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- [00:05]
A
Welcome to the Salt Strong podcast, disrupting fishing entertainment as you know it. Prepare to laugh, Prepare to get to know fishing legends in a whole new and unfiltered way. And on occasion, you might even learn a thing or two about fishing. Here's your host, Joe Simons.
- [00:23]
B
Like diamonds. I cast this, I cast that. Rtd. Shout out to old captain Jeff. We're talking about closet insiders. We're talking about GPS on your phone. Phone gps.
- [00:36]
C
Luke.
- [00:37]
B
Got new Otis. A brand new Otis just came in your hands here pretty recently after a lot of testing with that, we're going to get close to rolling that sucker out. Got a new prawn. Got a lot of stuff to talk about. So we're back from the old ICAST convention in Orlando that goes on every year. This is our 11th year, Luke, if you can believe it.
- [00:58]
C
Yeah, time's flying by. It's crazy. It's pretty cool seeing a lot of the same people. So met a lot of cool people over there and a lot of new ones as well this year. Yeah.
- [01:06]
B
If you don't know about Icast, it's a huge convention. 14,000 people, approximately. You have to be in the industry, if you will, to get in. I know some people finagle their way around that, but in general, it's. It's shut off to the consumers. And it started off as a way for all the manufacturers out there to get their new products out. So this is the time of year and this is the event that where all the manufacturers from the Daiwas and Pure Fishings, even though Pure Fishing didn't show up this year, you know, the Quantum down to the Zman and every brand you can imagine, and many brands you never even heard of are all showcasing their new stuff. And to put a perspective, this has been going on for decades. I mean, longer than Luke and I have been in the. In the business, longer than some of you guys have been alive and meaning pre Internet. So, you know, pre Internet, this is where everyone went to go see and touch the new stuff. And then all the sales reps would go out and show all the mom and pop tackle stores, hey, here's all the new stuff. Now, of course, you got the Internet. It changed a lot of it, but kind of turned into a fun networking place. Do see some new stuff. I'll be honest, I'm disappointed. I feel like every year with the new stuff, it's like. And they have a whole new product showcase. And not to say it's bad, it's just. It's just. It's Almost like all these manufacturers just did a bigger version of stuff they've already had. I, I didn't see anything that was earth shattering to do that was like, oh man, I need to buy that.
- [02:35]
C
No, not really. The, the biggest thing was, I guess, the, the hype with those urchin style lures and bass fishing. And so I actually went and I just went ahead and bought some. I was like, I got to try these for, for redfish. I, I, I assume, I'm sure they'll actually, they'll actually work, but I just don't think they'll be as good as the, the lures we typically use just for casting distance alone. They, they just, they, they catch so much air that it'll be really hard to, to sneak up on a, on the Big Red up in shallow water with it when you can't cast very far.
- [03:02]
B
So yeah, it's like casting a wiffle ball. It's got, if you haven't seen this, it looks like a sea urchin, but it's all plastic. And it, it's the hottest selling lure for, for bass fishing right now by far. Like Sportsman's Guide, you know, who, who we teamed up with, you know, if you don't know, if you're an insider, remember you get free Sportsman's Guide membership as well. And they sell a lot of freshwater stuff and they can't keep them in stock. Z Man was saying the same thing. Like it's, it's their fastest growing thing by far. You, you were looking at those, some of the new trays. What, what was that tray called again? We'll give them a shot. Those were nice.
- [03:38]
C
Yeah. There's a company called Evolution that makes them some tackle trays that are waterproof and they just have like the one latch instead of like the three latches that the traditional tackle trays have. And very impressive. And so we're looking at those just, just for like normal terminal tackle. They also have them for lures that you can customize the size of the bins, but then they have another one that's literally designed like a full tackle tray. And multiple companies had this like every, every tackle bag manufacturer you could think of is there, but, but they have tackle trays that are designed just for these urchin lures. So it's, it's definitely a big hype on the freshwater side. And I'm, I'm really curious to see how it'll do saltwater.
- [04:18]
B
So who would have thought they'd be making tackle trays for these sea urchin things that Bass fishermen are using. Well, it sounds like, what the heck is going on? Like AI made this thing up and all of a sudden they, they work. So.
- [04:32]
C
Yeah.
- [04:32]
B
And then they have a, you know, a big tank in the middle of the show and they got guys pitching. And I was watching what it looked like. It is, it is pretty interesting. Didn't see the bass attack it though. There's, you know, there's a lot of bass in that tank and I didn't see them going after, which I thought was interesting, but maybe, maybe they had some of the beer that was there on the, on the floor, the bass. That is kind of another cool one though. So Steve Harvey was there. They gave Bill Dance an award for just all the impact that he's made in the, in the fishing world, both salt and, and fresh. And Bill was there the, you know, at 84 years old, I believe they're walking the floor the whole day and shaking hands. And Steve Harvey, if you don't have his, you know, Family Feud, he's a pretty famous guy, so he's really big into fishing. And I, I, I knew that part, but I didn't know his story about Bill D. And apparently without telling the full thing, he's like, I'm only here and alive because of Bill Dance. Because I was so poor, essentially homeless, like living in his car when he was trying to be a stand up comedian and he was going to like Radio Shacks and Circuit Cities back in the day because, you know, they had TVs on display that were usually on and he would watch free TV on like Saturday mornings. He would go watch Bill Dance and you know, in a Radio Shack to learn how to catch fish to keep him alive. Like literally had not enough money to eat sometimes. Like I ate bass every single week just to stay alive while living in my car as a homeless comedian. And so mad props to build ants. And the, the story's pretty, pretty wild. And now Steve Harvey has a whole nonprofit where, where you know, he's given back. And I think it's 20 something thousand kids, like, you know, kids from the hood and stuff that he's been able to get out fishing and teach them some cool life skills. I thought that was awesome. I mean that, that was my probably favorite part about, about icast, besides just seeing a lot of, a lot of good, good friends. But if you're, if you want to go there to see a lot of new stuff, you're probably going to be disappointed. I feel like every year just kind of gets worse and worse. Like you know, Yeti will come up with a bigger bucket, a 10 gallon Yeti bucket for $140. And I'd be a little sarcastic, but it just seems like the new product stuff is like. But just to be there and to see that many aisles of just cool stuff and stuff that you can feel. We found one lure. We won't spill the beans on it yet, but we did find a lure that. Because I won't. I don't even say where it's from, but not, not in America. You got some of these manufacturers that are coming over from Europe and China and Japan just wanting to show off some new things that they've made. And we found one that was kind of a booth not getting much of attention. We're like, man, this lure looks really, really good. It might crush it. And so I guess we had two different ones like that that were kind of no name brands that you would never know even if I said it. And you're like this, this might work. So stay tuned on that, Luke. Hopefully we'll be testing them out. Bad news, we didn't get a ton of samples. So don't, don't lose that one. Don't be tying a crappy knot for, for those lures.
- [07:41]
C
Yeah, yeah. The overall population size is one for a couple, a couple lures I have. But yeah, we'll be testing out. And, and really, you know, I' was like underwhelmed with the new products and especially the, the more I've done these lure tests where it tests in different sizes, different colors and the more I realized that it's all about finding the fish. So like all these fancy lures, even these urchin things, it's, it's all about finding fish and, and getting something that looks at least somewhat edible in front of them. And so yeah, I'll be testing lures out. I, I guess I'll, I'll be surprised if there's any huge noteworthy impacts, but every once in a while there is. And that's. That' we, that's when we go out and make, make a new lure. So typically for every like, just so you know, we now have like eight or nine custom lures and for every one of Those there's been 10 or more, probably 20 or more that just really weren't. There weren't. That weren't noticeably better than what's, what's out there. So yes, we got some samples. The odds of them coming out are pretty small, but if they are, we'll of course keep you posted.
- [08:47]
B
Yep. And before we get into the new Otis and the new Prawn and some of this stuff. Let's talk about closet insiders. So Captain Peter Deeks termed phrase and you know, Peter is over on the east coast and there's a lot of really experienced inshore saltwater anglers over there. Obviously on the west coast is as well and all throughout the country, but east coast they got some hardcore guys and gals and he'll run into some of these people and just be chatting with them and you know, through conversation he'll find out or they'll slip up and say, oh yeah, you know, I was marking that on my, on my Smart spots app. And like what? Like you're an insider member? Like, oh yeah, yeah, I don't really talk about it. And so he's like, he's like, there's some really experienced anglers who never post in the community and you would never know their members, but they're paying for access to smart spots, documenting all their catches, using it for the tracks and routes. And so he calls it a closet insider member. And he's like, it shocking how many really good anglers he meets that are insider members and just don't talk about it. I don't want to say they're embarrassed by it because it's not a club for beginners, but there, there are beginners in there and there's probably more weekend warriors than anything else. But shocking amount of even full time guides and really experienced anglers. And we met a couple of them. I was shocked at some people that came up to us and I don't have permission to use their names, but very experienced anglers that had said, yeah man, like I've been a member for years and I love it. Don't post, but I mean I use the heck out of, out of your stuff, both tackle and the smart fishing spots. And I was like, that's so cool. I was like another closet insider member, which is pretty, pretty fun. I know you had some as well, Luke, that have come up and Captain Ryan Harrington, we're allowed to use his name but he uses it on his trips and documenting all his catches there and similar. I mean he was like at first, am I going to use this? And he's like, holy smokes, this is a next level app. And obviously he's using some of the tackle as well. Now are the pros and the guides going through all the tutorials and the mastery courses and the cheat sheets? No, let's be honest, they don't really necessarily need to go through that. Now there can be some stuff even old Hollywood, who's an old gristled angler of, you know, many, many decades out in the water, has learned some stuff from some of the knots that we've tested. But in general they have the super experience and advanced anglers are using it for smart fishing spots for documenting all their catches, obviously for tides and weather and all the other stuff that's in there and just getting tackle discounts. I mean we have many pros that love saving 20% or more on. On their tackle and use it that way.
- [11:31]
C
Yeah, and just the, the newer features in the app where the, the tracking system is now like working incredibly well. The. The phone doesn't have to be actively on. It can be in sleep mode and the still tracks and, and on top of that for catch logs too. I just upload pictures into the platform and each of these little icons is, is a catch. Just gotta tap on it and you'll see the, the catch pops up as well as. I missed it here. But yeah, the catch pops up as well as the, the tides and weather you can see, you know, pulls in the, the tides of weather based on the tie of the catch. And that can be filtered over time so that if I'm fishing in the month of August on incoming tide and the winds coming from the north, I can filter down and see exactly what catches I've had and where they, where they were most importantly. So.
- [12:19]
B
And it just gets you better. You can see that track that you did and be like, man, I. The 9010 zone, right? I wasted so much time over here. I should have just gone straight here versus doing all these, you know, loops. So it's just, it's another way to keep learning, keep getting better. And documents all your catches. It's private to your eyes only. We don't use it, we don't share. It never goes out to anyone else. Just a way for all of us to get better because we, we usually always remember our last fishing trip, but we don't remember what happened a year ago or even months ago for at least for, for. I love looking back and say, oh man, I forgot how awesome, you know, August was in 2025. I need to go back out to some of these, these same areas during the same tide, et cetera. Really, really powerful. So that's the, that's the gps. We did a whole video on it. It's on the YouTube channel showing how to essentially turn your phone into a fish finder. I mean it's in. That's what Some of the guides even says, hey, I find myself using this, you know, more than I am. My electronics, you know, the Electro. If you are, you know, fishing Sebastian Inlet. Obviously Peter Deeks relies heavily on, on his electronics for, you know, to see what's under the water. But in terms of just normal GPS navigating and document his catches, he's using the Smart Fishing spots app. It is, it is, bar none, the best out there and it's got everything. I mean I was just out there scalping with the kids and there was a storm coming. I mean I'm using it for, for radar to see where the lightning's coming from. All that stuff is in one place. Super helpful.
- [13:54]
C
Absolutely.
- [13:56]
B
So let's move on to tackle. I know a lot of you are interested in tackle. We started off with tackle. What do you want to tackle first, Luke? Hi. Pun of the day. Otis or the.
- [14:08]
C
You'll do the Otis. So yeah, we've had the Otis 2500 out for probably three years now. And, and this took us, this took like five years. And to make it just like I was talking about lures, I could, I don't even know how many reels we tested. At least 30.
- [14:22]
B
We still have a graveyard of ones that we tested.
- [14:25]
C
Yeah, yeah. And so, so launch the Otis just in the one size. We just wanted to make sure that this thing is, is, is fully ready to. We already knew it worked, you know, for six months to a year which the time of testing and now it's been out in members hands really from Texas, all on the Gulf, up north of Virginia on the Atlantic. It has been used and abused by a lot of, a lot of anglers for multiple years. And that thing flat out is working incredibly well. So we decided it's time to make a bigger version. So now we have the Otis 3000. Still very lightweight relative to other 3000 size reels. It's 7.6 ounces, has, has plenty of dry. We'll have all the specs out when it comes out, but very smooth, very light and it looks cool too. So, so really excited. I'm going to spool this thing up and take it out tomorrow for the, for the debut trip. But as far as looks and feel and it's super smooth, just like the 2500. And I'll be surprised. This is obviously from the same manufacturer, so this one is most likely to be ready to rock. I'm just going to go out and test it, get, make sure to, to get into some big snook and reds and, and maybe Hook into a tarpon. Just see how it handles. But, but yeah, really excited about this. Light, smooth and strong.
- [15:40]
B
Left out. Nonchalant. You are. Yeah, I'm gonna catch all these fish. Maybe hook into a tarpon. Let's see if I bored or not.
- [15:45]
C
Well, it's. Yeah, that's what I'm going for. Whether it was or not. We'll see.
- [15:49]
B
So what's the weight on that one? I miss it.
- [15:51]
C
7.6 ounces. Yeah. So it's, it's much lighter than most 3,000 size reel. Most reels that can handle salt and yeah, big fish are usually heavier than that.
- [16:01]
B
Yep. Yeah, usually start with an 8, 9 or even 10 in some cases. Some of the, the bulkier ones.
- [16:06]
C
Yeah, absolutely.
- [16:07]
B
Yeah.
- [16:08]
C
Another cool thing coming out. This will be in the winter, but this is the, the final samples. I've been testing this out. This is, it's, we're notice basically called the micro prawn.
- [16:17]
B
So this is, oh, dirty like the
- [16:20]
C
prawn lures that we've been doing, but it's smaller. So the, the Prawn Junior is three and a half inches and this bad boy is 2.5 inches. And it flat out gets strikes. I, I was testing out the original version. The original sample came in this neon green color that I hated, but it works shockingly well. At my first drop, I was fishing snook lights, you know, at night for snook, just to see how, how much abuse it could take. And my very first drop hooked in a 30 incher. And this is a dock that I fish all the time. I've actually never hooked a snook that big onto that dock. The, the bigger ones typically are very smart. And, and yeah, this smaller profile immediately
- [17:04]
B
the big one, does that glow in the dark?
- [17:06]
C
It looks like it, it would, but it doesn't.
- [17:08]
B
And that thing is like Chernobyl green.
- [17:11]
C
Yeah. And then, and so, and then on, on just one of them, I, it was probably like 20 snot caught on this one tiny little lure. And it was in perfect condition, like no blemishes. This thing, this material is different. So it's a different material than what our, our prior prawns have been made of. It is very strong, but still flimsy enough to have just a great lifelike motion in the water. It's like the perfect combo of strength and flex. So really happy about that. And, and speaking of, we have the Prawn Junior, like our current prawn sizes made out of that same material. And those are actually coming out real soon. Like, like July, August soon they're, they're going to be any, any moment now. Again, same thing, same, same same overall shape. But these things are incredibly strong. I was throwing the, one of the bigger ones out along reefs and, and just, just going up, drifting through like Boca Grand Channel. Just getting grouper snapper and just again seeing how much abuse it can take. And with just one lure I still haven't lost it and I've, I've had to at least caught 30, 40 fish on it, mostly grouper and jax and mangrove snapper. And same thing like not even like an eye has been pulled off nor even like a little tip of the tail. It is like in perfect condition. So.
- [18:36]
B
But it's not unbreakable. You could, if you tried, you could. Or can you. Have you ripped it?
- [18:42]
C
Yeah, I could. Yeah, I can if I like grab real hard and like pinch down and pull, pull really hard. Just like any soft plastic it will pull off but obviously like it's not smart thing to do. But as far as just the fish being able to mess with it, like grouper in particular and snapper are really good at messing up soft plastics. They have this strong jaws and sharp teeth and, and the fact that it's, it's just getting through those fish without getting damaged has been again, I knew it was going to be strong just by feeling you can tell that the stronger material. But it has been very impressive on, on how it's withstood. I, I'm not, I don't have any definitive puffer attacks yet on it. I have been throwing it up on grass flats where typically there are puffer fish. But again, if they have struck it, they haven't messed it up. But I don't have, I haven't, I don't have visual proof of one going up and hitting it and it's still being fine. That probably will mess it up, I'm guessing.
- [19:38]
B
But it'd be, it'd be really cool to find a puffer flat which is not hard. Like once you find them and set up a couple GoPros and kind of have that shrimp just popping and watch what happens. I'd be, I'd be interested to see that.
- [19:54]
C
Yeah. If it is puffer proof, that'll be amazing because those, those fish are shockingly good at biting through lures. I don't know, I don't know how they do it, but they do it. And again, so far it's puffer proof.
- [20:06]
B
Prawn.
- [20:07]
C
Yeah, that would be, that would be awesome if we can have that it's kind of like a bear. A bear proof cooler. Puffer proof. Soft plastic is like the ultimate.
- [20:14]
B
Call it Yeti. So cool. Yeah. So if you're wondering, all right, why don't you guys make everything out of that. We are going to probably have most of the molds. The, the bad news is it cost more. This is a very unique material that, that we've, that we've come across and found. I, I don't think I've seen anything like it. I mean Zman has something that's, that's similar, but this is even my opinion better. So bad news is it obviously costs more per lure, but I mean Luke's point just caught 30 something fish and it's. You still can't even tell that it's been used. Because these things, you know, assuming you don't break off, should last forever. Last a long time.
- [20:54]
C
Yeah. The con is really, it's just rigging it is a little bit more difficult. So that, that's the only con. I do have some ideas to, to alleviate that and, and actually make it make it easier to rig. But, but at least as far as these, these first ones, they're, they're awesome. They're bulletproof. They're, they're still easy to rig. Like as long as you are comfortable rigging soft plastic, you can definitely rig it. But yeah, once it's on there like this is just the normal round. I jig head like once this thing's on there, like it will not come off like it, it is on there. It's incredibly strong. And, and more importantly, it'll, it'll not get ripped out by, by fish either. So really pumped about that. And yeah, again, those will be out. Those will be out real soon.
- [21:34]
B
They've already fast testing fish strong dot com. We'll send an email to you insiders first. And if you are a member I mentioned earlier, Sportsman's Guide, take advantage of that. We've got a bunch of members who have some have said, hey, I've already saved like $300 this year just from some of the big purchases on Sportsman's Guide. Because Sportsman's Guide has discounts even on electronics, trolling motors. I mean all your freshwater stuff, your hunting stuff. If you're getting ready for hunting season near new deer stand or deer blinds. I brought some, some deer blinds. Obviously they got some of the best deals ever on ammo.
- [22:11]
C
All.
- [22:11]
B
It's completely free. The membership is free to insider members. If you need instructions, just Google salt. Strong Sportsman's Guide on our site and you'll see the blog pull right up or hit up customer service. We'd help you out but you get a free membership with, with your insider membership. So use it. It is a cool benefit. And they have so much stuff and all kinds of hunting apparel is as well. If you need new camo, great place to get gifts. They have some unique stuff in the military surplus too. Have you seen some of the wild things they have there like gas mask and stuff?
- [22:47]
C
Yeah, they get new stuff in all the time and even bullets too. A lot of, you know, a lot of our members do, you know hunting and shooting as well. So yeah, bullets on discount plus all the hunting, the camp gear you could think of.
- [22:58]
B
Otherwise known as ammo. What I just said. So yeah, bullet. Do you know ammo? That's the same as bullets.
- [23:04]
C
I didn't, I didn't hear ammo but either way they're, they're covered. I like said camo.
- [23:11]
B
I did say camo too on the apparel side. The ammo for God there.
- [23:15]
C
Either way, either way, lots of, lots of discounts. And we do have a discount page as well where just other third parties have, you know, because we, we deny any sponsorships directly with Saltstrong and so companies can sponsor essentially members and in there there's kayak, there's all sorts of stuff from third parties. But, but Sportsman's Guide has by far the biggest selection of discounted products.
- [23:37]
B
That's it. And it's completely free if you're a salt strong insider member. If you haven't joined, go to saltshorn.com join us. Get access to the smart fishing spots, all of our tackle discounts, all the discounts at Sportsman's Guide and the list just keeps going on and on and on. Otherwise we'll call it a day here. Just wanted to give you an update on a lot of stuff happening. None of them were like long enough to do a full podcast. Like man, let's just talk about all the cool things that happened here in the past week or so. So comment down below if you have any questions on any of this. If there's anything that you want to hear us talk about next or see us talk about next, comment down below and let us know. Otherwise we'll talk to you on the next episode.
- [24:20]
C
Peace we out.
- [24:21]
B
See ya cuz.
- [24:24]
D
Fishing my soul it was passed down to me from the days ago Find us on the water. If there was a way it's been said my papa, he wrote the book on catching big reds and 20 pound snook. I wish I knew to all the things he knew today
- [24:53]
B
for he's the
- [24:54]
D
reason why we are this way
- [25:00]
A
and
- [25:00]
D
he put fish in our souls to stay.