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Have a happy and safe 4th of July! This week we spend time with a true legend in the game. Tim Horton has been a fierce competitor in the ranks of professional bass fishing tournaments. As a rookie in 2000, he was the only angler in the history of the sport to win the BASS Angler of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Since then, he has been a four-time Bassmaster Champion and qualified for 11 Bassmaster Classics. Horton has six major wins and nearly $2 million in winnings in his career. Believe it or not, Tim Horton has announced that he is retiring from competitive fishing after this season ends. Why, Tim? Tim Horton explains this major career decision to us. Please give him a listen.Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about something that sounds extremely complicated – the thermocline. Well, it really isn’t and it’s something that you really ought to get to understand. It will really help your fishing. Trey McKinney from Illinois may be the best young bass fisherman in the country. He does nothing but win and win and win again. This young man is a virtual bass catching machine! He talks to us about his most recent successes and what’s in store for him in the future. Is he the next KVD? We can’t wait to see how Trey’s career plays out!

You’ve never heard of Brandon Lester? Brandon was the 2018 points champion in the Bassmaster Eastern Opens. He has two Top 10 finishes in the Bassmaster Classic and 39 Top 20’s at B.A.S.S. tournaments. He has started 2022 off on a hot streak, winning the St. Croix Bassmaster Open at the Kissimmee Chain. He followed that up with a big win and a six-figure payday at the Bassmaster Elite event on Pickwick Lake. Do you think a fisherman could be any hotter than Brandon Lester is right now? Probably not. Keep your eyes on this fine young man. We don’t think there is any stopping him!Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about emerging summer patterns. Weren’t we just talking about ice fishing a few weeks ago?  The smartest guy in the fishing business, Ken Duke, the Editor of Fishing Tackle Retailer Magazine, joins us to talk abut the upcoming ICAST Convention. ICAST comes to Orlando in July, and it is the biggest thing to happen in the fishing business all year.

Our guest is merely 34-years old and has already lived a life that has been totally filled with excitement and adventure. Ryan Salzman just won his first Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour event on Watts Bar. He is a true American hero who retired from the U.S. Army after serving ten years including multiple war deployments to the Middle East. Thank you for your service, Ryan. He is a college graduate. He is a very successful fishing guide on the Tennessee River System lakes including Guntersville. Ryan owns True Bass Swimbaits, a popular lure company. Ryan Salzman has certainly been one busy fella in his lifetime. This Major League Fishing rookie is on track to keep on winning. Listen to Ryan Salzman talk to us about his career and his fishing philosophies.Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to reminisce about the six years he has been with us on the show. He also talks about a fun family fishing trip from which he has just returned.   Steve Sarley joins Dave for a segment in which they pat each other on the back for making it to a true milestone. This episode is #312 – that’s right – six complete years of shows without missing a solitary week. We are extremely proud of this and thank all of you for sticking with us.

Want to catch more smallmouth bass? Want to catch more largemouth bass? Want to catch more walleyes? Want to catch more crappies? Want to catch more catfish? Jeremy Smith from Lindner’s Angling Edge may be the best all-around multi-species fisherman in the country. Jeremy joins the show to give some incredible advice and tips to help you catch more of whatever it is that you care to chase. You’ll need a pad and paper to take notes during this interview because there is so much information given out. We never got around to muskies, so we’ll have to have Jeremy Smith on again real soon! Enjoy!Mark Hanson steps in to sub for Dan Johnston from St. Croix. He recaps his recent trip to Northwest Ontario where he enjoyed some tremendous fishing.   Sam Veith is the founder of a great organization called “Fishing for Good.” Sam is a great guy with a huge heart. Please listen to him explain what Fishing for Good is all about.

This is one of my favorite interviews I’ve done in the past six years. Our guest, Tennessee’s Wesley Strader is a great guy with an incredible personality. He’s fished at the top levels of bass fishing for 20 years and has won over two-million bucks. He is the best kept secret in the world of bass fishing, don’t you think? We cover the gamut from waterways to married life. The time went by so darned fast! Listen to a truly good guy talk about all things bass fishing.Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about St. Croix’s annual Customer Appreciation Days event. It sounds too good to miss! Dave VanDoorn is a professional angler that has been Take a Vet Fishing's "Daily Ambassador" since 2012. VanDoorn has averaged over 130 days a year on the water for Take a Vet Fishing. Listen to a great guy from a great group tell his story.  

Arkansas native Stephen Browning is the winner of the 2022 Major League Fishing Patriot Cup. Who but MLF could stage a major tournament that was held on three different lakes? The Patriot Cup was held on Lewisville Lake, Eagle Mountain Lake and Lavon Lake, all near Dallas, Texas. Incredibly, the anglers weren’t told the names of the lakes until the morning they were to fish on them. No practice and no research! Isn’t that amazing? Stephen Browning is a member of the exclusive BASS Million Dollar in Winnings Club and always seem to be in the top ten at every tournament he enters. Browning is a fan favorite and a media favorite, as well. Listen to one of the truly good guys in our sport talk about the Patriot Cup and his great career.Do you remember that line from the original Top Gun? “I feel the need for speed?” What does Dan Johnston from St. Croix feel about that? He joins us to talk about the importance of retrieve speed.Scott Ellison, Marketing Promotions Manager at Major League Fishing is with us to talk about their high school fishing camp. How great would it be to attend that event?     

What is the hottest lake in the country for huge largemouth bass? It’s Lake Fork near Dallas, Texas, of course. Who is the hottest fisherman in the country when you are talking about largemouth bass? It’s Lee Livesay, of course. Livesay, who calls Lake Fork his home water. In 2021, Livesay won a Bassmaster Elite tournament on Fork with an incredible 4-day total of 112-05. Amazing! Lee isn’t just deadly on Lake Fork, he just scored a big Bassmaster Open win on the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Mississippi. There is no doubt that topwater specialist Lee Livesay deserves his reputation as a big fish master. Is it a good thing or is it a bad thing? Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about wind and how it affects fishing.Jose Chavez is a top fisherman and also an innovative lure designer for Z-Man Fishing Products. Listen to a real genius talk about the latest and best baits on the market.

Can you imagine showing up at a major tournament held at a lake you’ve never been to before, dropping you boat in, and discovering that the lake looks exactly like your home lake where you grew up fishing? What a pleasant surprise! St. Croix pro Jesse Wiggins just had that experience at the Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour event on Lake of the Ozarks! He knocked it out of the park and won the big trophy and a check for $100,000. Listen to this bright young fisherman tell his story.Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk the spawn. It’s different for everyone depending on where you live. Did you know that some fish spawn more than once? Everyone always learns something when Dan Johnston is on the show.Mike Leonard, Vice President Government Affairs at American Sportfishing Association joins us to relay some exciting news about what that organization is currently doing for our country’s fishermen.

Walleyes, bass, muskies – since walleye legend Tommy Kemos joined media dynamo “The Next Bite,” he has proven that he can catch them all! A phenomenally successful career in the world of walleye tournament fishing has led to Tommy becoming a co-host of the wildly popular “Next Bite” multi-media empire. One of the most popular anglers around, Tommy Kemos talks about many things of interest in the world of fishing Including sponsorships and a very painful decision he was forced to make. Listen and learn from one of the nicest guys in the fishing business.Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about spring fishing (if spring ever gets here!) and whether to be using live bait or artificials. Good stuffMike McNett is the Freshwater Fishing Director for U.S. Angling. He joins us to give an ice season wrap up and talks about a new direction for the group’s carp fishing activities.

Heavy Hitters!  We are Major League Fishing intensive today with the winner of last week’s huge Heavy Hitters event at Lake Palestine in Texas. Ott DeFoe won 100k by winning the event but Alton Jones, Jr. won $165,000 by landing the largest bass in three of the four days of Heavy Hitters competition. Go figure! Ott DeFoe also talks about his incredible career. Still only 36 years old, Ott is about to break the three-million-dollar mark in career winnings, an amazing accomplishment at such an early age! DeFoe and Jones, Jr.! What a great pair of anglers!Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about many of the major innovations that St. Croix has announced or will announce shortly. What does this mean to the average angler? Listen to Dan explain what it’s all about.We also welcome a special guest for his first appearance on our show. Call the folks at the Guinness Book of World Records because we are claiming he is the youngest person to make an appearance on a podcast. Please welcome, Maximus Nierman who was born to our Executive Producer, Brad Nierman and his lovely wife, Olivia only seven days prior to the recording. Give Baby Max a listen, he sounds great!

We use the term “hot stick” quite a bit. Our featured guest isn’t just a “hot stick,” Oklahoman Jason Christie is a “nuclear stick.” He won the Bassmaster Classic earlier this year on Lake Hartwell. He follows that up with a huge six-figure win on Lake Chickamauga this month. How does he do it? Can anyone beat him? Will he ever cool off? Listen to Jason Christie explain his hot roll. Christie isn’t a flash in the pan. He’s won seven major events and has a second-place Angler of the Year finish to his credit. What’s next for Jason Christie? Listen to him explain it!Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about how to find the unseen hotspots on a body of water. Everybody is throwing to docks and stumps but there are plenty of great fish-holding spots that you can’t see with the naked eye. How do we find them? Dan Johnston tells us.    We welcome Connor Bevan for his first appearance on our show. He is the Inland Fisheries Policy Manager at the American Sportfishing Association. Listen to Connor explain his very important job.

What’s better than a double header? Not talking about two anglers hooking fish at the same time – talking about having two great star anglers sharing the main interview segment on the same show. This is a first for us. Sharing the spotlight are Kentucky’s Matt Robertson and Wisconsin’s Caleb Kuphall. They both finished in the top five at the Bassmaster Elite Series event on Lake Chickamauga. They discuss their tactics and strategies for attacking this legendary body of water. Matt Robertson talks about his “On Em” brand that is showing up on hats and shirts all over the country. Caleb Kuphall explains his new sponsor relationship with our friends at St. Croix, the best rods on Earth. Give a listen to two great anglers who are also two of the nicest guys you’ve ever met.Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about color selection. Red? Blue? Silver? What are the factors in selecting a bait color. Dan will help us all to figure out the answer to that important question.    Marc Mills, the Senior Marketing Manager from Daiwa Corporation joins us to talk about their incredible products and what’s in the future for them. They’ve got your bass covered, we hope you know!!!  

Buddy Gross is a Bassmaster Elite Series angler from Chickamauga, Georgia who opened the Elite season with a huge win on Florida’s Harris Chain. It was a tough bite that proved the ingenuity and tenacity of this excellent fisherman. Listen to one of the sport’s truly good guys talk to us about the upcoming season, electronics, his career and subjects as diverse as fishing with Alabama rigs and the use of live bait. He doesn’t hold back. Give Buddy a listen.Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about the hottest innovation in fishing – forward facing sonar. What is it? How does it work? Why are some people demanding to have it banned?Jerod Napier from Casting Freedom joins us to talk about the excellent work that his group is doing.

He’s the Champion! “Big Fish” Bobby Lane just won the big trophy and a check for $300,000 at the Major League Fishing Redcrest Championship at Grand Lake of the Cherokees in Tulsa, Oklahoma! It was the most incredibly exciting finish to a pro bass fishing tournament that ever occurred. With only 2-minutes and 45-seconds left in the tournament, Lane caught a fish that had to be weighed three times and finally scored exactly two-pounds on the scale. It was barely legal but big enough to allow Bobby Lane to claim a victory. What drama! Lane’s father called him “Bobby Humble” when he was growing up and the name still fits him. Listen to a great fisherman and one of the nicest guys in the sport tell his story!Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about spring’s changing conditions. The changes aren’t always for the benefit of fishermen and Dan talks about how to handle changing conditions that make fishing tougher.Tom Goodrich from Fishing for Life joins us to talk about what his great group does for kids and the sport of fishing.

He’s the Champion! “Big Fish” Bobby Lane just won the big trophy and a check for $300,000 at the Major League Fishing Redcrest Championship at Grand Lake of the Cherokees in Tulsa, Oklahoma! It was the most incredibly exciting finish to a pro bass fishing tournament that ever occurred. With only 2-minutes and 45-seconds left in the tournament, Lane caught a fish that had to be weighed three times and finally scored exactly two-pounds on the scale. It was barely legal but big enough to allow Bobby Lane to claim a victory. What drama! Lane’s father called him “Bobby Humble” when he was growing up and the name still fits him. Listen to a great fisherman and one of the nicest guys in the sport tell his story!Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about spring’s changing conditions. The changes aren’t always for the benefit of fishermen and Dan talks about how to handle changing conditions that make fishing tougher.Tom Goodrich from Fishing for Life joins us to talk about what his great group does for kids and the sport of fishing.

300 episodes! Can you believe it? Time sure flies when you are having fun and how much more fun can you have than talking to “America’s Favorite Fisherman,” the one-and-only Jimmy Houston. Jimmy joins us to preview the upcoming Major League Fishing Redcrest Championship and Expo that he is attending. He also previews the huge Bass Pro Shops World’s Fishing Fair, “The Greatest Fishing Show and sale on Earth in Springfield, Missouri, 3/30 to 4/3. All the top angling legends will be there, as well as the stars of NASCAR and celebrities from the world of entertainment. Come on down and see the biggest event of 2022! Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about what choices to make about the size of baits to use when the conditions dictate.Randy Lemcke has been around forever in the fishing biz. He was in Vice President of Sales for Plano Molding and served as Chairman of the Board of the American Sportfishing Association.

Bassmaster Elite pro John Crews just won a major B.A.S.S. event in Florida. He explains in detail how he did the job and why this event was one of the most exciting tournaments in a long, long time. Big, big fish and huge bags were fairly common down on the St. John’s River. John Crews also owns Missile Baits, one of the premium plastics on the market. Does that make John the “Crews Missile?” Give a listen to John Crews share some great knowledge that will turn all of us into better bass anglers. Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about what to expect as we see the water beginning to warm up.Cara Davison from Bass Pro Shops joins us to talk about the World’s Fishing Fair benefitting conservation. It’s the greatest fishing show ever and runs 3/30 to 4/3 in Springfield, Missouri. Meet Bill Dance, KVD, Jimmy Houston, Dale Earnhardt Junior, Luke Bryant, Dierks Bentley and many other stars from fishing, sports and entertainment.

Oklahoma’s Jason Christie just won the $300,000 Bassmaster Classic Championship on South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell! Christie had left the Bassmaster Tour only to come back because winning a Classic was his main objective. He certainly reached that objective. Christie calls himself one of the most stubborn anglers touring today. Listen to Jason explain why he finds his stubbornness to be an asset. This was a huge win for a great angler. Listen to Jason Christie tell the story.Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk recap the Bassmaster Classic. Elite angler Bob Downey pops into Dan’s interview for a surprise visit. Ken Duke, the acclaimed editor of Fishing Tackle Retailer Magazine is with us to give a behind the scenes look at the 2002 Bassmaster Classic at South Carolina’s Lake Hartwell.

Randy Howell is one of the most popular anglers fishing big-time bass tournaments today! He has accumulated over 2-million dollars in winnings that includes a Bassmaster Classic Championship. On February 9th, Randy Howell broke the Major League Fishing Record for largest bass weighed in during an MLF competition and one day later he broke his own record with a largemouth weighing 12 pounds, 14 ounces! Listen to Randy Howell explain how he did it. Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about the fast-approaching Bassmaster Classic and Expo. It’s not too late to make plans to head out to Lake Hartwell in South Carolina. What’s a Zander? It’s like a walleye on steroids. It is believed that there is only one lake in the USA that contains this incredible European species and Fargo’s Dustin Wolf just caught a 13-pound-plus Zander that may be one of the few left swimming in America today. Hear him tell his story.

Minnesota’s Bob Downey entered his 3rd season in the Bassmaster Elite Series with a real bang. He qualified for the Elites via the 2019 Bassmaster Central Opens and was a champion at that level by winning the 2019 Grand Lake event. Downey kicked off the 2022 season with a dramatic 2nd place finish at Florida’s Harris Chain. Bob Downey had one of the finest single days of fishing in tournament competition that we have ever seen. Listen to Bob tell us all about it. This young man is on his way to a great season!Dan Johnston from St. Croix joins us to talk about early season techniques to try as open water season is upon us.We are joined by our friend, Betty Bauman, the Founder of Ladies, Let's Go Fishing! It’s one of our favorite organizations. Let’s find out what is happening at LLGF these days.