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I'm Brian Bashore, Professional walleye angler and owner of The Walleye Guys Guide service. I am here to reel you in with captivating stories, expert tips, and interviews with some of the biggest names in the fishing community. So, sit back, relax, and let the drag scream!
Brian Bashore (00:01)
Hey folks, thanks for tuning into another episode of Real Talk Fishing with No Limits brought to you by Seaguar. High performance braids and seven reels, seven seas, seven continents, seven days a week, seven decades in the making built by anglers for anglers from the makers of St. Croix rods, seven reels. Today we're going to head over and talk to some of the media guru guys. We're going to talk to one guy actually from Angling Buzz, Angler's Edge.
Linder media, you name it. These guys are involved with all of it. We're going to go talk to a good friend and fellow angler, Jeremy Smith. Jeremy is a multi-species guru. The guy knows everything there is to know about angling. No matter what you're chasing, crappie, musky, walleye, um, fishing in the U S or Canada, he gets around and you see him on TV quite often on the angling edge and, you know, all the lender media, uh, assets that are out there. I mean, they've got media everywhere.
talking, fishing all the time, pretty much seven days a week. So, with further ado, we're to go head over and talk to Mr. Jeremy Smith.
Brian Bashore (00:01)
Hey folks, thanks for tuning into another episode of Real Talk Fishing with No Limits. Today we're talking to Mr. Jeremy Smith. Many of you may know him from Linder's Angling Edge, Linder Media. He's been an icon in the outdoor industry for a long, long time. Not trying to age you there, but to see you got a little gray coming in on that beard like mine as well. So how we doing today, Jeremy? What's happening over there?
Jeremy Smith (00:19)
Yeah.
Doing great, man. Spring is in the air. It was fun talking offline here right before we started about the walleyes biting in South Dakota. I'll out there in about a month and the ice is starting to go here quick. It's getting real crumbly. so, yeah, spring is in the air, man. Picked up the boat last week, it all rigged up last week. And so I'm jacked to get on the water.
Brian Bashore (00:44)
You, uh, you probably don't, shouldn't wait a month. Just, need to go. mean, Mississippi river's not too far. obviously got the Missouri river, but the, the bite is on it's good. And we have a little cooler day, but I think the next couple of days we're talking 70 around here. And then, then we have a blizzard allegedly coming through part of, you know, North Dakota, South Dakota. I think it turns into rain, know, the time it hits Minnesota, but yeah, we, we need some rain. We needed some snow. We got some of their day, but it is all gone. So.
Jeremy Smith (00:48)
Yeah. No.
I hope it's rain. I'm ready for some spring rain.
Brian Bashore (01:14)
Sorry, it's a... No.
Jeremy Smith (01:14)
Yeah, no runoff really. It just kind
of went like we don't have snow cover anymore either and River the Mississippi goes right through town here and it does not look overly high for spring. So yeah, we could definitely need some more precepts.
Brian Bashore (01:27)
No, it's
good and bad, but it's crystal clear. So that could make things a little more challenging, which we'll get into some spring wildlife fishing here in a second. But first off, just go, let everybody kind of get to know you a little bit. Jeremy, what's your background? What you got going on over there? What's happening in Linder Media and so forth.
Jeremy Smith (01:32)
I mean, yeah.
Yeah, a little background. So I work for Linder media productions. We produce sport fishing content. So the crew here just loves multi-species fishing. So everything from cats and walleyes to muskies and pike and travel around the upper Midwest and Canada, making fishing content and then doing it for, with, with Linder's Zangling Edge almost 20 years now. So this is my 19th year with the company and
And we get to hang out every spring. do that Shields University training, go out there on behalf of St. Croix and Diyowa. that's kind of the first step. I'll maybe do a little fishing before that. But that's kind of the first like real fishing trip I do every year. it, you know, it always turns out to be fun. Of course we get to enjoy the lovely Dakota winds, it seems like every year, but it ends up being a good run no matter what. It's a good group of people.
Brian Bashore (02:32)
Yeah.
Yeah, that's Shields. Shields Fishing University is a second to none as far as teaching their, you know, their staff and guys how to, you know, how to get it done. Not just selling the products, but using them, putting them in their hand every day. I mean, the rods, the reels, the line, the electronics, I mean, and boats, even though Shields don't sell boats, these guys have now ridden in so many different boats. You know, they get a good feel for it. It's, it's pretty awesome.
Jeremy Smith (03:00)
Yeah, it's really, it's super cool. So what a great deal to get hands on like that. And it's a place where you can actually catch some fish too. So that's pretty cool.
Brian Bashore (03:08)
Yeah, that little tournament on the Thursday. I missed it last year. It was an year for the NWT. don't, when is it this year? It's probably the same weekend we're at Lake Sharp for the NWT is my guess. 20th there. Yep. That'd be the week we're at Lake Sharp for the NWT. So I'll miss it again.
Jeremy Smith (03:16)
Yeah, think it's whatever it is. It's the week after Easter, believe, something like that.
Okay. Yep. Yeah. You didn't miss anything on the tournament last year
was blown about 80 miles an hour and everybody was tucked in behind the riprap so they could stand in the boats. And it just seems like every year when that tournament happens, it's just the wind just embers us, you know?
Brian Bashore (03:31)
Yeah
Yeah, I think maybe
three years ago it was pretty nice out and that Crow Creek bite was good. But yeah, the last couple of just been brutally, brutally windy. Uh, it's been, been nice out there. March is, I like March more than April just because the weather seems more stable. We'll get some up and down as cold, but the winds are usually, we did have some fifties last week, but it's been, you know, I think 10 to 20, and I'm all expected like five to 10 and 10 to 20 is fine. Cause usually that's on.
Jeremy Smith (03:44)
Yeah.
Mm.
man.
Brian Bashore (04:01)
Usually I'd say it blows on the upper side of it, but lately it's on the lower side of it. But the way the river bends, you can always get out of it and there's fish everywhere. So.
Jeremy Smith (04:09)
That's so
cool. That's awesome, Yeah, what I'm always blown away about out there is when you look at that landscape coming from the Northwoods here where we're covered up in trees, it's like, yeah, it's starting to blow. Run up to that next bend and it's like, you're going and you're going and you're going and you're going and you're going. And then finally you hit the next bend. Like everything's way further away than you think.
Brian Bashore (04:29)
Yeah, it is. think it's about maybe 20 miles up to the dam from town, but yeah, it seems like you know, after you do it every day, it's pretty quick little little job, but then you're just like man, is it does it ever end? It's around a bend around a bend around a bend. You know, and it keeps going, but the fishing is is good and I haven't been able to get out on the Mississippi ever in the spring and I'm hoping to hear this year, but schedules getting pretty pretty busy for the Chamberlain guide bite so.
Jeremy Smith (04:34)
Yep.
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (04:58)
And we have a couple of tournaments coming up in April real fast, but, uh, so spring fishing. We'll talk some of that stuff. We're on that, that topic. What, uh, what, what's your favorite tactics? What's your go-to, where you like to go? Obviously, you know, Chamberlain area on the Missouri river. Um, what's your go-to method and kind of thoughts on spring fishing and finding and targeting walleye.
Jeremy Smith (05:20)
Yeah, so, you know, on the walleye side of things, I fish walleyes, obviously a fair bit, but not not hardcore like you. So, you know, the Rainy River was a place I used to spend tons and tons of time up there when I was when I was younger. And that's a super busy sounds like what you were experiencing at Chamberlain, where it's just boats, boats everywhere. But that can be a pretty sweet, sweet bite early. But, know, for me, a lot of times in the Northwoods here, we've got it's a time when a lot of people focus on panfishing. And I just love
spring crappie fishing, especially the way, you know, over the years, you've just learned so much more about panfish and fish in general. And obviously artificial is just being such a huge player, you know, growing up fishing a wax worm or a crappie minnow under a bobber. But there's a jerk bait bite that happens for crappies early in the season. And it kind of goes to about the time they spawn. into May, usually, and it is just awesome lights out. I mean, catching panfish, smashing jerk baits is really fun.
Brian Bashore (06:18)
Yeah, that would be fun.
Jeremy Smith (06:19)
Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. That'll be a really, really sweet deal for sure. So, and then, you know, then out there, you know, obviously what's cool about like that Missouri river bite is that, you know, you want to pull lead line, you can catch fish on lead line. And I know you're always pitching those flats, snapping plastics, or if you want to go chuck shad wraps at the bank or paddle tails at the bank or, know, ribbon worms, whatever, you know, whatever it just, it, just is.
So many different ways to catch them out there that it's super fun.
Brian Bashore (06:51)
Yeah, that's the best thing. You know, really, I think at this time of year, like on the Missouri river, having fish Mississippi in the early spring. And I know they're using blade baits and ripping wraps and three ways and you name it and it's, and it's working. mean, I think a lot of the pre-spawn walleye are just there. Whatever you put in their face most of time, if you can present it properly, it's usually speed. think I saw that angling edge had a deal on walleye speed the other day on fishing speeds, basically. And it's, I just preached this time of year is to slow it.
Jeremy Smith (07:10)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (07:21)
You can't, I mean, you really can't go too slow. You know, it's almost like ice fishing, but the good thing on the river is you can do whatever you want. You want to go pull the channel and pull lead. can pull flats. You can jig, you can drift, you can slip with the current. I even threw a slip bobber out yesterday while I was pitching just cause there was a much wind, a little curtain and they're a real finicky and it's clean water. So get that thing away from the boat and let it, let it, let it float down. And it didn't work, but I've caught them doing it whenever been.
Jeremy Smith (07:23)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hey.
Brian Bashore (07:49)
Got a finicky and it was actually a real windy day and I had it just spot locked. So I said, I'll just, I just threw two bobbers out the back and caught a ton of them. And it didn't take long for, you know, six more boats to come around you. And then them starting to dig out bobbers and rig up. Cause it was just, just what worked and what they wanted that, that day. But yeah, you get, can do it. You can fish every one. That's usually what makes a fishery. My favorite fishery like devil's lake or like Scott Cuy or like Francis case is where when you show up, you're not.
Jeremy Smith (08:07)
Yeah, man.
Brian Bashore (08:18)
You're not stuck in a one dimensional type deal, you know.
Jeremy Smith (08:22)
Yeah, that is, that is the best for sure. And, know, I like, I love casting and that's one of my favorite things to do out there is, just, I love, love throwing at the bank, you know, and just burning rip rap and those fish up shells. They can be super aggressive. And that, that to me is a super fun, fun deal. then, you know, in Minnesota here, we don't get to fish walleyes early, you know, other than river situations, but man, the last few years too, like when the, when the water opens up, you know,
I always tell people like hard baits are really good overlook presentation in cold water. know, so many people just think that it's cold water live bait, which of course is true, but it's also one of the best times to pull hard baits, know, or cast hard baits and, and, man, like running inside weed lines, like maybe one to six feet of water when the water is still cold. As soon as the openers up.
on our natural lakes throwing like a number 11 original floating rapids casting really an in or a like a three 16 sounds jig with a 2.8 inch paddle tail on it right at dark into the like the first after after dark. That is so fun, man. Like the big suckers show up and it is unbelievable how shallow it is. If you've got your headlamp on or you can see the lights in the boat. Like when you see the bite, like the water swirls a lot of time, like it's so shallow and you get, mean like
Brian Bashore (09:35)
Yep. You can see him.
Jeremy Smith (09:43)
We got a couple 30 inchers last year, know, in like two feet of water doing that. it's, gosh, is, it's like bass fishing for walleyes and that's so, so fun.
Brian Bashore (09:52)
So I love them. The shallow water wall. I see a wall. don't fight, you know, blah, blah. I'm like, you ever caught one in less than three foot of water? They fight, you know, a lot of times the glacial lakes up here, you hook it up and they're like, ah, it's another pike. I'm like, no, it's not. It's like a 24, 25 inch walleye. You know, they, they are aggressive and I've got a ton of them on those number nine, number 11 floating, you know, Rapala Shadraps and the early spring thrown on rocks thrown at night. ton of people will do that in Nebraska on the dams, obviously during the spawn.
Jeremy Smith (09:59)
Yeah.
Sure.
Brian Bashore (10:21)
You know, a lot of them don't go back into the post-spawn phase, but they're still not necessarily on the dams. But like you said, weed lines and, some of those levies and stuff like that, they still slide up there at night, you know, and feed and, like you said, your headlamp during spawn, you can be looking at it and you'll, you'll see them and you can see their eyes, you know, you know, and it's.
Jeremy Smith (10:38)
Yeah. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. And so many people like, like in Minnesota anyway, you know, it's trolling like, and I've done it forever too, but it's like, set up these trolling passes and you're dragging floaters and whatever. know, when you see, like to your point, when you see them with your eyes, like when the boat gets close, they just, they swim away and it's not that you don't catch fish flatlining at night like that, but those areas you're catching them flatlining, just cast them. I'm telling you, you're going to catch.
You'll catch more fish and it's a way funner way to do it than just pulling. And the other bait that's been really good too, they do this all the time on Green Bay and it works amazing over here too. Anywhere you've got sand and gravel. Is that Rippenrap man in the spring? There's really no wrong way to fish it, but a lot of times you're actually just jigging it, lift and drop with that bait and it's a, you know, they just powder it. It's a really cool, cool deal. So hard baits to me in the spring, it's a...
one those great opportunities where you get to bust out all those lures you've been collecting over the years. And yeah, and really.
Brian Bashore (11:42)
I
overlooked the rip and wrap so often. got a ton of them and I go to certain places, our green band, my gift, rip and wrap. then here I just, I just, I forget about it I don't use it. And I'll talk to a buddy's like, Oh yeah, I crushed them all down and rip and wraps. I'm like, such a fun bite. Like a jigger wrap bite, you know, that I go to certain fisheries or certain times of years I go to it, but I'm like, it, works. You know, about everywhere.
Jeremy Smith (12:01)
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (12:03)
You know, and theoretically about any time of year, there's obviously certain situations where it excels, but I just, I've seen people try to force it. I've had guys in my boat trying to force it cause they wanted it. And you know, I'm catching five or 10 fish and haven't caught one yet until they finally give it up. Like, that's just, that's just not the thing here. But you know, two weeks from now probably is, you know, type thing, cause it's a little more aggressive, but you're right. There's no, there's no nibbling or soft bite. There's no like jigging wraps. It's either they bite it or they don't.
Jeremy Smith (12:21)
Sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, right. Exactly. Exactly. So if you run into any white bass out there yet this spring, I've got to admit, probably people will be disappointed in me, but I love, I just love smashing white bass.
Brian Bashore (12:40)
I love those. Those things
are huge out there. I can see them, you know, I can tell where they're at, but they're in that same group that's not biting right now. I haven't gone probably into that three to four foot water is a little low. So it's kind of going from like eight feet to straight up to like three. But it went up maybe a look like about a foot yesterday or so. But it's.
Jeremy Smith (12:57)
yeah, yeah. Yep.
Do you see that
just a little later typically, like when you're getting the white bass, is that when the water gets into the upper 40s, 50s when the water...
Brian Bashore (13:08)
Yeah, they seemed
to haven't haven't caught any yet, but it seems like, you know, in that at least 40 and we're pushing 40 yesterday, but it's going to go up and down and it may be a week or two until it kind of stays in the 40s. But yeah, I say once we're into the 40s, then those things are going to start, you know, they're going, they're going good. And there is this massive pods of them they're all like 17 to 18 inch white bass that are, you know, two to three pounders and you can catch them on every cast and, nobody targets them. So.
Jeremy Smith (13:35)
Yeah, I remember Dan Johnson coming
back one year out there and he was, well, he was with you and he was just like lit up. Yeah, he caught walleyes, but he's like, dude, we just smashed the Magnum white bass. It was amazing.
Brian Bashore (13:47)
Yeah, they're great with their, there's some class that we might limit out on walleye quick. I'm like, when I target some of these and some are like, yeah, this is blasting. I've had some catch a couple and they're like, I'm good. I'm like, this is so fun. These things, I mean, you hook into it and zing, you know, it's one thing if they're like little 14 inches, but these are, these are big white bass.
Jeremy Smith (14:03)
Yeah,
they're big ass fish. Yeah, and they're just psychos too. just mine, mine, mine, mine, mine. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (14:06)
Totally. I could,
you see him on side image. I'm like, okay, there's a hundred of them. Just throw it over here. I mean, you'll, you'll go on rallies where it's, it's every cast, you know, to where you, put the net away and just start kind of trying to boat flip them. But I'm like, they're kind of big to boat flip. You need to reach down and at least pull it up with the line. And after a while, you're going to end up losing something because of it, but yeah, yeah, they are a blast. The other baits I like in the spring when you're talking, know, in a Chamberlain is the Shadrap. So, you know,
Jeremy Smith (14:17)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yep, yep.
Mm-hmm.
Brian Bashore (14:37)
I'm a Flickr Shad guy and I love all these, but early spring I'm going right to the Shad Wrap Box. You know, a little more subtle, the Valsibate. It just, seems like it excels so much more in that colder water.
Jeremy Smith (14:48)
Well, and to like, you know, like doing that shields training, like having some inexperienced anglers in the boat. They're not as experienced. Like when you're throwing at rip rap, it's tough with a jig to get the hang of it. Like you're getting, I mean, whatever I get snagged all the time still, you know, I mean, you try your best, but like once you get the hang of a shad rap, just reel down, tick, tick, pause, boom, boom, boom. And like it's, it does not snag all that often and fish smash it. You know, like it's a, I love, I love.
Brian Bashore (14:57)
No.
Jeremy Smith (15:18)
chucking Shad wraps at the bank out there. That's been a real, there was one a couple of years, a couple of years ago, it was like, it was like a chrome belly, pink head, chartreuse back. was, forget what the custom, one of those Shad wrap custom colors, one of the retailers had, and that thing was just fire out there. It was just amazing. And the size five, I don't know what it's like for you, but that size five always seems to be the go-to early in the season.
Brian Bashore (15:41)
Yep. That's exactly what I use the five. I'll maybe go seven or put one seven out if I'm trolling or something in a tournament, just to hope something big crushes it. But yeah, cast and the same with even the flicker sheds. like a six for casting just cause they work. You know, they're just, they just work better. So it, you know, you can cast them further, you don't necessarily better than a five, but you know, five shadow rep cast is good. You don't have to make, you're not making very long cast cause you're right up on that rip rap and then popping it and getting it straight down.
Jeremy Smith (15:47)
Sure.
Yep.
Brian Bashore (16:11)
Yeah, they just crush it and it's, it's kind of hard to beat. Pretty fun.
Jeremy Smith (16:14)
It's
really hard to beat. Yeah, man. Yep. For sure. For sure. For sure. So.
Brian Bashore (16:18)
What,
you guys obviously are fishing all over the country, targeting and all sorts of different species. know you love Jason knows muskies and obviously the pan fish. What, what kind of trends are you seeing not just in walleye fishing, but in just all kind of general fishing.
Jeremy Smith (16:35)
Well, I mean, the trends definitely seem to be, you know, FFS related stuff for sure. I mean, that's obviously the most talked about thing and fishing right now. I mean, aside from that, you know, to me, it's almost like that's just in a totally different category. I mean, when you look at, you know, all the stuff that you've got in your boat and all the lures you've collected, you know, while I specifically, it's like, now it's like slip-over leech, jigging half a crawler.
Brian Bashore (16:42)
Yeah.
Jeremy Smith (17:06)
or some type of a jig and a plastic middle that you can rock back and then a jig and wrap too, obviously. you know, the number of baits have gone way down just being able to target fish so precisely, you know, but I definitely think walleye fishing has gotten a lot more artificial friendly though, too, it seems like in recent years, you know, a lot more people are adopting like hair jigging and, you know, snap.
Jigging thin profile plastics is obviously a hot deal. And the jigging raft has just been dominating, dominating stuff. So, I, I think that's just great. And I love fishing walleyes that way, way more so than the old days of Lindy Reagan or, whatever, you know? So, but, yeah. And, know, just plastics trends, you know, even with, muskies, you know, obviously blades are number one thing, but you know, rubber just every year, it's just so hard to deny how.
good rubber baits are, know, whether it's you're throwing big ultra dogs or you're throwing 10 inch tubes or whatever you're you're chucking. it's you know, as fish get more and more conditioned, it just seems like plastic, you know, on the musky musky side of things. That's that's where it's going. So. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (18:17)
Do
you think they, I mean, there's definitely a lot more, you know, casting to all eyes and, and the plastics and a little bit less live bait going on. think that's just electronics or you think it's all the, mean, you can credit your guys, you'll lend a media ton and owl for bringing the jig and wrap from ice to open water. You know, really never been going, wow. You know, and that's a super fun bite, but you think it's just cause the
Jeremy Smith (18:43)
Yep.
Brian Bashore (18:45)
YouTube, all the, know, and the information you guys are putting out there, you think, or you just think it's just a new, obviously it's a new generation of anglers who are growing up seeing all that stuff. And they're not old timers like us, but we were used to soaking a crawler or leech, you know, or a cricket all day long, moving real slow.
Jeremy Smith (19:02)
Yeah, I mean that like the so the jigging rap thing to me seems like and you've got a lot more experience, probably while I fishing than I do. But, you know, like Leech Lake, for example, is a lake in our backyard. And like in a lot of these places in Minnesota where when that jigging rap came out, just like a lot of things like it's like a commercial fishing operation, like they just lose their mind for it. You just there's nothing that's even close to it. It just totally smashes. And it seems like that peaked. And now when those windows that's.
still can be exceptionally good, but it's not like going out in the boat with one rod and one lure. Like you're, you know, you need, need to be more diversified than that. It's like the fish do get tuned into it. And there has been like a resurgence in live bait, like the jig and half a night crawler, like that is really tough to beat. And not that it didn't always work, but with FFS and how precise you can be, you know, if you can make a cast on a, on a walleye and they're not like,
Brian Bashore (19:35)
All right.
Jeremy Smith (19:58)
totally negative, like you run a crawler over them and they eat it a lot of times. I mean, it's pretty deadly. So, and then the precision slip corking thing is super cool too with the leech and just so people understand what we're talking about here. So it's really the same slip bobber setup that you had for years, but maybe using a little bit larger cork, like a tungsten slip weight, and then a small tungsten
Brian Bashore (20:02)
Believe it. Yeah.
Jeremy Smith (20:28)
jig underneath that. And so the whole idea with this setup is that you can throw it a little further. It doesn't tumble as much having that tungsten on there. you're not, so you're not following nearly as much. And then just being able to be really precise and let that bait sit in front of them. And I'm sure you've seen this too, Brian, but this is kind of interesting. Like a slip bobber fisherman growing up, you'd think, you know, I remember going with my grandpa, like we'd anchor up.
Put the snap weight on, drop it down, set your depth to be this far off the bottom. like the walleyes now, if you're, if you were targeting them with FFS, they might be in 16 feet. They might be at 12 feet. They might be in 24 feet. Now it's like a lot of times just set your rig at 10 feet. And if you throw at one, you know, when you're accurate and it's nine feet above them, like they come up and get it. You know what I mean? It's not like you always have to be doing stuff. They just go nuts for it's just really hard for them.
Brian Bashore (21:19)
Yeah.
Jeremy Smith (21:24)
while I could deny a leech sitting there.
Brian Bashore (21:26)
Right. It is
that it was not a huge slip barber guy until, you know, I don't know how many it's been a few years back. It was a doubles Lake. We were just taking a little lunch break and catching a lot of fish. It's like, we're going to take a break, anchor up on old road bed, threw a couple of bobbers out to eat some sandwiches. Well, we couldn't eat our sandwiches because we couldn't keep the fish off the bobbers and every nice, you know, 18, 20 inch wall eyes. I'm like, okay, I'm hooked on this. This, this isn't just a kid thing where you click.
Jeremy Smith (21:48)
Yeah, man.
Brian Bashore (21:52)
Clip the bobber on and go. And now, like I said, I threw one out yesterday. There's one in the boat rigged up, ready to go all the time. I've been finding new places to implement them. it's good for, you know, guiding wise. can, if you have some kids, I can put the, you know, the, scope on the pole or I may, just look around most of them. don't even use the live scope and guiding, but I'll be like, they're, know, they're over there. Just throw it. As long as we're getting into, in the region, I know there's fish there and then they're just, I'm like, you can just watch it, you know, keeps it a little kid more entertained and.
You know, and focus when he got something to watch versus just holding that, waiting for the bite. And I'm like, when you don't see the bobber real down, just real down, you know, real fast as you can.
Jeremy Smith (22:25)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. It's super, it's super fun to watch the cork go down. It doesn't get old for sure. So yeah. Yeah. And the other thing too, with like the slip-obber thing, talked to people about a lot too, is drop shotting. You know, it's, basically the same thing except instead of fixing the depth from the surface, you're fixing the, you know, where you're positioning the bait from the bottom. and, we drop shot fish for walleyes a lot, whether it's
minnows, crawlers, leeches, whatever it is, especially if you're in sand, know, sand or mud, you know, obviously it doesn't work in super rocky conditions, but yeah, drop shot's another just super, super deadly way to catch walleyes.
Brian Bashore (23:07)
I think it's catching on. There's a drop shot tied up in my boat right now. And I did a ton of it in the fall and it just super effective even without the Ford facing sonar. But you know, with it, I'd make small, small pitches. And like I those fish feed up. So if you can keep, you know, while they're obviously predominantly, you know, tight to the bottom sometimes, you know, this time you're right now, they're just crawling, you know, tight to the bottom. But I keep it typically around a foot or so, but it's also on a slide, you know, and I'll maybe.
make that thing 18 inches and then just slide it up and down. But yeah, it works great. I love that. And I ruined that legend tournament, St. Croix's drop shot rod. And it makes it more fun because it's so, it's, it's handled so nice.
Jeremy Smith (23:45)
Yeah.
Yeah, and that tip
is just that the tip is so critical to that where you can just let it load up a little bit and then just all you have to do is reel and the fish is hosed, know, they're just screwed. So what are you fishing for walleyes? Are you fishing plastics much? Are you mostly live bait fishing when you're drop shotting?
Brian Bashore (23:54)
Yep.
both I run a lot of like a flat nose minnow, a Z man jerk shad. I'll run a lot of plastics and a lot of times like the jerk shed cause it floats. So it helps keep it up a little bit in the fall. I was putting a live minnow, you know, the biggest minnow I could find on there and then just kind of work and it back to the boat. Just real slow and occasionally give it a pop. But you're really just almost as kind of a slow drag when that water was down on the 40 degree temp.
Jeremy Smith (24:27)
Sure.
When it's cold, do you see that like artificial, you seen anything like where the artificials might perform better on the river versus lake environments or not necessarily?
Brian Bashore (24:43)
Yeah, I like them on the river. And then you got current. it's probably, you know, giving it that little extra wiggle. run a Tokyo rig a lot early in the spring too. which is basically like a baby bottom bouncer, you know, except you're a foot, you're two to three inches off the bottom. And that one, I always have a plastic on and I can, you can throw in a rod holder and just put it behind the boat and drag it and it, and they crush it, but I've had great luck pitching it. I should have ran one yesterday, probably, but just a gig a minute was.
Jeremy Smith (24:53)
no.
Mm-hmm
Brian Bashore (25:12)
so effective, didn't need to try anything. But when it's really good like that, that's when you need to experiment, play with other things. But then again, you get a false sense of like, this thing's awesome. It works. Well, it might've been a day they would have bid anything. you know how it is, but the Tokio rig's been good. And I do that a lot in the summer. and I usually I'll run that out the front when we're driftin' with current and we're fishing pretty shallow, like two to eight feet. And the Lewis Clark where I got them is their rivers are different.
Jeremy Smith (25:23)
Right. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (25:39)
versus the rest of the river it's a lot shallower we got some weeds and we got a lot of current so we just drifted but we drag Lindy rigs and jigs like eighth ounce jigs and a half crawler and you're basically just throwing everything out the back or if you sideways and you're just dragging it but I'll put that Tokyo rig with a gulp minnow or any kind of plastic and typically it'll catch bigger fish may not catch as many but when they're on it you know if they miss it they they keep coming back till they get it
and 90 % of time it's a bigger fish.
Jeremy Smith (26:07)
Yep.
That's cool. Yeah. And that's just, yeah, people don't know what a Tokyo rig is. It's basically picture of a hook that has a, a split ring on it and then a little wire shaft coming off that split ring and then another swivel on it. And you just slide a weight onto this wire shaft. you could fish, whatever eighth ounce and you can fish three ounces on it. If you want it, you can make it really heavy. And, yeah, we use it a lot in the fall for smallmouth bass fishing. You put like an ounce and a half on it and you're just
then when it hit the bottom, they need a slow crank. And like you're saying, that paddle tail just, you know, the sinker's cracking the bottom and then that paddle tail is just wagging. And it's like, it's just super versatile. It was designed for fish and punch and heavy cover, but the open water stuff, it's, it's amazing. We've shot pieces on Mille Lacs with that and other, other locations. It's just, it's really a good, that's a good call, Brian. That's an awesome presentation.
Brian Bashore (27:03)
I suppose put a crawdad looking thing on it and I'm relaxing and fishing on edges of them rocks and the smallies are probably just diving down on it.
Jeremy Smith (27:10)
Yes, mama and walleyes like
paddle tails for walleyes that walleyes smash that thing too. Like it's a good walleye, definitely a really good walleye bait.
Brian Bashore (27:18)
I
threw a Ned rig a ton last summer. And the plastic tour, I'd throw a crawler on it once while about a plastic, you know, whether it's a Z man or the Rapala's, can't think of the name of theirs. Yep. Yep. Yep. And then the Z man was the TRD, the third. And then I ran some of the Northland eye candies, but those, was for the phases. So it wasn't.
Jeremy Smith (27:22)
yeah, yep.
Crush City one, BLT, I think, is that what it is? Yep.
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (27:44)
very fair some days. It was pretty simple to, because it just stands there. It's, know, versus your crawler hanging and dangling. Now you got it this way and those fish are either, well, I basically see, you know, straight 45 up, but when they're on the bottom, see it, but you know, if they're, you know, they come down like this, so they see it and they would just, you just watch them lift it up off the bottom. just kind of let it load up and, and, and.
Jeremy Smith (28:02)
Yeah.
It is the
stupidest lure ever. And like the most awesome fish catching lure ever. You know what I mean? It just looks so like everything, man, like you catch some of the biggest crappies they get over the year on this. Some of the biggest bluegills show up on it and whatever you catch. walleyes, largemouth, smallmouth, like everything bites that stupid, stupid bait, you know, that it's, guess it's not stupid that that awesome bait, right?
Brian Bashore (28:14)
Yeah, catches everything.
Nope.
Yeah.
I mean, this is just a handful of bass baits that I think you've seen a more and more walleye guys using them. If they're not y'all need to be using them. So I run the VMC drop, you know, a drop shot, the VMC, Tokyo rig, and then, you know, some of those crushed cities or the, or the Z man TRDs for the, for the Ned rig stuff. And I think I got the VMC jig heads because they got a longer shaft on them. And yeah, that just seemed to.
Jeremy Smith (28:57)
Mm hmm. Yep. Like that
finesse half moon or are you fishing the actual Ned? Okay. Yep. Ned head jig. Yep.
Brian Bashore (29:02)
Nope, the actual Ned. Yup. But yeah, sometimes
they're hard to find with that longer shaft on them, but I like that. A little better just gets that hook up. And when you're running like a, I don't know what those are, probably four inch plastics on them, I think.
Jeremy Smith (29:16)
Sure. Yeah, man. Yep. Ned's super awesome deal on the artificial side of things. It's super cool. mean, that's one of the things I just love about fishing is that like, you know, it's a bass lure, you know, but it's like a walleye doesn't know it's a bass lure. Yeah, right. It's just these concepts in angling just carry over and yeah, it's cool.
Brian Bashore (29:31)
Right. Yeah, they don't care.
Well, every time you got the, you know, the bass comes to lacrosse or something to fish as a miss safety river. The guys are posting pictures of all these big walleyes they caught all week and are throwing lizards and all sorts of stuff up in the weeds and shallow. it's like, I've been telling everybody for years, this is where the walleye live.
Jeremy Smith (29:55)
Yeah, right. Yeah, I mean, it wasn't that long ago when I mean, I, you know, when I my 20s even, I didn't really think of walleyes as being like a fish in the weeds, you know, like, I think a lot of people just thought they were off the brakes, the points, rock piles. And, you know, the last 20 years, it's been like, holy man, how much time do you spend fishing walleyes and weeds like a lot, you know, they're in there.
but there's always walleyes
Brian Bashore (30:24)
Yep. Yeah.
Lewis and Clark were a guy that we had just zebra mussels have taken over, but it's made the fishing so much better because now the water is cleaner than it's ever been out of all the Missouri reservoirs. That one's by far the dirtiest. It's the smallest, but it's really the currents a lot faster because it's smaller. So it's coming through and it's just in and out of that Lake quick. But now the whole shoreline is there's miles of weeds, you know? And so the perch population has blown up and that's here. You're lucky to catch a couple.
Jeremy Smith (30:49)
Wow.
Brian Bashore (30:54)
perch a day randomly by walleye fishing. And now you can target them and you could, know, if you could probably go catch your 15, 20 perch and they're big, you're going to, yeah, they're like, they're going to be your 12, 13, you know, occasional 14 inch or, but you're going to average, you know, 10 to 12 inch perch all day long. you get on them.
Jeremy Smith (31:01)
They're big ones in there, huh? cool.
No way.
man.
Brian Bashore (31:11)
And then so all eyes are big. And then on that reservoir versus the rest of the Missouri river, the GFP just came out with study and said, they're growing the walleyes are hitting 15 inches in two years. So, yeah. So they said they're growing super fast. They're heavier, you know, at 24, 25 inches, you know, four or five years, and they're already that big. And he says they're growing most places. The rest of Francis case, cherry blends three years and are hitting that 15 inch mark. But he Luther Clark at three years, they're over 17, 17 and half inches.
Jeremy Smith (31:21)
wow, super productive. Yeah.
That's amazing.
Brian Bashore (31:41)
is they're just, growing fast, but, and the perch also, and they're like, you just huge, you know, personal, like it's zebra mussels. We've got weeds everywhere. So now we have a lot more bait insects and now you can just fish those weeds all summer long because they're full of wall and pike.
Jeremy Smith (31:56)
They don't leave. Yeah, that's cool. The habitat has changed so much in the last couple of decades. know, all the fisheries have just, the zebra mussels and the water clarity and the way weeds are grown in different spots. And, you know, it's just really dynamic shift and yeah, and the fish are utilizing all that, that weedy habitat too. So.
Brian Bashore (32:18)
Yeah.
People want to hate on the zebra mussels, but I, you won't ever hear me hate them too much. get it. There's, there's good and bad, but mother nature will do its thing. If they're not supposed to be there, they eventually won't be there. Something else will move in, you know, whatever the case.
Jeremy Smith (32:30)
Yeah, changes the, yeah,
it just changes the fishery, you know, for sure. yeah, yep. Yeah, man.
Brian Bashore (32:37)
So we hit on that forward facing sonar a little bit as obviously a trend. are your thoughts? Weren't you helping or doing some research with the DNR or we're in the loop on the Minnesota DNR doing some things with it, some studies.
Jeremy Smith (32:48)
Well, we did,
there was some crappy stuff we did. they just more so looking at Barrow trauma and some crappy lakes. then, you know, I don't know how many people are like, it's obviously a complicated topic. We had some meetings. I'm really into the musky thing, some meetings last, last week and, and, the musky anglers are really freaking out about it. Myself included, like, a 50 inch musky is not a Lewis and Clark.
15 inch walleye, right? It's a 30 year old fish and like they live in these open water environments and they're just incredibly easy to see with this technology. And when they live out there, they, I mean, they don't always bite, but a lot of times they, they like bite and they swallow baits and know, catch rates for a lot of people have doubled, even tripled or factors higher than that with these, you know, with these really big, big fish. And so a lot of us are going, Hey, like time out, like
Brian Bashore (33:16)
All right.
Jeremy Smith (33:42)
Minnesota musky population is probably a third of what it was 20 years ago, our stock fisheries have collapsed and now the only places left that are good fishing are native lakes. there's a lot of fish getting handled right now because of this technology. So I think it's worth anglers taking pause and saying, Hey, you know, maybe this idea of sharp shooting, really big ancient fish and handling them a whole lot is probably not going to be a good idea for them. Even though they're being released, you're seeing dead ones float out there.
And you just can't handle those fish that frequently. you know, I really enjoy fishing with forward facing sonar. It's an amazing tool you learn so much. know, it's one those complicated deals. Like, where do you draw the line? Like, I love walleye fishing with it. Like, you know, to your point, you see a pack of walleyes up there in the flat, you throw it to him, catch him. It like, was super cool. But maybe it's not the best thing to be targeting walleyes or muskies in 30 feet of water, you know.
at the same time, right? So you just have to be responsible with it. And I think each situation kind of has a you know, different way of looking at it.
Brian Bashore (34:48)
The musky tournament trailer over there was the first one's abandoned, if I recall right.
Jeremy Smith (34:52)
Yeah, they did. I, you know, I, I'm not for sure, but most of the muskie zinc tournaments, if not all of them, think we'll, we'll have banned it, you know, going forward and, and, the surveys from the muskie zinc clubs and, something that Josh Borowski did on, the muskie insider too. I mean, it seems like the vast majority of muskie anglers want some type of regulation on the technology for muskies. And I don't think anybody's calling it out.
or maybe I'm sure people are for other critters, but muskies are just really, really susceptible to that technology. all fish are different. We're in an era of like the unknown is now knowable, right? So it really changes things.
Brian Bashore (35:38)
It's starting to be around, you know, it obviously takes time for something new that's introduced to get the science and the research and studies done. And I think a lot of people just kind of started doing studies in the last year or two. it's been around five plus years already, but obviously this keeps evolving and getting better and word is out. So there's more and more people using it. And you've seen Bass, MLF, Bass, NPLF all make adjustments to their tournament series this year. the NPL went zero, no forward facing, so in RCC.
Jeremy Smith (36:06)
Yep.
Brian Bashore (36:08)
You know, there's like 10 or 15 of the Bassmaster guys that slid over there or they're doing both, you know, just cause they liked that. And then you have, think MLF, you can only use it for one of the three periods, you know, and you can see that. I mean, big time. It's like, if you watch the other day with Wheeler 40, 50 pounds, then boom, the next two periods are maybe 10 to 20 pounds, you know, without using it. So it clearly it makes catching fish a little bit easier in certain locations, you know.
Jeremy Smith (36:13)
Mm-hmm
One period, yep.
Yep. Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's fishing, right? So catch rates are variable and it depends on a number of things, but yeah, when it works, it's an unbelievable tool. You just can't argue with its effectiveness.
Brian Bashore (36:46)
It
and hard to hide the 50 inch musky from it. So it's, mean, that's, if you ask me that, that's, that's fishing, right? Is the hunt is the biggest challenge is finding the fish catching them. It isn't necessarily all that hard once you find them, right? It's, figuring out and then putting a pattern and everything together.
Jeremy Smith (36:50)
Yeah, it's really, really hard.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, we're just way more efficient now than we've ever been. And you know, you look at jumps in technology and obviously this is a huge one, but you know, maps, bigger outboards, boats, you know, I was talking to AFS a while ago about different technologies and fishing. so I talked to Al to kind of get his take on, you know, a career in fishing. And one of the points that he brought up that I thought was interesting, you know, most
people would say, GPS or, you'd assume maybe the green box is being these things, but he brought up, you know, when the bigger outboards and the bigger boats, like the Pro-V was introduced, he's like, man, we could safely now go out onto Erie. Like you could go out in the middle of Mille Lacs when it was windy. And before that we were just really limited to accessing big water. And he's like, when those boats came out and all of sudden we could access all these big water bodies. He's like, I, know, that was one of the biggest jumps in technology for
for me, and then obviously mapping. mean, that's just an unbelievably huge advancement. then, you now we've got, when you pair the suite map with side imaging and forward facing, like, holy smokes, you got a real good idea of what's happening around.
Brian Bashore (38:24)
Yeah, we've come a long ways right now is a good time. We'll take a quick commercial break brought to you by seven reels. And we'll be right back. Talk a little bit more about the advancements in electronics pause. All right. We'll dig back in some. Yeah. You were talking long enough that I could, saw my posted note. I'm like, all right, we squeeze that in quick. I was like, Hey, we're wrapping through stuff quick. I don't get it in. We'll be done. Well, this chit chat a little bit more about.
Jeremy Smith (38:36)
Way to go, you remembered your commercial break.
Yeah.
Brian Bashore (38:51)
All right, folks, we're back talking to Jeremy Smith with Angling Edge and Linder Media talking about electronics. Yeah. The advancement electronics boats, everything has come a long ways. And as I was telling you before we jumped on here, certain like Chamberlain of this time of year, like Francis Case and Mille Lacs, there's target rich environments where I I don't even use the Ford Facing Sonar because you just, you really don't need it. You know, I can find them on side images. The one thing I always say that if I, if I have one electronic in my boat, it's my side image.
Jeremy Smith (39:15)
Mm-hmm.
Brian Bashore (39:22)
I mean, besides mapping, suppose, if I don't have mapping, I'm going to run into something. I'm not going to go very far at all, but, know, give me the side image. don't use 2D a whole lot, you know, unless you're out on a great lakes or, you know, trolling deeper. mean, I still it's side images. It's, it's never turned off in my boat period. But then there was days like yesterday where the fishing was, wasn't good. And it could have just been a matter of the timing or whatever the case is. But I find them with the side image and went out. I'll just play with the scope a little bit. And then it was an absolute.
Jeremy Smith (39:25)
Yeah, right. Right.
Yep. Yep.
Brian Bashore (39:51)
hurting and then was I scoped every fish You know and it was like this is fun I'm just gonna keep doing this cuz this is fun But it was there's so many I wouldn't have caught Without it because I got him you worked him like right to the boat like you would have reeled up and made another cast But instead I let it sit, you know I'm like he's coming and you know, I had one the last one I caught it They bit me five times in a fifth bite I got him and I have it all on video and I was like damn it Damn it. You know, I see him
Jeremy Smith (39:54)
Sure, yeah.
Yep, you can see there is one.
No way.
That's cool.
Brian Bashore (40:19)
And he kind of loaded it up and I'm letting them have it. And then I'd feel him let go of it. I even added a stinger hook and then I was like, really? Four times. I missed this thing four times. He never was just committed enough to where I was ready to set the hook. And then I slid it over to this side, troller motor, about to bring it up and fifth time. He, then he choked it down good. And it was like a 17, 18 inch walleye. But yeah, I'm like really five times that that thing bit me on that one retrieve. I had one, got halfway up, watched it come off.
Jeremy Smith (40:39)
Perfect, that's what you want to catch, man. I love those.
That's
Brian Bashore (40:49)
And this is what I put a stinger hook on after this and I, and it didn't take the middle. threw it back there real quick and watched him go right back to it. Yup. He chased it and he bit it one time and not very good. I didn't get him, but he, followed it and he went right back to it after he just let it go. And I mean, he had to be hooked. mean, it pulled dragon that it just came out and he followed it down, picked it up again, but just kind of by the tail. Not enough. then, then he was like, nah, this guy learned me once I'm out.
Jeremy Smith (40:58)
No way. Isn't that cool?
Brian Bashore (41:19)
I'm good.
Jeremy Smith (41:19)
Yep.
So do you, when you're, how often are you fishing minnows out there compared to artificials and like, when do you switch to, to crawlers on the, on the Missouri?
Brian Bashore (41:31)
Uh, I usually go with artificials and minnows. I prefer to just throw artificials often as possible, especially if I'm guiding just so I don't, I'll give the clients minnows unless they're going to cast a ton. Um, but we'll mix it up and to see what they want, you know, what's working best that day. almost always will have an artificial just so I don't have to bait myself if I get it, if I get a fish, but crawlers, usually look at about when it hits 50 degrees. No water hits 50. I'm done with the minnows and it's all crawlers. And then I usually don't touch minnows again until like September.
Jeremy Smith (41:47)
Mm-hmm.
Okay, yep.
Brian Bashore (42:01)
which I should probably be using minnows throughout the summer because they're still eating them. I just don't. just, the crawler bites so good and, but I hate crawlers. They're such a mess. So.
Jeremy Smith (42:06)
Yep.
Yeah, super, super messy for the art. Are you fishing like just middle profiles or paddle tails or both? Or do you have like a.
Brian Bashore (42:18)
in early spring, anything that's buoyant. a gulp or a Z man, anything that floats just to help slow it down. Right now I got the Z man jerk shed is on a legend extreme rod and that never comes off. It's on there all year long, no matter what, there's always one on there. And you know, right now I put a little, little scent on it because I think that scent helps a lot in the cold, cold water. but.
Jeremy Smith (42:24)
Okay, yep.
Mm-hmm.
Brian Bashore (42:44)
Yeah, paddle tails. If the water is a little dirtier, I'll go with the paddle tails. don't, I use this kind of a mineral profile, the split tail or, you know, a straight type tail in the spring. Um, as it warms up, I'll go to a paddle tail or even, and, and there's no reason not to have one now paddle tails. It catches up fine, but the water is so clean. I'm like, I just don't think I need it. So, but I know at Lake Sharp, I've had good luck using the paddle tails up there versus the other ones. So, but there's little.
Jeremy Smith (43:05)
Sure.
Brian Bashore (43:12)
Fishing closer to the dam, there's a little more current, so that thing's really getting a lot of vibration. But it just bends. But a ripple shad's a really good one. There's just so many plastics out there. I have a whole front right hand side of the boat is all plastics. there's just too many to choose sometimes.
Jeremy Smith (43:29)
Yeah, exactly. So yeah, there's a zillion options. So yeah, but it's, and it's tough to beat a minnow, you know, if you've got other, if you can experiment and see obviously if they're biting, you don't want to be messing with minnows, but man, sometimes it's walleyes. Like to your point, like biting it five times. It's just amazing how they can, they can just vacuum in a big swim bait or whatever else, and then just hold onto a minnow and you're just watching the tip of your rod, just load, load, load, load. You know, if you pull, you're not going to get them.
Brian Bashore (43:32)
Yeah, there's too many.
Yep.
Jeremy Smith (43:58)
affirmative.
Brian Bashore (43:59)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yesterday they were biting good. The first fish of the day was like a 19 and half inch walleye on a plastic. Um, and then it, then I didn't get any more. And then I went to minnows in the afternoon and I started, I was getting them good. So was right before I left them like, I'm going to throw my plastic again. First cast had one lost it halfway in and scope and I threw like four or five more and they never, they never touched it. I'm like, every one of those, I threw that minnow at, they followed it in and they were starting to get.
Jeremy Smith (44:21)
Jeez, hon.
Brian Bashore (44:26)
you know, a little bit more aggressive, but I'm like, oh, yesterday was a minute of a day. So, but I do it just, tend to get bigger fish on the plastics, but I'm bigger profile. I mean, they're, you know, three, three and a half inches versus a, two to three inch minnow. But granted, you know, in the summertime, my biggest walleyes always come on a two inch piece of night crawler. So.
Jeremy Smith (44:30)
Yep.
Sure. Yep.
Right.
Yep. Yep. Fish like worms. always tell people that. Fish like worms. Yep. Yep. Yep. So.
Brian Bashore (44:51)
They do it. It's hard to be hard to be the worm. So
what's, so what's new with what can people that are watching can expect angling edge. guys are putting out stuff like crazy. And I've been in Canada a lot, doing a bunch of things up there. what's coming up for the next deal this season? what other information on lender media? You guys still do an angling buzz part of it. Target walleye and, angle.
Jeremy Smith (45:16)
Yeah. So,
we're still like, you're jumping on our shows are still on TV right now, but then we're, we're also releasing shows still on, on YouTube. So that's definitely worth checking out. And so that like the Angling Ed shows, we, we film a year in advance. So that's all the stuff that we, we shot last year. So we're dropping a new show every week on, our YouTube channel. And then we're going to kick off Angling Buzz again.
What is it? May? I think it's May 3rd is when we're kicking that off again. And that's a lot more local. And we're going to mix that, that show up a little bit this year. It's going to have a little bit different style and feel to it. we'll have a version that's a lot longer. So there'll be opportunity for more conversation like this within the program on our, on our YouTube channel. So I think it'll be a nice little, nice little, change of the, of the way the, the style of the show is. then, yeah, we're starting to plan for.
summertime and yeah, you mentioned Canada and that's like my favorite place in the world to fish. And I think a lot of people here like it too. So we'll get some, some trips lined up up there and we spend a lot of time. it's sunset country, Ontario. So just basically north of the Minnesota, Minnesota border here. So that lake of the woods, rainy lake, Eagle Lake, Lac Seuil up the 105 towards, you know, the English river and that stuff. spend quite a bit of time up there and then we'll venture into Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
as well. and, I obviously love fishing wherever, but it's like a lot. Most of the trips for me usually start at the end of June into Canada. So you're all fired up around about fishing in Minnesota or the Dakotas or wherever. And, then you make your first trip up there. And for whatever reason, it's just not as exciting to fish, fish around, around home anymore. Even though people where I live, it's like a destination to go fishing, but once you're there, you're like, yeah, yeah. So I just got back from really good fishing.
Brian Bashore (46:54)
Alright.
Right.
Alright.
Yeah, you're...
Jeremy Smith (47:11)
There's
so many amazing places up there.
Brian Bashore (47:14)
You got us foiled where you live. I mean, so am I just an hour or a couple hours from the river and, we don't have a season. And I don't know if I can live in a state that had a season. I guess I lived over there. I'd be on the, on the Mississippi, but you know, Iowa and Chamberlain area right now, there's a ton of Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota, you know, boats, cause they can't, can't fish.
Jeremy Smith (47:33)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we've got border waters here and that's it. So basically the rainy and like you said, the Mississippi, you know, twin cities and south. like Mississippi goes right through. It's a, I'm sitting a mile from it right now, but, it's, it's not considered the open, open season there. So you gotta get, gotta get into the border waters for that, for that to be a deal. But, but yeah, it is, it is tough. I think a lot of people are questioning why we can't fish for bass or.
pike or, you know, we're just limited to fishing, crappies and sunnies basically, or, or rough fish in Minnesota. So it does push anglers to other, other States, you know, a few years ago, Wisconsin opened their bass season and, we started going over there and then for years we've always gone, as soon as the ice goes out, gone to, Northeast South Dakota to, to, to bass fish out there. I mean, there's great large mouth and small mouth fishing out there. And we've obviously got exceptional bass fishing here and whatever Minnesota just
decides to keep the season closed until they start spawning and then they open it up for harvest. that's the.
Brian Bashore (48:36)
Right.
Some things we'll just never understand. they just, but.
Jeremy Smith (48:40)
Yeah, right. So yeah, there's
just some of those old laws that are just traditional that should definitely be, and I do believe they're looking at it. Hopefully they change that up to give us some anglers more opportunity for sure.
Brian Bashore (48:52)
Which is that mean that's why they close the ride to protect the wall I spawn. And so it doesn't, I mean, I was the same way. think it's the first week into may or may 1st or something like that is when it usually opens. I think people are getting just brighter. mean, you're going to see them if you're traveling long ways and like right now you'll see people posting these stringers of all these, you know, pre-spawn females out of Francis case, but there's a lot of fish. The place is very, very healthy.
Jeremy Smith (49:00)
Sure. Yep.
Brian Bashore (49:19)
If you go to YouTube, South Dakota game fish parks as a study, they just did, or they, you know, they do them every year, but they put it on YouTube this year, the meetings and the catch rates were way lower than you would have thought. They did kind of a guess how many fish were taken out of there. I'm like, that's it. I mean, cause you figure, I mean, there are millions of fish. And I think the catch numbers were tens to maybe tens of tens of thousands, you know, and I'm like, that's not even a dent in it. So.
Jeremy Smith (49:30)
Really?
Really?
There's a lot of fish out there, but I mean, you see what it is. mean, you kind of get what you get out of it, what you put into it. I mean, you're out there a lot more than I am, but you see plenty of people just drifting haphazardly and not catching much. And obviously you fine tune a couple of things and you're catching lots, but there's a lot of rods that aren't bent out there too.
Brian Bashore (50:03)
No,
it was in a lot of that the last couple of days, but then you'll see like Adam's guide service who has a ton of boats and they're crushing them, but you're not seeing all of them. only seeing the ones that caught them. You're not seeing the, you know, the guys that didn't and we've all been there and we just some days don't. And it's been a little, little tough until you kind of get it figured out. I had plenty of those boats around yesterday and they look at you when I'm flipping in 18s and throwing them back. So I'm not keeping any, I'm just out here to have some fun and catching fish. And I hardly ever keep any.
Jeremy Smith (50:28)
Sure.
Brian Bashore (50:30)
And they're just like, man, he drove four hours. That guy's just throw, he just threw back eight fish. You know, and we haven't got a limit. We've got one all day and you're like, pay attention, you know, to what the guy's doing and mimic it. Maybe you'll, you'll start kind of putting it. did see an older couple that, the gal started casting and the old man started grabbing the net. Cause she, she, she paid attention. She caught on and all that she kept saying was get the net he's in the front. And he'd like,
Jeremy Smith (50:34)
Yeah.
Yeah.
yeah.
Brian Bashore (50:58)
Okay. He can run it in the back and they did have a double at one time. I think they probably got their limit there, but they just kind of watched and went, let's do it. That guy's doing, you know, and it worked out for him. So I always say that in our last podcast, we talked about that a little bit with some, whoever else was on there, just being observant. What's going on around you? What are other people doing? I don't like the crowds, but it's a good way to know if the fish are biting or not. Typically there's 50 boats there and there's no nets flying.
Jeremy Smith (51:07)
Yep.
Brian Bashore (51:24)
It's probably a good reason. So that probably not a great place to fish, but you know, paying attention to the, you know, the big thing right now and, and, and spring is huge is, is the water clarity and the water temperature, you know, whether or not the Missouri or the Mississippi, because the runoff can get it dirty and get too dirty. can be too clean. You know.
Jeremy Smith (51:24)
Yeah, you're right.
Yep. Yeah.
I always tell people like the best tool that you've got on your boat in the spring is the thermometer. Like all those things are great, but man, you go find, you find those temperature gradients, just a few degrees difference. And they're just fish, every kind of fish, everything close to warm water, you know? So, yep.
Brian Bashore (52:00)
Yeah.
One to two degrees makes a huge difference in the spring and you'll know it when they're side image and you roll in there and go, wow. Like you fish up further up the river near the dam. And I I'll pick up a lot of fish on side image, but I can sit up on the front of the bow and I'll look down cause I can see 15 feet. I'm like, those are carp. You know, I'm like, I don't, can just look and I'm like, there's no, cause you could see that white tip of that wall. I tell pretty good. Ain't if it's just a quick flash out of the way.
Jeremy Smith (52:03)
Hmm?
Sure.
Brian Bashore (52:26)
I've looked around like, there's this betta paddle fish. That's those are all carp. There's a little school of carp and like, yeah, I'm out of here. It's too clean. There's probably some walleye around, but you know, they're, they're going to be right to where I can't see the bottom, you know, where most of those are hanging out. So yeah. Yep. Your eyes are, are they don't, they don't lie electronics don't lie, but your eyes really don't either. So is it some good polarized sunglasses? All right. Well, let's wrap this up. Jeremy, no, you got to.
Jeremy Smith (52:39)
Yep. Sure. Yep.
Yeah, they don't, right? Yup. Pay attention. Yeah.
Brian Bashore (52:54)
Busy schedule and a lot of your plate over there. You guys are just putting out content like crazy So people check them out over at Angling Edge If you haven't signed up for the target walleye go over there get signed up for that They're just they're everywhere. These guys are the the icons and the walleye and just a fishing world I grew up on in Fisherman TV in the magazine when back when Alan Ron had it and just Loved it because the only one that got into the science of it and you guys still do that you get into the details on on the why
Jeremy Smith (53:20)
Mm-hmm.
Brian Bashore (53:24)
You know, probably more than any other fishing show out there. Most of them are just, just catching some fish, but it's no, we're catching them here now because of this, you know, this is why, or this is the fish's behavior and this type of temperature or situation or season or whatever it is. And, that, you guys are still bringing that, you know, to the table, which makes you basically stand way above, you know, everybody else.
Jeremy Smith (53:48)
We'll appreciate that.
And yeah, I grew up watching, watching the, watching those guys too. And, and there's a collection of the old in Fisherman magazines. It used to be in my office here. and man, you open one of those things and like your day is shot. You'll just be like, you know, they're just so cool. Just, just masterpieces from back in the day and way ahead of way ahead of their time. So yeah.
Brian Bashore (54:04)
Right.
Yeah, it is words. It's not
just identity with photos. There's words. There are article after article after article. It's not full ads and just full page pictures like you're going to get nowadays because you got to generate the revenue for it somehow. But now that nobody reads, right? It doesn't work out as well. So leave our anglers with one little nugget, something that you think will help them with their angling journey as they move forward.
Jeremy Smith (54:17)
Yeah.
Yeah, Right. Yeah, just watch videos. Yep.
Well,
yeah, I mean, I just think we hit on this in the conversation is just, you know, try something new and like when fishing is good, that's when you try something new. Like most anglers always try something different when the fish aren't biting. Maybe it's because there are whatever, let's face it. There's days when fish are just harder to catch than others, but when they're biting and you know, they're biting that is the best time to break out new stuff and gain confidence in different presentations. And it's just going to make you a better angler. So when you've got peak period stuff's happening.
That's when you try something new.
Brian Bashore (55:08)
Yep, that gives you the confidence that is the that's the ticket right there pretty much right if you don't think it's gonna work it won't work, but if you believe it'll work Just might
Jeremy Smith (55:17)
Yep, yeah man. Well, I appreciate you having me, Brian. This is fun. I'll see you, uh, yeah, in the last month, probably.
Brian Bashore (55:22)
Yeah, I will, we'll probably
be at the NWT, but I don't know, maybe I'll swing down and we're not going to be far away. And, and, hopefully this don't need a whole lot of practice for that tournament. That never, never, never works out that way. But I imagine there may be a wind day or something like that, you know, somewhere in there in that process.
Jeremy Smith (55:32)
just wail on them, just walk in and take the count, yeah.
Jeremy Smith (55:59)
Yeah, outdoor channel,Yeah, jump on our website, anglingedge.com. You'll find where it's at.
Sure, yeah man.
Brian Bashore (55:41)
All right. Thanks, Jeremy. Thanks for, giving us some time today and thank all you for following along. ahead over there. Social media pages, target Anglin edge, let her meet and follow along. Stay up to date. Check them out on YouTube and watch the show on TV, wherever that that airs on all the time. I've been several different networks, outdoor channel. All right. You'll find it. All right. Sounds good. And thank all you. So stay safe and we'll see you on the water.