New guy St Johns baits, Speed reeling cranks, Wheeler LiveScope thoughts

> “Every day I would kind of go through stuff I’d caught ’em on the day before, but do it quick and then go to fresh stuff. It was pretty much always random…looked right…fishing slow…didn’t make many moves, 2-3 a day…all random….

> “I liked more-isolated pads or more-open ones. I didn’t like ones that were really thick. If you’ve got a lot of pads, you’ve got a lot of targets. There’s a lot of places they can be, and there’s no way you can hit every one of them. So if there’s less, you can pick it apart easier.

> “All were on flats – 1-3′ deep on all of it.”

He had 2 nearly identical flip setups for the pads:

1. Setup 1: 5″ Zoom Zlinky (b/b), 5/0 Berkley Fusion19 offset worm hook, 1/8-oz pegged Reins tungsten weight, 18-lb Sunline Shooter fluoro, Abu REVO STX Reel (7:1), 7′ 3″ H Fitzgerald Stunner HD Rod.

2. Setup 2: Same bait, same hook, 1/4-oz weight also pegged on 22-lb Shooter. 7′ 3″ Fitzgerald All Purpose Rod, Abu REVO AL-F Reel (8:1).

> “I wanted one with a little bit lighter line, a little more finessey – I would use it on more-isolated stuff or if it was really slick, no wind.

> Why black/blue baits: “I didn’t try a different color. I’ve caught ’em doing that before in FL. I don’t throw b/b anywhere other than FL – yeah if the water’s dirty I may [throw it elsewhere], but in FL b/b and junebug’s all I ever throw. With a Senko-style bait that’s always what I do: b/b.”

Bars were in 5-7′:

> “I was kind of stroking it or yo-yoing it. Whenever you try to make a fish bite that doesn’t want to, when you snatch it up like that I think lot of the time you’re triggering them to bite….”

1. Do you feel rude at all for running off with the first blue trophy you had a chance to take?

> “Absolutely not.”

2. What’s the reason you broke up with Matt Arey to start going out with – you know, going out to fish with – Bryan Thrift?

> [Laughs] “He’s cooler.”

[You hear that Arey hahaha!]

3. You’ve won at Seminole, the Kissimmee Chain and now the St Johns – what’s up with you and FL?

> “I don’t know. Seminole and Kissimmee were pretty much offshore hydrilla. I have a love for that – I really like that kinda fishing.

> “I’ve spent so much time down there since 2012, I just get it – I don’t know how to explain it. I’m comfortable…. For several years I hated it, then once I finally figured it out, I just understood it.”

4. The Elite Series dude you most admire and why.

> “Probably Clark Wendlandt. I mean he’s just a stand-up guy, a great, unbelievable fisherman, and I actually fished with him as a co-angler on Beaver Lake several years ago and just had a good time.”

[Forgot to ask how many times Clark cussed…bet it was less than 10. HAHAHA kidding, he would never!]

5. Pre-game meal: cereal or a bacon, ham, sausage ‘n egg biscuit ‘n gravy?

> “Neither, but I do like good biscuit ‘n gravy. I don’t eat breakfast.

> “My wife is from Saluda [SC] which is at Lake Murray. She makes an awesome pot roast, the best you’ve had in your life…Velveeta shells mac ‘n cheese with Saluda rice. I’ve eaten a lot of food all over the country, and I’ve never had rice the way everybody cooks it in Saluda. It’s delicious….”

Can you tell we were talkin’ right before dinner? I did ask him for that pot roast recipe….

> Yes, you can see fish out there. Yes, you can cast to them. But guess what? The fish don’t always bite! I speak from experience when I say it can cost you hours of casting at them, only to see them follow your lure back and laugh at you.

> You can change lures, change sizes, change actions, change colors – even change the color of the eyeballs if you want! An hour later they still follow your stuff back, snubbing you.

> It’s like a bed-fish that looks so catchable on tournament day. It’s locked down, it’s rolling on your stuff. You keep thinking: It’s going to bite the next cast! An hour later it swims off and never comes back. Then you realize: If I had just spent the last hour of the day throwing a wacky worm down the bank instead of being snubbed by a big one on bed, I probably could have culled a couple more times and made the cut.

> Trust me, the forward-looking silver bullet has done me the same way. When I get so focused trying to catch them off the screen, I lose touch of my overall awareness of time, weather, current, fishing pressure, etc. These are factors my intuition needs to keep a good decision flow going. When I get caught up on the screen, it starves my decision-making process.

That’s my experience too, even tho you know I’m not even 1% the fisherman Jacob is. Live sonar is great, is fun and for sure is a powerful tool, and if you fish tourneys it sometimes is a requirement. But it ain’t nearly the full deal….

Lol just MESSIN’! G’s even funnier/crazier in person (mostly – sometimes he’s ultra-serious) and Jamey’s WAY more dangerous in person but you’d never know it…unless you play for the wrong team, if you know what I mean. He’s been known to ketch ’em too…. That’s Jamey in the pic with Brandon – click it to watch the vid.

Heard that day Brandon was called into work by the boss-man – bet he wasn’t thinkin’ he won a boat lol! Congrats dude!

Such an insane giveaway – confirms to me that the Black Rifle dudes are stone cold cray-zay…so I hope they and/or Sea Foam do another ridiculous one. Love it!