Potholes Pro/Am Preview Show

Michael Bray: Welcome back to the Bam Pro Am Pre-Game Show here on Potholes Reservoir. We're hosted by Mardon Resort for this event, and it's been a fantastic start to our tournament. We've we're doing check-in right now. We're pulling anglers aside, talking to Travis Archer. We talked to Curtis Reno. And now we're going to move to the collegiate side a little bit and we're filming with an angler that's fishing his first ever pro event, but he's had a lot of experience on Potholes Reservoir, and he's a fantastic angler at Oregon State right now. Welcome back to Potholes Reservoir for our pre-tournament cap of what we're looking forward to this week for great fishing, great fun, and great competition. We just talked to Travis Archer, a fantastic angler. He's already won two boats, but he's looking to win an AVX 1880 as well. But now we're making our way to Idaho to talk to some of the other anglers that traveled all the way from Court d'Alane to fish this event and have been supporting our Northwest series from the get-go for years now, and we appreciate that support. Welcome to Potholes Reservoir here in Grant County, Washington. We made it to our second stop of the BAM Pro Am series here in the Pacific Northwest, and we have a fantastic fishery that we're going to dive into all week long. This episode's going to explore what the BAM Pro Am series is, how Potholes Lake is fishing, and we're going to talk to some of the top contenders fishing this week, and we're starting with Travis Archer, a Super 60 Pro. So we're bringing in Bradley Tiller to give a little bit of an intro about himself. Yeah. So ⁓ I grew up on the west side of Washington. ⁓ made trips to potholes here and there. And then just a couple of years ago, ⁓ started coming here every spring. ⁓ kind of gained a lot of experience here, fished a couple of programs as a co, which helped a lot. I highly recommend doing that on any lake that you want to get better out. ⁓ and yeah, spent the last couple of days pre-fishing here. ⁓ had a really good first day. So we're gonna start with Curtis Reno, a fantastic pro, a fantastic angler, and we're gonna learn a little more about him. So give us a little bit of an intro. ⁓ first of all, thanks for letting me come on your podcast and thanks for coming all the way up here to the Pacific Northwest for us to come out and kind of showcase our talents and fish against some of the best in the West. ⁓ I'm kind of a kid, still kinda young, ⁓ and been fishing my whole life and got into tournament bass fishing and it's addicting. So An angler that's really done well out here on the Pacific Northwest and a very short career. And he's got a long road ahead and a lot more wins to come. And he's looking to possibly win a Vexis boat this week. So, Travis, give us a little bit of an introduction about who you are, how ⁓ your journey's been out here, ⁓ and some of your recent successes and a little bit of history. Perfect. So I started out tournament bass fishing at fifteen years old. Actually, one of my best tournaments at 15 was out here on Paul Holes Reservoir, and I was able to qualify for the Kind of a so-so second day, but I'm ⁓ excited and nervous for tomorrow. Yeah, and talk about your journey so far up to this point, what kind of tournaments you fished, how this relates to those tournaments and what you're expecting as your fur I guess as being a pro for the first time from going as a co angler in the past and yeah, to what that journey looked like. Yeah. So I joined the Oregon State ⁓ bass fishing team ⁓ in I guess it'd be early twenty twenty four. ⁓ and they've helped me tremendously. Family man, have a wife, son, and it's all I love to do. Awesome. And yeah, we just gotta learn a little more about you and your dad. He's an avid turkey hunter fishing as well this week with us. But ⁓ we appreciate ⁓ yeah, that support that you guys have to come down here. And I mean, from what you've seen from the start of our ProM series out here in the Northwest, do you think more guys should be hopping on board? Are you disappointed with the turnouts? Are you happy with the promotions? What are the goods and bads that you've seen so far? TBF nationals and all that fun stuff. And then ⁓ I I just got addicted. So now I do all the major tournament series. I was able to qualify for the Super Sixty. And I've been successful doing this Pacific Northwest stuff. I mean, I was able to win the 2018 ABA Championship. And then we just recently won the 2025 championship on Banks Lake. One of my favorite places to fish is Banks Lake. Awesome. So I mean, you're no stranger to winning boats. Like I said, ⁓ you've had a pretty ⁓ it started out smaller and we've we've kind of grown. ⁓ me and my group of officers. ⁓ there's about 10 of us now. We started with about three. ⁓ and yeah, so we fish the ⁓ a lot of events as co-anglers. ⁓ now thanks to BAM, we get to fish the Scholastic as co-anglers. ⁓ helps a ton. ⁓ lots of experience gained through that stuff. ⁓ and yeah, so fishing as a co-angler, I highly recommend ⁓ again, and ⁓ yeah. I I think you guys put out a phenomenal product and the tournaments are ran super professionally. I am a little disappointed in the turnouts. ⁓ it should pull more boats. This lake is absolutely phenomenal. ⁓ Moses is phenomenal as well. ⁓ and this lake swallows giant boat fields. I mean, with the the Nixon's big bass tournament, I mean 157 boats, the potholes open is 150 plus boats, and this place does not fish small. Hot start this last year. You wanna I mean you're fishing in the Super Sixty, you've traveled to the East Coast a little bit. ⁓ Potholes Reservoir is a unique fishery though. Can you give us a little bit of an understanding of where we're going to this week for this event, how the lake's I mean, unfolds and what kind of fish it holds? So potholes is a great body of water. So you can it's it's a lot of junk fishing. So you can you can go through a Cinko, catch a ton of fish, you can go through a frog, you can flip a jig. Yeah, and before we sell you short, you're also a college student going to graduate next spring. On top of that, you're working in marketing for Discount Tackle, a fantastic Oregon based ⁓ online store that you can go check out and get any of the baits you need. They might even have Koikies in stock if you get like Yeah, they ⁓ we get ⁓ every now and then it drops. So ⁓ definitely be checking on ⁓ Discount Tackle. Awesome. But yeah, I mean, what are your goals for the sport? ⁓ you're already on a fantastic trajectory. So, I mean, if if you're thinking about getting into the pro am kind of tournament fishing, I mean, where else in the Northwest can you sign up for a thousand dollars and have a chance at a brand new boat? Yeah, and you don't have to split that boat between your partner. So it's a pretty cool deal. ⁓ there's a lot of guys that are here trying to qualify for the super sixty. There's a lot of guys that are just local tournament anglers. They normally cash a check every weekend. And I mean, a one in fifty-seven chance with a couple more that are It's a great body water because you can catch fish doing almost everything and anything. If you ever come to Washington, you have to stop at potholes to give it a whirl because it's so much fun. First, you're running through the dunes, it's nice and tight, and you're cutting through the the channels and stuff just to get back to go throw a frog in the back, back back stuff and drag them out. It's a super fun place. And I mean, one thing that you just highlighted is how far back you can get on this body of water. You're not fishing main lake points, you're really Are you wanting to fish in the Super Sixty, get ⁓ make a career in it, and ⁓ what steps are you taking to do that? Yeah, so I'd love to ⁓ like I said, work in the industry for sure. ⁓ just so that I love my work. I think it'd be great. And then I guess the end goal, at least ⁓ short term, is fish the super sixty in the next, you know, three to five years as soon as I qualify, hopefully. And ⁓ I yeah, I'd say that's the goal. Awesome. But you missed Moses Lake, unfortunately. So Going through sand dunes just like a desert where ⁓ I think there's past history of anglers actually bringing ⁓ jet boats out here. They used to bring airboats. ⁓ I mean, th it seems like this is going to be a fishery that not only produces some interesting environments to fish in, but also some good fish. Do you think it's going to take some smallmouth, largemouth mixed bag, or is it a I guess a little bit up in the air for this week? deposited ⁓ so we have that sixty boat field but ⁓ that's a pretty good chance at a new boat. Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ but yeah talk a little bit about how potholes breaks down. We know how expansive it is. There's a lot of sand dunes. It's a little bit dangerous at times. ⁓ but ⁓ yeah give us a little bit more in depth on what guys should expect out here if they've never fished here, why they should come check it out and what kind of quality it holds. ⁓ your fishing potholes, are you gonna go to the Columbia River? I'm thinking about the Columbia. ⁓ honestly depends if I can get some money back on this one. ⁓ but yeah, in the coming years I'm definitely I'm definitely planning on fishing these full time the programs. Awesome. And one thing that you talked about was you actually fished with one of our first guests for the show today, Travis Archer. Yeah. ⁓ but how is that experience fishing as a co angler from the back of the boat and starting as a co angler to now running the boat for the next hopefully three days? So I absolutely love potholes because you can catch them any way you want. You can catch them deep, you can catch them shallow, you can catch them punching, flipping, frogging. ⁓ the lakes consisted of really two main arms. There's the Crab Crick arm and then the western Winchester side, which is mostly all your sand dunes and little kind of pondish areas. right now the water's way higher than I've ever seen at this time of year. So It's mainly going to be largemouth. I'll tell you what, if you see a smallmouth, someone caught a random big one in the back. Now there are a lot of random big smallmouth in the very back where everybody's going to be fishing, but it's mainly going to be a largemouth fishery. Okay, and when you talked about some of the baits you could throw, you did not talk a little bit and hardly at all about finesse tactics. So that means I have a feeling you're a reaction guy. Yeah, that's one of my favorite things to do out here. My number one bait out here is either chatterbait, swim jig, or throwing a frog. ⁓ at least two days, but yeah ⁓ did it look t teach you a lot, a lot of I guess structure. What were the biggest pros and cons and why I guess what is the biggest reason you're moving to the front now? Yeah. So I always tell people those two days, it was a two day ⁓ God, I think it was a limit out marine tournament and this was in twenty twenty four. ⁓ shout out to Travis Archer and shout out Cy Floyd, who I had the second day. I believe he's here. ⁓ ⁓ the fish are a little more spread out, I've found. I personally like it better when the water's low. It consolidates your fish and you can get more into those bigger schools of fish. ⁓ but I mean, as far as being able to go anywhere you want, catch them however you want, it's a lot easier to get around this time of year. you don't have to worry about hitting dunes as much. And with today's mapping, it makes it really, really easy to get around here. Awesome. And one thing that that ⁓ this place is also known for that's a little unique compared to other fisheries is beaver dams, I've heard. ⁓ is finding structure like some I mean underwater wood, beaver dams, stuff like that going to make a play? And is that where waypoints kind of come in and local knowledge? ⁓ yeah, that's really going to help out. So what I've done over the years is study this thing on Google Earth over and over to mark all the beaver huts, all the dams and everything that I can find, because potholes is But it is it can be overwhelming. But you can catch them from the face of the dunes all the way to the back of the lake and you can catch them against the dam all the way down the Lincule arm. There's fish absolutely everywhere in this lake. Cool. And do you think that there's gonna be some big smallmouth that are caught, or is it really largemouth oriented this time of year? Or ⁓ gosh, this lake in general, I feel like is mostly largemouth oriented. My dad and I were just talking earlier today when we were out on the lake and I learned more in those two days than maybe any other two days of bass fishing in life. They taught me so much. Pulholes is intimidating if you don't know anything about it. If it's first time here, it all looks the same. They taught me so much. ⁓ and then yeah, transitioning to the front of the boat. ⁓ I think I learned a first of all a lot of etiquette in those two days. ⁓ they were both great and taught me a lot that wise as well. ⁓ and yeah, I'm just excited to be able to run the boat and ⁓ help my co get on some fish as well. A lot of brush, it's ⁓ and has a lot of tulies, but if you can find that that beaver hut that has that access to a little bit deeper water, because right now they're dropping it, I think they're dropping about two inches, about roughly each day. So those fish are pulling farther and farther out of the bays that they're in right now. So the first thing they hit is either going to be a point or they're gonna stick to a beaver hut or a beaver dam. Awesome. So now at this point in the show, we do need to go into our tip of the week. ⁓ we talked a little bit about how you like frogging, flipping, throwing those reaction tactics, but give us a little bit of an insight on how we can become better at flipping, throwing creature baits, throwing heavy weights and cover and grass. And ⁓ just yeah, give us a little bit of a rundown. Yeah. ⁓ so if I were to pick one tip of the week, I think it would be patience while frogging and flipping. Awesome. And I mean, anglers when they come out here, ⁓ is it a frightening place if you've never fished here before for these California guys making the trip or ⁓ I mean, are there hazards out there or is it I mean, what the worst cue you're gonna do is polish a prop and end up on a sand dune. That's pretty much it. You're gonna polish a prop, laying on a sand dune. I mean, today I hit a couple of spots I was like, ⁓ barely made it. I mean, I've heard stories of quads coming out helping guys get pulled out of the sand and stuff. So I am surprised that somebody has not cracked the code on the smallmouth. It's it's gotta have big smallmouth in it. The food the feed is incredible. There's tons of crowd ads. A big smallmouth around here that I've seen personally, if somebody weighs a four pounder, it's gonna be a big one and it's probably gonna be a incidental getting caught back in the dunes. But they do get back in there and they do grow. Awesome. And I mean with the weather I like long pauses with my frog and I feel like they often hit on a long pause. ⁓ and the flipping same thing. I'll f if if especially if I'm in an area where I'm catching fish, I flip it in there and I'll give it a couple bumps and I'll just let it sit for a second. And they often pick it up while it's just sitting there. ⁓ so yeah, I think patience is key this week. And how heavy of a weight are you using? when a lot of guys here flipping, they're either thinking California Delta with a ⁓ ounce and a half or Awesome. And how many, I mean, how many of the anglers in this field really have the opportunity to do well this week? Is it kind of anyone's game or is it does local knowledge really separate talent out here? I know Mike Mazowski, ⁓ he won the tournament last year. He got first place last weekend in the Northwest. So he's one that you're gonna have to keep an eye on. But there's a lot of ⁓ individuals from Idaho, Washington, Oregon that have all done really well. I mean, out here at Potholes, ⁓ I mean it's eighty-six degrees today, beautiful, not a whole lot of wind this weekend. So it's really setting up for one of our nicer tournaments, especially after the windstorm that we experienced at Moses. ⁓ but do you think there's gonna be much of a reaction by it? Is it finesse? ⁓ how can guys break it down from the front of the boat and the back of the boat? And ⁓ without giving too much info, I guess a little bit of an idea and understanding. Yeah. Or they're thinking ⁓ very light flipping on twenty to twenty-five pound fluorocarbon. Are you f cock fluorocarbon or braid or ⁓ though I'm using straight sixty five pound braid that might be a little bit overkill because I'm not flipping the heaviest stuff. I could probably get away with definitely twenty, twenty-five pound fluorocarbon or ⁓ a liter at least. But I just prefer straight braid, less knots that could possibly break in my line. ⁓ and it's I do think there's a reaction bite for sure. The first couple hours of the day before the sun gets high, you can catch ⁓ winding. ⁓ and then after that, I've for me personally it's slowed way down. ⁓ a drop shot, ⁓ flipping, punching into hyacinth mats and stuff like that. ⁓ but then you you know, you always have you have an all day top water bite. So, I mean, you can wind a buzz bait and get bit at noon if you want. It's not Do you think that it's something that anyone can come and get into quality fish? Or ⁓ I guess yeah. ⁓ how I I I guess yeah, what does it look like for the competition? Yeah, that's the great thing about potholes reservoir is like anybody can come out here and probably catch 15 pounds and then it's a matter of fact if you can get one or two more four pounders. That's really how potholes is. I mean, the locals have that benefit of knowing what beaver huts typically hold the bigger ones and know which bays are typically better later in the year in the water levels. 65 prime braids not gonna break. So just a little peace of mind with that. ⁓ but I'm flipping half ounce minimum, ounce maximum. Kinda just depends on the cover. I have a couple rods rigged up on the deck ready to go. ⁓ just depend on what I see out there. Awesome. And let's talk about this beautiful water clarity we have here. It looks about my screen, almost like ⁓ can of pea soup, but It's not unheard of for ⁓ to go off in the middle of the day. Awesome. And where should or I guess what should we expect in terms of ⁓ co anglers? Can they fish pretty openly on this body of water? Or I guess are they gonna be at a little bit of a disadvantage? ⁓ there shouldn't be a whole lot of bed fishing going on, but yeah, I mean, how what would you I guess But yeah, that's the great thing about potholes is everybody can come out here and just catch them. I mean, if you're not catching, pick up a Cinco and you'll catch them. Cool. And is that what you're telling the big guys in the back of the boat to do as well, the co anglers? Or ⁓ do you have any tips for those guys to ⁓ I mean there shouldn't be any bed fishing going on at this point. R ⁓ I guess that's just an assumption. But what what can co anglers do from the back of the boat to be successful out here? You're gonna be fishing fairly shallow water. Do you think line size and color and density has anything to do with ⁓ the fish's reaction to it or are they pretty I mean, grab and go and not really look Yeah. So my experience and practice so far, I actually did tie on a very short twenty five pound leader to my sixty five pound braid and I don't think it made a difference at all. And I actually caught less fish. I don't know if it's correlated, but I caught less fish with a leader. So I'm just gonna run straight braid. ⁓ How would you explain for a co angler to have a good experience, a learning experience, and not overwhelm the pro and I guess just have a good mutually beneficial relationship? ⁓ that is the one thing that is amazing about this place is it's really tough to front end somebody out here. I mean, if ⁓ if you're fishing a beaver hut, the pro can nose into the beaver hut and the co still has I mean, willow brush and Yeah, so there's not gonna be any bed fishing. Typically ends like middle of June, all the bed fishing. But yeah, if you're a co angler, he might be screwing you over because he's trying to fish the bank, but I'm telling you what, there's fish everywhere. If you pick up a Cinco, throw it out deep, though you might catch one out there, just flip a jig behind him. Look you can what I tell every single co is throw a Cinco, throw a jig, and if we get in an area where we can both frog and throw reaction baits, then let's do it. Okay. And I mean, do you think that ⁓ The water's definitely dirtier. That might have something to do with it. ⁓ yeah, I think it's just grab and grow under the canopies in the buck brush. ⁓ yeah. And are those guys that utilize their live scope stressing a little bit right now coming out here? Or is there a a place that you can use it? There's definitely a place where you can use it. There are some smallmouth here. ⁓ there's a couple decent ones, but I don't think it's gonna be one scoping. I don't think it's gonna be one on smallmouth. I think it's gonna be one back in the dunes, ⁓ where it's very hard to live scope. weed lines and hyacinth mats, every it's really tough to not have a cast out here. ⁓ from a coat perspective, I mean, Cincos, bring a frog rod, bring a flippin' stick. There you're gonna have targets all day. Bring a chatterbait rod. The chatterbait always catches them here. And so as far as co weights go, I think it should be a fair every co I would think should be able to catch a winner. Wow. I guess there's a almost a stipulation when you come to the Northwest where guys are very protective about their spots on different bodies of water. And I think that's why we have a challenge with these non-shared weight formats. But I guess what do you think the biggest drawback is on getting large numbers at these events? I mean, I think we have c ⁓ fifty seven and a couple deposits. So we have enough further contingencies at this event, but were you expecting larger turnouts for these Northwest pro amps? And what do you think numbers wise it's going to take on the pro side every day? ⁓ every day, I think the first day you'll see a big bag. ⁓ Mike what was it last weekend? Last weekend dropped a twenty pound bag. ⁓ so I think you will see a big twenty, twenty one pound bag the first day. I think consistency though is what is really what it's gonna take. And I'm thinking that seventeen ish a day is probably gonna win. Okay. And ⁓ how much weight are you aiming for? I'm hoping for to win, I'm hoping for eighteen a day to make the cut, probably seventeen and a half. Okay. A day. Okay. So I mean fairly decent bags, a couple of four pounders moved in there. But it's gonna need ⁓ Yeah. ⁓ do you think that there's those high caliber five, six, seven pound fish, or are they very, very hard to get very rare here. ⁓ Yeah, I was expecting a lot bigger, especially at Moses, 'cause I mean that's one of our best bodies of water on the east side of Washington, in my opinion. That in Lake Roosevelt, that's my favorite place. But yeah, I was expecting a lot more. I think a lot of people are, like what you're saying, scared to show their spots, scared to really like give up all the knowledge that they've worked so hard to get to. Yeah, and what about ⁓ Moses Lake? Did that play out like you thought it would, or ⁓ were the weights a little bit down? Were I mean, what what was the And I mean, what about the competition that we've got? We had, I think Wade Wilkins did really well here. Zach did really well here. ⁓ all these fantastic w anglers that are pretty young, but we've also got older anglers that have taken a lot of money and won a lot of boats. ⁓ do you think we have a pretty solid field out of the numbers that we have? Are we pulling the cream of the crop for the Northwest? Yes, absolutely. I mean, there's there are no other guys that I would rather fish against. Like you look there was a tournament last week where the big bass was four point seven, a big tournament. ⁓ the ⁓ there's a annual big bass event here every year with like 180 boats, and I think five point four was the biggest last year or this year, something like that. ⁓ so they're here, but ⁓ I think a 20 pound bag is great. There's probably gonna be a 20 on the first day, and then that guy usually gonna dwindle out. ⁓ but yeah, hopefully it's me, but feeling for that tournament and did it exceed expectations for guys that may not have fished with us. So unfortunately I didn't make that one. But yeah, that that really exceeded a lot. I mean, I was very impressed. I got done fishing Brownley for pre practice and when I was coming back, I was like, ⁓ shoot, I wish I would have made it to Moses. yeah, I was really impressed with how many giant bags were just coming to the scales. It was incredible. Hey starting off hot, you might be on the camera again tomorrow talking about your day one. But it sounds like there's a lot of I mean, two to four pounders in this lake, which means it should be pretty fun from the front of the boat and the back of the boat. What should a co-angler throw? Yeah, so I think in my opinion, this is the best lake to be a co angler, just because you're always gonna have something to throw at as long as you're back in the dunes. The in every direction there's cover. ⁓ weightless Senko is gonna be your friend. ⁓ ⁓ they are the best in the Northwest. And there's guys that have a lot of history on this lake. ⁓ guys that constantly win here. ⁓ Rich Kraft won a boat here at one of a pro one of the programs a couple of years ago. ⁓ yeah, it's it's a stacked field and I'm excited to get out there. Awesome. And if you're listening right now and you're not fishing this event because it's not a lake you think we should be at, put in the comment where you think we should go and I want to hear from you. Yeah, and talking about Brownley, ⁓ we're headed straight there after this potholes event for our Super Sixty Pro Tour. We do still have a couple observer spots. So if you want to get in close on the action, see what that looks like. On the final day, we have one spot left, but we have some spots on Sat Friday, Saturday. But how do you think Brownle gonna play out? Are you excited for that tournament? Fifty grand cash, set field of sixty six anglers. So it's a it's I should be a pretty good tournament, but what we should look at next year, what some other high quality bodies of water are out here. and yeah, I guess what we can do to keep building momentum, build more feet bigger fields and really hit some of these target ⁓ fisheries on the northwest. ⁓ over here, I'm a little biased and I in my heart of hearts hope you don't go there because I've donated a lot of money there, but they're giant bags and it's fun. It's a giant lake. ⁓ Maybe a lighter, like finesse your jig could be your friend. ⁓ and honestly a frog ⁓ I think a frog could be your friend. You're not gonna get many bites, but if you if you're looking for one kicker at the frog. So all you need are three rods tomorrow, a pack of Senkos, and you're good to go. It sounds like but yeah, I mean, what about this tournament? Then the Columbia River is gonna be smallmouth oriented again. Moses was fairly smallmouth oriented. I guess do you think that the format of the lakes Yeah, dude. I I'm so excited for that one because in practice, I was able to figure out how to catch a lot of fish and I was really starting to dial in how to catch some of the better ones. Brownley has a lot of two pounders and smaller. So it's really it's going to really show who can find the bigger fish and who has that good mindset and knowledge of how to really locate the three and four pounders. Cause for the three days I was out there, I was able to catch one four and a handful of threes, but there's a ton of twos. ⁓ is pretty unique for the Northwest angler. Are there lakes that we're missing that we need to go to? Any around Oregon State, that whole trophy spotted bass that we should talk about or we should not talk about ⁓ but but ⁓ mean i for the northwest, I think again in my opinion, I think these three lakes are ⁓ they got good diversity. They're all different, yet they're all great lakes that can manage this many boats. ⁓ there's a big tournament poles every week, basically. ⁓ Court Alane Lake would be high on my list for sure, being a hometown kid from Port Olaine. ⁓ Lake Ponderé and the Ponderé River also are really great fisheries. ⁓ the Ponderay River on the Washington side is a great fishery. ⁓ but as far as I mean, BAM does such a good job with the promotion and the the reaching out constantly. You're on everybody's feed with all the advertisement and everything. It's a it's a great Hey, so it sounds like keeper count is going to play a factor then from what it sounds like. or were they all fourteen inch plus fish for the most part or yeah, for the most part they're fourteen inches. So I think what I'm going to do is I'm gonna chase that keeper count, like you're just saying, because there's so many fish in that lake that you can just really get on a roll. I think that you're going to see some of the higher counts than you would say like the Columbia River and stuff. And did you qualify through the Northwest Pro Am series to get into the super sixty? But yeah, no. ⁓ smallmouth the Columbia would be my weakness probably. ⁓ I have to definitely practice the full time and figure that out. But ⁓ yeah, I think these three lakes are great. And how do you feel about the competition this week? I mean, we've got guys that have won multiple boats over the years, a lot that are a lot older than you and a lot that are your age that are already fishing on the highest level we have out here. So it's pretty unique that I mean, someone your age can compete and do well very easily if you get on the right bite. Exactly. ⁓ I mean great trail to be a part of and I don't think people really realize what it is until they are involved in it. And there's there might be a bad taste in people's mouth from the whole Wild West thing that happened and everything, but it's it is top notch. I I look forward to every time you guys come back. Awesome. And I mean we're working hard. We have a great staff, a committed staff. I mean our guys literally showed up Wednesday and we're here until the twenty ninth. Yeah, that's what I did. That's how I qualified. And I was super excited because you're starting it on Lake Shasta. And that's one of my favorite places to go. Okay. So yeah, I mean, when you say Lake Shasta, a lot of the northern guys have a hard time making that drive up there. But why is that one of your favorite fisheries? Is it the sm spotted bass? Is it the size of the lake? The atmosphere? It's a s ⁓ it's a spotted bass and just how that lake fishes, it really fits into like how I like fishing, you know, finesse deep. Because we go straight to Brownley for our pro tour event there. And as an Idaho guy, what do you think we can expect from Brownle Reservoir with these guys? Have you heard much about it? Is it kind of a dark horse in terms of fisheries or I've been to Brownle one time, ⁓ and it was a long, long time ago. I was in a junior bass club tournament down there. ⁓ and I don't know much about it. ⁓ I know there's a lot of smallmouth and I'm not sure on weights. Do you think that we're getting the right caliber of anglers fishing these years? Definitely. There are some hammers here and there's some hammers that ⁓ fish all three Northwest events. ⁓ definitely. Like Daryl won Daryl Burkhart won the last event. Yeah. ⁓ I think he got second place here last year. So he's ⁓ definitely in contention then? Definitely. Daryl's in contention. ⁓ there's a couple local hammers like Csy Cy Floyd, I mentioned earlier is a local hammer. it's gonna be tough to make top ten. But also can do a lot of power fishing. So that's what I really like about Shastin. Okay. And what about ⁓ I guess just your experience in general so far, fishing the BAM events, fishing the Super 60. Do you think it's something that these guys should s are are still actively trying to qualify for? And do you think that it's something that we can grow into something special out here on the West Coast? Yeah, I definitely think this is going to grow incredibly and it's going to be a huge thing here on the West Coast. Cause a lot of guys are super excited. I know a lot of people were Well, it sounds like we might be talking to a couple of those guys tomorrow and you're gonna wanna stay tuned for another podcast because we're talking to our day one leaders, day two leaders, and then we'll turn it to the champions corner again on Sunday. But Bradley, how can people find you online? How can people support Oregon State University? Give us a quick rundown on that. Yeah, so ⁓ my Instagram handle and Facebook handles ⁓ tiller fishing. ⁓ and then Oregon State University. I believe our handle is Oregon State Fishing Club on ⁓ Instagram. You can ⁓ but with the group of guys that you guys go on, like the Ron Maces and though I mean, they're smallmouth junkies. So Jake Boomer, those guys I mean, they love to catch smallmouth, so that they'll catch it. Yeah, I mean I'm pretty excited. Either way, someone's taking fifty grand home. So it's gonna be a good trip. ⁓ but yeah, I mean, give a little bit of advice, I guess in general that ⁓ you think might be good for the Pro Am formats that guys might not really be familiar with. little skeptical because the first north first year, you know, the Northwest division went to Shasta. So a lot of guys were scared to leave Washington, I think. I mean, I wasn't I love Shasta, but a lot of guys were scared to travel. But now that you have it more up ⁓ isolated in the Northwest, I think that there's gonna be a lot more people that are willing to go and try and qualify for the super sixties. Reach out to us anytime, send us a DM ⁓ with any questions or any input at all and ⁓ we'll respond to ya and yeah, buy our merch as well. We have we have merch just message us about the merch. It's available on Instagram. Cool. And last thing, what about the scholastic series? Why should we I mean, why should you fish that if you're a high school angler, a college angler? Yeah. ⁓ and what what are the benefits? So remind me of the scholarship award. ⁓ so Simpson gives a hundred thousand dollars scholarship to Angler of the Year. I mean, we're really here to Yeah, I mean, I think it's a pretty cool format. You can fish keep or count or wait. You can fish for three days, try to qualify for fifty grand cash. And the total payout at those events is two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But for this event, you have a good chance of qualifying for the ⁓ Bam Classic Championship later on this year, too. ⁓ how are you feeling about that? I mean, another opportunity to fish for a $120,000 boat and a lot of money in that tournament as well. ⁓ the non-shared weight format kind of scares people. ⁓ it's not a team tournament. It's a little higher entry, but again, you don't have to split your boat if you win it. ⁓ thousand bucks is not that much more than ⁓ four hundred for a team tournament realistically, especially when it goes from a couple thousand for first to a boat for first. But ⁓ yeah, I mean, what are the benefits of fishing a pro am from what you've seen over the last couple of years? ⁓ for sure competition. ⁓ normally only the guys who Heck yeah, I love I love the fact that you guys were able to make every single program that you win a boat and at the end of it you can go fish for fish the championship for another bigger boat and big more money, you know? Yeah. So ⁓ I guess just what are you thinking weight wise it's going to take for the ⁓ each day of this event and what are you striving for tomorrow? So I'm thinking it's gonna take fifteen to sixteen each day to qualify, but you're definitely like day one you might see like nineteen, twenty pounds. promote all of the anglers that fish, whether they want to go back east, ⁓ whether they want to be showcased in a magazine or whether they want to learn for two days. So ⁓ it's a pretty cool thing. Next year we might even have some talk about getting them into the championship. ⁓ if they do well enough and get AOI. But we'll s we're looking at some different things, some distinctions that we can do differently. But I mean there's only ten high school anglers that side up signed up a couple college anglers. But I feel like we should have a full field at every tournament. have the abilities and really crave that big tournament aspect are gonna put up a thousand bucks for only two days of guaranteed fishing. the winning the boat aspects, I mean one in fifty-seven chance of winning a brand new boat and you don't have to split it with anybody, like you said. ⁓ from a co-angler standpoint, it's it is a hefty entry feed, but you're going to get to go with a very good fisherman who I mean, if you're gonna pay a thousand bucks to come fish somewhere, it's yeah, I mean, guys are gonna be on ⁓ Yeah. I mean, even for the coastide too, four ninety five. So I mean, really if you fish for three days, you're getting a guide trip for a couple hundred bucks a day if you split it up like the country can you do that? So, I mean, and you're getting the guys that are fishing their best water on their best days of competition trying to g take home the top prize. So But I don't think that's really going to hold. You might see a couple of eighteens and seventeens, but typically it doesn't really hold with the 20s and 19s and all that. So I'm really shooting, tell you the truth, I'm shooting for like a high 16, 17 pound bag for both days. I'm going to try and play a little conservative to try and maximize and make it on to the final day. Yeah, and final day. ⁓ it is cumulative for this event. So you guys are gonna want to come out here to Mardon Resort. It's a fantastic place if you're looking at the background of where we're filming right now. We're in one of there. Really should with that prize especially. I mean, these kids have a one in ten chance of a hundred thousand dollar scholarship. Yeah. ⁓ so that's reason enough right there. And then again, just experience. I think getting on the back as a co angler is the number one thing for experience you need to do. ⁓ and yeah, I think that's enough reason right there. Yeah. So whether it's Simpson, whether it's going to Oregon State, there's some great anglers that would love to have you join the team. And ⁓ I mean, you're with a good group of people, whatever school you go to, whether it's West Coast, East Coast. ⁓ you really get to see a different aspect in general when you're coming out with these guys. And it is a little bit of high competition. You have to know what you're doing. You have to be able to be ready to go and run and gun and have the rods and your neat ready ⁓ rods ready and the ⁓ open mindness to be able to fish what's in front of you and what you're given. So ⁓ it's a unique thing. It's something that's pretty special. I mean, when you're catching your own fish in the non-shared weight format, it does feel a little bit better when you do win. But if you come to Bam, you're with a fantastic group of anglers that are from all ages and you're gonna make some lifelong friends. So thanks for your time, Bradley. We're gonna possibly talk to one more angler, but if not, this is might be a wrap for the ch ⁓ this week's pre game show for Potholes Reservoir, hosted by Mardon Resort. So it's a great place to stay, a fantastic venue. And there's gonna be some good fishing caught. ⁓ so it's gonna be starting bright and early at five AM and we'll see you at weigh in later tomorrow. lake houses that you can rent anytime you come down here to fish this great body of water. There are fantastic hosts for us to come up here and they do ⁓ treat all of us and all of our anglers extremely well. So we appreciate their support. Grant County, Washington, and we need you to stay tuned because we're going to bring another angler in, talk about their predictions for Potholes Reservoir. But Travis, ⁓ give us a little bit of last minute advice, talk about some of your partners. Anything you want to say before we go on to the next guest. So ⁓ that three day tournament against these guys too. But have you had any big wins? Have you taken home a boat? Have I guess did you fish in high school? What what's your past look like? So I fished in high school pretty heavy. ⁓ got a couple third places in state championships and stuff like that. ⁓ took a little bit of a hiatus, came back, I wanna say in twenty twenty, and have fished fairly consistent s consistently. ⁓ a few top tens this year. My advice for everybody is always keep your head down and stay positive. Positive mental attitude is the best thing. Because if you start going negative on yourself, then you're going to start mix messing up, doing negative things and all that. But just keep that positive mindset. I mean, that's what I strive for every single day. And I'd like to just thank all of my sponsors, ⁓ Chevy P. All up, ⁓ Northwest Industrial Repair, and then ⁓ Archer Construction. I I mean, my dad helped me sponsor and he's helping me out a lot this year. Awesome. So you're taking out your limit out boat. You're running a Phoenix this year, and ⁓ hopefully it's running quick for you tomorrow and you're able to get to your spots and have a good day. So hopefully we'll be talking to the top three as well for each day of the event. So stay tuned for some more podcasts. Maybe we'll be talking to Travis ⁓ tomorrow as well if he has a little bit of luck on his side. But thanks, Travis, and stay tuned with that positive mental attitude. in itself has been one of my best years. I've had two seconds and a few thirds and it's we've been fishing really well. So we're hoping to keep that rolling here. Awesome. Yeah. Keep the momentum going. ⁓ you did talk a little bit about high school, but what about our scholastic series that we have? I mean, these guys we have ten at this tournament, but they go to fish for a hundred bucks ⁓ and really get to learn. I mean, ⁓ it's pretty I think it's a pretty cool deal. And would you have done it when you were in high school? ⁓ 100%. ⁓ I mean, when I was growing up it was we had some some hammers where in Court d'Alene and I mean when you got a day with when you got a day on the lake with Brandon Polinek or the Charlie Lynches, the Jeremy Tripps, those guys, I mean, you had you invested your entire day and all the gas money your parents would give you to go spend a day with them and the way that technology is now and I mean, the fisheries fisheries to me have just been getting better and better and better. And I mean, for a high school kid to be able to come out here for a hundred bucks and learn a body of water like this, it's incredible. Yeah. And will live scope play a factor in this tournament or the use of technology or I mean, is it really using your maps to get back in places and fishing shallow and trying to fish clean? ⁓ if a guy really wanted to, you could scope ⁓ me there's a few spots where I mean just off the top of my head that it would play. For me mostly around here, I just look I stare down at it to see where where weed lines run out or where dunes break off, that kind of stuff. But as far as like shaking a minnow, I I haven't seen that out here. Awesome. So it sounds like people should be excited, especially if you're sitting out because of live scope and not wanting to advance in technology, which we actually did a survey and more people want to keep live scope than want to get rid of it. So that says something about the competition angler now and ⁓ the advancement of the sport, whether that's good, bad, in between, whatever your opinion is. ⁓ it seems like it's here to stay at the moment and it's still growing. But ⁓ we've got the Columbia River next. Are you trying to qualify for the Spr ⁓ the classic championship? And if you do qualify, are you gonna make that trip to fish it wherever it's at? ⁓ yeah, if I if I qualify, I would love to Love to come fish it. That's two hundred and fifty thousand dollar championship on is it d where is it at? ⁓ good question. We'll let you all know very shortly. We're ⁓ still trying to finalize a few details and keep that excitement growing and ⁓ really make it a good event. So very soon it will be known. But ⁓ in the meantime, we're just buttoning up a few things and helping you guys qualify by making these events up here. But stay tuned because we're gonna bring another guest on. Curtis, you wanna leave with anything? Do you have any sponsors, any support that Is a big help for you? one company that I've kind of connected with and since inception, it's a really cool company, brand new, ⁓ Johnny Creek Baits. ⁓ they're hemp infused baits. They they catch them. I've been catching all my fish this week out here on them. really cool, family oriented, great story. If you have a chance, jump online, go to johnnycreekbaits.com. ⁓ and then my family, my My amazing wife, my beautiful little boy, my parents, mom and dad, my in-laws, everybody is so supportive of what I do. And they allow me to chase these silly green fish around. Awesome. Yeah, we appreciate a good support system and it definitely goes a long way. Johnny Creek Bates is making a name. They made their way out to Idaho. They supported all of our high school students fishing back east right now at the high school TBF National Championship and World Championship. So Johnny Creek is making a name for themselves, and ⁓ we appreciate the work they're doing to try and grow the sport as well, ⁓ with better quality products and something that the fish haven't seen before. So stay tuned for Mardon Resort because we're here for a good time, for a great weekend of fishing, and we'll be right back with another guest.