JT Bagwell

I know tons of tour our pros from working with them over the years and most of them drive their rigs from tour stop to tour stop. They don't make enough money to be hiring people to do it or planes to fly it. There are some that will hire people to drive their rigs when it is a really long drive like let's say Alabama to California or something like that (that is just an example). Years ago Ish told me that he kept one boat in Georgia or Alabama and then another one on the west coast so he didn't have to haul a boat across the whole country. I am not sure if he still does that or not because I haven't talked to him in a long time. But for the most part, if you see a pro's truck/boat going down the highway, they are either driving or sleeping somewhere inside the tow vehicle.

I fish some places like this and have similar results. My very first time there I caught the biggest fish the people there told me that they had ever seen caught there (it was 6 or 7 pounder). In the few years following that I have caught several 4 pounders and a couple of 5's but mostly 12" to 16" fish. I have seen a handful of really big bass when I sneak around like a ninja but I can't ever get them to even show interest in anything I throw in their area. I am sure the fact that they can see a 20' Bass boat from a mile away in the clear water probably has something to do with it.

I was supposed to fish a charity tournament on Sunday but it got postponed because the forecast now is a high temperature in the 30's, winds 20+ mph and 1 to 3 inches of snow. That would have been a little chilly.

I think you are on to something.

Up here in Illinois I feel like I am living in the north pole. Supposed to be in the 60's this time of year, yet we have had snow the last few weekends. I got my hopes up because it is supposed to be around 70 the next 3 days. This weekend I am going to fish a charity tournament and the weather man just said there is a chance of SNOW. Good grief I need to move to Texas.

Hank Parker was always my guy. He turned Pro the year I was born and he was always my favorite. When I was a kid we didn't have cable so a guy my grandpa worked with would always put each new episode of Hank's show and the Bassmasters show on a VHS tape and send it home for me every week. It was pretty cool. Years later I ended up getting to work with Hank on some stuff and it was pretty cool. I will never forget the very first time he called my house and I was a little star struck for a minute.

I appreciate the offer. I am going to call my guy that just worked on it 2 weeks ago and see what he has to say about the cost to fix it. It might be time to just buy a new one. Thanks for the info guys.

Variable speed went out on my Minn Kota Maxxum this morning. Regardless of where the dial was set, (off, High or anywhere in between) the motor would run on high. Is it the control board or relay switch? Funny thing about it is I just got it back from the shop because I smashed the upper control box on a boat dock rail. At the same time I had one of my kid's reels repaired. Now this happened and my kid's other reel (exact same model) has a problem. lol The shop is going to think I am crazy.

I have really been doing well this summer on the 3/4 ounce single Colorado bladed spinnerbaits from Phenix Baits. They have been running a lot of specials so you might want to check Phenixbaits.com

I ended up just choosing someone else to give it to. Seemed more happy to get it.

What's up Robert? I haven't heard from you in ages. And just so people don't misunderstand what my point was... I 100% know that a Bass will hit a frog. I have caught hundreds of bass on frog baits. What I was saying was that I don't know the reason they are hitting the frog. Was it to eat it, or just kill it?

So today I did another one of my jersey giveaways on my Instagram account. I think this was either the 3rd or 4th one. Normally people think its cool when they win a jersey. They say thanks a few times and we move on with life. Well today I replied to the contest post and told the winner to send me his address via a private message. About 7 or 8 hours later the person messages me the address. I say ok cool, I also need the name because all I know is a screen name. They give me that as well. A few minutes later they start asking if this is a scam contest and was I really going to send the jersey. To which I ask why I would be wasting my time getting the shipping information if I wasn't going to send them something? He then tells me that it is a little "stalker like" that I asked for his address. I said how else would I get the jersey from IL to TX if I didn't have a shipping address? Then I tell him that it won't ship until Tuesday since it was already to late in the day today and Monday is a holiday. He then says "This must be a scam" I am backing out of the contest and you have to find another winner. Keep in mind that this person followed me on Instagram and willingly did what was required to enter the contest on his own. It was just a very strange exchange of messages to say the least. lol I was a little puzzled for a while. Anyway, have a good weekend everyone.

I have multiple AR's both .223 and .308 from Devil Dog Arms here in Illinois. They are pretty sweet.

Hi Guys, Something that I get asked A TON is how to get sponsors. Well usually it is "sponcers" but that is for another day. First I will say if you want to get sponsors, read this before you begin https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/Bagwell/how-to-get-sponsors.html Secondly, think outside of the box. Sometimes WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY outside of the box. What I mean by that is don't think about companies within the fishing industry. Those companies get hammered on every day by hundreds of people just like you and many more that are even better. Look around your house, garage or car at the items you use most. Think about how you would promote that item and/or brand to those within the angling community. Remember people aren't fishing 24 hours per day. They have to eat, cook, clean, go to work, take their kids to school, etc. While most of my sponsors are within the fishing industry and I have worked with them for many years, not all of them are. I am teamed up with a firearms manufacture. They have nothing directly for the fishing industry. So why would they sponsor a fisherman? Because a very large percentage of anglers like to shoot guns, either for hunting, sporting clays or just for fun. And who better to introduce them to new products than another fisherman that also likes to shoot. Don't just reach out to the same companies that every other angler is emailing. Use your brain and your creativity and reach out to sponsors that make stuff that anglers use but has nothing to do with fishing.

Never. And I have caught a few bass.

I Wouldn't know, I have never cut open a bass.

This is exactly why I am so big on Wiley X glasses. All of the frames and lenses are impact rated for safety. Some of them are even ballistic rated (you just have to read the specs to see which ones carry this rating). But one hook or weight in the eye can result in permanent vision or complete eye loss. It is a big deal to me.

As with any fishing, regardless of the bait you are using, look for subtle changes and differences in areas. Example: Large rocks in areas that are full of small rocks, drop-offs, flats, points. Bass are predators and use anything they can as an ambush point.

I have caught TONS of fish on frogs over the years but I do remember an article a long time about how Bass don't like to eat frogs. They hate them and just like to kill them. If my memory serves me correctly, it was one of well known West Coast anglers (Murray, Dobyns, or one of those guys). Maybe you can search for it.

That was pretty cool.

I have never really been much of a fan of that place (I loved their catalog as a kid) but I have a cool story from the first time I was in one of their stores. When they first opened a store (years ago) about 20 minutes from my house I drove over there to check it out. It was of course very crowded and I managed to find a couple baits that I thought I needed. While standing in the long line at the register, I began looking around at the pictures and things hanging on the walls around the perimeter of the store. It was then I spotted something kind of cool. They had a big picture of me hanging at the front of the store. Although I didn't get paid and didn't have any prior knowledge of it, I thought it was cool and told my wife and buddies about it. -- On the flip side, years later I bought my first ever Glock pistol from them. It only came with one magazine so I decided to buy an extra, so I just grabbed one while I was there. I thought the $49.99 price tag was pretty steep but I had never shopped around for Glock magazines and didn't know what they cost elsewhere. A couple of days later I was shopping online and discovered that you could find them for half that price without even looking too hard. I was pretty annoyed by that but lesson learned.

Sorry it took so long for me to see this but thank you very much for the nice words. I really appreciate that.

Plenty of good solid advice given by those before me. Just keep practicing a lot. I used to always practice in my basement by pitching a jig into the lid from a laundry soap bottle. I could easily make it in the lid from 30' away 7-8 times out of 10. I never counted but I am sure I did that several thousand times over the years.

He happened to be about 35 minutes from my house.

The first time that I talked to my fishing hero was about 14 years ago when I got a 9pm phone call that lasted well over an hour. Although we have worked on some articles together via phone and email, I had never met Hank Parker in person. Well this past Friday I got to spend a few hours hanging out with Hank and it was awesome. He turned pro the year I was born and started his tv show when I was a little kid. So as long as I can remember, Hank Parker was my fishing hero. It was so awesome getting to spend time just chatting and looking at fishing tackle together. What a nice guy. He treated me like we had been next door neighbors for years. He even bought me a Mtn Dew. lol