Co-Anglers Insight

Co-Anglers traveling the National Walleye Tour share some insight and tips to help out other Co's.

What is Reel Talk Fishing | With No Limits?

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 (00:06.99)
Hey folks, thanks for tuning into this episode of Real Talk Fishing with No Limits. We're coming at you live. Where are we at? Oconto. Oconto, Wisconsin, Green Bay. It's been such a fun week. Well, we are live. We're not live live. Okay. Barely.

Yeah, so we're going to do something a little different this time. We'll touch base just a little bit or we're at preference the Red Wing Tournament last stop and dig into Green Bay and what's going on here or lack of what's going on here more or less. And then...

Bring these guys into the fold, some new faces you haven't seen. The co -anglers give you the little co -angler side point of view on their experiences, good or bad. I'm sure they're all excellent. And get a little feedback from them and let you know for, I get a lot of questions, a lot of co's out there. Did one podcast kind of explaining some things and then you can kind of hear from these guys' mouths directly. What to expect, what you're getting into, how fun it is, how fun it isn't, whatever the case may be.

Yeah, we're going to break that down. So Redwing, Randy. Yeah. another tournament that probably didn't go the way we wanted it to go. That's a really good year. Pre -fish was, was good. I think we talked about it last time. We had a lot of confidence. I mean, the biggest factor with the Redwing tournament was, I guess we call it Redwing, but we were out of pool three. So I guess Mississippi rivers.

was the four fish limit. That was just tough. You can only keep four fish waiting the four and then between dealing with that and a slot limit you can only have one over 20 inches. Just made decision make it real tough. I know

Brian Bashore (02:08.718)
A lot of people didn't keep the right fish and kicked themselves. Should have kept this fish, but you just don't know. Yeah. And you. So me big time. Threw the overback. They would have thought a lot of guys would have brought in three because they didn't get their over. A lot of guys brought in three and they all had their overs. They just threw back hunters.

100, night under 20s too early, including me. And then that might kind of stop, but getting the over seemed to be fairly easy, but you really needed an eight, nine pound over to be up there. But you threw back a 22 inch or something. That was day two, day one. I got okay unders, like just maybe just shy of 19s. And then I don't remember what my fourth fish was. I think my fourth fish was.

Like a 20, 21 incher. I think it was an over 21 incher. It wasn't one that I tell them about. Yeah. I gave up some fishing time, but you just, it wasn't big enough to have a good weight, but you just don't know. Is it worth throwing it back for more fishing time or you just take it and go in? I decided to take it because I just, I didn't know. day two is when I really screwed up. We had a big storm blowing real bad. I mean, it was.

terrible wind and rain and we then there was a barge in the lock so everyone had to wait so i decided to go into pool three where i caught some fish and got on them right away in the storm it was like an 18 and i kept two 17 and a half second i need a big fish to get back into this well we finally get through the lock into pool four

My first fish is 19 and seven days. And it was like, you can't keep that now. So then my next fish was 19 and a half. Next fish was 19 and I was pretty disgusted by that. then we caught a 22 and that ain't big enough when he only got 18s and 17s. So my day two was not good on as far as my weight.

Brian Bashore (04:20.75)
I did. But I thought I needed a big fish no matter what. I don't want to focus on the unders. We had a couple of good spots that had good fish and had a lot of 19s, but day one they weren't going. I noticed the rollers weren't down when we got to the block and then that made that point dirty.

and it must have opened up later today and then cleaned up. So I went back in the afternoon and popped a 27 inch and went for it. So my day two did not really represent how well I was on. I got more 19s. I ended up keeping a 19 at the end of the day because I didn't have much time left. So yeah, it was tough. I didn't get any 19s there, but I got a 24 and 17 left. I went and got a few 18 and a halfs to go with it. So. But.

It was alright, moved up a lot of points, made some more points, just plain catch up from Erie still. Needed a pretty good tournament here. We all need a good tournament here. But we're in Green Bay and to say the least, fishing sucks. Most guys you hear in interviews and stuff from NWT and they've caught one fish, three fish, or five or eleven.

Maybe not the right type of tournament great fish. There's a massive influx of hell -wives in the system. There's bug hatches. Weather is not necessarily stable. Wind's changing directions. Water's warming up, but still only in upper 60s, very low 70s. And so the fish are moving all over from their shallow spring, moving into their summertime transition spots.

The reality is it's just bait. There's so much bait in the system, they don't need to eat. And the sheepheader gets going nuts, which I don't get they need to eat because they're spawning apparently. And it's tough to keep them off your line as well as the white perch and everything else. So it'll be an interesting tournament here. It starts tomorrow and we've got some fish and decent fish, five, six pounders.

Brian Bashore (06:18.414)
That's not going to win it. A lot of guys are going big beta knock, right? That's what it's called, which is about 80, 90 miles.

Yeah, we're not on that. We definitely know thanks are big fish there. And if you can get on them, then good for you and you're going to do well. But it's still gamble because you have very limited fishing time when you got to make that run. It looks like the weather is permitting that to happen because it's not bad little rain, but, you know, pretty bare flight and variable winds, five to 10 and even less on Friday. So we'll see where that lands. It's going to be tough. The whole goal there is to catch a fish to not.

to get the points. You catch zero both days, you have zero points and you can drop from being in the top 10 -20 to completely out and out of the championship. You're not going to make that up unless you win. Then you have to win to be in the championship. Goals to catch one? One fish in two days, which sounds easy. The limit's only three for a tournament rule and some other stuff.

which was kind of like, that sucks. But now it's like, good, because that's a challenge. So we'll see. We'll see where it goes. I think we've got a couple of good little programs going, but the fish you have to bite and full moon and a bunch of things working against you, really about everything you can think of besides the weather. I mean, we've got decent days to fish. We'll see what happens, but I'm going to put a lot of money on scoping is going to be where it's at. But got some fish crawling and that is a.

plan B and maybe plan A. So, gotta hit him in the face sometimes to get another reaction bite. Anything on Green Bay? This is, I guess, a good note, this is the worst pre -fish I've had in 12 seasons by far. Yeah, right? I mean, it's a struggle. Pretty much, it's not good.

Brian Bashore (08:10.926)
other several approach that live here have caught one fish so it's that bad I don't just thought it sucked real bad for a while there I was no we don't suck that that bad the fishing sucks but that is just what it is and I kind of like a tough bite sometimes we definitely got a tough bite so if you get a little something figured out it gives a little more confidence but this isn't a tough bite it's a non -existent bite more or less but like always someone's gonna find them someone's gonna figure out how to get those fish to eat when they don't want to eat.

and bringing some good bags it probably still take maybe not the upper 40s like we thought maybe down in the 30s or 40s in two days it's very tough to get a two day total you know two good days in a row sometimes up here these fish move a lot so that'll be the challenge but to the coangler side more exciting stuff because you hear me talk all the time we got Jim Wood, John Wessel, Greg Zanger, Adam Baldley.

These guys are just the ringers. So here, that's the log in. Yeah. I'm just leaning in it so they can hear on the mic here and slide over. Greg's been doing this the longest. They're all pretty new. Jim got into one last year. It's tough as a coanger to get in now. Right. So you basically all went, okay, we've tried this last year. Greg got into two of them. so you better sign up immediately when that 7 a that morning and you need to sign up for all four.

And hope that it's enough to get you in. it sounds like there was a lot, but I think every tournament there's still been guys that signed up for one that got in that tournament. but you better answer that number when it calls that you don't recognize because that was your chance. They're just going down the list of the next person. So you got an Omega, you got an Omega in Francis Case last year. No, Spring Valley. Spring Valley. Correct. And Francis Case. Cause he had that awesome pro day one. Yeah.

This is your guys' first year and your third tournament. So you've been doing it the longest. What do you see from last year to this year? To me, it was just the experience. For one thing, I...

Brian Bashore (10:18.862)
There's been some rule changes, not necessarily from the code perspective, but obviously how the pros are going to approach today has maybe changed a little bit on kind of whether it's no -call events, call events, or one -man limits and stuff like that. So from last year to this year, it's been under the same group of people. So it's been pretty consistent. I don't have experience before that on how it was run or what it looked like from the code perspective, but pretty similar year to year.

I think the pros approach it a little differently with some of the rule changes on, you know, one man limit and the party fishing stuff that kind of change. So that's probably one of the most interesting things is the listening to the pros talk about the different rule changes and also the limits, how the limits change. I didn't realize before starting this that limits change as tournament rules come out versus what the state rules are.

Yeah, I do not realize that. Tournament rules can be whatever that is can't obviously deviate from the state rules. They can be stricter in a sense. And that's what we've done with things this year. So I meant the gray area. We had some issues with gray areas last year and we have been running pretty clean. Pretty good this year.

We got three fish thing here, we had four and whatever. Here he was firing, you could call five fish and then we would do a cock wheel ass with a five fish webbing, which would typically be a eight or nine, five fish per person, but we didn't do no slot, 15 inches and up, so. So, new guys, it's all new for ya. Jumpin' in, good badge that suck, this is fun. I regret this.

loving it, learning stuff. He's the one, anybody. I love it, man. I think it's a ton of fun. You know, it's cool when you go into some of these tournaments and, you know, like this one's going to be a classic example, right, of somebody posts huge bag and on day one, maybe they get them on day two, maybe they don't. I mean, it's still going to take a good amount of weight, I think, you know, to win it. Like we're all thinking up in that 40 pound, maybe over range. And, you know, when you're on the outside looking in, you just assume like it was just a slaughter fest, you know. But I think that it could be a

Brian Bashore (12:31.68)
a real grinder to get those and catching six fish and you got to approach fishing completely different you know when you're fishing tournaments that maybe you have in the past you know you're not running out just to just to bend the rod you're looking for the right fish and it might be one bite every few hours but it's been it's been a great learning experience you know Erie was fun that place is

walleye factory. There was walleyes everywhere. I've never seen a graph light up like that, like when you're driving across Erie. You know, Red Wing was really fun. It totally, totally changed your pace. And it's been, it's been fun to pre -fish. And honestly, the biggest learning experience for me is pre -fish with you guys. And then as a co, you then obviously get randomly assigned to two different pros during the tournament. So you really get the chance to see three or four different programs throughout the week.

maybe more, you know, when Sammy and Ted were here. But it's cool to be able to watch different pros thought processes and to really learn from that on how they approach each tournament and the specific rules in that tournament and approach each day in those tournaments. We're at a lack of thought process right now. I don't know what to think right now. I don't know. Just for a...

clarification of jobs optimism he's fourth in anger of the year points right now so it's been a pretty good run. It's easy to stay excited right?

What do you think, Adam? Yeah, it's awesome. I was one that when the registration went in, I was a little bit late, so I was right on the cuff if I was really getting in. And I committed to Ted that I was going to travel with him. So I'm sitting there like, what do I do now? Do I bail on him? And I'm like, heck with it. I'm going to fish with some of the best people there are out there. He bells on you, so it's okay. Yeah, that's wild. We're throwing a Ted on the bus because he's not here. Yeah, but it's even with not knowing if I was going to get in, I was still going to travel with you guys just for the weekend.

Brian Bashore (14:26.528)
fishing and just chill out on tournament days. I sent a couple of messages to, who's the director? Jeff, Jeff. And I'm like, I want to be there. So if I don't get in, hopefully have something for me to do. Cause that's what I learned my thumbs. What do you think your guys's main reason for showing up here? It's, I mean, for me, it's to gain knowledge, to be a better angler. I'm a visual learner, see it, do it. And.

go about it that way really. You know, just 100 % learn it, get some knowledge, ask questions, get answers really. I thought it'd be jumping in the boat and they'd have the graph up and be like, all right, you know, look at these contours. I like to look at that. Well, reality is they fish everywhere. I mean, they're like, all right, we're going here, here, here.

they've got their spots so I just shut up and look and it's I mean it's no different than than what everybody knows it's just the techniques and the different things you guys try and do. The details. Really the details are big.

I think that details make a big difference in things. Efficiency and organization. Randy struggles with that a little bit. But it works very well. His system is very efficient at it. He knows where everything in the boat is at. Nobody else does. I just take the brunt of it. When you ask me, what are you doing over there? I'm like, I can't find what you're looking for. And then it'll be there, dig in there, and here it is. And you're like...

I've been staring at it for five minutes but I've been sorting through everything. That's his system. It works. It's not so much bad at organizing. I have way too much stuff in there.

Brian Bashore (16:16.014)
But you might need it for a bite like this. I always bring everything. You never know if there's a 0 .00001 % chance you're going to use it. I just bring it because you just don't know. If you don't bring it, it would be the one thing you wish you had. Like that hand line gear has been wadded up in the back. Yeah, I kind of gave up on that. That's just going to stay tangled up. It's pretty rusty. It might not even work. I don't think it will. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm a little bit different than that, but this is the way we are. That's what balances this out so well. Well, it, like fishing red wing or the Mississippi river, you probably saw some weird stuff or I mean, just that's a really detailed techniques coming there. I mean, it's very simple. And then yet it can, you can complicate the hell out of it and do weird stuff. Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, like to that point, I think, I mean, there were big fish caught and brought in every day all the way from, you know, a foot of water to 30 feet of water.

And that's, you know, that's a, that's a really unique thing to see that many different programs produce, you know, and to produce that well. And, it's, it's a, it's a really eyeopening experience, you know, when you haven't run some of these different programs before, and then you hear somebody that's, you know, fishing a hole in the river channel and pulls, you know, big fish out of there. And then there's other people down on, on pep and, you know, pulling big fish out of, out of it. So, it's a really unique learning experience for sure.

You got to see some different things. We pitched jigs, plastics, crawlers, bouncer, lead.

Brian Bashore (17:53.55)
I think that's all we did. Lindy rig, three -way just a little bit on what cast it's wing dams. Willowcats. Willowcats, rig jobs. I caught fish doing just about every one of those things. So it's, but it's a lot of those things you've probably never done or you're like, what, this is weird. And you're like, like your day two, I think fishing great. You're like.

What was it called? A Colorado rig? Denver. Denver rig. That's the first time I heard of Dubuque rig. Seen them on rivers, but Mississippi River was the Denver rig with the trailing crankbait instead of two jigs. So it's interesting to see. I mean, it was day one we caught, you know, we caught a lot of the undersized, but you know, smaller fish and I don't think it was about 50 -50. Some would hit the jig in plastic, some would hit the crankbait in the back, but it put fish in the boat.

They weren't necessarily the ones we ended up keeping but it was just another technique that I've never seen before Think of it so naturally like, you know, can you see it? Looking it up online afterwards like okay. I don't know what it is. I have to explain it later. Yeah, yeah, it's a runoff I don't know which was first someone's gonna have to explain the debut I still don't understand why while I eat them. I don't know either

Yeah, they like them. Yeah, everything does. That's fun area. I mean, you've all trolled, but now you got became masters of planter boards. Yeah. You know, but you have all the fish. We lost. We lost three to. Yeah. He struggled. Yeah. I should say some of them. They did come off for whatever reason. Found out with this vein. Brian's met me. Yeah. They only came off on their side. That doesn't get off my side or today. I was like, I don't.

We got the black clips on there we were cooking

Brian Bashore (20:12.814)
I found Green Bay Walleye or feisty little suckers man. You guys have been traveling, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years, you've been free fishing with us for a couple years,

Brian Bashore (20:28.078)
Teddy, you guys can show it up. They haven't been riding with us because they've been coming a day or two later for whatever reasons, but you know, we get the houses, how's the whole traveling thing and cost. Kind of touch on that to guys wanting to be co's and what you would recommend that they try to find pros to travel with, you know, and do all that or they just show up Wednesday night.

I think it really depends on what your schedule allows. Obviously, you know, if you can travel with people, obviously it's going to make it more affordable. The more times you can split gas, you know, split housing, you know, this isn't a very big house, but we've got six of us piled in here and it helps a lot, you know, and it's not like we're hanging out at the house very much. You know, tonight after the rules meeting is the night that we are at the house the most. Usually we're just sleeping here.

And so, yeah, that helps a lot. Obviously, Stan helps a lot with lodging and just just splitting costs. But but obviously, you know, it's it's not cheap to to drive from Sioux Falls to Erie or, frankly, to drive anywhere in today's gas price market. And so, yeah, just definitely the more time that you can get with other guys or gals for that matter and split costs. We don't have any gals. Not. Maybe next year. Maybe next year. Yeah, maybe you fish in next year.

Nope. Wife's out. But you rode a Teddy. You rode with us last year in the year or not? Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. Spring Valley in Fix Town. Stayed up there. But yeah, to John's point, really, I mean, finding what your schedule allows for. I mean.

If you're fortunate enough to have some time off of work and you can do this, I would definitely recommend trying to match up with a pro or something to do that. I think when you get to tournament time, there's nothing wrong with showing up Wednesday and maybe those guys have done it for years. But Eerie is an example. I'm probably more useful to my day one and day two pro if they're pulling crank baits, if I have set planer forwards for the last five days. Rather than sit there and be like, well, you're going to have to

Brian Bashore (22:36.08)
to show me how to do the first one. I think they kind of you know they don't I've had great bros they both both.

draw days and everything, nobody's been upset, but I've also been out and kind of, you kind of get with the program. You kind of understand it and just, so you show up there and they're like, Hey, yeah, do you not do planter boards? And like, yeah, I just did it for five days. We're good. So that would be my recommendation is if you can afford the time to do it and can share some costs, it's definitely worth it. So, so you're wondering, how do I pair it up with a pro? Well,

All the pros are pretty easy going guys, super approachable. Look them up on their Facebook pages, send them DMs and be like, Hey, I'm trying to get signed up or I got in or I got signed up for all four. If you're looking for a travel partner, I'd love to travel with you. All of all I can do this. Glad to share expenses, whatever. You'd be surprised at how many of them don't have those people. We used to have a guaranteed entry with the co -wif you signed up with the pro and then you kind of knew you're in. Now you kind of don't know you're in, you know, a week and a half out and then don't know when you got to put in for vacation.

if you're fortunate enough to get pay time off, I would suggest it because I'm a fishing guy so I don't get pay time off. Near to you. So, it's just good guys. I didn't know you, I didn't know Randy, I sent you an email and just asked. Hey, I'm taking up doing this. That's exactly how I got involved in this was...

I wanted to fish Lewis and Clark and I thought the best way to do it was hire guys. So the walleye guys it was, which was Brian. And you kind of introduced me to the NWT and invited me along and it's been a great experience. I've had great experiences with all the pros I've fished with. That's good because you're not always going to have your experience. You're going to have a horror story. So you might draw me and you're going to get a horror story. Tomorrow might be a horror story for a lot of us.

Brian Bashore (24:30.35)
But there's good and bad. Sometimes you've got a local guy that jumps in one and just doesn't understand how some of it fishes. Plus, they're not chasing points, they're going to fish different, which can affect you. You're totally at, you have no say. 100 % of the time, it's luck of the draw. Adam's pretty pumped. He gets to fish with Boyd tomorrow.

I get it. I want to go fish with a lawyer. Let's see what's going on up there. Yeah. Take good notes, would you? So, yeah. So, I mean, you're at the mercy and I never did the co -intern side. I imagine if you there may be pros that you're better at, you know, more experienced and stuff because this is a kind of a pay to play thing. It's not as much as that as it used to be. I don't think I think you got a lot more pretty hardcore serious guys now. And I think some of those that were just getting in it because they can afford to do it and just enjoy doing it.

of left. It's tougher to compete because the forward facing zone are just a competition level. It's tough. They're good sticks. You agree? yeah. These guys know what they're doing. I did two years of coin -gling before I went pro. I would definitely recommend...

definitely go pre -fish. When I first started as a co, I just showed up for the tournament and you'd see things and you'd kind of learn, but you didn't quite understand. But when you do a full week of pre -fishing and then you go to somebody else, that's the ultimate learning experience. So definitely anybody that wants to learn, you have to get in and pre -fish.

I ended up pre -fishing with Rick Olson and I got set up. I fished the tournaments and I got matched up with him one day and we just, and he didn't have anybody pre -fishing with him. I said, well, I guess I can. And I remember the first time that he needed somebody, he thought he had someone coming maybe. And it was all the way up in Escanaba. And I asked him, you know, how are you doing, whatever. And he said, well, you know, no one's here or whatever. And I'm like, all right, well, I can come. And I jumped in that pickup.

Brian Bashore (26:35.31)
left that that night got there at like one o 'clock but that's I learned a lot from from the pre -fishing than fishing the tournaments with other pros I don't think if I would have just done the the tournaments I think you learned like a lot less than you would if you did it all well I think as a co angler that's where I learned

what all goes into the pre -fish. Watching you guys look at maps and charts and watching the different techniques that you try in different parts of the lake, I mean, it's a great experience to be a part of that. You realize that it's not, you just roll out at nine o 'clock and you go out and it's fun fishing and blah, blah, blah, and you're back in for dinner. It's time to get up this morning.

I was late. You were late. I got in my truck at 536. We were waiting at 530. You're six minutes late. I say we're late until six, but yeah, I was six minutes late. And we got in. Today was the half day. But what time we get in last night? Nine thirty. Five forty five. Yeah. So.

Yeah, there's a little work that goes on behind the scenes and driving and stuff. And us, we appreciate the Co's for helping put the boat in, covered just a handful of stuff that we can spend more time looking at maps or doing whatever. Maybe they're cooking dinner or running an air or go get a bake or whatever it is. Dishes? Yeah, Co, we really - That's all that's more than I was like, sweet, some of the dishes. We really appreciate, you know, Co Englers for, you know, safety.

back in the boat in keeps you from having to get in people's way and tie the boat up and your boat's getting dock rash. I mean, stuff like that. We really appreciate guys that come out and do this. Yeah, it's not it's not a vacation. It's work. Another thing to keep, yeah, I guess your expectations that a lot of people learn right away, too, is, you know, you're with pros and you think you're going to go.

Brian Bashore (28:38.094)
catch a bunch of fish, sadly with free fishing that ain't the way it is even on a good bike because you catch fish and then you leave them and then you go on to the next thing but you know by doing that you kind of learn a lot more you know.

We obviously can't keep pounding fish on, they're the same fish all day. We need to learn more from the journals. It depends on how the pre -fish is going and if somebody wants to eat it or whatever, there's always, hey, let's go over here and just catch some fish for a while, just have a little bit of fun, make a break up the day, or especially if you're trolling, stop doing that for a while.

But like yesterday or whatever, we caught a couple of good ones pretty quick. And I just like, I've said, don't make it our cast. And that's at the point where you can see them. You just want to go. Catch and catch and catch it because you haven't caught me all week long. So this is fun. Let's like, Nope, don't, don't stay another one. Get out of here. We haven't fished that spot in three days. So, well, and to, to hammer that point home even further of it, not being a vacation, like just because you're launching out of a spot doesn't mean even on tournament day that you're fishing anywhere close to that. I mean, I know a couple of us.

You and I had to head it over to the same area on day two a year. And, you know, I mean, I'm sure several people have seen the seen the videos, you know, it was legit six, seven footers and we were 43 miles away at noon and we had a three hour boat ride back.

It was a grueling three hours. Yeah, it was a grinder. You may have a three hour boat ride tomorrow, but at least it's not. Those are things you got to think about and be prepared for. So if you're physically, you know, got issues or back problems, you don't get to control the weather. And most of the time you're going unless it's, you know, Great Lakes, so -called small craft firing, which we had here a couple of days ago, but that wasn't determined. So it's hopefully up to you, which in our case, we just went.

Brian Bashore (30:25.518)
when sheep fit farming in the river. First 50 were fun. Yeah. Got a few smallies, but that was it. We got to sit around the house, but we were able to get up in the evening for a couple hours, once it laid down.

But you don't know, you don't know where you're going. You might wear Wisconsin, but right now you maybe need to get a Michigan license. You might be going wherever you watch here. Hang on some days. You might only get two or three hours efficient. Have you had a forward facing solar guy where basically you were in the back of the boat doing nothing or doing whatever. Drake heard the Drake. I haven't.

It's been kind of the two rods going, some live bait in Mississippi, both guys were trolling on Erie. We were doing that in Spring Valley, that was a three way kind of lead core bite. We pulled lead day one and obviously did very well. Pikstown was a lot of the same thing. It was pulling over the trees.

There was times you would pitch around certain spots, but a lot of live bait, rigging, pulling bait.

You know, I think one of the cool learning experiences with that is so I haven't been with anybody that's up on the front specifically using it, casting it fish. We've used it in rigging scenarios on the Mississippi and in trolling scenarios. It's cool to see all of the different ways that forward facing sonar becomes useful. I know we, you know, we say it now and everybody assumes, OK, you're sitting up front, you're, you know, jig heads on foreheads, right? But not necessarily. There's a lot of different ways to use it. I know.

Brian Bashore (32:04.27)
deviates from your question a little bit, but it's been a great learning experience to see like, like you can put this to use in a lot of different scenarios to try to catch more fish. Absolutely. Yeah. A lot of the guys, it's nice to have a screen in the back for us to watch and cast that fish and it's just helps you learn for sure. Yeah. Sometimes I just want to like, obviously the poor face of our guys is like, if you give me a screen, I may not even have to cast. I just want to watch. I want to see what you see and how you're.

doing it you know just just to see that you know take a break and watch for half hour then you can go back to cast. Saturday morning the answer to that question from all of you is yes. I've been with the guy before I sat in the back. I know it's yes for you. Yes, whoever's coming to my boat.

Probably ready eventually. I don't know if you've got a couple programs yet. He hasn't decided what he's doing yet. He's going to sleep on it. But you guys. It's eventually going to be yes for, if you're doing it, you know, you got this event, next event, you know, we'll see what next year brings as far as if they change rules or do something different with it or not different with it. But I think eventually if you do it long enough, you're going to be in the back of the boat.

wait for them to call for a net or just kind of watch and see what they're doing. But again, like I said, I'm a visual learner. I'm okay with if they will, if they tell me to do that, I'm going to go sit there and hopefully they have, you know, all their screens are linked up. Just watch it, you know, see how they've perfected it and gotten good at it and go try it. A lot of guys have added the pole in the back. I have one, but I'm not even putting it in tomorrow. It's three fish. So yeah, it's different with the pole in the back though. It is your chance in and rip in and

You can be on to something and all of a sudden you're turning because the guy is driving the mox on a different fish. Unless you're like, hey, hold on. I got, I got a big one I'm trying to catch that. You know, you don't know. It's face down focus and it's still better than throwing blinds to it. Right. It's entertaining and it makes the day go pretty fast. It's pretty cool. Yeah. Committed to.

Brian Bashore (34:11.79)
have and it's worth but it's really tough to cover a lot of water on such a big place without getting the crank down and just start moving. I did that a little bit last couple days. When it gets really windy obviously it's a little more challenging but you still do it so yeah it's fun.

you had to get a little strategy that when I was up front pitching, you just kind of threw the same area I was going, well, must be throwing out a fish. There's probably, and there was, it's always several that work, you got fish. So, some guys, we'll talk.

problem with you doing it, some will have a problem. One problem I remember having was when you made that bullet cast. Little rusty. Precision. Too much horsepower. Too much horsepower. A lot of boom, kerplunk. Throw these big spoons of rip wraps at them. What else can we share with these guys out there? You got anything or anything? I don't know. I don't know.

Sign up, sign up early, sign up often. I think another thing to hit on again is you brought up your, if you get back problems and medical issues, this maybe ain't for you. It's probably not for you. Yeah. You travel 30, 40 miles on a boat with four or five foot waves. Yeah. Better not have any back issues. Yeah. And there's a lot of.

There's one speed in turn -of -official. That's right. Yeah. Call that full throttle. Or at least as fast as you can possibly go without everything falling apart. You got to keep your boat in the water. Sometimes. Four or five footers, you're not going full throttle. Two's, you can get up on top of them and go. And these boats and these guys are good at driving them. You got pretty much the best equipment out there. So hang on, but physically, if you got any elements.

Brian Bashore (35:59.47)
It's not for you because every day isn't like tomorrow or the next day or like, you know, Mississippi was a day one, day two was horrible. When it rained like crazy and good rain gear tornado sirens going off. Sirens going off. Yeah. So yeah, good rain gear is important. All you need to bring with you to the boat is a backpack with your rain gear and a few bottles of water, drinks and your lunch.

I don't eat most of the goes may or may if you're trolling us, you know, you got time and hands for you to do that stuff. But if you're pitching jigs and do whatever else you may not even as a guy, I tell people, bring a big cooler. I'm like, you're not going to touch 90 % of what's in there today because we're going to fish and you're going to stay busy. You know, unless they fly out to stop with the roads of frost, rips up and take a break fish, which is perfectly fine. And as a going, if you need to do that, your bros are probably like that. Do that. You know, they need you to recharge because we still have half a day.

It's a 500 bucks as of this year that may go up. It's a two day guided trip. Well, you show up and get the pros boat. Pretty hard to beat. Yeah. But some days it's not like jumping out on a guided trip and just putzing out. Yeah. Four miles from the launch or less. And you're not going out there to catch your limit. That's right. You're going out there to catch three fish, five fish, seven fish, seven bites. Not a lot of bites. Maybe just.

I think that's why pre -fishing as a co is so important. Pre -fish is the time to ask why and where and some of that stuff. But come tournament day, I don't.

You know, I'm not going to sit there and ask, well, why are we doing this or why or why? I mean, that's, they get pretty, you know, it can get pretty intense and competitive. So that's probably not the time to be chatting it up unless you're standing on a troll bite and you're just having conversation. But, that's why the pre -fish kind of is a big deal. I think I appreciate those guys. But tell them that all when they get into bonus, not a lot of small talk, pretty, pretty focused. This is it. We can talk before and after, but.

Brian Bashore (38:03.822)
I mean, that's what Hoyer told me tonight when we met up. He's like, you got my phone. He's like, you got my number now. It's like, I'll give you all the time you need before, after. But when we're fishing, we got work to do. Like I need to focus and which I appreciated. Yeah. This is our job. Not going to talk much. Yeah. It's a good time. It's worked out. There's a lot of money invested and there's a lot of money on the line.

That's right, well, we're here to win theoretically. And then when you're not on a good bag, you're here to not lose and get some points and save a little face and make it to the championship where, you know, there are bigger payouts and just the whole make it to the championship thing is just a good goal to have, obviously. Yeah, that's it. Schedule for next year, we'll come out here probably in the next couple of months and.

You know, everybody wants to get you to look at that and see if how that lines out with your work schedules and start to plan for it. And then January, February, I think, is when your sign up was this year. February, February, February. February, February.

Brian Bashore (39:21.776)
you know, they've got into one or two of them or whatever the case was. So I imagine that demand will continue, which is good. And then obviously the processes, I hope some of these guys weren't enough after a few years or whatever it is that they transfer over and then they move up to the pro side. The quarter was, he was your co -engager once, wasn't he? Max was your co -engager once? You were secure as co -engager once? So I've never been a co -engager.

I wish I was because first year I turned in horrible. So I never been to any of those places. So it was just expensive learning curve. Then the next year was fine. Of course, you didn't go back to the same places. Here I am again, Green Bay, I still suck at it. So no matter how many times I come. But you're going to see cool places and new bodies of water, places that you're going to want to go back to and take your friends or your family and be like, you know, my wife just showed up because she's been here for a couple of tournaments in this love store County. She's staying after I go home for a couple of days and going to go glamping and I go over to Hague Harbor.

cool area, she just loves it and needs to bring home some door camping coffee.

To that point too, I mean, like just accelerating that learning curve. If you're really looking to dive into it and go further, it's really hard to come to some of these places and look at blank map and think of like, where do I even start? You know, I mean, Erie, for example, like there's hardly any structure. Sure. You got the reefs and, you know, a few islands, but there was a lot of fish caught in the middle of nowhere. Like it's trolling for miles. And just to be able to, you know, yeah, fish with you guys and kind of see what program you're running on how to find fish. And then to get a couple of different.

that goes a long ways into just helping you kind of figure out different ways to fish. And frankly, there's also a lot of times you learn something that you can bring back to your home body of water or whatever that, you know, that's not the local way to fish, but all of a sudden you bring out that way to fish and you whack them because nobody else is fishing that way. So bringing the Denver rig to lose. Yeah. Y 'all gonna be throwing spoons at me. That's right. Ripped the rafts, which is better out and forks everywhere.

Brian Bashore (41:21.646)
Yeah. What's your best finish so far in one of the tournaments? One day. Winnebago, I finished, I catched a check in Winnebago, I was 13. Pillar E pros.

That's a great question. Last year in fact. Yes. I had a guy from Sault Ste. Marie, Jason Doyan and Greg Straylo on the second day. You've had a good finishes because you're sitting fourth. Yes, I did 14th on Erie. I had Mike Miller, who's a guy that fishes the Lake Erie while I trail a lot out there, local guy.

And then Charlie Klaus on day two, who's from New York. I happened to draw a couple of local guys. It was kind of weird. You know, we talked this whole time about being able to see a bunch of different programs and things. And these two local guys happened to be going to the same spot that only like 10 people were going to. So I got to make that 43 mile boat ride on both days. Luckily, day one was flat calm and we could let her buck. But yeah, it was really interesting. We finished there.

14th Mississippi when I was 28th on the Mississippi and I had Dean Arnoldeson on day one there and then Greg Straylo on day two. And Aaron Forth, so see how that works. And you could get doubles this weekend and drop completely out of it or come with a good bag and all of a sudden you're first. I mean it'll take much on the climber side, it really shakes up you. Yeah, overall, Picks Count last year.

Francis' case was 26, so they paid down 26 spots. Lost them tiebreaker, so I still haven't put a free. What did you finish in the Muddy Spring Valley? No. So that was, I'll give you props. You're a fool. And I wasn't going to say that, as day one was my best. Highest was fifth after Spring Valley. Who was your pro? Yeah, you might know him. But no, Brian, obviously, that was my best day one finish.

Brian Bashore (43:19.31)
I had a good day one finish in Mississippi River, both those events and kind of the expectations of the Coat too. So I'm sitting in fifth and I drop out of check range after just a tougher day, day two. Same thing on Mississippi, I was sitting in like 19th with one big fish and just didn't bring in a limit the second day. So there's a lot of variance between that.

day there. So I was one day fifth with you at Spring Valley and 26 overall at Pixtown. Didn't catch a check, lost them at the tiebreaker at Pixtown. So I'm still an amateur by earning status. You? You've got just a couple of years to build. I was 101 in Erie and mid 50s, low 60s. So sitting in 69.

I guess that's a good place to be. I don't know where to go but up. In worse positions. You can go down 60 spots here but you can go up. This is that tournament where you can jump 34 spots. It's tough and people double zero. But it doesn't just happen on the co -side. I mean it does. But the pros are out of it quite often where we have a really bad day one and I get a co -who's in first.

And I have a new Sousa Maria, I get maxes day one kill and I'm like, sorry, I got nothing going. We're going to go catch maybe 10 pounds.

We're gonna catch five fish, we can call them, we can go hunt for these big ones, but I'm here all week and I couldn't figure nothing out. So kept them in the money, I think, barely. First, probably 18, 20th or something like that. No, probably, you may not have been in the money. I don't know, probably less than 10 pounds, but probably the limit. But yeah, when you go 30 pounds day one, having to do something completely different, it really wasn't all that fun day two.

Brian Bashore (45:17.07)
That is what it is, but we always, you know, that keeps us in it is like, okay, my co's in a good position. We're fishing for you today. Hopefully you can catch a check and learn something. Maybe I'll just take this day as maybe I'll figure something out that I can use next time I'm here. It's tough because you're just like, I really just rather pack it up on the trailer and just head home and not waste too much gas money today. But you signed up and it's our obligation to get you out there and get you on fish. And, you know, it's easier if it's crappy weather.

It's real tough. It's a nice day. I have no problem with it. We're going to finish. Yeah. Yeah. We're just got something. Both days after the day one, seven, fifth and 19 on those, both those pros were like, all right, I got to keep you there. You know, and they knew they struggled the first day and they weren't, whether they weren't on them or just, just struggled, but they were, they kind of made it, tried to make it as much about trying to keep you there as much as possible. And that's one of the interesting parts too is obviously in the rules.

You know, we can't share any information or any locations. And I think all of us have a story that we've talked to each other about after, you know, the second day of a tournament, right? If we're driving over a spot that we've caught fish and you can't say anything like it's that's how it should be. You know, you're not allowed to do that.

but it always makes for a really interesting time when, you know, maybe you got somebody that's struggling a little bit or whatever, and you're, you know, flying past a bunch of spots that you've caught fish at either in practice with you guys or with your other pros. And you're like, man, that looks like a good spot, but no, obviously you can't say anything like that. It makes it interesting, but it also makes it fun, right? That's how it should be. But you know, to that point of the pros wanting to, you know, help you out and, you know, keep you there or whatever, so that they have a reason to fight for it. Like it really,

does become a unique experience of a team sport, right? Like we've talked about this, of your co -angler can really, really help you or really, really hurt you. And obviously there's a love -hate relationship with that. Love -hate relationship with that, if you get a good one.

Brian Bashore (47:19.15)
It can really be a benefit. If not, like it can make it really difficult. So I think, you know, as as a advice, like definitely make sure that, you know, you're you're a serious person and fishermen and, you know, have at least tried to be the best you can and listen to your pro, like listen to their tips. If they want something done a certain way, maybe you do something different a way back home, but they want it done that way for a reason. Maybe it's something that they found out in practice or whatever. And just really listen to that and making sure to make sure to take that to heart and do that.

the best you can. A lot of them are pretty open to your suggestions. Obviously if they're struggling they'll be like do whatever you want or whatever it may be or sometimes they'll be like you know.

I'm out of it, but you're in it. You want to keep this fish or not? You're the one that needs the points. Like to me, it don't, it don't matter. I know. It doesn't matter. You know, and you're like, yeah, let's, let's box that 17. Cause say, you know, try to finish from that. Good idea. Throw it in. most times your pros are going to make those decisions and stuff, but you get one off guys. There are both guys that fish tournaments and, and you know, they're going for a win most time. And that makes complete sense. So you may get a different.

day one, day two type of scenario like that where the guy's being a little more conservative. You might get a lot of that here where first fish is going in the box and if it's 15 inches or eight pounds, it don't matter. It's one of my three. With what we've seen in practice, that might be a good move. I'm very happy. I'm very pleased with that first fish in the box. Most everybody here too, that's something to learn from. Plus that first fish is nine pounds. Yeah, that's all. We're good. To Greg's point earlier is...

It's not necessarily the time to learn, it's the time to be observing. Pay attention to what's going on, but maybe you don't need to ask so many questions. You have plenty of time in the boat before, talk to your pro about, hey, what's the program, what are we doing? What are you?

Brian Bashore (49:08.942)
what do you need from me what do you expect you know you know and they're gonna pretty much tell you i mean if you are jigging or something and bringing your own rod you're allowed to do that you know don't be offended when they cut whatever you got on off and retie some knots and do things because i'm going to do that and i think most of them do usually it's like you don't need to bring any equipment but i always tell them if i'm jigging more than welcome to bring a jigging rod because it's important that you're comfortable and you have a good feel you're going to be using one of my st. croix so your rod is probably not any better than mine this is their st. croix so they're good

I appreciate using the other equipment just to see what you do or don't like about it. I've always asked but I got to the point where I really don't even bring anything as far as that anymore.

They're gonna have it right there. It's gonna be rigs gonna be ready. How should we sure? Bounce around some of us if not the best out there so you find yourself I know this with Brian. I'm buying the stuff that we're using. 100 % Yeah, like let's see. Yeah, you get that. Maybe the rig order Yeah, I was telling Randy. I'm not gonna buy spinners from a local bait shop

you know, when I can buy it from Randy. I mean, it's just interesting what the line would say. Just the Seaguar is a big sponsor here. Yes, the Seaguar line. That's right. That's when I started buying. I mean, you know, like there's never any issues with line when I fish with you.

Yeah, I think that's the most natural thing is like you see you're like, Hey, that worked and that worked great. It felt good. And that's what you go out and buy it. Yeah. Keep it in the back of your mind. Yeah. You guys have probably fished with pros and you're like, this reel is a piece of junk. Like, what is it? And then fish with others and they're like, man, this is, this is nice. I'm going to have to talk with you about that. The president. yeah. What are those? I got so many sevens.

Brian Bashore (51:10.862)
I think my first experience with Brian, he hands me a rod.

And I'm eyeballing it because it's like, man, this is a nice rod. First thing he says, that's a $300 rod. Don't break it. And then he walks away. Okay. Yeah. Don't make me nervous. Thanks. Don't break it. There's like boys. They take care of it. We broke one. I don't know if you broke it. I think I probably, it's my fault. I asked the question. We can get to that before we got it. Granded a door compartment covered thing. So.

Anyhow, if you got any questions from this, put them in the comments down below if you're watching this on YouTube or on the Wild N' Wild N' Guys Facebook page. We're trying to answer those as they go on, but hopefully you picked up some tips and some pointers from these future legends. Aspirations to move to the pro side ever? There's a lot of that in some art and some art. Me, no. I think I know my place in fishing. It's probably not that level. I love to do it, but...

That's first step. Yeah. Nobody plays. So that's I don't know what it is. 20 percent maybe are looking to move up 25. I think six to eight did last year out of 100. So I bet maybe five percent. Probably looking to take it to the next level. The ones are just doing it for a year or two. And I don't say that to discourage anybody. Literally just it's kind of like they'll hate that.

If I continue to pre -fish, continue to travel to group I'm very happy doing that and learning and taking that and getting on my own boat and going out and trying to do it better. There's a lot of you guys that have been doing it for a long time. Yep. And that's all they do. It's kind of their vacation. Yeah. But they know what they're getting into and they're friends, you know, become friends, build relationships. And now they're just like, yep, can't wait for next year. Ready to go. You know, it's fun. What do you got? Are you going pro?

Brian Bashore (53:19.982)
I'd give it a 10 % chance, but the knowledge that you gain just for all the local tournaments. I mean, the governor's cup is coming up. I mean, what I'm learning here is going to help a ton. Yeah, it's a never ending education. Yeah. You get on a train, so getting into all these other guys' boats is just, Bryce, there's no other really four -batter place like it.

Bass has coas but they weigh in their own fish. They're in the back of the boat. Bass typically the guy in front is getting first dibs on everything. It's a little different set up. But still, they're obviously going to learn a lot from that guy. A lot of the guys that go out fishing, a lot of times their coas cannot fish the pro's. You know the pro's are your guy putting you on the fish but maybe you got all the bites, got all the fish. It happens more often. I don't hear about it from the pro's a whole lot but...

I guess you already need space. Adam got his first fish this week. He got the first walleye all. I helped him real quick but it didn't take long. He did catch two though. you got the other one. I was like, no, no, no. You got the other one today. Yeah, you got numbers. I don't know how many you lost.

It's like, it's shitty reel. It was not a seven. He did not have a seven. I will say, fishing the NWT, I catch a lot more fish now and a lot better quality. Yeah. Without a doubt. Just in, just in the two years that I've fished, this has helped me become a better angler.

tournaments in general will make you a better angler. If you learn how to just be more efficient, quicker decisions, there's not a whole lot of them. I've got to net it. What am I going to do? You already know what's going to happen when it gets to the boat. You know what's going on. You know how quick to get it back in the water. I'm constantly like, get in the water. Get in the water. You can't catch fish with your lure laying on the deck. That's right. Yeah. More time your baits in the water, more fish you've got to catch.

Brian Bashore (55:22.318)
It's not in the water, hopefully it's got a fish on it.

Yeah, I think to that too, like what just tournaments, you know, back to your question, like that's something that I do see myself probably trying to do some days is jump into the pro side and, you know, fishing local tournaments back home and stuff is fun. But like competing with all these guys on these bodies of water is a blast and definitely see myself jumping, jumping towards that. But just with tournament, tournament fishing to your point, Jim, of like you have to think different to tournament fish. You can't just go to the, you know, the nearest rock pile and 12 feet of water back home and South Dakota.

and pull bouncers and crawlers and catch a bunch of 14 inches. It's quite frankly, well maybe not in this tournament if you can get three 16 inches it might matter, but in most places it's quite frankly irrelevant. You gotta think different, you gotta chase different fish, and you gotta always be looking for the ways to catch those fish. Typically every walleye fisherman can go out and catch a limit of eaters, would you say?

It's like you said, it's catching quality fish. Yeah. Terminus fish are a little different. It's the next one. It's the best of the best. Like I said, it's used to get away with that. Sometimes you get the limit and you might, you know, get, catch that last check or something, you know, maybe get a decent one in there. Now it's, you need five of the biggest size fish out of swimming. It's like someone's going to catch it. Somebody's going to get it. If you even want to compete a little limit of five, 15, 16 inches.

Keeping you in some points and you're going to finish in a bottle. That's it. Get on. I think one of the best pro tips I saw was two or three days ago. Like I try not to ask a lot of questions because you are intense. You started doing something with your rod. So I'm like, what's he doing? Like trying to look around and grab it. Backs grab it. Like genius.

Brian Bashore (57:18.974)
That's the best way to learn though is to be in the just watch you like how fast is he really snapping it or just kind of you know, yeah you want to pick up a cadence just watch it.

There's not a lot of sensitivity in my boat, except the rods are the only sensitive thing in my boat. Just as it should be. Just as it should be. Very intense. That's why you aspire on the pro -level side, being a college athlete, the competitiveness is what drives. And most all these guys have a lot of that. But there's business owners that are competitive, or just old athletes.

This is what our bodies allow us to do nowadays versus football or baseball or whatever it was, wrestle. Like Randy over here, it's coaching and competitive fishing. So, all right, it was time to wrap this up. We're losing all the light. We've got a bunch of looks like pretty dark shadowed face in here. Hopefully get the volume cranked up, but that's it. Like I said, pop any questions for any other, cold request out there. We'll try to answer them down the road and that's a wrap for Green Bay. We're going to get some rest and.

We're gonna go catch a fish over the next two days. Hopefully six of them. We're gonna start with one. One is the first is the hardest. Maybe the loneliest. We'll see. We're gonna give it hell. We'll fill out a work in. So I think we deserve six. Just one. Just one. So I know it's gonna be over. It's gonna be over with our errors, but just pray. We got a fish.

That's it, so stay tuned for the next one coming up. I haven't got that one scheduled, so you'll be surprised who's gonna be on. Might be Chase Parsons, might be Gary Parsons, or Cory Northrup. We got Chakakwea coming up. Some of those guys are on the list, and that's it. So thanks for tuning in to this episode of Real Talk Fishing with No Limits. So stay safe, and we will see you on the water.