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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!
Hey folks, thanks for tuning into this episode of Real Talk Fishin' with No Limits. Heading over to Minnesota, I believe we're in Minnesota, to Mr. Will Papenfus, the silent walleye assassin that many of you may not know because the dude just silently just kind of beats a lot of people. So we'll break that down and get into Will's head a little bit.
of how and kind of why he's just a sneaky little devil. So what's going on over there, Will?
Will Pappenfus (00:36.448)
Now I must just get off work from the old bait shop and just got home so just got on the recliner.
Brian Bashore (00:44.403)
time to kick it. So big 4th of July, just got through that weekend, looked like you went out and put the little hammer down on a few big girls.
Will Pappenfus (00:52.558)
Yeah, we finally got some warm and calm weather for once in the water temps at 70 and they decided they wanted to eat finally. So they've been kind of stagnant here for a while and kind of hit and miss. So they finally snapped out of it and chewed a little bit. So.
Brian Bashore (01:07.091)
Yeah, the weather hasn't been stable, I guess, right? To kind of keep it warm. Like, it gets warm and it cools off and, you know, where it's blowing windy like hell or a lot of rain and dirty.
Will Pappenfus (01:18.51)
Yeah, it's either raining or it's blowing or it's both.
Brian Bashore (01:22.291)
No, it's both. Yeah, I mean, we've gotten plenty of water over the last few weeks. I think we're good to go. And this looks like summer's finally setting in this week. I think we're in the mid -80s, maybe hitting 90s or 100s this upcoming weekend. And like we should in July, and the water temps are, I just got done guiding today, and it was 71 to 75 on the.
What lakes are you on, Macy? Over in Bemidji?
Will Pappenfus (01:47.854)
Yep, Bemidji, Kass, Leech, Kindle, smaller lakes are on there too. So, but mostly been doing Kass, so.
Brian Bashore (01:54.579)
Cass, I like Cass. That's just only one of those I've been to and yeah, good lake. I like it. Got a lot of options in that. Is that Pike Bay where you go underneath the bridge? Yep.
Will Pappenfus (02:00.526)
See you later.
Yep, yeah, south end of it. And then you can go into Kitchie, Big Rice, Little Rice, and Ju -Ju, Wolf. So it's kind of cool.
Brian Bashore (02:12.051)
then this never ends. I mean, you're in Minnesota. You just, you don't like that lake, you drive a few miles, you go to another one, right? It's like Northern South Dakota, but a little bit bigger bodies of water.
Will Pappenfus (02:17.454)
Yep, pretty much.
Brian Bashore (02:25.043)
All right, Will, for those people that don't know you, give them a little background, kind of where you're from, what are you doing? You're not fishing. What got you into the tournament side of things and just kind of bring us up to speed.
Will Pappenfus (02:37.582)
Yeah, from Bermit or I should say I live in just west of Bemidji now. I grew up down in Buckman Pierce area kind of by Little Falls or Arlington. If you don't know where that is, like a half hour 40 minutes north of St. Cloud. I graduated from Pierce High School 2014, came up to Bemidji and graduated from BSU with a
four year degree in business administration and marketing. From there, I graduated at the end of 2018, moved to Grand Rapids and worked at Thousand Lakes for a year. And then I got an opportunity to move back to Bemidji at the end of 2019 for Northwest Bay and Tackle. And I've been there ever since. So I did work.
in the summer on Leech Lake at Spirit North Resort in the south end for six summers from high school until I was done with college so I got to fish leech pretty much every day in the summer around there and then I fished Bemidji lakes around there here and there and Cass and some other smaller lakes and kind of got familiar with the area ever since I was, could drive so kind of been up to night with it.
Brian Bashore (03:45.683)
But yeah, I mean, obviously just been around fishing and working in a friggin bait shop, man. I mean, you get to just live this stuff every day all day and get to talk fishing.
Will Pappenfus (03:55.598)
Yeah, if I'm not fishing, I'm fishing or working. That's kind of what it is.
Brian Bashore (03:58.579)
Right.
Yeah, as a guy, when I'm not fishing, I'm fishing, right? It's just, you know, we don't get a fun fish necessarily a whole lot. So when you do, it's a good time, but I mean, you get it. You're talking fishing, you got the marketing aspect of it. So that helps you out. Obviously a ton on the, on the professional angling career, I can imagine.
North lithium guy to North lithium guy. We'll talk about that a little bit. We'll break down some batter usage. I was gonna read that, that pressure release that came out today. I saw it briefly, but I know there's some new stuff about to drop to ICAST and that's good. So I'm looking forward to it. So I've been kind of waiting to sign on with them and some others for what's coming and it's coming. So we'll just talk about some of that lithium stuff now. You've been with North for a little while. You're running all lithium, LifeScope guy.
What are you running up there?
Will Pappenfus (04:54.222)
Well, right now I've just got a I've got 100 amp hour 12 volt that I put in to run my 16 or my 86 Garmin 86 16 and live scope My new boat. I still don't have yet, which is gonna be all rigged up with Norse corner. I'll have three in the back for a trolling motor. So I'll have 300 amp hour battery So hopefully I don't run out of juice. I should have be able to run for days off of that
Brian Bashore (05:22.739)
It should be good. I got the same thing. That's all I got right now. But now with the release of what they got coming is what I've been waiting for, some trolling motor batteries. So, you know, when those start coming, yeah, we're going to get this thing all geared up and think about adding another 12 volt, 100 amp, because I have everything hooked to it. 360 live scope, four or five graphs all on that. So you got to really manage it throughout the day and, you know, put them on standby if you're not using them. But man, it makes that.
Will Pappenfus (05:52.526)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (05:52.531)
Good. It's hard to.
Will Pappenfus (05:56.206)
I've been rocking my dad's boat still. I've had some graph issues and some other random issues after using the boat forever. So I've been borrowing boats and borrowing grass and borrowing parts and stuff while you're just to stay on the water. So hopefully this new boat comes in this weekend. I'll be set to rip that around finally.
Brian Bashore (06:19.379)
Be ready for the lakes of Kakauia coming up here soon. And you're sitting in the fourth Wrangler of the Earports. So I imagine you're looking forward to that one.
Will Pappenfus (06:29.038)
Yeah, a couple of guys are going to have to slip up if I have a chance, but anything can happen. So, I mean, just going to fight it out.
Brian Bashore (06:37.331)
Yeah, just had Eric on and had Hunter on a while ago right after Eerie and it's going to be tough to catch those two. They got a little bit of gap and if you talk about a couple of guys that probably aren't going to slip up. Yeah, it's a good fishery. You got to catch a lot of fish. It hasn't been scoped a lot. I don't see it. I mean, I'll see those, you know, in that
Will Pappenfus (06:53.166)
Yeah, especially on that lake, so...
Brian Bashore (07:05.107)
recent aim tournament that showed a little bit of what can be done, but a lot of locals up there kind of been doing it silently. but we haven't been there in WT, since the scoping kind of became a thing. So I think we're going to really see what that place has to produce. there is a lot of big fish, you know, we're, we only keep five, so you don't have anything to play with. So it's obviously a little different than aim, aim circuit, but I can't, I can't wait. That's my favorite fishery. So if you've never been there, you're going to love it.
Will Pappenfus (07:33.11)
Yeah, yeah, I haven't been there. I've wanted to fish there in Green Bay for the longest time. And finally this year, they both were on the same schedule. So I got to go to get to go to both.
Brian Bashore (07:42.259)
Back to back, you know, Green Bay was such a blast. This will feel like, you know, this will be so much nicer.
Will Pappenfus (07:46.446)
Yeah, it'll be nice to get a few more than zero to one bite a day so
Brian Bashore (07:52.883)
Yeah, exactly. That, you know, you did all right. Yeah, we, everybody kind of, we just got, got through it is, is kind of how Green Bay went and, and, a lot of people moved up and some dropped way out. It was just a real tricky deal. And just, that's the way it goes. That's fishing, man. That's what makes tournaments, tournaments. And I kind of like a tough bite sometimes. you know, you just got to make better choices, obviously at times. And, and Skakwe necessarily isn't always a tough bite, but it's.
Will Pappenfus (08:13.614)
Yeah, I do too.
Brian Bashore (08:20.435)
It's just starting to go to the water tips only like 60 up there. but it should, we should be hitting it right when it really, really fires. It should have already have, but it's, it's just kind of, they've had some up and down weather early spring and it got real warm. And then it just kind of up and down, up and down. same thing, wind, rain, you know, cold, 50 degree nights, 40 degree nights even. I think they just according to Matt, I believe up there, they just switched over to crawlers like a week ago. Finally. I'm like, I'm.
touched a middle since May. I don't know what it's here it is we're in July. So you know but I'll be dipping your hand in the middle bucket up there they love them crick chubs and other things like that but yeah Scoping will be on it. What's Will been doing? What's your tournament? You know what got you into the tournament side of things? I know you just finished the graha I believe I think you do that one you've done that a couple times maybe and have you done some of the aim tournaments?
Will Pappenfus (08:50.51)
I was...
Yep I have, I'm doing one on leech on Sunday and then I'll be fishing with Hunter Needy and I are going to fish the AIM Championship because his uncle is going to be gone so...
Brian Bashore (09:25.587)
crap, there's a boatload right there, you two. He's your cousin, right? You guys cousins, is that right? No?
Will Pappenfus (09:30.553)
No, but I call his dad my uncle all the time.
Brian Bashore (09:35.155)
Okay, I thought somebody said you were cousin, then I was like, okay, I can believe it.
Will Pappenfus (09:37.518)
It looks like it. It could be. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (09:41.271)
Right, you're like family. So you do the AIM Championship. Where's that one at? Is that for the Minnesota region or whatever?
Will Pappenfus (09:50.542)
Yeah, that would be Lake of the Woods.
Brian Bashore (09:52.307)
a link in the woods. That'll be fun. Is that August? Yeah, that's the best time.
Will Pappenfus (09:55.47)
Yeah, we, yeah, and August. So.
Yeah, Wednesday morning, I'm heading up to pre fish for the Minnesota Tournament Trail on Lake of the Woods. It's Thursday, Friday. And then the woods tournament out of War Road is on Saturday. And then Hunter and I are ripping back down Saturday after the way into fish leech Sunday. So. It's going to be a busy.
Brian Bashore (10:19.571)
Well good thing I got plenty of experience in leech so sometimes pre -fishing when you have a lot of experience just can mess you up anyway.
Will Pappenfus (10:27.054)
We're just going in blind. I mean, I have a pretty good idea where they are and saw some guys I know that fish kind of the same spots and caught some good ones. So they're doing the same thing they always do in July. So it's just going to be whether who gets them to bite or not.
Brian Bashore (10:41.139)
Now in the two of you on your scopes up there, I think you'll figure out a way to get him to bite. I think you're gonna be all right. So, you know, if you can put less time into it like that, then that makes winning that much, you know, or even doing well that much better because you saved that much more money. But you're gonna be coming back to Lakewood. So maybe your, you know, your arms will be a little sore. Those guys are probably hoping for that you're a little sluggish and, you know, you're not seeing things on the scope properly. So it,
Will Pappenfus (10:48.27)
So long.
Will Pappenfus (11:07.886)
Yeah, Hunter, he's like a jack. He's like a jackrabbit. So I'll just make him run everything while I take a nap.
Brian Bashore (11:12.083)
It's pretty pretty energetic you you made the championship last year was last year was your full first year on tour Yep, mate championship doubles leg did well. I think did you make your top ten on that were you? Third yeah, beautiful. That's another phenomenal fishery
Will Pappenfus (11:25.71)
Yeah, I got third in that one. So that was pretty cool.
Will Pappenfus (11:32.494)
Yeah, I love that like so much.
Brian Bashore (11:34.227)
Yeah, I know you're I saw you one or two days you're over kind of you and I and Horace why the guys are fishing the same little area those stole stock dams or whatever
Will Pappenfus (11:44.462)
you
Brian Bashore (11:45.811)
Yeah, the spot always always sold some fish. That was actually my small fish spot. That was like my second, third go -to, but it got my biggest fish out of there on day one. It was like 25 inches, but it wasn't big enough for that tournament.
Will Pappenfus (12:00.334)
Yeah, there are some big ones that got caught. That's for sure.
Brian Bashore (12:02.931)
Yeah, those fish are so healthy there. Sakakawea is kind of the same thing. Very healthy. Lake the woods late August. Those fish are tanks. I got a 23 today that was kind of skinny up in the river. But for the most part, I mean, everywhere we go is Green Bay fish. I mean, these fish are just they're thick. These fisheries are pretty healthy. There's a lot of talk about the live scope and damage in the resources. But I think, you know, guys like you and me and Hunter and all of us, we're we're using it to catch fish. We're not keeping them. I don't necessarily use it.
Will Pappenfus (12:30.862)
Yeah, I don't think I... yeah. The last time I caught or kept a fish, I think for me to eat was Eerie. I don't think I've... I mean, Guiding and other stuff, I've kept them, you know, we've kept them for clients and they take theirs, but like other than that, I have... I have not kept a fish since Eerie, I don't think.
Brian Bashore (12:32.371)
guiding.
Brian Bashore (12:48.179)
It's a good place to keep one from. There's, there's a few in there. That is where people put their deep freeze in the back of their truck when they head to Erie in the spring and they fill that sucker up. I don't even know if there is a possession limit up there. I think it's a six a day or something. That's it.
Will Pappenfus (12:50.409)
Yeah, we kept the field.
Will Pappenfus (13:03.566)
Yeah, I think, yeah, we were coming back and I was on the highway and I was just outside of Wisconsin and there was three, three boats lined up together driving in the truck in front of them had two mini chest freezers strapped in there with a generator running.
Brian Bashore (13:18.739)
They're probably going to South Dakota because there's a lot of guys from South Dakota that go there and that's exactly what they do. They open groups and they take mini fridges and they fill them up and the Walleyes Unlimited Club here does that and that's how they have their big banquet feed. Yeah, it's a terrible place to go get some fish for sure. You sculpt on that one, you did good there and sitting fourth for AOI you obviously have got a few top 10s. I mean you've just, you've had a good year.
Will Pappenfus (13:35.886)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (13:46.355)
Obviously Eric and Hunter have had a really good year in our neck and neck, but you never out of it. Anything, I think, just fishing in WT alone is a challenge enough, but when you can be in the top 10, top 20, top 40 and make it to the championship, there's no small feat by all means. It's a pile of good sticks and a lot of competition.
Will Pappenfus (13:53.106)
Yeah.
Will Pappenfus (14:06.958)
Yeah, for sure. Just making the championship is always good enough for me, especially last year. I wanted to fish Devils really bad because I've never got to fish a tournament out there yet. I've just got to fun fish it. So I was pumped for that. And hopefully we can just go out and have fun in Sakakawea too and then make a heroine for the championship too. Because that's one place I haven't fished yet either on the big water. I fished Saginaw Bay ice fishing, but I haven't got to fish the big lake yet.
Brian Bashore (14:34.323)
Yeah, I like Saginaw Bay and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like the big lake. But, you know, big fish. Yeah, I think that's the consensus most all around as I rather not, you know, but I'm sure it holds some big fish and it'll be some, you know, I'd scope and troll over there. It would most likely be scoped. King one going up that way years ago when we went out of Saginaw. Pretty cool area. I mean, UP is neat. I know my wife wants me to go cause she wants to go there, but I can pretty much tell her I'm
Will Pappenfus (14:40.334)
I'd rather not, but yeah.
Brian Bashore (15:04.275)
not going no matter what. That's how much I want to go to Lake Huron. But you got to make top 40 and struggling to do that. So sometimes you just have a crappy year. But yeah, going to these big lakes for these championships, not a giant fan of that. It's only a 40 boat field. We went to Otter Tail that first year doing it and it was great. Since then it's been Dunkirk, New York, Huron. It just...
Will Pappenfus (15:08.846)
Yeah.
Will Pappenfus (15:30.478)
Yeah, we could go to a lot of we could go to a lot of fun places with 40 votes.
Brian Bashore (15:32.467)
Double.
Brian Bashore (15:36.883)
I mean, Devils Lake, Devils Lake was good. Much smaller fisheries, still big, plenty spread out. But yeah, there's a lot of places. Now with kind of the way everybody fishes, pretty much scoping and one rod is really all you need anyway. So all the Minnesota lakes are really in play. And if we're just going to have the one man limit thing like we're doing this year, then why not? Those communities are there. I mean, obviously the money talks and the organization has to go with who's...
who's funding stuff and they want to try new things. And you know, you want to go to places that have big fish. But Cass Lake's got big fish, Lakehead's big fish, Devil's Lake has big fish, Gakuey's got big fish.
Will Pappenfus (16:18.478)
Like the ones that's big, man.
Brian Bashore (16:19.635)
I think the woods has big fish. I would love to go. We had a championship there years ago. We need to only keep one over 28, but that's perfectly fine. You know, we got the slot, but you know, that's a game. That's a challenge. Basically, it doesn't matter unless you're catching your over. I know we were there years ago. I think Max actually won that one. He's trolling right by it. Everybody was basically trolling the basin, you know, in August where those fish are all out there. I think I got three over 28 the second day. All the exact same, 28 and a quarter, 28 and a quarter, just cold out the...
You just kept the newest one so you didn't get a dead fish penalty. Well then, you know, trying to get those 19 and a half, I think, is the slot there. All right. So, yeah, getting those was a little trickier, but I'm like, none of those matter if I don't get one over 28, you know, over 28. So.
Will Pappenfus (16:56.43)
Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (17:05.587)
been up there did a little ice fishing. There's just a lot of fish like the woods, a ton. And August is just the best time to go when all those fish are in that mud. I mean, it was, I was dropping like 200 foot of lead and I could count to 10 once I stopped to lie counter and wham, boom, there would be a 25 plus inch run. Just literally, I think I fished that. First day of practice by 10 a I was like, okay, good to go.
Will Pappenfus (17:10.926)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (17:32.051)
This is what's, and that's exactly where it's one and that's exactly how it was one. I'm like, that doesn't happen very often. Usually like I need another day. I need another couple more days, you know, but it's like the whole rest of the team isn't even here yet. I texted him to pick up some of these cranks. It seemed to be working pretty good. I'm like, I'm pretty sure this is the spot. It's got to be one at, yep, it was.
Will Pappenfus (17:36.046)
Yeah.
Will Pappenfus (17:51.918)
Yep.
Brian Bashore (17:54.771)
Once in a while it works out that way.
So what got you into the tournament fishing? You've obviously been doing it for a while and we touched on that. You've done these different circuits. How did you dip your toes into it?
Will Pappenfus (18:07.214)
Yeah, growing up, my dad and I fished the Northern Pike Derby every August. And as a kid, you know, you want summer to last forever and you don't want August to come. I always, I always wanted August to come fast because we got to go fish that tournament and fish it for the longest time. And then got really into walleye fishing. I would say once I started, I would say like teenage years, you know, we started fishing walleyes more and.
Brian Bashore (18:16.371)
So.
Will Pappenfus (18:35.662)
I'm fishing like Mille Lacs all the time, which was only like a half hour away or so. Lake of the woods in the winter and everything else. I just started loving walleyes and fishing walleyes. And I think the first one I fished was my sophomore year of college, which would have been, I think, I think the spring of, let's say the spring of 16.
Yeah, spring of 2016 I think was the first time. And fished down on pool four for the freezer. I've turned my buddy Nick Sakela and I think we got fourth. Dumbed into a random big one. And I'm getting fourth place with it. And since then I've been hooked and I want to fish as many as I can. Whenever I can and just started from there.
Brian Bashore (19:24.083)
Seducting once you're in and you know everybody a lot of guys have that story their first tournament they want you know Or they did real well, and it's like well. This is easy without they find out down the road No, not so much, and I was only gonna adapt into my savings But that's all gone all of a sudden because I went on a roll of four or five tournaments where I didn't catch a check You know or you know vice versa some just you know keep making it happen and sit in fourth place AOI you've catched a few checks and checks are a little bit bigger nowadays and on the NWT side
Will Pappenfus (19:33.71)
Yeah, they ain't so much.
Brian Bashore (19:53.459)
but the costs are also much, much more, right? And it's not getting any cheaper. I was talking to a couple other guys today, several other guys today about the economy and some other guides and everybody's like, yeah, we're pretty slow right now. Things aren't good. I don't know how it is over at the bait shop. Are people buying or people fishing like crazy or it is slowing down there too.
Will Pappenfus (19:55.886)
Yeah
Will Pappenfus (20:13.806)
The last weekend has been pretty steady. We've had a pretty good summer so far. I mean, we haven't seen the big flux of, I would say, tourists as we usually do, but it's definitely starting to pick up pretty good now. So a lot of people are getting out and coming up and exploring the Northwoods and fishing and just buying random stuff. And so it's kind of, it's kind of been good the last, I would say the last month's been really good.
Brian Bashore (20:38.451)
Good, good. We need everybody to get out there, keep fishing, check out new bodies of water. I said, I've had, when I got off the water today, I was like, yeah, July is not looking good, but I had four emails and a couple of voicemails and booked, I think, three or four trips, you know, in just the last couple hours for this month and next month. So I think a lot of people where I'm at work, you know, we had a little flood type stuff come through and we're curious about that. Now getting through a lot of the, you know, come late July, some of the kids baseball stuff starts to, starts to wrap up. So that's always a challenge for us.
families in the summers trying to plan a little vacation getaway and these kids got baseball like every day every state does something that says go go go I'm like kind of glad my kids didn't play baseball in the summer I couldn't I just wouldn't be able to go you know it's tricky but you start out on a pike derby man you don't hear a lot of that
Will Pappenfus (21:28.046)
Yeah. Yeah. Pike Derby and, or Pike Derby's little bass tournaments and then college bass tournaments that we just fished for the ground here and stuff in the fall and everything with that. And I just kind of, all turned in from there. So everything, but walleyes and then ended up getting into walleye tournament fishing.
Brian Bashore (21:48.403)
but it just makes you a better walleye fisherman, especially bass fishing.
Will Pappenfus (21:52.142)
You can do just about everything. So it just kinda changes the way you look on a situation or spot everything else just to have a different view on things.
Brian Bashore (22:03.091)
Pike get a bad rap, we caught one a day and I'm like, I'll definitely clean that for you. So these things taste great. It wasn't huge, you know, so it wasn't, you know, a monster fight. Plus it was caught pulling lead core. but we've been getting a lot of 33 to 40 inches, you know, one a day maybe here or there. I'm like, yeah, you want to eat it? I'm like, I'll clean them. There's these things are great, man. Pike are awesome. Fun to catch. I don't, everybody hates them. I get it. They're a mess and they break stuff and are slimy and I'm like,
Watch out, so I get it in the boat and the net, sucker's going right in the box as fast as possible. It's gonna make a mess. So they are definitely a handful, but bass fishing, there's a lot of great bass fishing right there around the beach.
Will Pappenfus (22:43.854)
yeah, there's I mean, they don't I mean, you catch like a you catch a five pounder. That's a big one around here. I mean, I have seen some random six pounders and a guy weighed a seven pounder one time. I could not believe seeing a seven pounder in real life was unreal. Like I mean, I could fit my whole hand. I mean, it's not no problem. Just like that's just it didn't even look real like.
Brian Bashore (23:06.131)
I used to bass fish a lot when I was in Nebraska. I caught a nine pounder once off pretty much been in the pre -spawn or spawn in the bass. Sight fishing and like, yeah, that, that's a big fish. That's a big bass. It's a mouth like that big around it. You're just like, well, I've seen 18 inch crappie and you can stick a whole, you know, a soda can in its mouth. So yeah, a little, little different than the wallow world, but I think bass fishing.
Will Pappenfus (23:20.654)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (23:33.683)
And certainly the way we're fishing for walleyes now, they with the scope and it's stuff can just makes you a better fisherman. You know, tournament fishing in general, the more tournaments fish, the better angler you just, whether you win or lose, you just become a better fisherman. That's what I pretty much tell people all the time that are interested in getting tournaments. I'm like, just try out the local club thing, the Tuesday night or whatever it may be. I'm like, you're don't even worry about just go out and fish, you know, and if you get on something, you get on something. But if you don't just pay attention to everybody else.
Will Pappenfus (23:48.462)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (24:03.571)
what they're doing, talk to them at the end of the night or after the tournament or the situation where it is pay attention like, I think we drove by those guys today or whatever it was and be like, they won. Well, you know, what were they doing type stuff and you'll just learn. I mean, you'll get your butt kicked a few times and be like, I should have did this, should have did that. And that's, that's where he really learned his decision -making process of, okay, my gut says I need to do this. I just need to go do it.
Will Pappenfus (24:29.486)
Yeah, exactly.
Brian Bashore (24:30.483)
How will roll in and how do you approach a new body of water coming into a tournament?
Will Pappenfus (24:35.502)
you know, one of my strengths, like is finding fish and weeds, weeds, and then just, deeper basin areas off of weeds. You know, that's what we kind of have around Northern Minnesota, other Minnesota lakes. It's all weed, weed based or just off the weeds and random base and areas and stuff. Now that we can target them, with
forward -facing sonar and stuff. So that's usually where I start is I find weeds and then go from there and see if I can find, you know, if the walleyes are relating to them, usually about 99 % of the time there's walleyes in the weeds everywhere we've gone. And like down on pool four or three and four Lake Pepin, I've never fished it down there this time of year. I mean, I fished the freezer about off term in the spring all the time, which is March.
So I've never got to actually fish the lake and everything like that. And there's a lot of, I mean, there's suckers, carp. I mean, everything you could think of under the sun in there. So it's kind of like, how do you approach that using forward facing sonar to find them? So at first I was like, all right, well, I'm going to go hit main lake points just like back home. Okay. Cut a couple doing that right away. I was like, okay, you know, and then all of a sudden I went up shallow and I just saw.
Cabbage as far as I could see and light bulb went off in my head and I was like Well, if this water is dirty and the water is coming out these fish are gonna slide up into these shallow weeds for sure and I pulled in and it was like I Don't know. I don't know how many 19s. I caught just randomly all over the lake East side west side didn't matter caught him big fish everywhere. I was just like and this was just the first day I was just like
Okay. So why don't I just do this for every body of water just to start. That's like green Bay. I did the same thing. Found them right away. And I'm like, they, they bit too. And I was just like, what seat? I just need to keep doing this every time and all the scales go from there, you know, kind of thing. So that's where I'm at.
Brian Bashore (26:25.811)
Right.
Brian Bashore (26:36.051)
All right.
Yep.
Yeah, that was my approach to green bed is didn't get them to bite. I saw them. I found them and went to where weeds normally were and there wasn't any weeds. And I was like, what the hell? This thing should be just choked out with weeds by now. And I guess they said, well, didn't die in the winter. So now they were just kind of half hour. They've kind of, they just now died or something. I don't know what it was, but that's just, they said, that's why there isn't weeds there. And I'll coddle Bay type, but there was some, but not near as much as there normally is. And I would roll out there.
Will Pappenfus (26:51.726)
Thank you.
Brian Bashore (27:11.059)
you know, throw some plastics over it or pull spinners over the top of them or whatever, but you're right. And it's weed, walleyes and weed season right now. It's like, it's on. I pulled pretty much all our walleye day. I think we had five keepers with it, but they all came off weeds. My other guy was out. I said, you gotta get as close as you can to the weeds. That's where they're at. Just dragged that jig right down the face of them and they're there, they're hanging out. And in the weeds there was fish going.
nuts splashing all over the surface and they weren't carbon. So I'm like, I don't, we got catfish or smallies or something in there and they're like in a foot of water. Yeah, weeds just hold bait to hold oxygen. It's just weeds and with the garment. So I asked Tom and Hoyer about this at Dumbbells last year. I'm like, if you're fishing weeds, I'm like, I can just see the weeds. I didn't have a garment. Like those stock dens. I'm like, I can see the weeds.
So I know where I'm thrown, but I can't see fish in the weeds at all. I can just see weeds. You know, as I'm thrown over there and I just, I kind of know the area, I fished it a lot and they would fly up out of those weeds and hit that bait as it was dropping down. And they're like, no, Tom Winn says, I can see the fish in the weeds. Like, yeah, you kidding me? Well, I got a garment and I can see the fish in the weeds. I'm like, this isn't fair. I'm like, wow, that would have been, man, no wonder. I'm like, what a game changer that is to be able to be like, weed, weed, wait.
Will Pappenfus (28:26.638)
Excuse me.
Brian Bashore (28:36.595)
Yep, that's not a weed. I mean, and you can see I'm pretty good. If obviously once they move, you're like, yeah, there's weed. And you just like, I got to drop it right over the top. You know, we're in there about four or five feet and play it. You know, they just fly out of there. It's a, it's pretty fun. The whole forward facing sonar game is this definitely fun. And it's changed the way everybody has fish. It's changed the way the tournaments are basically, you know, done. I kind of been telling guys all year, if you're not scoping, you're not going to be in the top 10 period.
about how it's kind of set up. Here he was some trolling. Red Wing was a little different, obviously a little trickier, like you said, because there's everything out there. I mean, you kind of think you start to know what a walleye is, and then you get to a place like that or any of these rivers. You're like, but there's just 500 fish on the screen. Yeah. And you're like, but there's walleye in there, and there's obviously a ton of sheephead and suckers and whatever else. I was able to pick out a few there and catch them, but most of the time it's like, I don't know, man, there's just a whole lot of fish over there.
just fish it. Just throw this, let it sit, and then start pitching that thing. And yeah, that was fun. Got a lot of fish. We'll have to get back on the Mississippi River anytime. Mississippi River, Missouri River. A place like Erie, you know, it's a target rich environment, a walleye. So most things you're seeing, you're like, yeah, most of these are walleye. It's a cockee, a lot of fish there, but a lot of walleye, which makes it a little easier. Green Bay, I don't know. I can kind of tell what the walleye.
Will Pappenfus (29:37.23)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (30:04.883)
more of a man, those sheep head were just thick and it didn't matter. You just, they were coming out of nowhere and you're like, damn it, there's another one.
Will Pappenfus (30:08.046)
Yeah
Will Pappenfus (30:13.87)
Yep, every time.
Brian Bashore (30:17.331)
Yeah, big and I mean I kind of thought you knew it when they hit but those when you hit like a five six pound wall I hit it smacked it and took off running too. So I got your sheep head and then you're like once you got turned and you kind of got a hold of you're like No, that might be the right kind, you know, then you get it halfway the book. You're like, yeah. Yeah, I got one
Will Pappenfus (30:25.262)
Mm -hmm.
Will Pappenfus (30:36.334)
I had a 27 and three quarter on Green Bay that was like it was over nine pounds on my scale. I think it was like nine two and it was built all the way from the head above the head all the way to the tail and it kind of looked like she Kirk's one or that you Like just like that one and I Saw in the water after it hooked in I'm like, it's a carp, you know, like
Brian Bashore (30:52.755)
Yeah, I was going to say like the one Jason got.
Brian Bashore (31:03.251)
All right.
Will Pappenfus (31:04.11)
messing with it and I was like whatever you know it comes up I look and I was like my god it has teeth. I grabbed it and I was like what are you just looking at it was like just built it was crazy.
Brian Bashore (31:18.931)
Yeah, those fish are solid. That's the one thing I like about green bay. A dozen times is those fish fight like no other walleye. I mean, you get the clean water. They're just they're they're built. They're strong shoulders and they just they just take off. But I don't most walleye. I mean, people like, well, I don't fight that hard. I'm like, I'm a shallow water guy. So shallow water fish usually tend to fight a little harder, a little more aggressive. But green bay fish, I don't care if you catch them 30 feet deep or five feet deep there. They're aggressive and
Will Pappenfus (31:41.614)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (31:48.979)
Yeah, they're tough. I mean, a lot of that is clear water. They see the boat. I'm always told the guys in the boat, I'm like, don't even try to tempt and net it the first time you see it. I'm like, it's not gonna happen.
Will Pappenfus (31:56.366)
No, this is because this is yeah, they see the boat and they they act like they're going to come right in and then they're just.
Brian Bashore (32:02.686)
Yeah. Yup. And then it's like two or three more times of getting them close. And you're like, okay, I might be tired. I don't know. Better be quick because he's got to make another, you know, another run. Yeah. Those they're fun. Lake Erie, you know, in April they're big fish. They come in pretty easy. it's cock whee has got some pretty aggressive all eyes as well, but green Bay kind of stands alone. I think in that sense, but I haven't fished leeks. I've been at Cass, I did MWC tournament there a long time.
That was fun though, caught a lot of fish, got them jigging, rapping, caught them rigging. Real picky on the crick job there boy. It's gotta be that certain size red tail with a certain leader and certain color hook or no color or whatever. It's a, those fish are a little picky.
Will Pappenfus (32:47.278)
yeah, they can be. Day to day, Sue.
Brian Bashore (32:49.779)
Yeah, the Jig and Wrap, I really got a lot of confidence there on the Jig and Wrap bite though. I got quite a few. Yeah, it was fun. It was a fun tournament. And they still, MWC goes out there about every year, don't they? Stony Point. Every fall. Yeah, I think that's when we were there was in September. September? Yeah. Seems to be a pretty good time.
Will Pappenfus (33:00.814)
Yep, every fall. Yep.
Yeah, last year it took 20 pounds a day to win. So there's a lot of fish in there and there's a lot of good fish starting to come up too. So, yup, one over 20. So you get two, yup, so you get two over seabeders.
Brian Bashore (33:18.643)
Is there a slot there?
Brian Bashore (33:23.507)
It's one over 20. So you get two over 20. All right, which could be a couple of eight pounders.
Will Pappenfus (33:30.03)
Mm -hmm.
Brian Bashore (33:32.211)
Fillers some of those smaller filler fish Awesome. Awesome. What you getting we're getting ready to roll in skakui. We've got a few weeks You got your game plan in place. What do you what do you expect out there? You traveling with anybody?
Will Pappenfus (33:45.966)
Yep, me, Hunter, Olin Wilcox, and then Max Wilson as well. All staying together. And then Cody Pixley usually does, I think he's gonna fish this one. He didn't fish Green Bay, but he fished the first two. Then I'm not sure if JJ is gonna do it or not yet. So we're waiting on him.
Brian Bashore (34:09.971)
Yeah, I don't know what the numbers are going to be. I'm guessing they're going to be low. When you're fourth stop and people that aren't in points aren't going to make the big, you know, east to west journey.
Will Pappenfus (34:23.018)
I've heard a lot of random people that might just jump in for this one though, just because it's closer and it's a cock -a -wee on guys when I do it. So I'm curious to see what how many people do it.
Brian Bashore (34:27.187)
Goodness.
Brian Bashore (34:33.619)
Yeah, 110 is my guess. I mean, the more the better. I hope it's way more than that. You need a pretty big turnout to get that average number back up. So you have the full payout for the championship, but you got a good team of sticks there. That's fun. Traveling with the team is the way to go. Everybody's got their own opinion on it, but really I look at it as the traveling with the team is the way to go. It just makes things so much more affordable.
Will Pappenfus (34:43.886)
Mm -hmm.
Brian Bashore (35:02.291)
camaraderie, so much more fun. You know, what you do on the water and sharing stuff is different for everybody and however they want to do that if they split, you know, winnings or not. But if you guys are doing that, then everybody on your team is making out all right. That's all.
Will Pappenfus (35:15.086)
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, we've done a lot of good things and had a lot of fun and figured a lot of stuff out pretty much everywhere we go. So at least everybody has their own strength and we kind of just play off that and it's been working out.
Brian Bashore (35:29.011)
It's a good way to cover water, especially Lake Green Bay or Skakwee is a big, big body of water. You know, if you got a few extra guys you can really spread out and break it down because Skakwee, you're going to be able to catch them close and you're going to catch them far away. Not 90 miles far, but you know, 50, 60 miles.
Will Pappenfus (35:42.67)
Mm -hmm.
Will Pappenfus (35:47.246)
That's better than 200 mile round trip. So anything's better than that.
Brian Bashore (35:50.611)
Yeah, anything's better than that. You made that may run up there then. Yeah.
Will Pappenfus (35:56.974)
yeah, old days, and I'm still sore. And it's been like three weeks, two weeks? I don't even know.
Brian Bashore (35:59.955)
Yeah.
Yeah, that's a rough one. And that's a different fishery. It's not where you went out of, but whatever. Great Lake Turbuses appear to be go wherever you want to go. So I mean, whatever, it's open to everybody. Everybody can go there. So that's something that the fair thing is just as far as you want to or not or choose to. So the weather wasn't permitting for it very well. Obviously, I think everybody looked at it like...
No problem. We can make the run up North and Green Bay. We're supposed to have pretty calm. And then Thursday morning showed up and it was like, Ooh, this is not not at all looking like fun. You know, I looked at it, looked at some other guys and I saw them put their stuff away and they grabbed different gear and they're like, Nope, not going. You know, then some others went a little ways and deviated. And some you and Hunter were like, Nope, we're just going. Because I'm like, if you go and you get them, they're definitely the right fish. So.
Will Pappenfus (36:35.726)
Yep.
Will Pappenfus (36:59.134)
Yep. It's like, I'm going for one. I was just like, I need to get one. Need to get one and I'll be happy. It's like, if I have to go 200 miles to get it, I'm going to go and just get one. And I went up there and got two the first day, missed one. And then the second day I got one 30 and a half, last one, like about the same size right at the net. Right after that, I had to run back down. Then I'd fill the box by the axis or by takeoff both days. So.
I had one little filler spike to go through and at least get some smaller ones to fill the box. So if I could at least get one or two good ones a day, at least I had something to fall back on.
Brian Bashore (37:35.315)
Yep. Yeah, that, I couldn't get those ones to go out outside of there. I didn't give them much time either, but I'm like, they're always here. There's always, and there's, there's some good fish there sometimes as well. I think where you tried to fish it too, and said, I just can't get the suckers to bite. I'm like, somebody will, or you just gotta be it, you know, be there at the right time. So definitely in tournament Green Bay was, and I am completely cool if we don't ever have to do, go through that again.
Will Pappenfus (38:02.798)
Yeah. Anytime in June, it would be nice to not go. Yeah, that would have been crazy. We'd had a lot of fun.
Brian Bashore (38:07.347)
It'd be nice to not go. If we could have flipped these tournaments around, it would have been great.
Yeah. And everybody with Skakua may not have been the greatest of you, but it would have been better in Green Bay. And it still probably would have had, you know, 90 % limits brought in. you know, we'll see. I'm pretty interested to see how this goes there. I'm fishing three tournaments up there at one week and before then the casino cut the day after ours. it's cause they love Skakua. So like miles ago and there's some boundaries on those. Obviously we don't have a boundary, but be fishing within both of those type of areas. they're still trying to find lodging.
It hasn't worked out so we don't have any lodging yet and there's not a lot of options up there. So if you're listening and you got a place at Lake Skakua, give me a buzz. I think I just got a text message from a guy that might have a place up there. So hopefully it does. I got stuff on the other end of the lake, but on the garrison side, not so much. And there's not a lot of Airbnbs. There's a couple of hotels which aren't the cheapest really. We'll see those one other time.
We'll figure it out. I mean whatever slap a topper on a truck and make it work if you have to or itch a tent I'm not too concerned I'd pull my camper if I was one of those guys to pull the camper in a boat, but I don't trust my boat trailer as it is I don't know if I trust my truck at this point, so not doing that
Will Pappenfus (39:29.934)
The Grand Rapids while I shoot out we did, I slept in my truck the first night and then we got another cabin the second night that was open. So then I didn't have to sleep in the truck, but one night I did sleep in the truck, but it was worth it. So yeah.
Brian Bashore (39:41.715)
The stuff we do, right? It's this weird knucklehead. I've done a plenty of guiding where I'm like, I didn't get hotel room, but whatever. I got it all day, go fish, get to campsite. I'm like, I don't even want to set up town. Just crash in a truck, get up, boom. Like, it just need a couple hours. And it really just needed a place to plug the boat in and charge it and good. So, if we could finish all that, we probably would at times. I know I have as a younger guy for certain, so.
man, that's a lot of stuff you got me all fired up to go to Lake Sakakawea. I cannot, cannot wait. You got your team, you got a game plan going in there, or you guys are just gonna spread out and conquer and try to scope all... There's more shoreline than there is the coast of California, so I'm going to be ready.
Will Pappenfus (40:25.454)
Yeah, I mean, we have a pretty good idea. I think Hunter was there for the aim. Yeah, Max has fished there a few times. Owen, I think, has fished there. Cody's fished there quite a bit. So I think we'll be all right. We're just going to go play around and we got a few days to figure it out. Looking for five.
Brian Bashore (40:30.067)
That's right, yeah.
Brian Bashore (40:44.499)
Yeah, Cody probably goes there fair amount. There's a lot of Montana guys go over there.
Brian Bashore (40:52.947)
even Bozeman isn't but two or three hours to the western end of the lake. So I fished a big 10 up there in October and it has even the governor's cup. He usually gets like a half dozen to, you know, five to 10 Montana teams in it. So they love coming over there. It's great lakes, good fishery. So it'll be fun. Look forward to seeing you there. If you got one little nugget to leave these listeners with, help them become a better angler, better tournament angler, better whatever it is. What do you got?
Will Pappenfus (41:22.862)
I would say, honestly is just, I should say just keep your head in it. That's the biggest thing is don't let your mind tell you you can't do something or if you like, if you have a bad tournament, don't get down. Just keep your head in it. Keep grinding, learn from your mistakes, learn from other people.
Scarless told me one time a long time ago, he's like, even if you do bad, go to the weigh -ins, listen to how the people who did good did good. A lot of times they might slip up and say something or you might learn something from someone in the crowd just standing there, but go to the weigh -ins, listen to people, learn from your mistakes, keep grinding and it'll happen.
Brian Bashore (42:12.051)
Yep, very true. It is a more of a mental game than I think people think because you can take yourself out of it real quick. I always tell them, fish's brain is the size of your finger now. Yours is a little bit bigger. So don't let him give the upper hand. I mean, once I tell it to Drake on these podcasts when we're picking our fantasy stuff, I'm like, Drake, you got to pick yourself. Confidence is key. Like if you don't go into it thinking I'm going to dominate or I'm going to win or what.
Will Pappenfus (42:19.246)
Yeah. 100%.
Brian Bashore (42:42.035)
the reality on day two versus day one right we're all we're all playing to win we're all going in deficit but you gotta you gotta think that even if your pre -fish kind of sucked right because if you don't you've already just given the upper hand of the fish you might as well just pack up and head home and it's real easy to get down especially if you're an area where you're seeing someone catch them and you're not you know
Will Pappenfus (42:49.454)
Yeah.
Will Pappenfus (42:56.27)
Yeah, exactly.
Brian Bashore (43:05.203)
Just keep your head in it, keep grinding. You got a game plan, but everybody's, you're good. Everybody's good. You found it. You figured something out. Obviously you throw that plan out the window when you get to your first spot on the day one, you're like, they're not here. So, but that's why you practice. That's why you pre -finish, right? That's why you break it down with a group of guys and you go, all right, I got this. But just like you said, water was dirty. It's rising. I know what they do. They move into the weeds, right? I think sometimes you got to stop.
and just take your lines out of the water and just sit there, I'll do it. Or on the front, I'll just kind of close my eyes and just look around and be like, this is it. This is where you got to go. It may not be a spot you even practice at, but you know of it or maybe you fished it in the past or whatever. Like, you know what, I forgot to hit that. I bet that's going to go today. Or the wind changed. So, but yep, keep your mind at it, stay focused and win some, you lose some. But like I said, there's always a lesson to be learned when you lose and there's a lesson to be learned when you win.
Will Pappenfus (43:51.534)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (44:04.659)
keep on grinding. The best thing to do is just keep on fishing. Keep on fishing tournaments. You'll get better.
Will Pappenfus (44:10.734)
Yep, finished the day, 100%.
Brian Bashore (44:12.467)
Fish today. Yep. I think Eric or Matt said that on the last podcast. That was his tip. It's just fish today. Just whatever it gives you, go with it. Because it may not be anything like you had all week of practice. That happens. More often than not, I'm sure you're like me and all the rest are watching that weather all week and looking at, okay, it's going to blow this way and this way Thursday and Friday.
Saturdays is the same condition. So I'm gonna Try to set up my Saturday like my Thursday or vice versa whatever it is But then you're like, it's got a north wind all week and then all of a sudden it's south and southwest on Thursday Friday Where they get help? How's that gonna work? How that's gonna set up not gonna affect them so much on the rivers it does like Green Bay or something like that where that water fish today, don't let Don't let the mind games win stay with it and just keep on fishing
Good tips, Will. Thanks for coming on. Appreciate it. And know you gotta get packed up and you got a damn busy week ahead. Yeah. So, but it sounds fun. So good luck in it and good luck. You did a good show last week at the Graha tournament. Would you guys get like seventh or something? Six? Six? That's a hell of a tournament. How many boats are in that thing? A hundred? They capped it out at a hundred, but it's pretty good. I mean, it's a hundred boats. It's a hundred sticks and it's...
Will Pappenfus (45:23.95)
There's a hundred and yeah
Brian Bashore (45:31.091)
That's a good tournament every year. It's always full. I do quite the production. I mean, it's a bring the trucks and boats in for the top 10 and it's just a one -dayer.
Will Pappenfus (45:38.83)
Yep, Monday shootout.
Brian Bashore (45:40.883)
And what did your sixth place weigh? I mean, there were some big bags.
Will Pappenfus (45:43.822)
We had just over 44 pounds for sixth. That's pretty crazy.
Sixth in that one.
Brian Bashore (45:47.859)
Yeah, that's freaking huge. I've watched this in years. I'm like, Whoa, I don't recall seeing this many big fish, but there was, it was like 50 some pounds, wasn't it? Right.
Will Pappenfus (45:57.07)
51 and a half, yep.
Brian Bashore (45:58.899)
Yeah, I'm like, God, you gotta go to the Great Lakes to catch big fish, folks.
Will Pappenfus (46:04.142)
No, there's plenty around if you, right under your nose if you just look around.
Brian Bashore (46:08.595)
Yep. And Scope has opened up a lot of new opportunities. We're finding more of these fish. But hey, catch, photo, release. They're going back. Somebody else is going to catch them. It's all good. So embrace it. It's where we're at in the world and it's the technology we're using. And I have definitely embraced it and it has been fun and now I can't stop doing it. So, you know, I got to do different things with clients in the boat.
Will Pappenfus (46:29.71)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (46:34.355)
When they get done or the day they have like hey, there's a little weed patch over here You guys want to go try that out? Let me show you some stuff. I'm like I got to get my fixin, you know sometime today where I go back out in the evening and for a couple hours and Throw some plastics out of it That's fun. It's a good time. So anywho, all right. Well, good luck. It's a cock we a good luck This upcoming weekend and you're both your tournaments. That's gonna be fun. I'll keep a watch on it and looking for you Where you in hunter land? I'm sure it's gonna be near the top a couple sticks or
are heading to Lake the Woods and to Leech Lake on Sunday. Follow these guys. You already know where to follow Hunter on Facebook. Follow Will on his Facebook page, social. He's got some good stuff on there. Stop in at the Tackle, Baitwood store, Northern Baitwood. Wish him a tackle, please.
Will Pappenfus (47:19.758)
North was Bintec.
Brian Bashore (47:22.483)
Northwoods bait and tackle. I'm pretty sure I've been to there at least once. It seemed like there's a tackle shop about every other corner up there, but there are definitely some better than others. So stop in, get some fishing tips from Will. He'll probably send you in the right direction and certainly sell you the right bait and tackle. I can guarantee you that. So the guy knows what he's doing and that's it folks. So stay safe. We'll see you on the water and thanks for tuning in to this episode of Real Talk Fishing.