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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 (00:02)
Hey folks, thanks for tuning in to our episode of Real Talk Fishing with No Limits. Today we are heading somewhere much warmer than South Dakota and that is down South with good friend, Mr. Brian Evans from Segar. How is it going down there? You're in Georgia, I believe, right?
Brian (00:17)
That is correct. Georgia. Yeah, it's going good. We're just talking about the weather a little bit and it's 40 degrees and the wind is blowing, but nothing like what you've got.
Brian Bashore (00:28)
No, yeah, we're a volumey one degree up here right now, but like I was telling you, Hey, we're making ice and that's good. Cause it's ice fishing season up North. But you know, I mean, cigars got us covered, obviously from one end to the other. But as we, as we dive into the cigar stuff, let's just, I want to let everybody just know a little bit more about, about you, about cigar, a little history on it. Just what, what's your role with cigar, how long you've been there, that kind of stuff.
Brian (00:32)
He
Yeah, awesome. Yeah, so I've been with Seaguar a little over 10 years now. I work with the marketing team with Seaguar. And a little bit of history about the company. We invented fluorocarbon fishing line back in 1971. So that was over 50 years ago, we invented this product. And since then, it's taken leaps and bounds and just drastically changed.
Brian Bashore (01:13)
Peace.
Brian (01:24)
how people fish and their catch because with fluorocarbon line, obviously you get the benefit that it's virtually invisible underwater, much more abrasion resistant and much more sensitive. there's a lot of benefits to it. Plus it lasts longer than traditional nylon fishing lines. So it helps out a lot for anglers to either use it as their main line or in conjunction with braided line. Obviously with
using braided line, get added sensitivity and adding casting distance. then when you use it, fluorocarbon leader material with it, then you get that invisibility and abrasion resistant benefits too.
Brian Bashore (02:08)
Yeah, it's a, mean, I don't think there's anybody out there. doesn't have an arsenal of floral in their boat or like you said, tied up as, as your mainline. you know, it's in a walleye world. There's still quite a few guys using it as mainline, especially in the like jigging wraps and stuff like that. Just because we're giving it a different action versus, you know, the braid. not a whole lot of monofilament out there at all. I don't even.
Brian (02:23)
Hmm.
Brian Bashore (02:32)
I haven't owned any for years. Maybe on a trolling rod, you know, for a plate or board on, you know, for Great Lakes. But even that is pretty much just gone to fluorocarbon. Some of that is strictly for stretch purposes, you know, going to that mono for stretch when you're fighting up a 10 pounder at two or three mile an hour on a crankbait with 150 feet, 200 feet of line out.
Brian (02:33)
Hahaha!
END
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, people like nylon monofilament, you know, because it's stretch and it's also buoyant. So, you know, if you're fishing in an application like top water, some people prefer monofilament or, you know, maybe a spy bait or balsa wood crankbaits. Sometimes when people are trying to get very, very shallow, there still is a little bit of a need for monofilament.
Brian Bashore (03:18)
Yeah. I get a lot of questions that I, you know, I jig and pitch jigs and throw plastics all early spring and the water's cold. And I'm always like, you got to slow it down, slow it down. You know, I said, if ever, and I, I maybe have one spool that I can swap out on a reel that's the old reel, but I don't think I've even touched it last couple of years. I'm like, that's the only time I'm going to put a model on to help that bait. Slow down just a little bit, but really I just ended up tying instead of like a three or four foot, I'll go six, seven foot, you know, go live leader.
Brian (03:22)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, that works. That's perfect.
Brian Bashore (03:48)
And yeah, works. And I just give it a little bit more floor on there and it doesn't fall quite as fast as the braid. And I'm fishing river currents. I need to cut, you know, cut through that stuff anyway. But yeah, you just don't, you don't see a lot of it out there. You see floral everywhere. mean, the bass guys are big. I mean, that's it. False pools. I talk to Mark Daniels and it's just. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, man, you.
Brian (03:59)
Mm-hmm, makes sense.
Yeah.
Double life.
Brian Bashore (04:15)
You to spool up a lot of that stuff and the shelf life you said on it. mean, this stuff, you know, the, the modest, I put real covers on and then we keep them in our rod lockers, but not everybody has that. I mean, sun just beats the crap out of stuff, but it doesn't, it means fluorocarbon is just so much more resistant to that. Why, why is it? What's, what's in it that just makes it last longer?
Brian (04:36)
The actual material is PVDF and it's resistant to UV. It is also chemically resistant and impervious, so it's not going to absorb water. So not only does sunlight not affect it, but if you put anything like sunscreen on your hands or you feel your truck up with gas on the way to the ramp and you get
some fuel on your hands and start touching your reel, that's not gonna damage it. So that's some of the reasons why it lasts so much longer than regular fishing.
Brian Bashore (05:15)
There's so many little things about the stuff like that, that nobody just thinks about. was in a shields over the weekend for an ice fess and, moving, you know, selling some of the ice line. I think this is one of the old, old labels, but by the way, they were out. was the last, this isn't the last one. They sold their last eight pound spool of seeing our ice there. but I looked at the guy and he, and that's what he wanted. They only had one left. And he's like, well, I want three or four of them. So I think he went to, it just up.
Brian (05:32)
No.
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (05:44)
Up or down a test that they had more. You know, but one of those sales reps is like, God, just just use this stuff over here. I'm like, this looks upset. I this is the number one thing that connects you to your fish. I said, this is it without the proper line. I'm like, nothing else really matters. And he was like, light bulb. I'm like, yeah, we don't talk about it. This.
Brian (05:46)
Mm-hmm.
Brian Bashore (06:05)
This is literally the one thing that connects you to the fish. Literally. That figure is literally, it's the line. I like you might want to take a little bit more consideration and thought about it. And we're talking, you know, ice fishing or brazing resistance, huge. Right. You're rubbing on a hole. You're, know, just, there's yeah, just a numerous amount of things and short rods and your wheelers and side-by-sides are in buckets and you got.
Brian (06:08)
Yeah. Yeah, it is.
yeah.
I jig it up and down.
Brian Bashore (06:31)
You know, your jigs are in there and they're bumping all the other lines. It's I mean, the brazing resistance is, it's pretty important. just don't, don't cut your corners. People don't try to save a few pennies here. And then, but the prices, you're just as competitive as anybody else with it. So.
Brian (06:40)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, you alluded to the amount of fluorocarbon out in the marketplace and you know, something that I don't think a lot of English realizes, not only did we invent fluorocarbon fishing line, but we are the only company who makes the raw material designed for fishing products. the only person, the only manufacturer that can manufacture the raw material and extruded into fishing line. Therefore,
We can change the properties of it for attributes that an Angular may want. If it's a casting line, we can make it more supple. If it's a leader line, maybe we want better knot strength, better impact strength. That's something that other manufacturers can't do. They have to rely on outsourcing that raw PVDF material from somewhere else. Therefore, they have no control over what they get.
So that's one of the big things that sets us apart and that also allows us to have all these different products. With mainline fluorocarbon, we've got Basex, Red Label, InvisX, Abrazex, Totsu. And then you look at our leader materials and we've got the new Pounce bass leader, we've got STS, we've got Pink Label, Blue Label, Premier, Gold Label. I mean, we've got all different types of materials out there.
depending on the particular angler's needs and their budget too. Because in today's world, we have to be mindful of what people can spend. How much money do they have that they can spend or willing to spend on fishing products? And we want to offer the best product possible at that price point.
Brian Bashore (08:32)
Yeah, you've come up with, I believe, what was it like? Basex and a couple others last year that are this, little bit more cost friendly friend for a person kind of introductory line. If you're, if you're thinking about it or a red label, right. I believe would be like, Hey, you want to try it out? Here's a little cheaper price point to get in. And the reality is once you get it using it, you're going to love it be like, all right, I get it. I totally totally understand it now.
Brian (08:36)
Yep.
Mm.
Yeah, yeah. And, and you know, just like anything, you know, you could go buy a fishing rod for 50 bucks, or you could go buy one for $500. And there's going to be benefits for performance capabilities that that make it worth what it is. So as you step up in the product line, you're definitely going to get a better product that's going to perform better in some way, shape or form.
Brian Bashore (09:19)
Yeah. On the ice side, which I noticed over the, the, weekend at the ice fest thing is ice fishing. It's camaraderie type sport, but a lot of guys are just buying 30, $50 combos, right? They don't come with as a line. I'm like, that's great. I like, but the one thing that connects you to the fish, I'm like, you bought the cheaper route real, and it's probably going to do you just fine with what you're doing. You're just sitting over a hole or you're dead stick. And I'm like, but it's been the six to eight bucks or 799 or whatever it was. I think it was eight bucks, 20 % off.
Brian (09:30)
Hmm.
Brian Bashore (09:49)
On your line and you're set. That's going to last you up, you know, all winter, if not two or three winters or whatever the case may be. and they're like, that, makes complete sense. that no problem spinning that on a, you know, spool line that, you know, but they're like, well, I'm going to probably break my rod or the kids going to step on it or it's going to get what is one degrees outside. Things tend to break them like, but your line don't. And you can, and you can move that from one. Right. You can move that once, you know, once, you know, that's a, am switching. I've been running.
Brian (09:52)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
You
Yep, yep, and it's not gonna freeze up either.
Brian Bashore (10:19)
The Icex, but I have some really thin Smackdown on some, but I'm moving it all over the floral, but I'm thinking of putting this on for ice. Cause I think that's got to work really good on ice. I was going to chit chat with Chorey Peterson about it and see if he's tried it yet. so some of those braids are going to absorb a little water and then they want to, they want to freeze, but this PX8 stuff is amazing.
Brian (10:27)
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
Brian Bashore (10:49)
Frickin diameter so small, there's not much line to absorb any water. So I don't, I don't know. I think it should work good.
Brian (10:55)
Yeah.
Yeah, I haven't heard anything honestly because ice is just getting made right now. So I haven't heard any reports about using that new PXA braid that you just showed. But outside of the ice fishing world, the anglers that have been using that absolutely love it because it is so thin and so smooth. It just cast incredible. I know
Brian Bashore (11:02)
Mm-hmm.
Brian (11:24)
So many people, when they talk about brave, they talk about castability. The first time I tried that out is when we were testing it for the US market, because it's designed for Japanese anglers. They're accustomed to it. The way they fish and the way we fish are two different things. And I just...
Brian Bashore (11:40)
And yeah, their fisheries, why it was created. talked to, I can't remember one of your pro staff from Japan was telling me all about it and telling me all about their fisheries and why he has to use this due to the pressure on the fisheries. And I was like, man, that makes total sense. had no idea. That's what the market was like over there.
Brian (11:49)
Uh-huh.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Yeah, it is incredible. And the first time I went to cast that, I just did like a sidearm cast. I had it spooled up on a spinning reel. Didn't really put a lot of energy into it or effort into it. And I was like, wow. That was my first impression was, my God, wow, this stuff cast like nothing else. It was unbelievable.
Brian Bashore (12:25)
Yeah, it's, it's amazing. This is 18 pound that I got. Cause that's, that's it. Everything else is already gone, but it's, it's like a two pound diameter. You know, I think it's 18 pound good. I'm like, yeah, I said it. And I was like, my Lord, this is, expected it to be a little bit thicker, but no. then it's, and I was a little late, like, all right, sometimes with these super thin diameters, your notch can slip on you. I tend to sleep or glue them, but I put a 10 pound gold label leader on it. I've never had any.
Brian (12:28)
Hmm-hmm.
Hahaha.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (12:53)
Zero issues, I make the tag a little longer, pull it, cut it, and leave maybe a quarter inch, but I have absolutely zero issues, but you're right. I'm fusing in a forward-facing cylinder and just flipping like a net rig or something, and that thing's, you know, I set that at like 80 feet and it's like, that was easy. 80 feet's not that far, but when you flip it, you're like, it just flies off that spool. Yeah, castability, and it didn't compromise. You didn't lose any strength or nothing with it.
Brian (13:03)
Yeah. Mmm. Goes.
Yeah. Yeah.
No, no. And the thing to pay attention to is that diameter. And I feel like the core sizes, the key sizes people are going to like are going to be the 18, 21, and 24 pound test. We do offer a 16 and a 12, but like you were talking about the knots, you just have to be extra careful with it, leave the tag in a little bit longer, maybe put a drop of fishing glue, super glue on there just to secure it because it gets...
that material gets soaked in, it's like a thread. And then it's so slick that you can just slide it through and you don't want that to happen when you're fishing.
Brian Bashore (13:56)
No, it is. Yeah. It's, know if all I guys are always like, I'm only using four pound, you know, back in the day mono. And I don't ever use anything hardly under a 10 and eight, you know, at the, at the lightest, but it's usually a 10 pound smack down or this 18. I don't, I don't feel any reason to really ever go any lighter because the diameter is so thin. If you're a river rat like me, thinner diameter, the better to cut current and get those baits down. just makes nothing but all the sense in the world.
Brian (14:05)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And talking about diameter, when you start looking at fishing line across the board, diameters fluctuate with the pound test. There's no consistency in the US market. So if you're talking about our 10 pound smackdown, that could be equivalent to somebody else's eight pound or six pound or 15 or 20 pounds. it's really important for
anglers out there when they're looking at a fishing line to look at the pound test and the line diameter to make sure that you're getting what you want.
Brian Bashore (14:58)
Yeah, cause your 10 pound and somebody else's are not the same. always tell them that with my, my gold label leaders. like, said, run a, like an eight or 10. said, but if you're, you know, I say, you can go a size up on a cigar versus what you were currently using. said, because the diameter is going to be smaller. And I think almost side by side, almost on every one of your, your lines, your diameters are smaller.
Brian (15:04)
Exactly.
Yep. Yep.
Yeah, yeah, and like that PXA, one of our pros, he prefers the 33 pound PXA because he's like, it's thinner than the 15 pound SmackDown that I've been used to using. So why don't I get the same diameter or smaller and get more breaking strength. So that's how he's looking at it.
Brian Bashore (15:38)
Yeah, I'm like, I'm looking at that as more broad, you know, rod breaking strength though. Then, cause then I'm, you know, and you guys will be bass guy. They're setting hooks on those trees and it's like, I don't know how many, you know, Trey McKinney say Croix's get broken when he's flipping them fish. And I'm like, quit high sticking that and breaking rods on TV Trey. know, but I mean, Hey, they're five, six pounders and that's going to happen, but he break in the line. You know, this, these things are, they're, they're breaking the freaking rods. smack down.
Brian (16:00)
Yeah. Yep.
Brian Bashore (16:08)
I mean, this stuff moved a lot of them out here. I got the stores are old, carrying more of it now, but that's tough. mean, the PX eight is it's new. It's a world of its own. And I'm moving to more and more of this stuff, but this smackdown is every client that gets in. It cast great just because the tubular form on it, every single one them was like, what kind of line is this? You know, and I tell them, like, okay. You know, and they're like, man, I really like it. I'm like, yeah, I use it for quite a while.
Brian (16:12)
yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (16:38)
immediately notice the castability of
Brian (16:41)
Yeah. Yeah. We have people say that it cast about 10 to 15 % better than, you know, other braids. We don't have any scientific data to support that claim. But that's what, you know, our process has told us, which is very important bass fishing. And then the guys that are saltwater fishing with it, you know, inshore flats fishing, you know, they got to be able to cast a long way. So very important to them. And, you know, we offer that in a high vis flash green.
Brian Bashore (16:55)
I would say at least.
Brian (17:10)
and then a more stealthy, low-vis, stealth gray. We initially launched it in 150-yard spools, but because of demand, we do offer it in a larger 300-yard spool as well.
Brian Bashore (17:26)
Yeah, the, and I mean, 150 is usually enough for most spinning reels, but like you said, those inshore guys are using, you know, 3000 series and they're going to want those, those big ones. And the bad thing with my brain, but good things about on your end on the sell side of it is I'm like, well, when you're re spooling, you just take it off one and spool it back to the other. And then all the fresh line, you know, is that with the high vis color after it, know, if it ever fades a little bit, but I, this, the stealth gray, can sometimes see it better, you know, in the low light conditions or it just, depends on.
Brian (17:34)
Mm.
He
Brian Bashore (17:56)
You know, your polarized sunglasses or whatever, but pretty much have high vis on just about everything nowadays, except the vertical jigging rods and, then pull out a crank baits on this stuff. Cause we troll the river and once again, at center diameter, I get those crank baits down, you know, when we're going into two mile an hour current through weeds that are floating on the surface.
Brian (17:56)
Mm.
wow, okay.
Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (18:23)
Sometimes you're ripping it. Of course, the tactics comes in great, you know, you know, for that too. yeah, it's fishing real deep. Sometimes we'll troll over trees. I mean, just all sorts of stuff, but then I use the 15 or 20 pound. I've used the tactics on, you know, fishing real deep into trees just cause 20 pound plus and the strength on it. And I'm just going to lose a, you know, a $7 bluer versus a half a spool of line.
Brian (18:41)
Mm-hmm.
You
Brian Bashore (18:52)
So you know that, even the basics up, that's a little cost friendly. Cause that's usually going to get put on and then taken off and, and you know, right away when I go back shallower, but the smackdown stuff trolls phenomenal. And then you can really see like little Salma Hornets or flicker sheds. mean the action on it, you're not losing any. It's great. So, you don't like typical braids, you pick them up and you feel it. You just, you just know it's a braid. You can feel it. I don't, you don't get that with smackdown. It's just.
Brian (19:06)
Nice.
That's good.
Hmm.
Brian Bashore (19:22)
It feels paper thin, not quite as thin as the PX8 obviously, but it's just super thin and you don't... It's an eight strand braid, right? Two blur formed together, but it doesn't cut through the spool like when you get snagged up like lots of other ones do.
Brian (19:30)
Yeah, it's
Yeah, it's woven really tight, so it's very round in shape, so it prevents a lot of that.
Brian Bashore (19:43)
Yeah. Cause I don't know how many times like in that case you're using a big, you know, round conventional line counter type reel. And when you get snagged up and you're trolling at three mile an hour, it's that. Yeah. It wants to cut through it. And I haven't had that happen with this stuff yet. So that is good. I mean, it's, it's maybe bound to happen someday. I don't know, but it hasn't happened and that usually sucks. Cause then you're like, it's waiting, you know, it breaks and you're like, you, you got to pull it. Yeah. You're digging out and then you trash all of it. You're pulling out a hundred.
Brian (19:50)
Mm-hmm.
I to get bound up in there. Yeah.
That's good.
Hehehe. Hehehe.
Can't get it out, yeah.
Brian Bashore (20:12)
feet of line to get to the you know the end of it and that that sucks but I have not had any of that happen with that so that is awesome I'm gonna look forward to PX8 I'm gonna you know so these are dropped at 100 these have come in different sizes I think don't they 200 meters
Brian (20:28)
Yeah, well, that is a 165 yard spool. in mind that was developed for the Japanese market and neither is mine. Taku. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (20:34)
Yeah, it's a lot of I don't my Japanese isn't good. I can't what's that guy's name? He he read all this to taco and told me all about this. I was like, all right. Unfortunately, I forgot the Japanese language. He was teaching me but
Brian (20:46)
Yeah, so, you know, that was developed for the Japanese market. So it conforms to what those anglers are used to and in their culture. So it's going to be, you know, it's 165 yards here in the United States. And they also go by a Japanese Go, G-O-U, which is the equivalent to our pound test. So that packaging is the exact same as what is sold in Japan. However, we convert
pound test in yards on there so that the US Angular understands it. So we add a label.
Brian Bashore (21:15)
Yeah, this one's 219 yards, 0.165 millimeters in diameter. That's just crazy. Yeah, that's insane. That is nuts. you look at a 20 pound Tactex, it's 0.01. So, you know, mean, the diameters are just small, period. That's just how it is. there you go.
Brian (21:25)
And that's 18 pounds. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, I've actually got a real here's fooled up with it that I've taken to Canada and I've taken it fishing here, you locally. I've also taken it to Louisiana. So I forget how many different species of fish that I've caught on this 21 pound test, but I think it's double digits already. And, you you can see that it hasn't faded anything. It still looks good. It still performs good. And I've been using this all year.
Brian Bashore (22:10)
And you've been smacking giant redfish on it. I'm sure. So nothing beats that stuff. 42 and two big ones. And it's a pink, but it's got that, that green or that high vis green every meter or something like that on it, I think. So if it's your, a counter, I guess I'm pitching out, I don't look at that so much, but I know there's a few lines out there that have that different transitions and guys can.
Brian (22:12)
yeah, got a 42 inch red last trip. No, I'm sorry is yeah 42. Yeah
Mm-hmm. Mm.
Brian Bashore (22:38)
Comes in handy for vertical jigging or whatever the case is. You, you know, you have an idea of what you got out there, but.
Brian (22:41)
Mm-hmm.
And those that are sight-fishing, also helps because you got two variations of color. It's not just one uniform color all the way down. You've got a pink that's visible and a green that's visible and they contrast. So it makes it very easy to watch your line. And if you want something that's a little bit less subtle, then you could tie it directly to the pink. But I'm using fluorocarbon, so it doesn't matter anyway.
Brian Bashore (23:07)
Nope, nope, not at all. always say that people in seminars for years would ask, you know, when I said that jigging, pitching jigs, we're using high biz lines so you can see that line. So many times you're going to see it twitch or pop, you know, even before you fill it. It's like, well, aren't you afraid the fish are going to see it? Well, I always got a fluorocarbon leader, you know, but prior to, you know, the big craze on fluorocarbon leaders at Titan Direct. And I was like, I don't, the fish swim into gill nets, man. I don't think they're super concerned, but.
There definitely is times, you know, it's a player, I said, I don't know. I 100 % of the time have a fluorocarbon leader tied on to everything. I mean, if I'm cranking, you know, with the, the brain trolling and dirty water, I it still has a fluorocarbon leader on it.
Brian (23:39)
Ahem.
Yeah. You know, my thought is why wouldn't you use a fluorocarbon leader to give yourself the advantage to catch more fish or potentially catch bigger fish? You you use that analogy about fish swimming in the gill nets. Yeah, that happens. you know, can't really explain that, but I've also heard countless times where a guy has been fishing with his buddy. His buddy was using fluorocarbon and he wasn't and was getting fished, you know, out fish seven to one.
And it's like, it's real. I've heard stories of people up in Alaska fishing that deep water. There's no need to use fluorocarbon, but then they start using fluorocarbon, yet they start catching bigger and better fish. And the surface of the water could be muddy, it could be murky, but then you could go down three feet, six feet, 10 feet where you're fishing, and it can be green and clear. You just never know.
My philosophy is why wouldn't you want that advantage?
Brian Bashore (24:55)
Yep. That's exactly what I tell everybody. I'm like, just why not? I got it. Let's put it on. I guarantee it doesn't prevent them from biting. know, someone's about scent, you know, spraying something on your crankbait. like, I said, they're not going to not eat it because it smells like a fish. You know, when you're throwing a plastic out there, I'm like a set of baits, a set of bait. guarantee that you're not going to catch less fish because of it. Instead you may catch a few more. it's yeah, exactly. How many times has another guy's
Brian (25:04)
Yeah, guarantee it,
Mm-hmm
Brian Bashore (25:23)
Using something different and you're three to one, five, seven to one, you know, and it's like, what am I doing wrong? I'm like, you're, you're, not doing what I told you to do. not using the same thing, you know, or, know, it, he kept breaking off and now he's down to this much leader and you're at four or six foot. And I'm like, here, we got to cut this and, tie you back on a lot of it is just the presentation of the bait on it's different. You know, it could be falling slower or moving one way or the other. And what have you, I'm like, it just, why not? use.
Brian (25:31)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hmm. Yep.
Brian Bashore (25:53)
Like I said, at a hundred percent of the time, as a guide on the river, zebra mussels have gotten thicker and thicker and thicker everywhere. And even this year I went from, using 15 on my lead core when we're trolling as a leader to 20 pounds, because there's so many zebra mussels and we're typically fishing bottom or near bottom, or you're to want to bump bottom. But anytime you roll over a tree or any piece of structure, zebra mussels are on that thing. And they're just like little razor blades, you know,
Brian (25:58)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yes, they are.
Brian Bashore (26:20)
And they're just nicking and nicking and nicking away. And I don't know how many fish they got near the boat. And if you didn't check it, you know, every day by the, at least at the end of the day, you know, at least a minimum of once a day and then cut a couple of, you know, six inches off and retypes it was usually the bottom, you know, a couple of feet that had some nicks on it. You would get right near the boat and it'd be, maybe it's a big pike or a big walleye and it would start to thrash and it would break. I'm like, it's because damn zebra mussels were, you know, trash in that line over the last six hours.
I care what you got after you start chopping it up enough, it's going to break. We went to 20 pound this year and that didn't happen one single time. Yup. Not once. My other guy had switched to 20 and I'm like, all right, let me go to 20 and not once. after, know, maybe half a dozen times last year. And I was like, damn it. Sim zebra mussels. Yeah. I'm like, let's just go 20. Didn't catch any less fish. Didn't make any difference on that, but we lost zero fish, you know, because of it, but same deal checked at the end of the day. You know, and I would say it probably had to even.
Brian (26:49)
Hmm
Yeah. that's good. That's good.
Makes it easier.
Brian Bashore (27:19)
you know, cut a foot a line off half as many times just from going from a 15 to a 20. So zebra mussels are a deal basically everywhere you go now. I trolling up on the Great Lakes, Green Bay is loaded with them and that's a place, just go a hundred percent fluorocarbon because if you're rolling over rocks, know, it seems kind of silly to put a fluorocarbon leader on your mono if you're pulling boards or whatever, it just go a hundred percent floral.
Brian (27:22)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Brian Bashore (27:48)
Because it can be 50, 60 feet up your line when you roll over, you know, a rock and those things are just absolutely covered them and they're sharp. And it's, yeah, you're totally going to lose fish if your line is all nicked up. Period.
Brian (27:52)
Mm.
Yup.
Yep, for sure.
Brian Bashore (28:05)
Tatsu. I don't think I have any of that in here. That one came out what a couple three years ago? More as longer than that guess.
Brian (28:11)
No, it's, yeah. Probably like 15 years ago. Yeah, yeah, it's been out for quite some time.
Brian Bashore (28:17)
is it that long? That one's kind of the top dog in the lines.
Brian (28:25)
That is a mainline fluorocarbon and top dog. I say that it's in a league of its own because it's unlike anything in the marketplace. It's unlike anything else in the marketplace because it features double structured fluorocarbon, meaning we take two custom fluorocarbon resins and extrude it into a single piece of material. So you get
the best of both worlds. get something that's castability, the strength, the sublimest, everything about it is just phenomenal. That is an exclusive process that only Seaguard can do. No other fishing line manufacturer can do that. It's not a copolymer line where it's a piece of line with a coating over it. It's actually two resins extruded as one. You talk to anybody that's used it and
you know, other than the price, they love it. you know, it, comes from four pound to 25 pound test. So it's geared, you know, for primarily for bass anglers, but you know, they're guys who will use a croppy fish and guys that will use a walleye fishing. but the performance of it is just, it's unmatched. It's, it's remarkable.
Brian Bashore (29:45)
I used it, I spooled up with it full spools. That was mainline and Ottertail for a championship few years ago. There's a rig and crick chubs. I'm like, I'm just long lining this stuff. I, and I, I want it. It's it's Minnesota. It's crick chubs rig and fishing one rod. It's like a super sensitive. You can't have a colored hook. They won't touch it. It's gotta be bronze. All these things. I'm like, I'm just going to go out tattoo and, and pulling it back down the boat. Yep.
Brian (29:55)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (30:14)
It definitely made a difference. That was, think a year ahead limits in every tournament and you know, it was good. And then I was talking to, Jay Shakira a few years ago, right after, you know, he won and, his first mass elite series in St. Clair when he had the hundred some pounds and he's like, yeah, he's like that you're, you're a hundred percent. He's like, that's what I had spooled on. And those guys now with the Ford facing and a small mouth fish and they're like tattoo, a tattoo. That's, that's what they're going to them. get it.
Brian (30:18)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (30:44)
It's hard to beat man. I you gotta pay a little bit more for it, but your return on investment is pretty good.
Brian (30:46)
It is.
Yeah, yeah, it's remarkable.
Brian Bashore (30:54)
It is good stuff. I like it a lot. So if folks you're out there and you see the cigar ice and now has it's a different label. It's one of the older ones. It's basically got the gold label color one with a little camouflage pattern on it now, I believe. But Northern Anglers, all the box stores are carrying that now up here. You'll love it. Until the other day, I it's not going to it doesn't blow off your spool. I'm like you can drop. It's not going to freeze on you. Like you said, it's just the water can't penetrate the stuff with the chemicals you got on it.
Brian (31:12)
Mm-hmm.
Brian Bashore (31:24)
I think during COVID the shelves were full of cigar. Cause like you said, you had control over everything. You know, so, and the shields guys told me like, yeah, these guys aren't having a problem getting that. I'm like, is because they, they have control, you know, unlike these other companies. So that really helped. Everybody's like, I guess I'm going to try this out.
Brian (31:38)
Yep. The only thing that slowed us down during COVID was the ports of entry. Otherwise, we were manufacturing product, we were shipping product, it was getting to our warehouse, and we've got a warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky, and it was getting product right out the doors to the dealers, to the customers. We didn't have an issue then.
Brian Bashore (32:06)
Yeah. I have always said, look back and say, man, I have aligned myself with the right companies because Seaguard was able to do that. St. Croix was able to do that. Z man was able to do that. I'm like, these are all theoretically kind of American made products that it says, like, and they have full control and can get it out, you know, and every one of the places that's what was on the shelves versus everybody.
Brian (32:15)
Yeah.
Yeah.
All those companies you name are great companies and they manufacture their own product. They don't rely on somebody else to manufacture it. I personally feel like the companies that got in trouble are the ones that rely on third parties because those third party companies, everybody was trying to buy product from them. All the product was produced and shipped at the same time and then flooded the market and then they couldn't sell.
Brian Bashore (32:43)
See
Yep. Yeah. Now they're all digging themselves out of that in a sense, would say politely. So I'm going to throw the Wiley X in there as well, because they're manufacturing their own, you know, their own, their own shade. So, all good companies that you and I have, we've, know, we've been fortunate to spend some time with that in Louisiana, chasing the Reds and, and other stuff. And I think I get that thing going again. the Marsh madness. That's that second to none. Speaking of that, I actually have a.
Brian (32:59)
yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Brian Bashore (33:24)
other podcasts coming up, recording it here later today with Lou, and Chris Horton. So, yeah, I think we'll be talking a little bit about the Southern fishing and the golf, of course, you know, but.
Brian (33:28)
Mm-hmm.
Fun.
Yeah, that's top notch fishing down there.
Brian Bashore (33:39)
Yeah, that's, that's, it's hard, hard to beat. And you got the products made for it. Tac-tacs, know, this, we didn't really talk about it much, but this, that's a hell of a place to be using this stuff. You know, I mean, this, this weed ripping serrated line is a, that's pretty cool. I don't think a lot of people really thought about that and the use of it. we got a lot more weed growth on the river this year than I've ever seen, mainly because the zebra mussels, the water is cleaner. It's getting more sunlight. We're getting better vegetation. Well,
Brian (33:45)
Mm-hmm.
Yep, absolutely.
Mm.
Brian Bashore (34:08)
freaking fish love the weeds. Walleyes and perch especially are up in there in the pike and throwing those Z-Man Jerk Shad because I want to get them just into it little bit but then pop them through and that's kind of a we like to fish it real aggressive and yep, Taktx was perfect for it.
Brian (34:11)
Mm-hmm.
Mm.
Yeah, so that Tactex is one of our newer braids and it's unique because it's a camouflage color and it's, know, greens and tan, so it blends in with the water really good. But it's a four strand braid, so it's got a little bit of a textured feel to it, so it can cut through that vegetation better, more so than a smoother, thinner diameter product.
Brian Bashore (34:50)
Yeah, you can tell this one's braid when you pick it up. You feel this when you're like, yeah, that's, that's what a braid feels like. But it does it. Oops. just, the leader, it comes with the leader material in there too, but yeah, you can definitely, you can feel it. And you're like just that little bit of texture. Yeah. Completely. When I first cast with it, I hooked in and it was ended up being a carp, but it was big. And I'm like, you know, a lot of times these things are going to wrap you up and stuff. And then you, your lines, you see the bass guy's bringing up.
Brian (34:52)
Yeah, yeah.
It does.
Mm-hmm.
Mmm.
Brian Bashore (35:18)
a large mouth with five pounds of weeds on it. And I was afraid, this thing's going to wrap me around stuff. But it just it literally was cutting a lot of those, you know, new weeds as it pulled me through. So. And those bonuses, those comes with the leader material in the box.
Brian (35:20)
Yeah.
Mmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
It does. It does. So the thought process behind that was so many anglers out there buying braided line and using fluorocarbon with it, fluorocarbon for later. So why not include fluorocarbon with the braid purchase? So, you know, you're ready from the start.
Brian Bashore (35:52)
Yeah, you pull this out of the box in the boat or in the garage when you're getting ready to go. You're set. You're all set up. Good to go. No need to, I do carry about half a dozen of these in the boat. more than that, but in all, you know, the different sizes and just keep. And what I love about them is the size, you know, these 25 meters, think you have 25 yards, 22.9 meters. It's just, that's perfect. You don't need a big bulky, you know,
Brian (35:56)
Mmm. Yep. Yep.
Yes.
Hmm.
Brian Bashore (36:20)
We carry enough crap in our boats. there's more storage space, we just fill it up. know, it's a lot of guys will leave them in the totes in their truck or whatever, but I can throw, you know, six, seven of these in my glove box in different sizes.
Brian (36:30)
And you know what, you bring that up and I wish I had a sample here. This year, we launched line management bags, line and leader management bags. You if you look out there in the marketplace, know, manufacturer Zman, they've got all these storage solutions for their products. We wanted to offer the same thing for our product.
Brian Bashore (36:40)
Mm-hmm.
Brian (36:54)
You you brought up Mark Daniels and he has the what he calls the tub of life, which is essentially a big plastic tub that's got all of this cigar product in it. And it's like, there's got to be a better way to store this. So we came out with a bag designed for our bulk 1000 yard spools that will accommodate six spools of bulk floor carbon.
Brian Bashore (36:59)
Yeah.
Brian (37:17)
And then it's got a shoulder strap. It's got compartments where you can store things. It's even got grommets on it so you can feed your line through it and spool. In addition to that, we came up with leader management storage bags. So we've got one designed for like the small spools like ICE, ICEX, or the lower pound test gold label. So you can put multiple spools in there and just pull out what you need, keep it stored nice and neat, and it's readily available.
We've got a medium size that'll hold three of our regular size spools in line and then a jumbo that'll hold six of our regular 200 yard spools or the 25 yard spools, 50 yard spools of leader material. Those are available now. You can also find them at seaguard.com.
Brian Bashore (38:03)
Yeah, those are, I've seen those. think those were some of the promotions that were recently out there. like, got, I don't have one of those. I got, I got to get one of those things cause I need it.
Brian (38:10)
Yeah, they're relatively new. I want to say they became available in October. So they're getting shipped out. They're getting out into the marketplace right now.
Brian Bashore (38:22)
know the Zeman bags, I have a couple of those and yeah, it's super slick when I can open up my box with all the plastics. I'm like, I just pulled the Zeman bag out. I'm like, there we go. Everything I need.
Brian (38:30)
Hmm. You know, or you open up, you know, a box in your boat and it's like, you're trying to find eight pound test. And it's like, you have to dig through there, but now you've got everything stored together in this nice bag. It's easier to find that, that bag and you know, pull it out. There's all your material or you just leave it in your glove box. There's all your material. If you need to downsize, upsize, you know.
Brian Bashore (38:52)
Yeah, I leave mine just I pull it out and then I leave a little bit out and then when I close it and then when I need more, I just, you know, I strip it out, but that's it. There's a lot of it. The man of a big glove box, fortunately, but glove box also get all shaken around. And then you open up and you're like, where's my keys? And then I'm like, there's line, which I need. I'm 15, eight, 10. I'm trying to find it. Yeah. If I just had a little bag, I could just reach up where I keep those items and just be like, there we go. Snip. Yeah. Wait.
Brian (38:56)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
He
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (39:19)
handy and free up space other places because you got to be organized if you're a good angler you're efficient you're clean and organized if you're not doesn't mean you're not good angler but I guarantee the best ones are pretty organized
Brian (39:29)
And leader material, you know, that's something that regardless you're going to be going through over the course of a day fishing, over the course of five days fishing. So, you know, it's good to have it available.
Brian Bashore (39:40)
Yeah, it is quick and easy access to it is, is, is important. Cause if you're not going through it, you're probably not on them is my guess. So you're not, you know, or fishing around the right stuff. You know, it's like, well, I didn't lose a bait all day. And I'm like, Hey, you probably weren't fishing in the right area. How many, well, I didn't catch nothing either. I'm like, that's why, you know, I mean, if you're catching 20, 30 fish, you're, you're, you're putting some, some wear and tear on no matter what it is you're using. But all right. We will check this out folks. If you haven't the P X eight, the stuff is.
Brian (39:48)
Yeah, exactly. There you go.
Mm.
Brian Bashore (40:10)
It's just awesome. You're to fall in love with it right away. but big, big fan of the smack down and I'll report back later on. I'm going to, so it doesn't, it's 219 yards. think it says, the thin diameter. I could damn near get all that on a 2000 series reel, but I have so probably 20, 30 yards, you know, like leftover. And that's what I'm I'm going to throw some of that on an ice reel and check it out. just try it. I think.
Brian (40:36)
Good plan.
Brian Bashore (40:39)
You know, especially in the river, cause I got current. So it's not, it's not pulling my jig halfway down the stream. Ice fishing in the river is interesting because you drill one hole here and you put your transducer, your ice, your mega live, whatever it is. And then you drill over here a couple, three feet. And that's where you fish because your jig is getting pulled down the stream. So now you're, watching it over here. but hopefully I can, I can slide that in a little closer, usually just a couple of feet is all you really need. But when you start fishing 30 feet deep.
Brian (40:56)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
There's a little drift. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (41:10)
There's a little bit a there. I don't care where you are almost. So, but that's a huge, huge difference. I've been preaching that for a long time. Rivers, you need thinner diameter line and you just, you'll get, you're going to feel everything that much better. And when you can get a super thin diameter line and not lose any sensitivity and strength. I don't know. What more do you want? Yeah, it's total weight. more do you want out of it guys? It just doesn't get any better than that. So, all right. Right with that, I think people just learn more than they'll ever, you know,
Brian (41:28)
try to win. Yeah.
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (41:39)
Brian's forgot more about fluorocarbon than most of us even know at this point. So it's a good little rundown on it. You got a huge pro staff of bass guys and some walleye guys out there now. I don't think there's any MLF or bass elite series you're watching and you're not hearing about it or over half of that field is running Seaguar more or less. I mean, that's just a testament of there's a reason why.
Brian (41:42)
Ha ha.
Mmm. Mmm.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. You brought up Jay Shakurat at that time. He wasn't even a, he was buying that on his own. He wasn't even a Seaguar pro staffer at that time. But there's, there's a lot of guys just like that, that are fishing our products that either they're not sponsored by us or sponsored by somebody else and still he's in Seaguar. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (42:08)
All right.
Right. And still are still putting it on going. Hey, this is a we're talking, you know, winning and losing this. It's, know, it's like I said, number one thing that connects you to the fish. Seaguar, you know, that's overlooked, know, underestimated, but should never be overlooked and certainly shouldn't be underestimated and should be talked about a lot more. So there's a ton of different, you guys got a great.
Brian (42:33)
Yep.
And that is true. That is true.
Brian Bashore (42:50)
Page on your website on knots a lot of the pros teaching a different knot so people head over to see guard calm I'll drop links and in here below and just learn how to tie some of those knots, especially the braid to leader knots You know, I get that question asked all the time Several different ways to do it. I'm an alberto knot guy or you need a uni, right? It's quick. It's easy. I don't I very seldom ever ever break that knot FG knots great, but I don't have ten minutes and
Brian (42:52)
Hmm.
Same here.
Brian Bashore (43:20)
Mark Daniels, the master of the fastest tight empty knot guy in the world. But I have to do that in a controlled environment, with a YouTube video or Mark's video to show me how and in the garage. And I got to use my mouth and my foot and you know, and it's you're pulling it tight and doing this. I'm like, wow, this is a great knot. But yeah, but like anything, practice makes perfect. But head over there. Check that out. Yeah, it's cool. You got a lot of video.
Brian (43:23)
Uh-huh.
Yeah, pull it tight and yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, we also have a line selection guide on our website at seaguar.com. So that's to aid consumers in selecting the product that fits their needs. So they can choose, you know, fresh or saltwater. It kind of walks them through a path. It's, you know, a simple question and it gives you two answers and it keeps narrowing it down. So it's like, do you fish fresh water, saltwater? Are you fishing a spinning reel, conventional reel?
Are you looking for braid or floral? And it just keeps walking you down. And then at the end, after a few questions, it'll present you with three options, kind of a good, better, best, and the attributes about each one. So the consumer can make a decision based on what their needs are, what their wants are. So it's a unique piece that we offer to help people find what they need.
Brian Bashore (44:38)
Yeah, that's
That's brilliant because you get to the fish and lion aisle in a box where you're like, Whoa, you know, there's a ton of it. And what's, what's the difference if there ain't somebody standing around there and nowadays the consumer is going to pull up his phone. They're doing the research before they even go to the store. Go if they haven't already bought it, you know, direct from the website. Yeah. Walk it right down and then, and then minimize the options. Three is plenty. We, people get overwhelmed with options is the problem, you know, and there's always going to be the, just am grabbing the cheap stuff, but.
Brian (44:55)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (45:11)
Once again, right? Yeah, this is, this is what the head, but once again, the cheap stuff, it's your fishing line. This is what connects you to the fish. You know, you know, I used to, the kids fishing poles young and they come with some models, some four pound mono on it. First thing I would do is rip all that off immediately. And yeah, yeah, just pull that off. This is, you know, mass produced, cheap, whatever it comes on your Barbie pole, whatever the case is. So be it. But first thing dads.
Brian (45:11)
Or that's all they had, you know.
Yeah, that stuff just snaps.
Brian Bashore (45:40)
Mom's were just take that off. Go buy something else. Put it don't need the kids first city experience. Grant. Maybe they're catching bluegills or panfish, whatever it is, but don't let it break. then then they're getting frustrated because they got a mess all the
Brian (45:53)
Yeah. And then you're getting frustrated because you're cleaning that mess up.
Brian Bashore (45:55)
Yeah, yeah, just, know, you can go out and buy a small spool of something for less than 10 bucks, put it on there and you're going to be good. And the kids are going to have a better experience. You're going to have a better experience because you're not having to finagle with that stuff. So worth every dime. Yep. Yep. Exactly. You gotta keep them engaged and keep it fun. So, all right, Ryan, you're a busy man. I know you probably got 400 emails and phone calls to make today. we appreciate your time jumping on here. Anything.
Brian (46:03)
Yeah.
Yeah.
All about making it fun.
Hahaha
Absolutely.
Brian Bashore (46:25)
Anything to leave with the listeners? Any tips? Any fishing line tips we haven't covered?
Brian (46:30)
No, I mean, we covered a lot today. Be happy to join in again and, you know, talk about some new topics. You know, for the listeners, you know, they can check us out at Seaguard.com. We're also on social media, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at Fish Seaguard. So I'd encourage people to follow us there.
Brian Bashore (46:51)
All right, you heard it from the man himself. Nobody knows the line inside and out better than Mr. Brian Evans. So thanks for your time and thank all you for tuning in and listening to this episode of Real Talk Fishing and stay safe and we'll see you on the ice.