Joey's 2nd Open win in 3 years, he's had a bunch of top finishes in that time and is now 9th in the Opens points. He finessed 'em at Eufaula, OK – here's a few Qs with him:

1. If you call your rig a Ned-Miki, does that mean it's a minnow deal like a Damiki but you dink it across the bottom like a Ned?

> "No I just call it that because it's a Z-Man version of the Damiki Rig. I started doing it with a normal Ned Rig head about 5 years ago and called it the Ned-Miki, then Z-Man came out with the Finesse EyeZ head...swims better than a normal minnow head...."

2. How did you figure out that exact rig? [3/16-oz Z-Man Finesse EyeZ Jighead with a 3.75 Z-Man StreakZ]

> "It was a just a progression. I was at their factory in a pro meeting several years ago and they had prototypes of it. I was like, This is what we need.

> "I was throwing a normal Ned head [with that minnow] and catching fish...tight-lining it, letting it sink, keeping the line tight and letting it pendulum...[also] bouncing it off the bottom and vertical-fishing it. I saw that [jighead] and it took that rig to a whole 'nother level.

> "That jighead comes 2 different [hook] sizes. I like the 1/0 size. It's a little smaller hook that allows the bait to have a little better action. If you burn it, swims like a Scrounger...if it's rigged right."

3. Have you tried fishing Gussy's version?

> "Yeah. I have the 3.75 [StreakZ] rigged up, the 4-inch Scented Jerk ShadZ rigged up and the 5-inch as well...I don't use the exact jighead he uses.

> "I've weighed 75% of my fish this year on the Ned-Miki. I've seen 90% of them eat the bait."

Here's the rod/reel/line for that setup:

> 7' 3" ML+ TFO Resolve Series Rod (Joey helped test the prototypes) – "It's just the perfect balance...there's no spinning rod technique you can't do well with that rod."

> BPS Johnny Morris Platinum Signature Spin Reel (3000).

> 10-lb Vicious No Fade Braid (yellow) to 14-lb Vicious Tora Fluoro – "14-lb Tora Fluoro is the diameter of 11-lb line so you can get by with a stronger leader...that's a big key for me. I call it 'finesse power fishing.' I manhandle 'em.

> "I boat-flip a lot of 2.5-3 lbers...gives me peace of mind that I can jack them on the hookset and not worry about the rest."

He uses an Albright knot, his fluoro is about 10' long, and amazingly he only has 2 graphs total on his boat: a 10" Garmin Echomap at the dash, and the same unit on the bow. And yep he uses Garmin LiveScope.

Quick Top 10 Open baits breakdown

Dropshot = 60% - half with a "morning dawn" Roboworm

Shakey head = 50%

Crankbait = 20%

Jerkbait = 20% – both Megabass Vision 110 Jr

10% each = Damiki, Neko rig, Jig, Big TX-rig worm, Spinnerbait (shout out to the Angler Assets spinnerbait for another high finish), Ned

Love this pic of Tyler Williams (4th) stoked 'n reeling one in:

Yep Crispin has a fancy title which means he's head of all of GSM's fishing biz (far as I know), but more importantly he's a bass fisherman. A tournament bass fisherman who was in sales and bait development at Strike King before GSM (Yamamoto, Bill Lewis, Buckeye and counting), and is a brother in the Lord.

Wanted to get some more info from him about the new Yamamoto Yamatanuki because like I said, I think heavy soft-plastics are a thing.

The 'Nuki isn't the only one – there's the Deps Cover Scat and others including a new SPRO bait designed by Shin Fukae – but it's the one I fished and have had success with so...here we go:

1. What are heavy soft-plastics and why is the 'Nuki catching 'em do you think?

> "Heavy soft-plastics is a genre of baits that has been popular in Japan for several years, and I still would contend that the original Senko is the predecessor of this category. The premise is that the weight of the bait allows the bait to do things without the application of an external weight, which changes the fall and changes the action.

> "What a lot of people don't know is we have a Japanese contingency of our company as well. They know the Japanese influence from Gary...the Yamatanuki the Japanese portion of our business designed several years ago and it has done very well in Japan.

> "The person who really opened my eyes to [the 'Nuki] is Cody Meyer. He learned about it in Japan. He went to Japan a couple years back and threw a 'Nuki on Lake Biwa...and explained it to me....

> "It's 'power finesse.' The original 3.5-inch 'Nuki weighs 5/8-oz.... It's much like a Senko in that you can certainly catch fish on a Senko that's weighted, but the best way to fish a Senko is weightless because it accentuates the action of the bait. The 'Nuki is like that – weightless it has an action that nothing out there really does.

> "My problem is being the poster child for ADHD, it takes 45 seconds for a Senko to get to the bottom in 5'...I can't make myself do that. But the 'Nuki is 5/8-oz and falls really fast. It has a real natural darting kind of shimmy action to it. Whatever that is, the fish really like it. It's one of those baits I have a lot of confidence in...."

> "I fished a tournament last weekend on Kentucky Lake – everybody's throwing a football jig on those ledges. I throw that thing out there, let it get to the bottom, pop it, let it fall...all the way back to the boat. And man they ate it.

> "This is a bait that we will continue to find new uses for, and a style of fishing that will grow in popularity."

2. What's the best hook or jighead to use in both sizes?

> "I think the best way to fish it whenever you can is weightless. Because of the bulk of the 3.5, I've had a lot of success throwing it on a 4/0 Owner Haymaker. Your favorite EWG-style hook would be fine.

[Dave Lefebre says in a short YT vid he likes a 5/0 Owner Twistlock EWG-style hook.]

> "The 2.5 [weighs 1/4-oz] – I was on St Clair 2 weeks ago and just trainwrecked 'em on that thing behind everybody up there doing the typical dropshot deal. I was throwing it on a 1/0 Gamakatsu EWG."

3. Is it true a guy can fish behind Senko dobbers with the Fat Ika [pron. "eeka"] and catch 'em?

> "The Fat Ika is a neat little bait that I knew about prior to [GSM] but I know a lot more about it now. You rig it backwards. It's got a glide. When you rig it backwards and rig it weightless, it will go away from you. Remember the old Flying Lure? It's a lot like that....

> "You can pitch it to the edge of the dock and it will swim under the dock...away from you if you give it slack line."

[Notice how as a tourney fisherman he carefully did not answer the question lol!]

4. What's one bait GSM has that serious bass-heads need to know about?

> "A bait I don't think people have latched onto that's phenomenal came out last year. It's my favorite bait we launched last year – the Bill Lewis Scope-Stik [jerkbait]. We came out with a sinking version.

> "Dude, for forward-facing sonar – you throw it out there, you can jerk it down to 8' or so and you can stop it and it will sink. I've caught fish out of 14' brushpiles on it, suspended fish...the action is ridiculous and it shows on your sonar better than any jerkbait on Earth. It is just a ridiculous tool in the hands of someone who understands how to use it.

> "Plus it's a little heavier, it casts a little better...it has a lot of attributes I really like."

5. What's better: fishing, duck hunting, Vols athletics or little league ball?

> "Whichever one of those I'm doing with my kids, it's my favorite. My kids love to fish. I know that may be cheesy but it's the truth. That's my favorite."

[There's nothing Crispin does that he doesn't do full bore!]

Do you remember that 8-lb 5.8-oz smallmouth caught out of Cayuga Lake, NY last year that was a new state record? (Dropshot with a MaxScent Flat Worm if I remember right?) Here it is:

Caught in a tournament by a bass-head named Tom Russel Jr, and sounds like he did it again only this time it weighed 9 lbs 0.04 oz:

Both times it was caught in a tournament. This year's catch wasn't certifiable fast enough for Tom who wanted it back in the water after weigh-in.

The only amazing thing is that fish somehow it escaped the MLFers there last week. But in the post on this catch it said that bass just showed up on a bed 2 days before it was caught....

Amazing!