1. Do you now feel like the world's most famous Canadian bass fisherman of all time?

> "Yes, absolutely. Chris Johnston lost the title."

2. Do the Johnstons give you dirty looks or are they cool with the whole Classic win thing? 😁

> "We're all pretty good friends...they're cool with it.

> "...one of the best text messages I sent was after the [Classic win], at about 9:30 [that night] – we have a group chat with the Johnstons and...a bunch of other pro anglers on it. I sent a text out to that group...'Cory get your butt down to the Champions Toast so you can get a picture with my trophy.'"

[Hahaha love it! And they did get the pic....]

3. Is more of your time sucked up now doing interviews and speaking and whatnot?

> "The first few weeks right after were kinda crazy, like it gave me some anxiety. The hardest part was just scheduling everything with everyone. It's cooled down now to where it's a little more manageable. There's worse problems in life to have."

4. Do more people recognize you? Do you have more folks following you on the water?

> "Not so much following me, but on our trip to SC for the next set of events after the Classic, probably 3-4 times driving down the interstate people were honking and waving, giving us the thumbs up and stuff – that was kinda cool. Two older ladies in their 50s went by and they were so excited, waving like crazy people....

> "At the events, walking up to the tanks and walking back to my boat, a lot of people have been congratulatory and just saying 'Way to go'...it's been pretty cool.

> "It is pretty amazing how many people know about the Classic. It really is the pinnacle of the sport, and I've gotten to see the reality of it since the tournament."

5. You've been steadily going back up the standings since the Classic. Any particular reason for that?

> "I think it's kinda how it's been going every year for me. If I could ever just get a good start in the deep South. The farther we go along and we get done with spawning, I can fish my strengths a little bit more...the more we head north traditionally it's been better for me.

> "The pressure [to qualify for the Classic] is off for this year, which is a nice perk, but at the same time I want to keep doing my best. One of the coolest messages I got after the [Classic] was from Rick Clunn. It's like a 12-second video, and he says don't be content and don't take your foot off the gas – keep doing your job, basically. That's good advice."

Bonus Q 1: In that Z-Man post about the history of moping, it says the Jerk Shadz on the Smeltinator head "spirals on the drop." What's up with that – you haven't mentioned that before?

> "You actually don't want it to spiral. That's indicating that the bait is not on your jig straight. Then you're going to end up with line twist and not a natural-looking [presentation].

> "If you watch when I'm looking at my screen and I miss a bite and have fish around, a lot of times I slowly will lower the bait and make it shake when I'm dropping it, like it's an injured minnow falling back down. But you don't want that thing to spiral."

Bonus Q 2: Do you feel responsible for the fact that probably about a million bass fishermen have actually said the word "Smeltinator" out loud? 😆

> "[Laughs] Yes I love it.

> "...our CBC news, sort of the nationwide Canadian CBC...they do a show with some comedians that do the news...they did like a 2-3 minute little deal about my win...made fun of the Smeltinator...'hung a minnow off the side of the boat, what an athlete'.... But they mentioned the Smeltinator in that and the Jerk Shadz. It was pretty funny."

Bonus Q 3: Will you fish the same way at the Sabine? 😂

> "[Laughs] I brought a few Jerk Shadz with me and that would be the dream scenario if I can, but I'm not expecting to. The Sabine is going to be a difficult one for me."

Man it probly will be for just about everybody!

One quick note – In that Z-Man post about moping Gussy says, Al Lindner "didn't like moping because his type-A personality wouldn't allow him to fish that slow." Hahaha! That cuz Al is an ADD bass fisherman at heart!

You might recall Al fished the Bassmaster trail as a pro and was going to have that as a career til his brother Ron convinced him to be a media dude....

Lay Lake Elite

LOTS o' different baits in the top 10:

Swim jig = 30%

Wacky rig = 30% – YUM Dinger, Zoom Fluke Stick 20%

Buzzbait = 20% – both Greenfish Tackle Toad Toter Buzz, as shown by Bryan "ain't right" New:

Jig = 20%

Jerkbait = 20% – New/not yet out Rapala jerkbait, Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait 110 Deep

10% each = Scrounger, Shakey head, Dropshot, Frog (BOOYAH Pad Crasher), Crankbait, Bladed jig (Z-Man ChatterBait), Damiki/mope rig (on a Smeltinator), Toad, Flip plastics, Fluke-style bait, Spinnerbait

Wheeler, AL Open

Dropshot = 40% – Roboworm, Strike King Filler Worm, Big Bite Trick Stick

Bladed jig = 30% – all Z-Man JackHammers

TX-rig worm/stickbait = 20%

Crankbait = 20% – all Strike King

Jerkbait = 20%

Jig = 20%

10% each = Wobble head, Spoon, Swim-jig, Wacky rig, Flip plastics, Frog, Big swimbait, Swim worm

Shout-outs

1. Brandon Palaniuk got his 2nd 2nd in 2 weeks. 2+2+2=6 which might mean something? 🤔

2. Clark Wendlandt finished 5th.

3. Sam George (4th) fished this spoon which apparently is Chris Zaldain's new/not yet released spoon:

4. Check the bead on Harry Peyton's (8th) TX rig:

Or is that turtle spinnerbaits? 😁 Okay who in their right mind comes out with a spinnerbait – the new Tight Rope Bite Getter – that ONLY has a turtleback/Colorado blade combo? Had to find out.

Reminder that Ryan co-owns Tight Rope Jigs, "collabbed" with Catch Co on their Firework Finesse Jigs, and now with is coming out with these spinnerbaits.

1. Why only this blade combo? Especially sine you fish a lot of clear water where it's usually willow/willow or willow/CO?

> "Because I believe it's the most versatile blade combination. I've thrown this blade combination since I was a kid, and whether it's up in the north fishing super-clear lakes or fishing muddy rivers...it's just always caught 'em. Changing skirt colors is all I've had to do to adapt to the conditions....

> "There's definitely a place for other blades – I throw a lot of different spinnerbait blades. But for your average fisherman and your tournament fisherman [which he is], this blade combination has a place at all times. To me is it's the most versatile bite-getting combination, hence the name Bite Getter."

2. Why so many shad-type skirt colors? Why not just go with the standard white and chart/white for shad?

> "...clear water, dirty water...I think the skirt colors matter a lot. I think they're really important when you're trying to adapt to different water colors. We did do different blade color combinations with different skirt colors....

> "Standard white/chart is a pretty bold color which you can throw in straight mud. That 'blue glimmer chartreuse,' that's a great clear-water color especially for smallmouth. It's a little more subtle in that clear water....

> "'White/chart/blue glimmer,' which sounds exactly the same, has an orange kicker blade on it so it's a dirtier water river spinnerbait. That orange blade makes it a whole different bait.

> "The one I call 'breaking bad,' that's everywhere – every water color. I'm throwing that if I'm going to a new body of water [to] see if a spinnerbait bite is going on.

> "I'm really into colors. I like to have an array of them.... I wanted to have every box checked for a spinnerbait...."

3. How deep do you fish spinnerbaits and in what colors?

> "We have 1/4 and 1/2, and the 1/2 I will fish as deep as 10-15'. If I'm fishing that deep, generally it's around shad so I'll be throwing shad colors.

> "There are some rare situations in the north, in WI and MN, where you get deeper grass that grows down 20' and comes up to 10-15' below the surface – there will be bluegill there. I will throw that 'gp gill' [color] – that's what that spinnerbait is for.

> "I made [that color] on a testing trip in TX. I was expecting the water to be stained...I tied that one up because the water was so clear. I caught an 8-lber 2 casts into the day...so I started experimenting with it more in clear water.

> "It's really good in super-clear water, even with no wind. That 8-lber I caught, it was glass calm. We had 3 boats on the lake and I was getting the most bites, so it's really started to shine in that clear water because it's so subtle.

> "I'd also not seen a gp kicker blade on a spinnerbait, so it was sort of a weird experiment but I've really been liking it.

> "I've thrown a lot of finesse spinnerbaits that had similar blade combination, but most of them were not heavy enough...so I wanted to make a 1/2 so you could fish it faster in shallow water or fish it deep keeping the speed up.

> "One thing I want to emphasize is that the main thing with this spinnerbait is the head design – to be able to deflect it off of cover. That's always been the thing I'd get frustrated with...bang a spinnerbait off a laydown...in the strike zone right after the deflection it would either be sideways or upside down, or hang up. [This spinnerbait will] most of the time stay true after deflection because of the head design."

Came up in my surfin', I kinda like the name? It's not another bass term Zona made up, and it's not something Matty Wong says – I think he says, "Stoka manna" or something like that 😁 🌺. Turns out it's a fake bass in the Legend of Zelda vid game:

Is a staminoka bass in your local lake? Better believe it mang! Just probly won't be all that if it's cooked...🤢