47:43.242)
It wasn't nice. It was cold. Then the next year was the most beautiful, most beautiful two days of fall. It was literally 60, 70 degrees and flat combo days. The last two years were.
20 mile an hour winds, whatever river. It's, you know, yeah, it was manageable. You just kind of took you a little longer to get to and from. So you just allow a little more time and type of deal. Or I think if you were trolling, you might've just kind of picked up and made the run with, you know, with the wind, cause it's going into it was just a little too much anyway. I think I was drifting, drifting and dragging and pitching and dragging jigs and crick chubs. So awesome, awesome fun place. So.
joe (47:59.98)
That was about right for out there.
joe (48:27.248)
That's cool.
Brian Bashore (48:27.267)
You're doing all the YouTube stuff over there. Where can people find Joe's YouTube?
joe (48:33.162)
It's just Joe Ocata. Um, uh, yeah, no, just Joe Ocata.
Brian Bashore (48:35.978)
Joe Okada fishing or something. Just Joe Okada. I'll put a link down below so people can go check out. You got fly videos. You got river fishing videos.
joe (48:41.298)
Yeah, well that'd be cool.
joe (48:45.048)
Yeah, I'll put up a summary of this last one of from, uh, from spring valley where we didn't do squat, but maybe you can still learn a thing or two. I just, I think I'll just try to. Whatever tournaments I fish this year, I'll just try to share, you know, mindset and strategy and action throughout the tournament and, you know, if maybe it, maybe it'll help people that are either interested in tournament fishing or just enjoy it and, um, that'll be there for you. But yeah, I think, uh,
I still don't even have the full schedule laid out for me yet this year, but anytime there's an open opportunity and an open field, I will be there playing. So that'll be fun.
Brian Bashore (49:25.078)
Well, we look forward to, I used to, I would say if you were a new guy, I'd be like, awesome, we can take your money, but Joe Okada coming back in. Isn't that case? I'm like, ah, damn it. Joe's fishing. You know, it's like a bloster comes by and I'm like, damn it, he's here. You know, but that's okay. It's good. That's, uh, that just makes all of us that much better. I try to run my go pros like you're doing at practice interments and try to get a little something out there. It's a pain in the ass. Um, I'm what you know, you know, trying to, you know, to get, to keep the batteries going, having this.
joe (49:33.58)
Hahaha
joe (49:49.39)
Yeah, it is.
Brian Bashore (49:53.334)
big enough SD card or just making sure your camera don't end up in the drink. And really the biggest problem I have found, which I think I have resolved is just a microphone because we can all do videos where it's just a bunch of music and a guy's fishing, but yeah, I mean, yours are great and putting some commentary to the method to the madness. Right. So I think that's what people learn from.
joe (50:13.988)
You know, there was a few year gap where you really had, I mean, so like when I was guiding a lot, getting to go to a tournament was almost like a fishing vacation for me because you're, it's all about, I mean, you get to have your tunnel vision and just worry about catching a walleye then. And then when you're trying to, you know, create a
Brian Bashore (50:28.745)
Yep.
joe (50:43.248)
create video content while you're trying to compete against some amazing anglers, you're compromising both, both avenues. And I've just learned, you know, I'll get what I get and, and we'll make something out of it, but it's, it's really hard to take your eye off the ball. And it's, it's a very, it's, it's challenging, you know, it's, um, but it's, I think, I think some people enjoy it. So I'll continue to.
continue to do it, but yeah, it is, it is hard to try to do both really well all at the same time, because you have to put all of your mental energy into one thing if you want to try to do it right.
Brian Bashore (51:21.87)
Yup. Even just self-filming in general, when you're doing everything by yourself, which I do and I'm here, you're doing the same way from what am I going to go out and film today? How much camera, how am I going to do it? Okay. And then you had to go post-production edit and get it up there, but it's so much better if you're trying to do some of the water and or somebody else who can run the camera for you. I just, everything's so much better and easier. But like I said, tournament, there's days where I don't even get that all the second day or the first day gets missed because
joe (51:44.314)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (51:49.354)
You know, it's cold when you take off and everything was good to go. But then your batteries went to crap and you didn't want to mess with, I mean, you're just, I'm here to do this. This is a bonus, you know, a trolling bites one that's a little easier to manage because you have that, that time and your hands are free. But when you got a rod in hand and, and jigging and it's like I'm hooked up and Hey, hit play on that, but record would you, you know, it's, you know, I think this might be the new rule for the Coingler to both this year is you're also the cameraman today, buddy. So.
joe (52:15.797)
That was nice with head to head. You literally had a professional in the boat with a live camera on you all day to capture everything. And then you just fished. And you just fished your thing. That was, I tell people all the time, that was the funnest year of turner fishing I ever had.
Brian Bashore (52:19.019)
A camera man.
Brian Bashore (52:35.758)
That's what I hear from about all of you that did it. So hopefully they get that. I mean, they're doing it again locally. Um, you know, maybe it'll take off and then it'll, it'll come back to fruition out there and it happened because that's probably where the walleye world needs to, needs to make some changes and, and go right. The content is great, but people want it now. I mean, bass is obviously embrace it, but doing it for a long time. And that's why that continues to grow and be big. And a walleye world is pretty stagnant. We go to a lot of the same places.
joe (52:38.888)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (53:05.122)
We're doing the same thing. The TV show maybe comes out three months later. You know, there's a few of us that try to capture it on camera and get something out as soon as possible. You get updates from the field, you know, at night or in the morning, you know, for takeoff or on their way home, but you don't get to see what happened. And we're really not great at sharing how that happened. Some, some are, but some are, and people want to know how, how would you win it? I don't care. I'll, I can give you a GPS corner because.
They're not, they're going to be there the next day, right? You either you caught them all or just if you're really like me, I can't catch other people's fish, so it's like have at it, knock yourself out. Uh, you know, especially if it's somewhere 10 hours away that not going to for another year or two or five. So.
joe (53:51.236)
That is, that is a tough, it's a, it's a contradiction in your mind because there's, there's certain things that you work really hard on and spend lots of time and money trying to develop. And, and part of you says, why don't you wait until you can utilize this for all the work that you've put in to try to figure it out, but then at the, at the end of the day,
You know, you're exactly right. People appreciate sharing things and I'm learning that as I go on here. But for a lot of years, you know, you wanted to try to keep some things, you know, tight to you to, for the competitive, you know, for the competitive reasons, but at the same time, that keeps the public in the dark as they're trying to learn as well. So it's, you're almost just better off just.
sharing what you know and growing everybody along with you.
Brian Bashore (54:52.674)
Yeah. You want to monetize that to say the longest amount as possible. If it's a rip and rip bite type green Bay thing, right? You know, until, until the, the words out, but then again, if I don't share this information or whatever it is, that company's not moving any product, whether it's sponsored viewers or not. Right. But we got to do everything to help the industry move the product and keep people know, and the more people that are catching fish, the more people that are going to go fishing and then all that.
snowballs into the whole Pittman Robertson or Dingle Johnson funding and, and the conservation efforts. I mean, it's just, it's just the whole, that's what makes the full circle. And then getting, you know, right, your kids, my kids, everybody into it to keep this going along. Cause we're not going to do this forever. We're going to do it as long as we can, which we like to think is forever, but the reality is it's, it's not. So we got it.
joe (55:48.465)
No, I'm thankful that we got to experience the tournaments in their forms when we did. You know, who knows what the tournament scene will even look like five years, 10 years from now. Who knows? Maybe it'll be awesome. Maybe the landscape will be completely different. But I mean, I had my sights set on competing against, wanted to compete against the best fishermen around since I was a little kid. And I'm very fortunate that I got to.
experience that when I did. No, not at all.
Brian Bashore (56:18.538)
And it ain't over. So you're a young man and there's, there's a lot of fish in the head of you. There's a lot of turrets. So it just takes, it sometimes is cracking one or two of those to help boost and get you, you know, it just, like we're saying earlier, this isn't cheap. You know, and it's not getting cheaper. All right. It's just getting more and more expensive. So we have the casino cup and up into the North Dakota, a little bit in South Dakota, I always tell the guys that live in that area, I'm like, I don't, I wouldn't, I would just, I wouldn't leave that area. I mean, these are.
joe (56:35.311)
No.
Brian Bashore (56:47.702)
pretty good payouts and low entry fees. I'm like, just do that. There's nothing wrong with that. Create your own media. Cause it's not like there's a whole lot more. I mean, the NWT obviously has a show, you know, but for the most part, all I world, we have to create our own, our own content and create your own media and make your own buzz. Right. And you're doing it and I'm doing it. And I had somebody ask me, they're like, well, who's got the, you know, pro walleye guys have the best YouTube channel. I'm like, there, there is it. And we got the Tom Bowley's and these, but they're not tournament anglers.
joe (57:03.992)
You gotta do it your own. You're on your own. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (57:17.218)
So there's awesome content, but, but just like you said, it's so hard to do that by yourself because I'm here to do this. But it's, I'm not focused or a hundred percent focused when I got to hit record or pick the camera off the floor or. You know, the yellow text, great. I can turn that thing on and just hit play and let it run, you know, all day long, if long as everything stays connected, but I don't have the mic attached to that one, so then you just got a photo of a guy just fishing all day and it's
Some people like that. I don't know.
joe (57:47.384)
And then you hope your file might compromise at the end of the day for some reason. I just went, I had to, I had a bad, I had a bad SD card. I had to parse through yesterday, just last night, trying to pull some spring valley footage out just the way sometimes the cameras even write data to the card, it's like, come on that whole day, just gone.
Brian Bashore (58:08.014)
I had that with a drone thing and it didn't encrypt the card properly and it was this junk and I'm like this Cheap-ass drone this cheap-ass card. I'm like this stuff don't work No, now I have a new one is still cheap, but it downloads directly to your phone because you run it with your phone so I'm like, we'll see I don't quality the picture ain't great, but whatever I'm spending four thousand dollars on camera gear when you're just doing yourself for
joe (58:15.148)
Hahaha
joe (58:29.721)
Whatever.
Brian Bashore (58:36.758)
YouTube ain't monetizing that much, so it ain't happening. So there's, there's a point when you can do that. I think like Bully's gotten there where he's got a guy to travel with him now and do the camera stuff and you can really put out some, some nice stuff, but we're gonna do it by ourselves. It, uh, this is it. This is what you get folks. So, you know, Joe's it's, uh, it is.
joe (58:40.144)
Ha ha!
joe (58:55.248)
It's all good. As long as it's a transaction anyways, as long as they get something out of it, and that's what I try to put in. I try to sneak things in there that if you're paying attention you'll get something out of it. And that's what my, you know, that's my appreciation for their time. So it's a good occasion.
Brian Bashore (59:14.198)
Nope, nope. That's good. And while we're talking, I just had a YouTube comment pop up. I don't read it because it's one or the other. It's this sucks and I don't know what you're talking about or something like that, or, or thanks. Awesome. Appreciate showing me that thing or something. I get a lot of times like, Oh yeah, I saw you out there, but you know, once while you get that guy that no matter what you do, it's just, it's not good enough for them and you didn't tell them exactly how many feet of line you had out and what kind of knot you had tied and everything, you're like, whatever.
joe (59:39.381)
Hahaha
Brian Bashore (59:43.83)
You know, so, all right, well we've been, uh, Jacking here for about an hour. Joe, if you could leave all of these fellow listeners with a tip, a nugget, what's Joe's special sauce and secret help them out in their angling journey. What would it be?
joe (59:43.992)
Whatever. It's all good.
joe (01:00:02.336)
It would be...
joe (01:00:05.948)
I would just encourage you to jump out of your comfort zone, whatever that is at your current fishing place and jump out of your comfort zone this year and spend the fishless time and hours exploring something that eventually will turn into some sort of success if you put your time in to do it.
Just enjoy that gratifying feeling of things coming together when it finally does. Whatever skill set it is, whatever new technique that you wanna try, just explore your online resources, watch your videos to get a baseline, but then go put some time in on the water and experience what that feels like to really put something cool together through your own hard work. And there's not, that's.
That's where I find my joy in fishing. And it's, if it wasn't for to keep pushing to do that and to keep experiencing that feeling, this would get old really quick. So I think, and I don't know what that is and that's different for everybody. You know, I wanna get, I wanna be a better vertical jig fisherman, you know? So I'll go do more of that and work on different moves from there. But you know, whatever it is, just go ahead.
Brian Bashore (01:01:28.278)
But no, you're exactly right. It's like when you catch a fish on a fly you tied. That's it. That's the feeling. When you go catch your bait that you then use as your bait to catch fish, right? I mean, it's, you pour your own jigs and you start catching stuff on a product, you know, or device that you made is just that. So it's a bullet. You make your own or you pack your own bullets for hunting or whatever the case is. And that's what you shoot with.
joe (01:01:35.084)
Yeah, it's awesome.
Brian Bashore (01:01:58.046)
It takes that catch or kill or harvest to another level because you took it from the beginning like a deer hunt. I look at it that way. It's like, all right, I'll make these bullets. I use that one shot. And now I'm eating jerky. And I did that all of that from the beginning to the finish. Way more gratifying.
joe (01:02:13.24)
Yes, that's, it's, it's so fun. Enjoy. Maybe that's the nugget. Enjoy the fishless hours as you try to reach whatever goal you set your side to them, because that that's where the, that's, that's where the best part is. So that's what I got.
Brian Bashore (01:02:29.262)
Nope. You're right. That's what we got from the man himself. Joe O'Connor gives it to you straight. And that's, uh, that's right. Be patient, right? Those, if you work hard, those things will all come through and it, and it feels that much better when it's done. I had a boring day today. So I bake some chocolate chip cookies and I tell you, I made them. So they're pretty damn good. I mean, my wife made them. They're probably better, but it's that gratification of the start to finish thing, so it is, it is awesome. Nothing better.
joe (01:02:42.768)
does.
joe (01:02:47.824)
Thanks for watching!
joe (01:02:53.392)
That's right, man. That's right. Nothing better.
Brian Bashore (01:02:57.222)
I look forward to seeing you out there this year. It's been a long time since you've been out there on trail with us anyway, for more than one or two. And I'd wish you luck, but I wish you the second or third best luck out there. Oh yeah, you've been in that hot seat plenty. So that's a good feeling, but when you're not finishing it, it kind of sucks. But hey, second place pays a hell of a lot more than third.
joe (01:03:07.354)
Yeah.
joe (01:03:13.2)
I think what I can get, man. I'm pretty good at seconds.
joe (01:03:19.172)
Yeah.
joe (01:03:26.276)
Hehehe
Brian Bashore (01:03:26.414)
And 30th, so that's certainly something to be proud of there. So, um, thanks for your time today, Joe. Uh, thank all you guys for tuning into real talk fishing and you can find this on, if you're watching it, you're right here on the YouTube, the wall, I guys, YouTube page or the wall, I guys Facebook page. We'll put some links down below. So you can go check out Joe Katta's YouTube and follow him on his social, stay in tune on what he's got going on. This season, as he recaps some of the tournaments like the spring valley that he just got done with.
Brian Bashore (01:03:56.162)
Good or bad, it's all good information. And, and Joe and myself and others love to share that with you all. So you can listen to this while you're driving to your next tournament on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Google podcast platforms, get you all hyped up to, uh, get on the water and get competitive. So, uh, thanks again, Joe, and thank all you for tuning in and we will see you on the water.
joe (01:04:13.848)
Thanks, Brian.