23 Jun
John Jamison: Walking baits in current in early spring | Official Catfish Conference ® 2018
Catfish Conference Team:
Posted on June 25, 2021
Catfish Conference guest speaker John Jamison talks about walking baits in current in early spring, touching on tackle and gear and How-tos of this technique.
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Here is a transcript of the video as well for those who may need it. This is an automatically generated transcription which means it may contain errors and inaccurate language and/or sentences.
[Music]
00:09
rivers and at that time we was moving
00:12
bait and walking bait we didn’t know
00:15
where that was going to take us 20 30 40
00:18
years later so I’ve been doing this for
00:20
a long time if you go back and look in
00:23
you know Connie in history the guys that
00:26
was fishing on you know in Alaska
00:29
they’re salmon fishermen and that kind
00:30
of stuff those guys was doing the same
00:33
thing they called back bouncing so a lot
00:36
of the guys in this industry today think
00:40
this is new and it’s not new by no means
00:43
no stretch of the imagination at all
00:47
being as old as I am and being in this
00:50
sport for as long as I’ve been I’ve been
00:52
able to see a lot of changes so I was
00:55
catfishing back when catfishing wasn’t
00:58
cool catfishing is cool now but you
01:01
don’t have to go back very many years
01:03
ago and it wasn’t cool you just didn’t
01:05
make a lot of publicity about it that
01:07
that’s what you’ve done I’ve been very
01:10
fortunate over the years to do a lot of
01:12
stuff I’ve worked very closely with in
01:15
fishermen I’ve done a lot of TV shows
01:17
with them a lot of print I want to feel
01:21
like that a lot of what I was doing
01:24
20 years ago is help contribute to get
01:27
this sport to where it is today so it’s
01:30
been a long long road to get to this
01:33
point and you know back in the early 90s
01:37
I was a firm believer that we would get
01:39
to this point someday but it’s taken a
01:42
long time to get here so I appreciate
01:45
all the support for catfishing and like
01:49
Blaine was talking about earlier I want
01:51
to touch on that a little bit ago we are
01:53
a little bit we’ve got two camps we got
01:56
the guys that line we got the rod rod
01:59
reelers a lot of them don’t get along
02:01
but you know what when I as a kid what
02:04
we caught we ate I’m a firm believer
02:06
about catching fish and tournament
02:09
turning them loose but I like to eat
02:11
fish too so this is a a sport that is a
02:15
renewable resource so as long as we take
02:19
care of it
02:20
and we respect the fish and we you know
02:24
we’re not game hogs and keep everything
02:26
that we catch this is something that can
02:28
go on for years and years and years you
02:30
know and I don’t want to get into the
02:32
whole bass side of things but you know
02:34
they very rarely keep a fish to eat if
02:37
ever I mean we’re lucky that the sport
02:40
that we love and that the fish that we
02:42
chase it’s a good fish it’s good
02:44
nutrition it’s renewable so we can rod
02:48
and reel it we can line it we can do all
02:50
that and still have a good good good
02:54
population of fish and we all camps need
02:57
to try to come together so as I stated
03:01
I’m gonna start off talking a little bit
03:03
about bumping and walking baits the the
03:09
other thing that that I’ll touch on a
03:11
little bit you don’t have to go back
03:13
very many years ago and you couldn’t
03:16
hardly buy a catfish rod you could not
03:20
hardly find any catfish specific pole
03:24
anywhere very difficult god by the name
03:28
of Jim warrior was one of the first ones
03:30
that actually had a liner rod
03:33
specifically for catfishing I come down
03:36
here today I don’t know how many rods is
03:40
out there today but there’s really the
03:43
whole gamut everything that you you want
03:45
I mean I feel proud to I’m the original
03:49
designer of all the rip and lips rod I
03:51
sold that company a few years ago but
03:53
that whole line of rods as rods that I
03:56
developed and designed several years ago
03:58
before we sold it what I currently fish
04:01
I’m fishing all custom stuff it’s made
04:04
by the rod shop in Kansas City actually
04:06
Tom’s here his whole family does these
04:09
frauds and we’ve got he’s got a whole
04:12
line of rods from pumping rods anchoring
04:15
rods and they do really everything bass
04:18
crappie trout on and on Tom’s been
04:22
building rods for 58 years so it’s not
04:24
new to him that being said I want to
04:28
touch on something I have people ask me
04:30
all the time what’s the best rod what’s
04:32
the best reel what’s the best
04:34
catfish boat what’s the best motor the
04:37
Pat answer to that is the very best
04:40
piece of equipment you can buy is the
04:42
one that you can afford you don’t have
04:45
to have the very best of everything it’s
04:47
whatever you can afford
04:49
you can keep catfishing simple and catch
04:52
a lot of fish and catch them off the
04:53
bank with a just old wooden pole on the
04:57
bank you can spend $300 on a rod you can
05:01
have five six hundred dollars tied up in
05:05
one rod if you want to so it’s kind of
05:06
all over the place but again in the end
05:08
it’s whatever you can afford that’s the
05:11
best piece of equipment for you so to
05:13
give you a little bit of background on
05:15
this pole this is a seven foot 10 inch
05:20
bump and pole that I designed with Tom
05:24
back in 2001 or 2002 so part of what I
05:29
want to get across here today if if you
05:33
guys watch the bass fisherman if you’re
05:35
at home and you watch a basking on TV
05:37
when they pan across the front of his
05:39
boat he may have fifteen or twenty
05:41
different rods laying on the front of
05:44
that boat so if you really want to get
05:46
really specific and really competitive
05:48
in the catfish world
05:49
you’ve got to get really specific about
05:52
your equipment so we don’t only have one
05:57
bumping pole you got a lot of these guys
05:59
they’ve got one rod with the they’re
06:03
trying to make one rod fits all
06:05
situations and I get that but if you
06:08
really want to get down into specifics
06:10
this rod is designed for lighter weights
06:13
I fish a lot on the Missouri River
06:15
so we’re fishing fast with current but
06:19
our depths on average is 25 to 35 foot
06:22
so we’re not getting a lot of pull you
06:24
get on the Lower Mississippi say Memphis
06:27
you can fish eighty nine hundred feet of
06:30
water 120 feet of water and the current
06:33
may not be as fast but it’s hot but you
06:35
get all this pull on your line so you’ve
06:38
got to have a stiff stiffer rod so we
06:41
have developed a different you know
06:43
lying rod specific for each condition
06:47
network
06:48
for if you will so again this rods a
06:52
seven foot ten rod and I’ll go into what
06:55
we kind of have on here and and if
06:57
anybody has any questions as I’m going
06:59
along feel free to hold up your hand I
07:01
want to get everybody’s whatever they
07:03
came here for today I’ll try my best to
07:06
answer that question so the line that I
07:09
use I use eighty pound spider wire
07:13
stealth and that’s a whole nother
07:16
argument there’s many different people
07:18
this is the best line that’s the best
07:20
line this happens to be the best line
07:22
for me for what I do I like it because
07:25
it’s really quiet into guides I don’t
07:28
like a line that’s got you know makes a
07:31
lot of what we call line singing in the
07:33
water so when you got a rough coarser
07:36
braid it’s gonna make more noise in the
07:39
water I want something that’s quieter
07:41
and smoother that comes off the reel
07:43
better coming off of that the first
07:47
thing that I have right here this is
07:51
called a macmaine hand snap and we’ve
07:53
been using these for a long time we
07:56
started using these because in a
07:57
tournament world if you’re competitively
08:00
fishing you want to do things and make
08:02
your life as simple as you can so you
08:04
can change all your rigs as quickly as
08:06
you can this little snap it’s like a
08:08
scissor snap you just squeeze it pop it
08:13
open and you can put a new rig on that
08:16
fast so before we get into the rest of
08:20
this some of my tackle bags my rigging
08:24
here we keep everything pre-tied so we
08:29
got double hook rigs we got single hook
08:31
rigs every conceivable rig that we can
08:34
use on the water it’s all pre-tied while
08:37
you’re sitting at home you’re not trying
08:39
to have to tie it when you’re in the
08:40
boat and with these snaps if you do get
08:45
hung up and you break off you can
08:47
instantly change that and especially if
08:50
you’re a guy that fishes a lot of night
08:52
time tournaments or just fishing at
08:54
night it’s hard to tie everything and
08:57
have it all done I would highly
08:59
recommend investing in
09:01
some sort of a tackle bag or something
09:03
so you have it all pre tied it will make
09:06
your life a lot easier
09:09
so coming off the the braid and this is
09:13
a I fish a eighty pound braid because
09:15
we’re fishing a lot of the big rivers
09:18
with main hand snap three week swivel
09:21
coming off of that three-way swivel
09:24
depending on what we’re fishing and what
09:26
kind of current are especially
09:28
especially structure that we’re fishing
09:31
will run anywhere from a six-inch
09:34
dropper to a three-foot dropper so if
09:37
you’re fishing structure that’s got a
09:39
lot of rock and stuff on it will
09:41
actually make this dropper longer that
09:46
way as you’re walking and you’re moving
09:47
that bait you can walk that stuff it
09:50
keeps your hook out of that so and I’ve
09:54
done this dropper a bunch of different
09:56
ways I like to just tie at the end of
09:59
this we just got a big loop and I know
10:01
this is hard for everybody to see in the
10:03
back but anybody that wants to see this
10:06
after I’m done just look me up and I’ll
10:09
show you what we got but with this loop
10:11
you can take your sinker you can change
10:15
from a four ounce to six ounce to twelve
10:17
ounce put a new one on you can change
10:21
and re-rig in a matter of seconds so
10:24
when you’re in that tournament world you
10:26
want to make your life as easy as you
10:28
can and as far as that goes even if
10:31
you’re not a term that fisherman if
10:32
you’re not a hardcore tournament
10:34
fisherman this kind of stuff just makes
10:36
your life easier
10:38
so the older I get the more I wanted to
10:42
make it just easier on myself coming off
10:46
of that we’ve got a about a 24 inch
10:52
leader my leader material that I use is
10:58
this is a sixty pound of monofilament
11:02
leader with a double hook rig and you’ll
11:06
notice for those of you that’s close
11:08
enough in the middle of this this rig
11:11
I’ve got a swivel tied right there and
11:14
sometimes we’ll use the
11:15
swivels sometime a chain swivel but what
11:18
we found has your fishing heavy current
11:22
that baits gonna want to turn and twist
11:24
you need another way in this line to
11:28
allow that bait to move if you don’t we
11:30
get what’s called blind twist you’ll
11:32
really in and you just got this big wad
11:35
on on the end so it’s basically
11:38
everything is really pretty simple and
11:42
if anybody needs to get into knots and
11:45
that kind of stuff I can surely show
11:47
somebody how to tie a knot but the way
11:51
for those of you that are new to the
11:53
game because they have people ask me all
11:56
the time how do you learn how to bump
11:58
anybody every person in this room can
12:01
can learn how to bump or how to move
12:03
bait or how to walk bait but I suggest
12:06
if you start from an anchored position
12:09
it just makes it a lot easier so go find
12:11
whatever your structure is whatever
12:13
you’re going to fish anchor your boat so
12:15
you’re set and solid and start from
12:18
there so the basic mechanics of this
12:25
will take this bait the the rod once
12:28
we’re baited up will drop straight to
12:30
the bottom of the river and you want to
12:32
be use a good high quality rod whatever
12:35
you’re using graphite or something
12:38
that’s very sensitive because the the
12:40
whole thing about bumping or moving bait
12:42
is feel so you want to be able to feel
12:45
this sinker hit the bottom of the river
12:47
so that is transmitted all the way up
12:50
through that through this braid that’s
12:52
another reason we use braid you don’t
12:55
have that stress so it transmits that
12:57
feel of that weight and everything back
13:00
to your hand very easy this rod when we
13:04
design these rods we get it’s called a
13:06
blank through handle so where this reel
13:09
seat is that rod is blank is right there
13:12
so every time that that sinker hits the
13:16
bottom I feel it in my hand right here I
13:19
got to be in control of your bait at all
13:24
times so when this comes down and you’re
13:26
sitting there at an anchor position
13:28
the weight hits the bottom you’re
13:30
sitting there with your rod up like this
13:31
and if you’re fishing heavy current this
13:34
bait is up off the bottom like this so
13:37
you want to keep your hooks up out of
13:39
that structure so it gives that fish a
13:41
chant opportunity to find it and then
13:45
all it is after that is is kind of a
13:48
lift and fall technique you want to lift
13:50
that rod up and when you feed it line
13:52
that bait just simply moves downriver
13:54
you lift it up again you feed it line
13:57
and it simply moves downriver so the
13:59
easiest way to learn that technique
14:01
again is from an anchor position once
14:04
you get that mastered then you can go
14:07
with letting your boat slip we call it
14:10
slipping and that’s one of the things
14:12
that we’ve struggled with over the years
14:15
and that’s why it’s so good having such
14:17
a big audience here
14:18
it’s just terminology in this sport you
14:21
know because you go back very not very
14:24
long ago people didn’t know what slippin
14:26
was they didn’t know what bumpin was so
14:29
part of what we have to overcome is just
14:31
get that terminology down so people know
14:35
what they’re doing so after you’ve
14:37
learned how to walk bait from an anchor
14:39
position turn that boat loose drop your
14:42
trolling motor start slipping down the
14:44
river so that boats moving downriver and
14:48
we also it’s your boat control at that
14:51
time becomes critical so you want to get
14:54
the boat and you’re moving that bait
14:56
everything in timing okay and there’s a
15:01
lot of different things you can do with
15:04
that I personally like to bump the
15:07
lightest amount of weight that I can
15:08
bump so that way we can do what we call
15:11
moving the bait there’s a lot of guys if
15:15
you watch them they’re they’ll get out
15:16
there a hundred feet from the boat or
15:18
150 feet from the boat or whatever and
15:20
they’re just keeping the bait and moving
15:23
along at the same speed as the boat you
15:27
can catch fish that way you can catch a
15:29
lot of fish that way but you will catch
15:32
a lot more fish if you learn how to move
15:35
your bait and that is done by the
15:40
current speed
15:41
you’re moving then that bait is that
15:44
water is coming in that River that the
15:46
water speed is not just constant to my
15:50
own error if you will the bottom of that
15:53
river is doing this so as you get you
15:56
got that bait down there next to that
15:57
bottom sometimes you get a lot of pull
16:00
where it’s pulling it’s pulling hard
16:02
there’s a lot of current there and then
16:04
the next place you hit is a real soft
16:06
place so what you want to do is you want
16:09
to move that bait and work that bait
16:11
down that river and make it look as
16:14
natural as you can because what you’re
16:16
trying to imitate is a dead or dying
16:19
bait fish that’s just naturally drifting
16:22
down that river so when that bait after
16:24
it’s died or it’s injured has it’s
16:27
drifting and rolling along the bottom
16:29
it’s not moving at one constant speed it
16:32
speeds up when the current speeds up it
16:34
slows down when the current slows down
16:37
so that’s part of the region you use as
16:40
light a weight as you can because when
16:42
you hit those soft slower current eddies
16:46
you can move that bait because I’ll tell
16:48
you right now a lot of times these
16:50
fishes we’re moving that bait down that
16:52
river system they’re in that area where
16:56
that current goes really slack
16:59
so you’ve got that river bottom doing
17:01
this that fish when you’re moving that
17:04
bait and especially if you fish sand
17:07
dunes like on the Mississippi River or
17:08
what we call sand dunes when you get on
17:11
the inside Bend that River does this and
17:14
I’m talking sometimes 20 30 feet drops
17:17
and as you’re walking that bait up that
17:21
sand dune if you will when you start
17:24
getting to the top of that it pulls
17:26
really hard because that current really
17:28
picks up right there but when he goes
17:30
over the top of that and drops off it
17:33
just dies so these fish if they’re
17:36
inactive they’re laying in that trough
17:38
but if they’re really active they’ll be
17:40
setting right at the top of the sand
17:43
dune or the top of the rock or whatever
17:47
it is so you need to really learn how to
17:50
control the bait and and again don’t get
17:54
me wrong
17:54
see a lot of people just bumping down
17:57
the river they’re out in the middle of
17:58
the river and they’re 100 feet from the
18:00
boat but when you get really good at
18:02
what you’re doing you’re moving that
18:04
bait you’re working that bait and you
18:06
will catch more fish that way to touch a
18:10
little bit again on rod differences
18:14
again this lighter weight rod I use it
18:17
all the time on the Missouri River in
18:20
some of the more shallow areas this rod
18:24
we designed it specifically for the
18:26
Mississippi River and I know of sitting
18:28
out there in the audience you can’t tell
18:30
that there’s that much difference
18:31
between these rods but this rod rod is a
18:35
lot heavier in the butt section it’s
18:37
something I don’t want to be holding all
18:39
day long if I’m walking two three four
18:42
ounces of a tub of weight but when we’re
18:45
on the Mississippi and we’re bumping 10
18:48
ounces 12 ounces 18 ounces you need a
18:51
heavier pulp and part of the mechanics
18:55
of a bumping I’ll see people really
18:58
moving their arm like this when you have
19:01
a rod and it’s really light in the tip
19:05
every time you pull back to lift that
19:08
bait up so you could walk and move it if
19:11
you’re using a heavy bait the more that
19:13
that pole bends down like that the more
19:16
you have to pull back and lift that bait
19:18
up to get it to move so when you’re
19:21
fishing a heavy heavy weight you want a
19:25
stiffer tip pole so when you’re moving
19:27
that bait and you’re pulling it back you
19:29
can move your arm this far to move the
19:32
bait versus if you have a limber tip
19:35
pull you got to pull that back another
19:37
to two feet to get that bait up off the
19:40
bottom before you can move it so I
19:43
highly recommend if you’re going to get
19:45
into it really heavily is to match your
19:51
equipment to what you’re doing again
19:54
goes back to exactly what the bass guys
19:56
are doing you got 20 he’s got 20 rods
20:00
laying up there on the deck of his boat
20:01
because he’s using each rod for a
20:04
different different scenario
20:07
different in the catfish world the other
20:12
thing I’d like to touch on I’m using and
20:15
there’s a big debate on what’s what’s
20:16
the best reel to use and all that this
20:19
happens to be a Shimano Takota with a
20:21
line counter if you don’t do anything
20:24
else or glean anything else from this
20:26
get something with the line counter when
20:29
we and I learned this years and years
20:32
ago when we’re out there especially if
20:34
we’re in an anchored position and we’re
20:37
targeting a place there may be a rock
20:39
pile a log or whatever 100 feet 200 300
20:44
feet from the boat we can take this a
20:47
lot of what we do – let me back up a
20:50
little bit when we’re out there and
20:51
we’re really trying to hone in on a fish
20:54
we’re using our electronics electronics
20:56
the last few years this came a long ways
20:59
you can find that big fish you’ll see
21:02
this big arch he may be behind a rock a
21:05
log or whatever you can drive your boat
21:08
up above that you will set a waypoint on
21:11
that fish we can go above that fish lock
21:14
the boat down and what today’s
21:16
electronics we can curse her back to
21:19
that fish and it will tell us it’s he’s
21:22
200 feet from the boat he’s 220 feet
21:24
from the boat he’s 250 or whatever so
21:27
now that you know how far away from the
21:29
boat he is you have to have this line
21:31
counter okay so you can sit there drop
21:34
that bait in you can move that bait back
21:36
to down to that fish and if he’s sitting
21:38
at 220 when I get down there about 215
21:41
or 218 I’m gonna set my rod and a rod
21:43
holder especially if it’s a big fish
21:45
these little fish a lot of times will
21:48
jump on that bait is that’s going by I’m
21:50
a firm believer that some of these big
21:52
fish he doesn’t commit immediately he’s
21:55
gonna sit there and he’s gonna look at
21:57
that bait a little bit so we’ll set that
21:59
rod in that rod holder right in front of
22:02
that fish and I’ve had that set there
22:04
some sometimes it’s almost immediate
22:06
he’ll come in and load that pole and
22:08
bury you right then but a lot of times
22:11
that pole will sit there about 10
22:12
minutes and in about 10 minutes that
22:15
pole will start loading up and I’m a
22:17
firm believer on some of these
22:19
reservoirs and rivers for
22:21
getting a lot a lot of boats out there
22:23
they’re pre fishing in there catching
22:25
fish and turning fish lows they get line
22:28
shy and you know they’ve been hooked so
22:32
they get a little weary but the big fish
22:33
he’s a little bit different animal
22:35
set that rod down giving time to eat it
22:39
the other thing the other reason we used
22:42
these line counters when we’re sitting
22:45
there like that even if we don’t have a
22:46
specific fish marked that we’re fishing
22:50
for if you’ll notice and we noticed this
22:53
a long time ago as you’re moving down
22:55
that that the bait down the river the
22:57
first thing I do when I have a fish pick
22:59
it up and bury the pole is I look down
23:02
at my line counter I want to know if I’m
23:05
200 feet from the boat 300 feet from the
23:07
boat how far it was where I hooked that
23:10
fish because I’ll tell you right now
23:12
that fish normally is laying in that
23:15
spot for a reason be it a log a rock
23:18
pile he’s laying there that’s his ambush
23:20
point and a lot of these fish that are
23:23
15 20 30 pound fish they’re usually not
23:26
alone there’s another fish line there so
23:28
the first thing I do when I get that
23:30
bite I look down I know I’m at 200 feet
23:32
will walk back down there and I can’t
23:34
tell you how many times I’ve walked back
23:37
down there and at 200 feet we catch
23:39
another fish because they’re laying in
23:41
that specific spot because they’re
23:43
relating to some form of structure so
23:46
these line these line counters become
23:48
very very important they’ll help you in
23:52
other ways too just like when you’re
23:53
fighting the fish you know as you’re
23:55
reeling it in it counts backwards you
23:58
get to know you know I’ll tell my
23:59
partner he’s 20 feet from the boat get
24:02
to net
24:02
he’s 15 feet he’s 10 feet get ready
24:05
because I’m gonna pull him up right now
24:06
so it will help you do that and we’ve
24:10
done a lot of TV shows we know right
24:12
when we’re gonna pull that fish up that
24:14
line counter will help you a lot of ways
24:17
if you guys are out there doing YouTube
24:18
videos or just just fill me you know
24:21
right when you’re gonna pull that fish
24:23
up with these line counters the big
24:25
advantage it really is no matter what
24:26
time you use you know what we’re talking
24:30
about walking bait and moving bait there
24:34
all kinds of different sizes of bait you
24:37
can use you know are you gonna fish a
24:39
two-pound skipjack you’re gonna fish a
24:42
3-inch long shad or whatever it is the
24:45
biggest thing especially when you’re
24:47
first learning how to walk bait or move
24:51
bait you want to bulk this bait up to
24:55
where it’ll catch that current because
24:57
your trunk you want that pull that’s
24:59
what helps you move that bait away from
25:01
the boat and down the river so if you
25:04
put just a shad on no matter how long he
25:08
is he’s pretty if you lay that fish in
25:11
the water he doesn’t pull hardly at all
25:13
that current just blows right by that
25:15
doesn’t allow you to have the pull that
25:19
you need to move that bait away from the
25:21
boat so if you take that fish and you
25:23
cut it up and you put a big ball of bait
25:25
on here guess what you just added pull
25:28
to that bait okay that helps you move
25:31
that bait and get it away from the boat
25:36
same thing you know if we’re fishing a
25:38
whole skip deck on a double hook rig
25:40
we’ll take that where a lot of times not
25:43
just using just the bait we may bulk
25:45
that front hook up to add that pull that
25:50
gives us the pull that we need and the
25:52
control to move that bait it to speed
25:54
that we want to move it because this is
25:56
we’re walking that bait and you got that
26:00
steady pull but then you then your line
26:03
kind of goes limp you’re in that little
26:05
dead pocket and again that’s where these
26:07
fish will lay a lot of times we’ll let
26:09
that bait set there as long as we can
26:11
before we pull it up and move it that
26:13
allows that bigger fish time to come in
26:15
and eat it any questions about bumping
26:19
or moving bait yes sir yep
26:34
first thing I do if I really we’ve done
26:37
this a long time but if I really want to
26:39
kind of get a feel for a new body of
26:41
water we’ll turn the boat loose and just
26:44
watch our GPS you’re gonna find like
26:46
where you’re fishing a lot of times
26:48
depending on how high the river is
26:50
you’re gonna be in and maybe a three
26:52
mile an hour current so your boats
26:54
moving just drifting backwards at three
26:56
miles an hour so we we figure out what
26:58
that current speed is by our GPS on our
27:01
electronics then we come back we’ll drop
27:04
our turning motor or whatever you’re
27:05
using to slow the boat down we’ll start
27:08
off by slowing the boat down to half the
27:10
current speed so if it’s three mile an
27:13
hour current speed will slow that boat
27:15
down to about 1.5 that allows you to
27:18
move and work that bait at the speed
27:21
that that fish can eat it and I misspoke
27:27
there a little bit I do want to I didn’t
27:29
want to back up on that just a little
27:31
bit so the speed of the boat we do try
27:33
to keep it about half the current speed
27:35
of the river but I said that you need to
27:39
slow that boat down so that fish can eat
27:42
it
27:42
that fish is living in an environment
27:44
and I learned this a long time ago from
27:46
a friend of mine James pattern at
27:47
Patterson a guide on the Mississippi
27:51
River at Memphis he told me one day
27:54
because we was we was kind of getting
27:55
into death over walking bait and moving
27:58
bait and doing all this other kind of
27:59
stuff he told me he said you know John
28:03
these fish make a living out there every
28:06
day at full current speed so as that
28:10
baits drifting down the river that baits
28:13
just moving down the river so when that
28:15
bite is really hot you don’t have to
28:17
slow the boat down you can go wide open
28:19
I’ve seen a lot of boats just drifting
28:22
you see that all the time that they’re
28:24
just drifting down the river at current
28:27
speed you can catch a lot of fish that
28:29
way but I personally believe these
28:31
bigger fish if you slow that mode down
28:33
you get your boat control where you need
28:36
to that’s when you start catching your
28:38
big bigger fish
28:40
so you know as we started refining our
28:44
techniques the biggest thing that we
28:47
learned once you learn how to move that
28:48
bake your next biggest thing is boat
28:51
control that’s controlling that boat
28:53
that’s loan that boat down to the speed
28:55
that you need to be at and that’s
28:57
staying on you know a lot of times where
28:59
we’re locating these fish is these blues
29:02
is I’m assuming most of you know they
29:05
love these ledges so we’ll we’ll find
29:07
where that river where the river bank
29:09
comes down it’ll come out a little bit
29:11
and then it drops again that ledge right
29:13
there is a very key piece of structure
29:17
so we try to no I try to keep my bait
29:20
right on that ledge as we’re slipping
29:22
you’ll just catch more and bigger fish
29:25
that way any other questions yes sir
29:44
okay the the question is for those of
29:47
you that they can’t hear it in the back
29:48
have we have I ever used a big motor or
29:52
another way to slow the boat down
29:54
besides the trolling motor because if
29:57
you get in a situation where there’s so
30:00
much current the trolling motor may not
30:01
work or whatever again going back to my
30:05
friend James Patterson on Memphis I
30:09
talked to James this is 25 years ago we
30:13
got to talking about slowing the boat
30:15
speed down you know what he told me John
30:20
there’s not always been trouble and
30:22
motors so he was bumping and moving bait
30:26
before there was a trolling motor
30:29
even in existence you know what he done
30:32
log chain dragging a long chain and I’ve
30:35
drugged a lot of log chains down these
30:38
rivers I will caution you on on the log
30:41
chain they will get hung up and you
30:44
could possibly get throw it out of the
30:45
boat one of the things we’ve done to
30:48
overcome that you know don’t I’ve seen a
30:50
lot of guys take a log chain tight in
30:52
the middle so you’re kind of
30:53
in two halves if you just drag it on one
30:56
end so it’s just one long piece that
30:59
slows that that’s that’s better but
31:03
going back on boats can you use the big
31:06
motor absolutely I run a little bit of
31:09
different different style boat than most
31:10
of these guys do I run a lund big tiller
31:14
boat so I’m running a 200 horse tiller
31:18
I went with that boat specifically
31:20
because what I like to do the most is
31:23
bump bait and move bait and if you get
31:26
in a situation where you’re in really
31:27
heavy current 2 or 3 4 hours in you
31:31
could have no battery power left and
31:34
then you’re done
31:35
so the boat that I fish with the it’s
31:39
all power steering so I have a just a
31:42
throttle on it it says plus and minus I
31:45
can actually slow that big motor down
31:47
and so that prop is just slowing like
31:50
this I can fish any current speed for
31:54
days and never run out so you can use
31:57
your definitely use your big motor to
31:59
slow that boat down and again that’s why
32:02
I’m seeing more and more tillers come on
32:05
on scene so a lot of guys say you’re
32:08
using a pro cat 240 a lot of the guys
32:11
and you got that 225 or 250 Suzuki or
32:13
whatever it is on there you’re gonna
32:15
start seeing more kicker motors the
32:17
kicker motor will do the same thing I
32:19
prefer the tiller because I’ve got more
32:22
control of the boat to keep me on that
32:24
you know the brake or the drop or the
32:26
ledge or whatever I’m fishing some more
32:28
today goes back to boat control but
32:31
that’s a very good question that is that
32:33
is one one thing you can do is use the
32:35
big motor to help slow that boat down
32:37
yes sir
32:44
absolutely so the question is lined
32:48
diameter when you’re you’re walking bait
32:52
in a high current situation that’s part
32:54
of the reason going back to the line I
32:56
fish and it’s a big controversy over
32:59
what kind of braid to fish this 80 pound
33:03
spider wire stealth from remember
33:06
correctly is the same diameter a 17
33:08
pound mono so it’s fairly it’s not very
33:11
big around so you want something that’s
33:13
not going to pull too heavy some of the
33:17
braids that are on on the market are
33:19
really rough so it’s going to pull more
33:25
but that’s kind of a double-edged sword
33:28
so when you’re fishing a high current
33:30
situation I prefer a smaller smoother
33:36
braid because it’s not going to pull as
33:38
much but if you get in a low current
33:41
situation where you have very little
33:43
current that rough braid it’s actually
33:46
going to help you because it’s going to
33:48
help pull that bait so you can move it
33:57
yeah the question is for those of you in
34:00
the back is there anything on the
34:03
package that talks about the smooth
34:05
smoothness of the braid as far as I know
34:08
there is not that’s something that we
34:10
just pick up the package in and we feel
34:13
it with our hand and again that’s why
34:15
I’m a proponent of the smoother slicker
34:19
line then a really rough coarse braid
34:22
yes our way back there in the back
34:30
okay question frozen bait versus fresh
34:35
bait what’s the deal so that’s a big
34:38
topic and it depends on the time of year
34:41
I’ll tell you that straight up so in
34:43
winter conditions in and I’ll have some
34:46
people argue this but we actually put it
34:50
on on camera so I have a lot of the big
34:53
blue cat guys say you can only catch
34:55
blue cats on fresh bait well I’m going
34:59
to sit here and tell you right now that
35:00
is absolutely not true so one of the
35:03
baits that we use it’s specifically this
35:06
time of year and we filmed it this show
35:09
is still online on LUN boats you can go
35:12
to London but calm and see the show we
35:16
use what we call a stink bucket and it
35:19
is exactly that it’s a stink bucket we
35:23
go out we catch carp in the fall right
35:25
before ice up willful a.m. we got a bait
35:31
refrigerator at home that we dedicate
35:33
specifically to to to bait so we put it
35:39
in in a gallon container whatever we cut
35:41
it up however big we want it put it in a
35:44
refrigerator in about 45 days it does
35:46
what we call make so it’s made and it’s
35:49
exactly what it sounds like it’s a snake
35:52
bucket it’s bad but I’m gonna circle
35:55
back and hit your hole complete question
35:57
so reason we started doing this is this
36:03
time of year when we get in I know every
36:06
part of the United States is a little
36:08
bit different so where I’m from I live
36:11
just south of Kansas City so we fish a
36:13
lot of years we get lots of ice on the
36:16
Missouri River we had two or three weeks
36:18
this year it was just solid ice so when
36:21
we get all of our smaller tributaries
36:23
freeze up and we get ice cover we have a
36:27
shad kill a bait kill or whatever so all
36:29
that all that smaller fish and stuff
36:32
gets frozen in the ice then when we get
36:34
breakup that stuff starts falling and
36:37
dropping out well it sets their firm it
36:40
says start stinking it’s
36:42
start smelling so all we’re doing is
36:44
matching matching what those fish are
36:49
feeding on so we do that basically like
36:52
in January actually a little bit later
36:54
on
36:55
so usually February March we when we
36:59
film the TV show we was getting ready
37:01
for a Cabela’s King cat tournament we
37:03
won that tournament using stink bait I
37:05
had guys tell me you didn’t catch all
37:07
them big blues on rotten bait well I’m
37:10
here to tell you that we did so all we
37:13
was doing was matching what those fish
37:15
was feeding on in the river at that time
37:18
because they was feeding on fish that
37:19
had died and was decomposing in in the
37:22
water but back to your question fresh
37:25
versus frozen so this time of year if
37:29
I’m going to Lake of those arts or
37:31
Truman Lake or some reservoir like that
37:35
I would prefer frozen chat I had a young
37:40
man to stop me while ago that Hillsdale
37:42
lake which is pretty close to me he said
37:44
you ought to see all the dead shad
37:46
they’re all over the bank they’re
37:47
everywhere he said I can pick them up by
37:50
the bucketful well all their channel cat
37:52
and catfish that’s in that system that’s
37:54
what they’re eating right now so you
37:57
want to fish what those fish are feeding
37:59
on so as as the time of the year moves
38:02
on we get farther into spring we’re
38:05
going to get away from the frozen bait
38:07
we’re going to get away from the state
38:09
bucket we’re gonna go to fresh head
38:11
we’re gonna go to fresh get Jack my
38:16
personal belief is as you get farther
38:18
into the year and that water is warmed
38:21
up you need to be efficient fresh bait
38:25
so it’s kind of a double-edged sword or
38:28
kind of a big question yes
38:33
good any other questions about bait or
38:36
moving bait or walking bait or anything
38:38
like that okay I want to kind of switch
38:42
gears and go to two other topics
38:44
actually you I could go on up here for a
38:47
long time about the different things
38:49
that we do last weekend we fished Truman
38:54
Lake we fished Melbourne Lake and
38:56
I know a lot of you don’t know where
38:57
that’s at Truman reservoir is right by
39:00
Lake of the Ozarks so it’s Central
39:01
Missouri
39:03
big system big big water big body of
39:06
water I like going there early in the
39:08
year this time of year because we catch
39:10
a lot of fish last Saturday we caught
39:13
somewhere around 70 boughs Sunday we
39:16
didn’t do as well but we caught you know
39:18
in two days we caught about a hundred
39:20
fish but that’s what I want to explain
39:26
to everybody here today you don’t know
39:27
how you don’t have to own a boat to
39:30
catch fish you don’t have to know how to
39:33
walk bait to catch catch fish you want
39:36
to learn some of the ways where you just
39:38
go out and catch catch blues so this
39:41
time of year has after we get ice out
39:44
you know all that stuff falls and it’s
39:46
dying and decaying on the bottom bottom
39:49
of the lake or river or whatever it is
39:52
these fish they can’t regulate their
39:54
body temperature cold water fish so what
39:58
they’re going to do is no different than
40:00
what a human being or a dog or cat’s
40:02
going to do they’re going to go to the
40:04
warmest part they can to warm up they’re
40:07
going to seek that warmth if you ever
40:09
watch your dog or cat during the winter
40:11
when you have that sunshine coming
40:13
through that window that dog or cat’s
40:15
laying over there in the sunshine get
40:17
getting them that warmth these these
40:20
blue cat and channel can’t do the same
40:22
thing so all these fish we call last
40:24
weekend we caught in two to three feet
40:26
of water I have people tell me it’s
40:28
February you cannot catch fish in two or
40:31
three feet of water well I’m here to
40:32
tell you yes you can so these fish
40:35
they’ll move out of the channel out of
40:36
that 20 30 40 feet or whatever your
40:39
channel depth is and they’re gonna start
40:41
pushing toward the back of these coves
40:43
on these big mud flats because it’s
40:45
gonna warm up sooner okay so actually
40:49
last weekend the difference of the
40:52
temperature between the channel and that
40:54
two feet of water was 10 degrees it was
40:57
10 degrees warmer in two to three feet
41:00
of water once we had sunshine so what
41:03
happens the shad goes back there the
41:05
Blues go back there the channel cat goes
41:07
back there everything goes back there
41:09
so years ago before I owned a boat you
41:14
know I just wanted to go fishing and
41:16
catch something so we learned how to go
41:18
to the back end of these big reservoirs
41:20
be it Truman or Melbourne and it can
41:22
really be anywhere in the United States
41:25
it can be toe walking it can be really
41:27
all over we’d go and before we had a
41:30
boat we’d always go to the north side of
41:32
the lake the reason we went to the north
41:35
side of the lake where I’m from we get
41:38
prevailing south winds coming out of the
41:40
south and as that water warms up on the
41:43
top it’s going to push that warm water
41:45
to the north side of that Lake the next
41:47
thing we always look for was a big point
41:50
running straight south out into the lake
41:52
well a lot of people run and hide from
41:54
the wind we wanted to be in the windiest
41:57
spot we could does two things that
41:59
pushes the shad to that side of the lake
42:01
it pushes the warm water to that side of
42:03
the leg so you want to be out there on
42:05
the north side of a lake if you’ve never
42:07
been there before go to the north side
42:09
find a big clay point or something
42:11
sticking out it’s gonna push the fish
42:13
the bait the warm water everything right
42:15
to you and you can catch I’ve we I’ve
42:18
seen where we caught all them fish last
42:20
weekend this time of year the bank
42:23
fishermen are all over so they’re coming
42:26
down there they’re catching the same
42:27
amount of fish we are they don’t even
42:29
own a boat so you can keep this sport
42:31
simple you don’t have to have a $500 rod
42:34
and reel you can go set on the bank on a
42:37
bucket and catch the a lot of fish this
42:39
time of year so you got to kind of do
42:41
what works for you in that situation and
42:46
again that goes back to the rods we’ve
42:48
got different rods for every situation
42:52
that we do again you don’t have to have
42:54
all that you can catch a lot of fish
42:55
without getting that real specific any
42:58
questions about shallow water fishing
43:01
this time of year okay I’m going to kind
43:06
of move on to two other topics getting
43:09
into rods as you notice I bring a bunch
43:11
of different rods up here when we’re
43:13
anchor fishing I prefer to use a
43:15
different type of rod this is a rod we
43:18
designed just for anchor fishing it’s a
43:22
softer tip it’s
43:23
eat glass everything about this rod is
43:26
is smoother these graphite poles are
43:29
great as you’re holding holding them in
43:32
your hand but they’re this the fish can
43:35
feel you a lot better on that rod then
43:38
they can on this rod so if you’re around
43:41
a bunch of fish that’s been stuck a lot
43:43
of times with guys catching fish prior
43:48
to turn them a day and you’re gonna
43:51
anchor lighten your rod up using a glass
43:53
rod something that’s lighter and
43:55
smoother which brings me to my next rod
44:00
this rod was designed and developed by a
44:03
good friend of mine
44:04
Larry Muse Larry this is a he designed a
44:08
roller rod he is as this rod when he
44:11
suspend fishing so you see a lot of
44:13
these guys on on Wilson and wheeler
44:15
they’re going out there even the Ohio
44:18
River were in low current situations
44:20
they’ve got their rods out looks like
44:21
they’re spider rigging and they’re
44:23
fishing vertical straight down this rod
44:27
allows that fish to come in it’s a
44:29
really soft tip rod so that fish is
44:32
going to come in and start loading that
44:34
rod and it’s your lines rolling through
44:37
these line rollers it’s really smooth
44:39
that fish doesn’t know you’re even on
44:42
the other end so you have that fish
44:46
hooked before he even knows he picked up
44:48
a piece of bait hook to run so when you
44:51
get into a fish that’s been stuck a lot
44:56
you can change what you’re doing and
44:59
again it requires having the rod or the
45:02
equipment designed specifically for that
45:05
kind of situation any questions about
45:08
that okay
45:16
one more presentation that I’ve got on
45:20
this rod what’s really that we’ve done
45:25
for a long time
45:26
years ago people go out there and they
45:28
would just drift they throw a windsock
45:31
in just let the boat drift and you catch
45:34
a lot of fish that way I grew up fishing
45:36
that way we caught just tons of fish
45:38
doing that but as time goes on you want
45:40
to get more specific you want to get to
45:43
where you’re better than the boat next
45:45
door because if you’re just sitting out
45:46
there drifting with the wind you got to
45:49
be pretty lucky to just come across that
45:51
fish so you want to get out there and
45:53
you want to try to target these fish be
45:55
it on the edge of a bank Creek bank
45:58
where it drops off or whatever some kind
46:00
of a break and to do that you’ve got to
46:02
do a technique that we call dragging and
46:05
a lot of guys think that dragging is
46:07
somewhat new it’s nots been around for a
46:09
long time and by dragging I mean you
46:12
drop your trolling motor and you drag
46:14
that bait but you can control that boat
46:16
you can stay on your contour lines or
46:19
the top of that creek bank or whatever
46:20
type a structure that you found these
46:23
fish on and pull that bait right to the
46:25
fish but what I found that that helps us
46:28
you know first of all you can catch that
46:31
fish just using a weight in a 12 inch 18
46:34
inch 24 inch leader with the hook but we
46:40
spent a lot of time and I know there’s
46:42
all kinds of different things on the
46:43
market but this is what we specifically
46:46
use when we’re dragging and again we’re
46:51
going back can I get you to hold this
46:52
sir so coming off of that rod is still
46:56
the 80 pound spider we’re stealth the
47:00
first thing that we come to right here
47:02
I got a sinker slide I’ve got that
47:05
sinker slide on there just so I can
47:07
change weights because it son pulling or
47:10
dragging that bader or drifting or
47:11
whatever I’m doing if you’re on a rough
47:13
bottom you don’t want that pole set in
47:15
there doing this number you want to keep
47:17
everything as smooth as you can so the
47:20
where that starts is with this weight so
47:22
if you can get by with one ounce of
47:25
weight use one ounce don’t use
47:28
bounces the more weight you put on here
47:30
the more that rods Gherkin the more all
47:33
of that’s transferred back here to the
47:35
bait so the the whole thing about this
47:38
is to try to keep your presentation as
47:40
natural as possible but again sync your
47:43
slides so you can change the size of the
47:45
size of the weight right below that is
47:47
another macmaine hand snap so if I break
47:51
off or want to change my presentation I
47:54
unsnapped that change my presentation so
47:58
coming off of that I’ve got basically
47:59
just a three-foot leader and I’m gonna
48:02
get to Hawai we have a three-foot leader
48:06
coming off of that at this end is
48:10
another macmaine hand snap and this is
48:13
just a regular 18 to 24 inch leader so
48:17
our goal here is we’re dragging the
48:20
baits the sinkers down like that we got
48:24
all this line back here and we got our
48:28
we always use a float to help keep this
48:30
bait keep your hook up out of the debris
48:32
so the fish can find it easier you’re
48:35
not getting hung up as much but the
48:37
reason for all this length I had people
48:39
ask me all the time
48:41
you know I catch fish with my weight
48:43
right here in an 18 inch leader and you
48:45
can I’ve caught hundreds of fish doing
48:47
that but what we done what we have
48:50
figured out over the years to help us
48:52
catch bigger fish this long three-foot
48:54
section that’s in the middle between the
48:57
weight in here it does one thing it acts
49:01
as a shock absorber so is this baits
49:04
being pulled through the water and this
49:06
is going back to me saying we want this
49:08
bait to look as natural in the water as
49:11
possible this 3-foot piece here in the
49:14
middle is that sinkers being drug across
49:17
the bottom and you’re hitting the rocks
49:18
and stuff if you got that weight right
49:21
here
49:21
12 inches or 18 inches from that hook
49:24
that bait is doing everything that that
49:27
weights doing if that weights jerking
49:29
through the water the baits jerking
49:31
through the water and most of the time
49:33
in the world you’re not you know as that
49:35
bait fish is dying or whatever these
49:37
fish are not seeing that bait
49:39
fish jerking through the water it’s an
49:41
unnatural movement so this leader piece
49:44
here in the middle that’s about 36
49:46
inches long it’s a shock absorber so is
49:48
that weight is on the bottom and you’re
49:51
dragging it through the rocks or
49:53
whatever this piece here with this float
49:57
back here as that’s jerking this piece
50:00
in the middle is actually kind of moving
50:02
back and forth it’s a lot smoother we
50:05
set there invisibly done test after test
50:07
in a swimming pool in South Carolina
50:10
motel didn’t like us very well but we
50:12
was able to see the different links and
50:15
how that bait would pull and move
50:18
through the water and then gonna name
50:20
any names but he’s a prominent cat
50:22
fisherman that catches a lot of fish and
50:24
won a lot of tournaments we set there
50:26
and done this probably 20 years ago that
50:28
said this system works you hang up less
50:31
you catch bigger fish any questions yes
50:37
sir the pit the question is the size of
50:45
the float
50:46
how big a float do you need to float
50:48
float to bait up so that goes back to
50:50
what size bait you’re using so if you’re
50:53
fishing a three or four inch shad this
50:55
is adequate but we’ve been on Wilson and
50:58
wheeler before and we’re dragging
51:00
two-pound skipjack okay this ain’t big
51:03
enough so we’re going to give away all
51:06
the secrets now so what we do then
51:08
instead of putting it on the line we
51:10
start I have stuffed two or three of
51:12
these right down the throat of a
51:13
skipjack that will make that fish float
51:15
up okay so you want to adjust it that
51:19
way so we actually just stick it right
51:21
into bait and that’ll pull it up okay
51:24
and you can learn a lot by going to the
51:27
swimming pool or a kiddie pool or
51:28
anything and you can see visibly what
51:31
you’re doing so that’s some of the stuff
51:33
that we’ve done over the years and you
51:35
know I’ve got a lot of experience at it
51:38
so we’ve we done a lot of put a lot of
51:40
time on the water without experimenting
51:43
but you’ll save yourself a lot of time
51:44
if you can visibly see what you’re doing
51:47
any more questions
51:49
yes sir
51:52
what’s the yeah okay
51:55
I should explain that better question is
51:57
what’s the difference between dragging
51:58
and bumping when you’re actually bumping
52:00
and you’re your boat is slipping see the
52:03
current of the river the Mississippi or
52:06
whatever it’s going that way the nose of
52:08
the boat is facing upriver into the
52:10
current and the boat is slipping
52:12
backwards with the current so when we’re
52:16
bumping we’re fishing current on a river
52:19
okay when we’re dragging we’re typically
52:22
on a big body of water big lake lake of
52:25
the ozarks Truman Reservoir Wilson
52:29
wheeler any of those that way we can
52:31
pull that bait we can drag that bait to
52:34
where we want to drag it to follow the
52:37
contour lines or whatever to the high
52:39
percentage areas to get it to that fish
52:42
okay yes sir
52:48
dragging speed that I like I like when
52:50
I’m dragging and that’s another area
52:52
that’s a big controversy I’d like to say
52:55
about point eight miles per hour
52:57
so part of where it can get into
53:00
controversy is if the fish are in a
53:03
negative mood if you speed that boat up
53:05
to say 1.2 miles an hour you will
53:08
sometimes get that reaction strike but
53:11
if I had to pick one specific speed I
53:13
would keep about point eight miles per
53:15
hour
53:16
any more questions I guess everybody
53:21
learned everything today so we’re all
53:23
professionals there we go how did we
53:28
catch them on Truman part what we do and
53:32
part of the reason I like to go down
53:33
there and fish there this time of year
53:36
I’m an old guy so I’m slowing down I
53:38
want it to be as easy as I can get this
53:41
time of year is the easiest fishing that
53:46
we do all year with the least amount of
53:49
work so we go back and we was anchor
53:53
fishing in about three feet of water so
53:56
there’s these big mud flats there’s you
53:59
know I had people ask me all the time
54:00
how do you know what mudflat to go to
54:03
because they’re you know
54:05
there’s acres and acres and acres of it
54:07
first thing I do is try to idle through
54:10
at a slow speed with my side scan I’ll
54:13
shrink my side scan down to about 80 to
54:16
100 feet and you will be amazed at how
54:19
many fish that you can find and you’ll
54:22
find little pockets of them so I try to
54:24
liken this to like a I’m assuming a lot
54:28
of you have seen a flock of turkey
54:30
feeding across the field so you’ll get
54:33
maybe 20 flock of 20 turkey and they’re
54:36
out there they’re together but they’re
54:38
scattered out but they’re all kind of
54:40
generally feeding and moving in one
54:42
direction but there may not be another
54:44
group of them turkey for another quarter
54:48
mile or half mile up here it’s no
54:49
different on these mud flats we’ll drive
54:52
through well idle through with our side
54:53
scan and when you find that pot of fish
54:56
that’s where we stop so all we was doing
54:59
was anchoring the boat front and back
55:01
pan casting around the boat we’d set
55:04
there about 30 45 minutes depending on
55:06
the bus how long they kept coming when
55:09
that by quit we just idle around till we
55:11
found another group of fish very simple
55:14
very easy as easy efficient as you can
55:18
get actually all we was doing was really
55:22
simple we just had a weight was thrown
55:25
about three ounces anchor fish with a
55:28
just a sinker no or a hook no no float
55:33
no nothing simple simple simple simple
55:37
as we could get yes sir yes question is
55:44
have I ever used floats on the Missouri
55:48
River yes I have as I incur fish will do
55:52
that sometimes especially if we are in
55:54
an area where we get off the main stem
55:56
of the river and into slower current so
55:58
we we experiment with a lot of different
56:00
things so again going back to bulking
56:04
your bait up to get that pole if you’re
56:05
if you’re trying to walk bait these
56:08
floats will do the same thing it will
56:10
give you that more pull to pull that
56:12
bait so if you’re in a slower area but
56:15
if you go back to and you watch these
56:17
guys if you spend
56:18
much time on the Missouri River the MS
56:20
Mississippi or any of these rivers all
56:23
your jug fishermen that’s using the old
56:25
jugs or the noodles or whatever they’re
56:29
just putting it on a floating and
56:31
throwing it out there and letting it go
56:33
okay so a lot of the one of the big
56:36
misconceptions is you have to catch
56:38
catfish on the bottom I’m here to tell
56:41
you know these fish utilize that whole
56:43
that whole system from top to bottom so
56:46
we catch fish a lot of times with floats
56:49
on the Missouri River on the Mississippi
56:51
River and if we’re vertically fishing a
56:54
lot of times we’ll put a big float on
56:56
throw it off to the side out of the way
56:58
and just let that boat drift a lot of
57:00
times that Corps Corps float or whatever
57:02
you want to call it that’s drifting over
57:04
there on its own it’ll just go right
57:05
under it’s no different than the guys
57:08
using a noodle or a or a jug yes sir
57:20
okay question is when you’re new to
57:24
bumping how often do you bump it down
57:27
the river or how far so when you anchor
57:30
that boat and you start moving that bait
57:32
as you get farther away from the boat
57:35
you’re going to get less feel so you’re
57:37
going to be limited on how far you can
57:40
get away from the boat and still feel
57:42
that bait but I think maybe your
57:45
question was more how how often to move
57:50
so we’ll go through with our electronics
57:53
first and try to mark some fish and
57:56
we’ll bump through there two or three
57:58
times and at that point if we don’t get
58:01
bit and then we’ll move the boat okay I
58:04
do want to I do want to say one thing
58:06
about going back on to the movement of
58:10
bait instead of just bumping bait you
58:14
know I see a lot of boats that’s doing
58:16
that steady drift in the Mississippi or
58:18
the Missouri and there everybody in that
58:22
boats it looks like they’re the same
58:24
distance from the boat 150 feet or
58:26
whatever and that’s a comfortable that’s
58:29
a comfortable range
58:31
but when you truly learn how to move
58:33
bait correctly the farthest I’ve ever
58:37
caught a fish from the boat with 700
58:39
feet so you can get to where with feel
58:42
and practice and time that you can move
58:45
that bait
58:46
a long ways from the boat so even if
58:50
you’re anchored you’re covering a lot of
58:53
ground okay yes sir
58:59
what about rattles we I’ve used rattles
59:03
in the past and I think sometimes they
59:05
do help it will kind of alert that fish
59:08
so really to me anything that you can do
59:12
that you can try like that it’s going to
59:15
help up your odds a little bit now we
59:17
don’t use rattles all the time we do use
59:20
them sometime I think when we got fish
59:22
that we think is in a negative mood will
59:25
use rattles we use scents sometimes we
59:28
haven’t touched on any of that but the
59:30
biggest thing to learn that I suggest to
59:33
take away from this is to try different
59:35
things we you know I’ve gone through my
59:38
whole life just trying different things
59:39
it’s really easy to fall back and just
59:42
get in that rut and do the same thing
59:44
over and over but if you keep trying new
59:47
things you’re gonna learn stuff and I
59:49
think that’s where Jason and Darrell
59:50
Massengale they that they’ve excelled
59:53
they have learned they’re on this you
59:57
know they’re learning every time they’re
59:58
on the water and and I think that’s a
60:01
huge huge thing for people any more
60:04
questions yes sir
60:14
yep so the question is on electronics
60:18
can you differentiate between an Asian
60:21
carp or whatever’s there in it blue cat
60:24
or flathead or whatever you’re fishing
60:26
for so the answer is yes and no so does
60:29
that unit a good friend of mine Phil
60:31
King he’ll sit here and tell me
60:33
definitely specifically that he can tell
60:36
this arches of blue cat and this arch is
60:38
a Asian carp and I think to a certain
60:41
extent you can if you spend a lot of
60:44
time on electronics and looking at them
60:48
just by the fuzziness and the way that
60:50
return is I will tell you right now I do
60:53
know what a spoonbill or a paddle fish
60:55
looks like it’s totally different on the
60:57
electronics 100% well what I try to tell
61:01
people that if you’re not sitting there
61:02
looking at that electronics all the time
61:04
to where you really get that knowledge
61:07
you got to learn the habits of the fish
61:09
so you’ll get that Asian carp a lot of
61:13
times he’s going to prefer more dead
61:15
water behind a dyke or in a hole that’s
61:18
when you get these big clouds of bait in
61:21
there for the most part if you’re going
61:23
down the river channel on the Missouri
61:25
or the Mississippi and you find that one
61:28
big lone arch over there by itself as a
61:30
blue cat okay same way like even if
61:35
you’ve got Asian carp around that fish
61:37
they had one big arch over there by
61:39
himself that’s a blue cat I mean if you
61:43
was a four inch long shad and there’s a
61:47
hundred pound blue over there would you
61:49
be over there laying by if you are
61:52
you’re not gonna be there very long so a
61:54
lot of times that big fish he’s going to
61:56
be by himself so we really kind of look
61:58
at where that fish how that fish is in
62:02
that environment that will tell you to
62:05
me that will tell you more than just you
62:08
know one arch in the middle of 50 other
62:14
arches okay yes sir
62:23
how do you tell the difference between a
62:25
blue and a Spoonbill so on my unit and
62:29
I’m a firm believer every units a little
62:31
bit different I I’m on hummingbirds Pro
62:34
staff so I run hummingbird in I’m not
62:36
promoting just them
62:37
I think Lawrence Garmin all of them are
62:39
really good units in the world that we
62:42
live in today but what I’ve noticed and
62:45
we spend a lot of time on Truman and
62:47
Lake of the Ozarks of places where
62:49
there’s a high population of Spoonbill
62:53
that’s food bill you’ll get that big
62:55
solid arch like you do on a blue cat but
63:01
right in the middle of it where their
63:02
air bladder is and that’s really what
63:04
your return is is coming off their air
63:06
bladder it’s like a perfectly round spot
63:10
right in the middle of that arch and
63:12
it’s really it’s it’s almost gleaming if
63:15
you will and it is spoonbill spoonbill
63:18
spoonbill I personally can’t I think if
63:27
you really shrink it down to a small you
63:29
know where you’re only covering 30 or 40
63:31
feet each side of the boat you probably
63:33
can what I mainly look for is the shadow
63:37
from that fish to see how big that
63:39
shadow is I know somebody way back there
63:41
in the back yes sir
63:47
largest and average size on Truman last
63:50
week last week was really bad we caught
63:53
a lot of fish we caught only one fish
63:55
over the slot we have a slot limit on
63:58
Truman from 24 to 32 inches you can’t
64:02
keep any fish you can keep fish over and
64:05
keep fish under but most of our fish
64:08
last week in pounds was from 5 pounds to
64:13
22 pounds I think was their biggest but
64:16
what I do know last year when we fished
64:19
it about 2 or 3 weeks later than this
64:22
when we started getting warmer water
64:24
temperatures we was always catching at
64:26
least one fish in the forty to fifty
64:29
pound range even though we was catching
64:32
a lot of fish
64:33
teams 20s and 30s the we was still
64:36
catching bigger fish okay any more
64:41
questions well I guess I’m gonna wrap it
64:45
up and if anybody wants to see any of
64:48
the equipment
64:49
after I’m done just feel free I’ll be
64:51
sitting back there in a bit and you can
64:52
come up and look at it thank you
64:55
[Applause]
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