Latest / Sac-A-Lait Talk / Raiding the Basin: Sac-A-Lait Secrets Revealed !
Transcript
- speaker-1: Welcome back to Sacklay Talk. I'm Dwayne Turner. It's time for our slab bite segment. Today we're coming to you with a man who knows how to locate the kind of spots most fishermen only dream about. He is the master of finding the heaviest slabs in the Chafla Basin, the one and only Preston, the honey hole bandit. Preston, welcome to the show, man. We are done. Thank you for having me. We're ready to learn how you find those secret honey holes and load up the live whale. Yes, sir. Thank you for having me, man. Thank you for having man, I I pr thank you for for giving us a few minutes and sharing your expertise with our with our listeners, okay? Yes, sir. Preston, we're we're locked and loaded, so let's get started. Preston, first thing, Preston, tell us your s your story behind the Honey Ho Bandit. it it it kind of just started as a joke, kind of to be honest. and I had a couple of different names that I was kinda tankering with, you know, just doing my social media stuff, social media platform. And it the the honey hole band that kind of stuck stuck, it kinda took off, you know, with a lot of people. So but like I said, mostly just started out, you know, as a joke, just playing around, messing with some of my friends and that one stuck, so I was like, you know what, I'm gonna run with that. And that's that's kinda how that, you know, you know, came to be. That's how it all started and and the legend was born, right? Yes, sir. The honey hole bandy. No honey hole safe. No honey hole safe. That's what I like to hear, man. I'm hitting all of them, you know. That's what I like to hear. That's it. Preston moving on. do you have a home lake that you primarily fish? you I I would say Lake Veret, maybe my home lake. I kind of do fish all over. So to be honest, I don't really get stuck like on one place, one area. but if I had to to summarize, a home lake, I would say Lake Verett would be the closest you know, one for me. Yeah, if if you're like me, you kinda go you kinda go where the the fish are biting 'cause I I go all over, man. I go bayou pigeon, Lake Verette, Henderson. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I fish I fish a lot. Central Louisiana, Larto Larto Lake. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't had a chance to get lardo yet. I know Keelum been trying to get me to come out there, but Keelum Jig, man, he'd been trying to get me to come out there. to Lardo. But I haven't had a chance to fish it yet. So I know they got some. Spider-regging up there on on the main lake. On the main part of the lake. They do a lot of spider rigging. I'm definitely gonna make my way out that way. I just hadn't got around to it, you know. But I I fish a lot of different areas. Yeah, if you go there, if you if you do make it down there and you're gonna spend a couple days, look up Uncle Bud's cabins. Uncle Buds, okay. They'll treat you right over there, okay? Okay, Uncle Bud's cabin. I'll keep it. Yeah, Uncle Buds. That's normally where I stay at. 'Cause whenever I go, I I usually spend a couple of days out there. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What's about the best time to go out there? man, they say a lot of people swear a lot December, January, February, you know. Coming up right now, huh? Yeah. I f I fished a couple of tournaments up there, you know, a a couple of years ago. How you did? It's pretty much good all all year round, you know. Okay, yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna check it out. Like I said, it's on my hit list, so the the band they're gonna sneak on over there to to Lardo also. So it's it's definitely not out out out of target for me, I can tell you that for sure. But I fish a lot of different areas, but like I said, if if I had to put a the a lake on it, it'd probably be Lake Verette, but I fish by your pigeon, by you saw Henderson, right, Nasham and the Zelm and I I I I hit a lot of different areas. You ever have you ever fished Rayma Raymond? I done fished Rhymer also, yes, sir. Yeah. Raymond, workman can air. I I done fish a lot of different areas and I'm fortunate fortunate to have a a a bunch of good buddies that'll kinda keep me in some of those areas too. They know the water way better than you know, kinda that I have and they're giving me some feedback and kind of lead me in the right direction and you know, we can we can normally stay on them. Preston, what is your personal best as far as weight? And can you walk us through that memory? my personal best, I think I had two, I won't get it, I won't get it right now. I think it was a two five six, if I ain't mistaken. that was in Texas. that was on a fishing trip. I went with Blaine, Blaine Salters at the time. yeah, I know Blaine. Yeah, yeah. Went on a fishing trip with them at the time and that was that was my a PB out there on a two five, two six? Yeah, it was two five, two fix six, something like that. I got it mounted too. well I have two of but that was a good trip. One of the ones I went on a while back. we went to Lake Merval, went to Merveil out there and that was one of the first time I was on a boat with some guys that kinda really knew live school pretty good. I did some other trips but, you know, those guys were pretty good at at their craft and they was putting us on some big fish constantly. So it was just a challenge to you know, try to beat everybody else. So, you know, it was like, hey, look, right. Them guys over there, they they picking up some big fish, so you know, we need to we need to try to keep, you know, keep pace with So they they put us on some good fish. all you had to do is drop down on And they they able to stay on them good and, you know, that was That was a good trip for me to kinda you know, eye opening trip to be like, Hey, look, I wanna start getting into the live scope stuff too, you know. Okay. Preston, what is your signature setup and technique for catching sacklate in the fall in the Chat Fly basin? right now I'm using the Ozark rides. that's you know I'm with Ozark Ride. I normally use a twelve foot. I normally have on eight pound tests. I like eight pounds just 'cause if I'm getting snagged up on stuff or if I'm jigging. I go one thirty second ounce. I may go but I may go up to a sixteen ounce. but right now I'm using one thirty second just cause I I I kinda feel they may be in a little bit of a transition. but they starting to eat a little bit bigger baits also. So, you know, that one thirty second give it a little bit of slow fall that I I like presentation wise. So that's what I'm using that. I normally sometime maybe pink head, red head, all depending on where I'm at. like I say one thirty second ounce pink or red head and I use a crappy monster. either sometime a small fry or I go up to one they call sour milk. That can do pretty good. It's kinda like a monkey milk and a green green tail. Yeah. So that's what I've been using lately. Now now what kind of technique are you using? Are you tightlining, are you slipcorking or what or what? The bandit pretty much use whatever technique it is that they that they biting on and they catch a fish at the time. But here lately I've been kinda transitioning over into the live scope space. So I've been pretty much tightlining them. no slip fobber, no caulk anything. trying to move over into their space just cause you know, I I I know the technology is is is there for yeah, if you can learn it. you can, you know, stay on fish consistently. I love to see that cork go under. I love, you know, popping cork. that's, you know, kinda where I I started at. and I caught a lot of fish doing it. actually I've been kinda slowed down with you know, live scope, just kinda learning. I guess it's a little learning curve and, you know, just being able to get out there enough to you know, just just you know, learn it in And kind of be consistent with it. You know what I'm saying? But I started out popping cork and but like I say now, you know, the last couple of months I've been in that tight lining space. So Yeah. That's kinda where I'm at. But I I've never back and forth. I've never fished live scope, but Billy was showing me I went on a little trip with him a couple of weeks ago. And he was showing me a little bit about that live scope. Billy good people, man. I like Billy. Yeah, it's big it's a it's quite a quite a difference but you know if you never fished it before and then you know it's a it's a whole new stepping up to the big leads. Yeah, you're coming up to the big leads with that with that live scope and I know the guys that that know how to use it, they deal it with it. So I'm trying to keep pace with them, you know. Prison I know you I know you said earlier you're you're starting to transition into using live scope. how heavily do you depend on it like right now and do you still use old school tactics? And techniques. Well like I well like I say, i as far as the last couple of months, I just kinda made it a deal to say, hey look, I bought this unit, I'm gonna try to use it to locate fish and and and to catch fish. So yeah, the last maybe six months I've been pretty much relying on it pretty heavy, just in in in the space of pretty much learning it. I will pull a carcow. Now, if if it's a situation where I feel to believe that I can catch some fish and, you know, I hadn't been catching them on live scope, I'll jig some out of there also. But, you know, primarily the last couple of months I've been just focusing on trying to use live scope, just learning and just, you know, learn the craft, learn the technique of catching them. you know, and there's a lot of, you know, little things that you may need to learn. but you ain't gonna learn it unless you look at it. And I got a lot of buddies, hey bruh, look, you're gonna have to put the cog down. You're gonna have to put it down and, you know, you're gonna have to just look at the, you know, live scope and you know, try to learn, see what you're looking at, you know, recognizing different fish and stuff is, you know, the sizes of and everything. So, you just gotta put eyes on the T V just to learn it, you But I will bounce back and forth. I will I will jig also. Right. Preston, what what what do you what's your opinion of the new regulations at the Sakalay in the in the Chafla Basin and the surrounding areas? The new for so long, I mean, you know, it it just was, you know, a fifty we call it a fifty piece. So, you know, it was a fifty piece. and, you know, I guess we just kinda get got accustomed to it, but you know, it kinda is what it is, and ain't really much you could do about it. they set the regulation for whatever reason they set so, you know, we just gonna follow it and go. But there is a lot of other places that you can go and you can still get a fifty piece. But, you know, it just kinda is what it is. and I tell you this, if you go if you go anywhere, I don't care if it's a Chevrolet basin, if you go to to to Lake Desalman, if you go wherever in Louisiana or in the state. period. If you catch fifty, if you get catch twenty five good fish, some slabs, you can go to the house. Well you know I mean, just in my opinion, I mean twenty five fish is a lot of fish. Like you said, if you catch twenty if you catch twenty five nice fish per person, I mean you can have a nice little fish fry. Yeah, you can have a good fish fry with that on like I said, I think it's just a mindset that we just so we're so accustomed to Right. know, just being able to go catch fifty and it it just, you know, it's just different. I mean they I know they regulate a lot of different fish too, but we just forget. Well the problem is a lot of people abuse though the old system. You know, I I see a lot of people with keeping four four and six inch fish, you know, keeping anything they they can put in the I don't man, to be honest, I I don't really none of my buddies, man, we we don't keep no small fish like that. Yeah, I know. Right. That's a small fish. A eight inch fish is small. Yeah. you know what I'm saying? So we normally throw those fish back, but I know there are there is people out there that keep smaller fish. I was never one of You know, I I like to keep a good fish because I won't show it off anyway. And the little fish, we can't show y'all that, man. We gotta be you we can show You don't wanna show no small fish off. Yeah, we can't, you know, we can't add that. But I guess it may help the population. I don't know, but there is a lot of water that's in the spillway. in in in that area that they, you know, set limits on, man, that's untouched. So I mean, I don't I don't know how, you know, it's hurting the population for us fishing it 'cause there's a lot of areas that people don't even know how to get to. There's a lot of water that's untouched. You know, a lot of people don't fish those main channels. They deeper you know what I'm saying? So you know there's fish in there and you know, I d I don't know. So I don't really know what's the, you know, the whole deal behind the regulation. But hey, we gotta follow suit. You know, but you can still go get So if you know where to go, you can still go get you, you know what I'm saying, fifty if that's what you want, if that's your number. Like I say, twenty five good fish, man, that's that's a good day. You just gotta put the time in on you just gotta put the time in on water on the water. Yeah. Most people ain't on the twenty five anyway. Most people they they ain't gonna catch that many. and it be it'd been hard this summer to to catch ten, fifteen fish more less than twenty five. So you know. Preston, when when you're looking for another honey hole, what are two or three things that you're looking for when you pull into a spot? I'm looking for your boat, man. I need to find your boat. And you know, I I know if I find your boat, I'll better find some fish. You know what I'm saying? No, but a lot of times you know I I came up fishing structure, so I mean, you know, that's kind of where I started it. So I'm looking for some structure, I'm looking for a little green foliage. I'm looking for a little, you know, a little moving water. you know, all of all the all the stuff you hear about. but, you know, certain places hold fish, certain pla certain places don't. But I'm looking for a honey hole. You know, I'm trying to find I like places where they ain't got many people at, you know. believe it or not, I don't I don't like a lot of crowds. I get from round. but I like I like a lot of I like pretty structure. I just like something that, you know, when you see it it's like, okay. They gotta have fish over there. Is there ain't no way they don't have no fish in that in that little spot, you know. So Well whenever I gotta try fishing. Or in that Well, you gotta do good back there, huh? yeah. That's why I like going That's why I like fish in the swamp, man. You can it's it's su it's such a vast area that you can get lost. You might not see anybody for hours. Look, I told I told a buddy of mine that a while ago. I was like, bro, this this boat launch could be packed with people. I'm talking but you had to park across the level and you may get back there and not see nobody. Right. You know what I'm saying? It's that's just how you know, it's it's a large area to fish. and it's weird. If you happen to have a breakdown, you hoping you find you see somebody. You hoping you can get some service to see somebody. You're right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, man. Yeah, most definitely. but yeah, they they got a lot of areas, you know, that it's it's you know, you gotta get out there and just go you check it out. it could be a, you know, you and you know it's a dangerous place to fish just if you don't know where you're going, 'cause you can get you can hit some shallow spots real quick if you're in the wrong area, you know what I'm saying? So Right. Yeah, but you can you can definitely go duck off and hide back there in them swamps if you want and catch you some fish and then come on back from back there, you know. Right. Hey, Preston, for the weekend angler that doesn't have expensive electronics and just wants to bring home a mess of sacks for a fish fry, what advice would you give them? The best advice I can give you is get out and get on the water. You ain't gonna catch them at the house, and you ain't gonna catch them looking at YouTube or Facebook. You gotta get out on the water and whenever you get out there, you'll start figuring some stuff out. The more you fish, the more you fish the area. Eventually, you'll start figuring out some stuff. No, you may not go out there and kill the first time you get out there. It might not be the first twenty times you get out there, but You go enough, you'll start eliminating some areas, be like, okay, the fish not over there, we fish this area, you know what I'm saying? And fish move. But eventually, you know, you'll get out and you'll start, you know, figuring out some stuff. And people see you out enough, they'll start helping you out, you know what I'm saying? You start coming out enough and people see you and know, hey, look, they'll help you out, especially me. You know, if you're struggling and I see you out, I'll try to, hey, look, man, check over there, you know what I'm saying? I ain't gonna hold your hand. But I will try to point you in the right direction. I mean, so people did the same thing for me, so Yeah, that's awesome, man. Yeah. That's just you know, that's just the kind of person I am to try to help people out if I can. Yeah, man, it's I mean, it's really like a brotherhood out there, you know, with us sack anglers, you know. we try to help each other. I met a lot of good guys along on my journey. that kind of keep me in the in the right direction. I like I like I like running with the old heads too, man. I like running with older guys, so they they they pretty much know the swamp way better than me. and they've been fishing with I know you said you fished with Blaine. I had the pleasure, this was years ago, but I had the pleasure of fishing with his dad. wow, yeah. Yeah. And I I told Blaine a while ago That I I say, Blaine, I found one of your daddy honey holes back there, man. I seen a video he had online and I'm pretty sure this is the area. I'm like, Blaine, I I got it. I found one of I found one of your pop spots, man, you know. So you just had to put it. Man, I find myself going back. I go on YouTube all the time and I I watch some of his old his old YouTube videos. Yeah. And yeah and you can learn you can learn a lot just by watching those y those YouTube videos. Right. Yeah. Yeah. You definitely can. I and and then whenever I came up, I started looking looking at a lot of guys online. Tony Thibodeau, he used to post a lot of videos. You know, I watched some of his stuff. you know, Mr. Go Get I watch I watch a lot of go get stuff. I I watch go get I watch K Fred. I watch K Fred I watch yours. I watch Tony. I watch a I watch Jeff Rodriguez, you know what I'm saying? I really don't watch regular T V. I I watch YouTube videos, man. Yeah, yeah, YouTube video. you know, a lot of a lot of my buddies, you know, I'll watch them too. you know, and and they stay they stay in some some pretty, you know, they stay in the area where the fish at. You know what I'm saying? So You can learn a lot from those guys, man. I got my buddy Reggie, man. Reggie and them, they do good. Them guys them guys keep me in the they keep me in a mix, you know what I'm saying? So appreciative of that. Right. When I'm watching videos, I'm not really trying to learn your honey hose or your GPS coordinates. I w I like learning different techniques and you know, from the different from the different Sackolate fishermen, you know. Yeah, everybody everybody had their own little way of catching and it's it's it's so weird when I talk to people 'cause it's like they'll tell me a certain color that, you know, that they may hey man, I was killing them on such and such. I'm like, What? I never catch fish on that color and it's like that's all I use. So I mean, you know, I I I think I heard I don't know if that was old Bob but where I was watching him too, Bob Thing was like, man, look, you gotta use whatever color you got the most confidence in, that's what you better go with. And I think you'll run up some fish like that. You know, if you got confidence in that bait, use that. Are you using those crappy monsters like Mr. Go Get them? I use them, man. I look, I got some right here. This this is a good one right here. That that sour milk. That's that's one of my goals right here. I love this. I hadn't I hadn't got any yet. yeah, you had to get your hand on something, man. Use cold honey hole. See this one right here? Yeah, that's a good one. And you can just get the honey hole. Honeyhoe? Yeah, OTH Fishing. Oth Fishing dot com. And you can get you can get you some of these baits. They got a lot of different colors. They got just black and blue. I like this one also. So Black and blue. That's a good jig right there. You know, it's some different stuff, different colors. You also got those ghost minnows also. You know, ghost minnow blue. Okay. But yeah, that's what we're using. Yeah, I I'm definitely gonna go gonna get a batch of Yeah, get on there. Honeyhoe, use code honeyhoe O T H fishing dot com, man. I definitely will. All right, Preston, not only are you a you're a cyclite angler, but you you're a content creator too. What is the biggest misconception people have about content? fishing content creators? And what is the hardest part that happens behind the camera? Well, I guess I guess the the the the biggest thing is that, you know, we just trying to show off, you know, fish or just you know, like boasting about, you know, the fish we're catching or if we just trying to show off the spots or you know what I'm saying? Just you know, it's it's it's you know, people just, you know, thinking that, you know, we they boasting and they showing off and you know, it's not that and and to be frank with you man Most people that do content, you know, maybe along with yourself, I mean, you're doing a podcast, people making money. You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, if there's a space for people to make money, then, you know, people gonna try to do it. you get monetized on all these platforms and they pay you to post. You can't be a content creator and not posting content. You know what I'm saying? Right. I had a lot of people that, you know, hey, they were like, Hey look, bro, you fishing, you know, people starting to, you know, kinda gravitate to your content. I meet people all the time. I met a guy today, man, in the story of Gonzalez and he like, Man, I've been waiting to run into you. you know, and it's just a lot of love that I get, you know, just from people that, you know, watch my content. But like I say, it's it's, you know, people getting paid off of it and you know, we just putting out content, just showing people. Hey, get out and go fishing, man. get out and go fishing, get out and go enjoy the water. and you know, shoot some content and post it and you know, you may you may shoot something that, you know, somebody may never seen before. And you know, a lot of people don't kind of know what goes on, you know, on the swamps and in the water. And I mean it's a beautiful place, it's just peaceful. a lot of people fish for a lot of different reasons. but you know, you can go you know you can go duck off and just, you know, no phones, just quiet and peace and, you know, just catch some fish and then come on back in. then on the on the, you know, back side of it, you know, you just gotta post. You know, you just gotta post and I I know I know it's gotta get frustrating in the summertime and in the hot weather when those cameras keep on shutting down though, right? Well, You know, it's it's different. all depend on what you shooting on. I mean, li believe it or not, a lot of people use their phones. they use their phone to shoot. I mean, we may shoot on a a bunch of different, you know, I I use GoPro. I use my phone, you know, I shoot a bunch of different angles and then you gotta edit all that stuff, you know what I'm saying, and then put it together. And one of the biggest misconceptions is like, you know, I might cram a five, six hour day in the 30 seconds. You know what I'm saying? So we're gonna make it look good and and it's you know, it's but it's a fishing day, you know. Some li sometime you can go out there and kill fish, you know, quick, but sometimes it's you know, you know how it is. It's fishing, man. So Yeah. I got my mom into watching YouTube fishing videos with me, and I I have to explain to her, I said, you know They're not catching all days all at one time, you know. They No. That's some that's some edits in there. Sometimes they might be fishing all day long, twelve hours a day. Yeah. And and they're making a fishing video, you know, but you know, then we're cramming a whole day fishing. Yeah, we cram in a whole day fishing in you know, sometimes you do, but some sometimes you do, but then most of the time, you know, it's it's you know, it's a all day fishing event. Yeah, it's all day fishing event, you know. I mean A lot of people, you know, they don't see a lot of the bluvers, you know, we dropping fish and we got somebody else on a boat with us, you know, we call it jokes and we, you know, joking around, clowning and, you know, we making a good deal out of it. you know, we may say something inappropriate to them or whatever, just you know how fishermen talk. It's just, you know, like it says locker room talk. Right. But you know, it's is it's still a good day. But, you know, when you got like minded people that's that's out fishing and, you know. Hey, they not asking when we're going home and we just out there fishing. We're going home and we're going home. We fishing, you know. So it it it makes the day go by and they're Anytime you can get out on that water, it's a good day. It's definitely a good day. But, you know, we edit everything, put it in 30 seconds, a minute, however you want to do it. And, you know, that's one of the biggest misconceptions for sure. All right, Preston. This the last question I have for you. Where Where can the Sakala Talk community stay updated with your latest adventures and catches? You can follow me on Facebook, the Honey Hole Bandit, that's Preston Johnson. It should be the same on TikTok also. I post most of my stuff on Facebook. I also have a YouTube, the Honey Hole Bandit. So pretty much all of my social media stuff is, you know, the Honey Hole Bandit. and, you know, like I say, Facebook is where I post a lot. I'm s I'm moving some of my stuff over to YouTube. try to get into that space of stuff. But the most of my my followers and stuff is on Facebook and that's the Honey Hole Band. Okay. Well pr Preston, thank you for giving us a few minutes, man, and sharing your expertise with us today, man. I really do appreciate it. Yes, sir. Thanks for having me. Okay. I will talk to you soon, okay? No problem. And that wraps up this edition of Slab Bites. A massive thank you to Preston the Honey Hole Bandit for coming on and giving us the real deal on finding those slabs. Now grab your gear, go find your hunting hole of your own, and load up the boat. Until next time, I'm Dwayne Turner, Tight Lines and Big Slabs. Thanks to Preston, the honey hole bandit for breaking down his blueprint for locating honey holes in the Chaflaya basin. If you're looking to pull some absolute slaths out of those honey holes, you need the right tool on the other end of the line. That brings us to our next guest. He ties some of the meanest, crappy snatching patterns in West Monroe, and his jigs are pure money. Let's welcome the owner of L and B jigs, Brad Black. Brad, welcome to the show. It's time for the jig is up, the segment where we break down the finest hand tied baits in Louisiana. Joining us today It's time for the jig is up, the segment where we break down the finest hand tied baits in Louisiana. Joining us today from West Monroe is the mastermind behind LMB Jigs, Brad Black. Brad, welcome to Sakalay Talk. speaker-0: Thank you for having me. speaker-1: No problem. I appreciate you joining us, sharing your knowledge today. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: Brad, we're locked and loaded, so let's get started, okay? speaker-0: Okay. speaker-1: Brad, what what motivated you to start L and B jigs and what gap were you trying to fill for the Anglers? speaker-0: Back when we first when I first started, back in the old days, we only really used hair jigs when we were fishing around the trees in the springtime. and we had a couple colors that we really liked, and my old fishing buddy ended up running out of and the guy who tied them didn't have wasn't around anymore. So he got me to get all the stuff together and I got all the stuff together and I tied some up and we s we started I started kind of that way, just tying a few for me and him in the springtime. And so we did that, did that for a couple of years and then I got sick and I had to I was off work for a while, so I had some time on my hands and My dad taught me into picking it up again, kind of doing a little more. So I started doing it more. And about that time, up here there was a lady and a couple actually over at Black Lake over at Campy and they had Black Lake jigs. I don't know if y'all have ever heard of that company, but they tied jigs for years and years, and it was a That's pretty much the only company that was around here and everybody used Black Lake jigs. Well, about that time they retired. So I decided that I would take some of my jigs up to Honey Hole there in West Monroe and I talked to David about putting some of my jigs in Honey Hole and he said, sure, we'll we'll put some in here and see what they do. So we started out with I think nine. colors and put in. I didn't realize that several other people had the same ideas I did about that time. So we we all kind of jumped in together and it's grown from there. I think I think probably we have about 40 colors in there now. So and we're in about five or six different we're in probably most of the biggest sporting goods stores here in North Louisiana. So That's how we got started. speaker-1: That's super. That's a awesome story. Brad, the s the second you set the jig head in your vice, what is your process to making a custom hand tied jig? speaker-0: Well, it really starts for me before I put that jig head in that vise because I like to I like to pre-cut all of my feathers. I only use feathers. I don't I don't use kittail speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: anything like that or any synthetic material. I I just use feathers. So I I cut all I pre-cut all of my feathers. I pre-cut all of my chenille. I pre-cut all of my flash. So I start off with the first thing I put on my shank is nail polish, believe it or not. I put a little fast drying nail polish on the shank. And then I make my first wrap and always lay down red thread on my first lay down on my shank. And because I always like to have a little red in in every color that I tie. next I I tie in some some crystal flashaboo. Then I tie in, I go ahead and tie in my feathers next. Then I go ahead and and whip tie that down, which, you know, kind of knots everything down. And because I like to some some people use red thread all the way through, some people don't. I just prefer to try to match my chanel and my thread on my finished thread. So I run another layer of thread, my second color of thread down that matches the chanel. Then I tie in some flat flashaboo, which is kind of a you know a just a another flash. I tie that chanel in. then I I I tie in at the bottom of the shank, I tie in I I wrap my chanel. Then what I do is I super glue my whole shank. And then I wrap my shank with the chenille and then I tie and whip finish it there at the end. And then that's pretty much it. I I'll take it off the vice and I'll kind of look at it from the top to make sure it looks good, you know. And if I had to do any adjustments, I can adjust it right then before everything dries. And then, you know, I've I'll have thread and flash of boo. I'll have all that running wild out the backside. I'll trim it off there and put it up to dry and then, you know, tie the next two hundreds. speaker-1: So so basically you don't you don't take any shortcuts. You you you make a a top quality jig from the start. Yes. speaker-0: I'd like to think so. Yeah, I you know, I I use a lot of super glue. You know, Daddy always said if one'll do a little good, two will do a lot of good. So speaker-1: Yeah. speaker-0: you know, I I use a lot of super glue. I I do a lot of wraps, you know, and my jigs are known for for their durability. For sure. speaker-1: Well, that's awesome, man. I know you you you take a lot of pride in in what you put out. speaker-0: Yes, sir. speaker-1: Brad, in your in your opinion, what advantages does a custom one of your custom hand tied jigs have over a plastic style jig? speaker-0: Well, in in the springtime for sure around the trees, one of the best things is when those when those white per and and I call white perch. I I was on your I was on your thread that day. Yeah. You know, the name of my company is L and B Custom Crappie Jigs, but but I call white perch. That that is the name's long enough without putting white perch in there too. So but You know, the th the the thing that hooked me is when Ray took me and and we caught those first he took me and I caught that first black crappie on a on a twelve foot pole with eighteen inches of line out under that cypress tree, you know, under those limbs. And then tried to figure out how to get it back to the boat. And you know, the the great thing about a about a hair jig is when you drop that sucker in there and that fish hits it and misses it and you s and you jerk out sideways and that fish isn't you know he missed it well you can drop it right back in there. You don't have to un you know let your line down and fix your bait back and get it back in there. You can lay it right back in there, you know. So and even now, you know, with the with the with the live scope, you know you now that we can see you know, when you see that fish miss it, if he doesn't run far, which sometimes they take off and run, but if they don't, you can drop it right back in there and put it right back on his head, you know. You don't have to fool with trying to get everything situated again. You can put it right back on him. speaker-1: So that's that's a that's a real advantage of wanting your hand tied custom jigs over plastics. Absolutely. You can you don't have to bring it up and readjust the plastic. You can just drop it right back down there real quick. speaker-0: And yeah. And and some you know, some people like scent. You know, I I do a I about half of my jigs are a lot of my jigs I use tinsel chanel, but then chenille being the body of the jig. but a lot of a lot of my jigs are they call it woolly booger or even ultra chenille and and you know people that do like scent, if you can put that scent on there and it holds scent well. you know, the and then of course the you know, the custom colors. You can do any color you want, you know. speaker-1: Right. And if you can how about the how about the durability over plastic? 'Cause you know, with plastics you you may go through a whole bag, you know, in and just you know, in a fishing trip and I would think your your jigs are a lot more durable. I mean, you don't have to you know keep on changing and readjusting. speaker-0: Yeah, I've got a I've got a jig that we use on the trees every year. Ray called it poison. It's a it's a black black head with a orange black and orange tail. And I mean it's it's just poison around those trees and I've used the same one for three years. I just have a I have one I have one one twelve foot I have speaker-1: You know what they say, if it's not broken, don't fix it, right? speaker-0: That's right. It's a it's a little it's a little weathered, but I mean, hey, every time I drop it it still catches, so I just leave it on. speaker-1: Yeah. If it works. speaker-0: That's right. speaker-1: Hey Brad, I've always fished with plastic style jigs. I want to start fishing with with your customer hand tied jigs. What five jigs should I have in my box for Sacklade fishing? speaker-0: Well, my jigs I I numbered all my jigs. I I'm not smart enough to come up with names for all for all the jigs, so I just numbered mine. speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: my best seller and the one that that that probably catches the most fish is number seventy three, which is a pink head. it's got a purple body and a green chartreuse tail. speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: the second one would be number ninety-three, which is a gray ghost. You know, some people call it gray ghosts, chrome head, silver body, gray tail. that's that's the shiner that never dies. Then you got Number ten, which is a a pink head, that same silver, that tinsel chenille, which is the flashy chenille, you know, with a green chartreuse tail. number 43, which is a pink hit. it's kind of a pearl blue, okay tinsel, gray and white tail. And then then you got your your green your black and chartreuse, you know, your that's my number thirty-two. I've got in my thirty range is I've got, you know, one with a black head, one with a red head, one with a pink head, you know, all of those, you know, that black and chartreuse, you know, you you never go wrong with that one. speaker-1: Right. Yeah, that's that's our that's probably our top color down in South Louisiana, you know, is black and chartreuse and maybe like a blue and white. speaker-0: Yeah, I have a that number forty three is probably that's that's the closest one. I know a little dark I have one that's a little darker blue and white in the twenty in in my twenty series. I've got one with a pearl head and one with a red head speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: that's of blue and white. Kind of a more of a royal blue, you know. speaker-1: All right, that sounds good. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: How has interacting directly with the fishing community online and impacted the way you design or test your your new product lines? speaker-0: Well, I I've dealt with a lot of I deal with a lot of local people. I I don't I don't sell my jigs online per se. all of my stuff goes through tackle shops. speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: I I just never started a website. I I have my jigs on the web on the web through Honey Hole here in West Monroe. And I'm indebted to them for for them putting my stuff on their website, which I really appreciate. so I I really depend on my local guys. pretty much the way we do it. you know, I have a guy, you know, I have five or six guys that, you know, if they come up with a color that that they wanna try, you know, I tie it up, they'll come over or they'll, you know call me and say, Hey, tie me this. So I'll tie it. They'll try it. I'll I'll tie some up for me to try and I'll try You know, I go every weekend. That this is all I do is crappie fish year round. and so I'll we'll tie up if they catch consistently, you know, we'll we'll put some in see if and see if they sell, you know. If they don't sell, we'll we'll pull them out and you know say, well, we'll try another one, you know. but I've had I've got probably seven or eight that guys around guys around here have come up with that that have, you know, become really good jigs. And some of them were, you know, tube jigs that I didn't think about that, you know, they said, man, you ought to tie this one. It really works. That I just never used myself, that I thought, you know, heck, I I never thought to try it. And and we did it and tied it up and put it out there. And, you know, it did really well. So I really I have a I really owe a lot to them for for them helping me 'cause it's not a it takes a lot to to come up with those, you know. speaker-1: Brad, have you noticed a change in what sackolate anglers look for in a jig such as weight or profile changes since live scope fishing has become so popular? speaker-0: The the only things I've seen is at f at first everybody wanted one eighth. you know, one eighth ounce. For a while. you know, I we always use one sixteenth. I always use one sixteenth. Yes. And that's what was really popular. And that's what's popular. I mean, everything I have is one sixteenth. I I thought that tungsten was gonna catch on. That was that was kind of big for a while. You know, everybody said, you know, we can see the tungsten so much better. I speaker-1: No speaker-0: don't know if if we just it it that got too pricey or what. I tried to I have I have a jig that I tie on a Rigaroo head, which is a company, I think they're out of Houston. I don't know if if they're down there anywhere, but there was a there was a guy up here that had and we, you know, I tied some up and on that ninety-three, I have I have and and some people buy they like the hook. It's a really sharp hook and they really like the hook. I tried personally. It didn't seem to to me if you have your your live scope dialed in, you know, you can see your head okay with it doesn't matter what what head you have, but That was just me. But, you know, some people swear by it. And so, you know, I still tie and put out there. Some people love So that was really the only two things I've seen. you know, that was the only two things I've seen. speaker-1: Okay. let's talk about stain versus clear water. Now you o you may only be able to answer one part of this because I know you guys don't have too much stained water where where you fish at. W but what are your go-to color combinations for each stain versus clear water? speaker-0: Well, believe it or not, we have a lot we have quite a bit stained water. yeah. speaker-1: Really? Okay. speaker-0: Darbone, you know, Darbone has two pretty major creeks that come into it and it it floods I mean Darbone gets current in it in the wintertime. And so it gets it gets muddy. And down the big lake, I mean, it gets muddy as a hog water down there. I mean it gets muddy. So speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: We get plenty of stained water, but you know, then we got caney, of course, it's that's crystal clear. but you know, my my stained water colors, I like going if you just want to talk about shad first, just shad colors more or less. speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: My my stained colors are gonna be the gold colors. You know, I speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: have I have a line of gold. Chenille colors. it's number 12. It's got a black head. Number 16, it's got an orange head, which is awesome for muddy water. You know, anything with orange, they love muddy water up here. I'll know about down there. so that's 16. my number 16, I have number 18, which is a gold head. I have number 21, which is orange with a chartreuse and white tail. you know, when it's cloudy and it's stained, you know, the black and chartreuse is always going to be good. On sunny days when it's stained, you know, I'm going to go to the bright colors, the brighter colors, the the the bright oranges, the bright pinks. I've got a black and pink number 54 that's that's black and pink instead of black and chartreuse. They like that. I got a 60 number 61 that's that's a gold head a gold body with an orange tail that they just love. That's that's a stained water up on Busy, which is up in Bastrop. I mean it is just killer on Bussy up there. And then that 74, which is just kind of that. Pink, purple and chartreuse, just kinda that's an all around one that's really good. speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: And then, you know, when people say chartreuse, you know, is it chartreuse green or chartreuse yellow? You know, some people say chartreuse calls chartreuse that's green. Some people say chartreuse and they say they really mean yellow. So I have I have a a line of both of those. I have the fifty series is is yellow, which which was what I always used because the The Bobby Garland What was that one? I don't even remember what it's called now. It was the black and yellow though. I used to love that. but then the black and chartreuse, that black and chartreuse with the with an orange head, I think that's my number 34. man, it's it's murder. On on cloudy days when the water's, you know, kind of stain. And then on on clear day, on clear water on Caney, my the ninety-three and then the I got a 17 number 17, which is a it's got the rainbow chanel. and then I've got a ninety-one, which has got the rainbow chanel and gray. The seventeen is rainbow chanel with white. So, you know, it just and then it comes down to then just whatever they want, you know. You just gotta figure out what they want. speaker-1: Right. So that's speaker-0: That's kinda where I start, you know, and kinda go from there and see what they'll hit and then go from there, you know. speaker-1: Right, because I mean they can you can tear up one day on one specific weight and color combination and the next day you go back and they don't want it. You know, they they want something else. So speaker-0: And you know, something we learned too with this fa forward facing sonar is, you know, all and and it it still holds true, don't get me wrong. But you know, where I used to, I would never throw a white like a white colored bait on a cloudy day or in muddy water. speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: Now, sometimes they'll hit that. And, you know, before you would never know because you would have never done it because you just don't throw white on cloudy day you throw a dark color or or a you know and so now sometimes it just goes out the window but it still holds true. You you still you still gotta have some knowledge. I I put on on my post that I put on from this weekend I was using that 93 and they were short striking it. And it would go by and and they would just kind of nose it, not really hit it. And I was sitting there and it was cloudy. And I I just all of a sudden it just hit me. I like, Man, it's cloudy, I need to put on twelve, I need to put on that gold color. And the first one I dropped on that summer came from about two feet and just hammered it. You know. speaker-1: Brad, when it when you're fishing your jigs, how how are are you fishing fishing that jig? Are you do you jig it up and down? Are you swimming it? What's what's the technique you that you personally use? speaker-0: Yeah, what I do, I use an 11 foot pole. And what I do is I is I you know, now right now what I'm doing is I'm flipping out when I see that fish, I'm looking 30 feet out. And when that fish gets to to about anywhere from 20 in coming in to 16 feet when he's coming into me, I I flip out to him with my And I bring it past him one time and see if he'll hit it swimming. If he doesn't hit it swimming, then now he's now he's coming in, he's in it about twelve foot now. So I'm flipping out again and I'm letting it come down. And by the time it gets by the t I've let off my trolling motor now, and by the time we've met, my pole is about six foot in front of my boat. So by the time we've met and I've My my boat stopped and my and I'm straight up and down. I've stopped, I'm straight vertical, straight up and down, and I'm gonna see if he's gonna hit it, you know, straight up and down vertically. And then speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: that kind of tells me through throughout the day how the how they're gonna hit it. Are they gonna hit it swimming? You know, if they're gonna hit it swimming, I do it, you know, I'll just ca I'll cast, I'll flip to them. Or can I get right up there on and drop on I'd rather drop on speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: If I have to flip to I'll flip to if I have to. You know, that that's just how I s start most of my days. Now when they're deep and, you know, in the wintertime on Dartbone, you know, we've g they'll they'll be in twenty five foot of water. Then we can just drop straight on you know. speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: Then we've got the eighth ounce jigs out and we're dropping straight on speaker-1: Brad, you said you you fish almost every weekend. speaker-0: Yes, sir. speaker-1: Do you so your home lake is do do you consider Darbone your home lake or do you speaker-0: Barbone, yes sir. speaker-1: Okay. Awesome. Okay, Brad, let's let's look ahead a little bit. What are some some new profiles or secret projects that you're working on that we can look forward to seeing next from L and B Jigs? speaker-0: I'm I'm pretty much trying to stay in my lane. I would like to to expand my thirty second ounce line a little bit. speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: I really don't that's kind of where I'm at. I'm I'm happy doing feather jigs. No. You know, I've got speaker-1: Perfect. speaker-0: you know forty something colors, so I'm kind of good on colors. I just wanna keep doing what I'm doing and try to make the best jig I can of what I've got. So that's where I'm at. speaker-1: Hey hey, Brad, there there's nothing wrong with that, man. Yeah. If a lot of people would take that, take that to heart, you know, and and and just do you know, do what you you do best well, you know, that would that would serve a lot of people well. speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: I mean a lot of people try to expand too soon and and you know speaker-0: Yeah. speaker-1: Okay. what does it mean to you when local tournament anglers or guys put your hand tied jigs on their lines when money and reputations are on the line? speaker-0: It's it's it's good. I mean it's good. there's a guide up on on Darbone named Bryce Knight. His his guide service is called a night on the on the lake. And I've tied a jig for him that he uses quite a bit. And you know, it's nice to see him, you know showing, you know, on hit on his Facebook page that he's catching fish on on an L and B jig, you know, that he's able to to, you know, have have success on my jigs. And we have a tournament up here every year. It's kind of a big fish tournament. they call it Crazy Crappie Cash. And I've had a couple of years where I've had a a couple of guys win money on my jigs and You know, one guy won second overall one year and that was really that was really neat that it you know I speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: think he won like thirty two hundred dollars, you know, speaker-1: Wow. speaker-0: off of that off of a jig, you know, and that was neat. So it feels good. speaker-1: It's gotta make you feel good that that by you know, you you have guides and and tournament anglers using your jigs and they're you know, they're they're catching fish and winning and winning money on it. So yeah, for sure. That's awesome. Okay, last question, Brad. And you might have answered this partly earlier, but I'm gonna ask you again. Where can the Sakala Talk community follow you and order your jigs? speaker-0: They can follow me on on Facebook at LNB Crop Custom Croppie Jigs. L and B Custom Crappie Jigs. I had to make it long because there was already an L and B jig, so I had to make it LNB Custom Crappie Jigs. speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: and if you if you go to my Facebook page, there on the on the Facebook page, there's a link. to Honey Hole's website. Now if you're in North Louisiana, I have jigs at Honey Hole in West Monroe. I have jigs at Cooters in Farmaville on Darbone Lake. I have jigs at Simmons Sporting Goods in Bastrop. I have jigs at Spotted dog in Columbia. I have jigs. I I just I'm fixing to have some jigs over in Natchez at Joe Bob's tackle or Joe Bob's baits. speaker-1: Okay. I think that's good. speaker-0: I think I think that's all of them. I hope I'm not leaving anybody out. speaker-1: They can so basically they can follow you on Facebook and they can they can order your jigs online through through Honeyhoe, right? speaker-0: Yeah, that's right. That's the best that's the place where you can if you follow me there, you can order there. And then every every every month I I update every at the beginning of every month I update the stores where I've at. I I did forget somebody. Let me say him because I wanna forget him. Bacon's Tackle over in Shreeport. speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: J D's fast lube in in Jonesboro. speaker-1: So how how many local tackle shops are you in right now? speaker-0: Let's see one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. speaker-1: Okay. speaker-0: They're getting harder and harder to find, man. That's the problem. speaker-1: Right. speaker-0: I've got one more that I'm trying to get in and you know I there's not many honey holes in the world. Have you ever been to honeyhole? speaker-1: No, I have not. speaker-0: If you're ever up this way, you oughta make make a pass through there. speaker-1: All right. I I definitely will. Well, Mr. Brad, I want to thank you so much for for joining the show and sharing your knowledge with our listeners. you bet. I I really do appreciate it. speaker-0: Yes, sir. speaker-1: I'll talk to you later, okay? Okay. That's going to do it for this edition of the Jig is Up. A huge shout out to Brad Black from LB Jigs for stopping by and sharing his secrets to filling up the live well. Make sure you check out his hand-tied baits to get those slabs bodied. Cyber's knees rise where the shadows crawl. Ma sangs low like a ghostly shawl. The moon's a land soft and pale. Guiding my steps down a whisky trail Out in the backwoods where secrets grow The Bayous whispers on the wild ones know with an alligator grin and a copper steel bribe or chasing dreams in the Bayou firelight. Sing deep where the tatail sway Santa Mass rides the human breed. Freedom neath the cypress tree, a shotgun crack, a hound sharp bark, life ears a symphony played in the dark, out in the backwoods where secrets grow the bike. Use whispers on the wild ones no with an alligator grin and a copper still bright We're chasing dreams in the Bayou file It's got its own hill, a song of the bow, the brave and the grim. Every drop of shine tells a tale I'm told of hands that bled and hearts turn gold. Out in the backwoods where secrets grow, the bayus whispers on the wild ones low with an alligator grin. Still Bible chasing dreams in the Bayou fight