Jigs and Bigs

How much of becoming a better angler is actually learning to control yourself?

This week on Jigs & Bigs, Bobby and Mike get into The Angler’s Mind and all the ways our own experience, confidence and expectations can get between us and what the fish are actually telling us.

When does confidence become stubbornness? When does fishing history stop being useful and start becoming baggage? How many bad decisions begin with “they should be here”? And can having MORE fishing information actually make you worse at making decisions?

We dig into confirmation bias, ego, information overload, fishing someone else’s confidence, staying present on the water, and knowing when it’s finally time to pull your head out of your ass and ask:

What is actually happening right now?

Also on Episode 346:

🎣 An important Omnia Fishing shutdown update, including what anglers with saved waypoints need to know before the service goes offline.

💸 Broke on the Boat: Black Friday is coming, so we’ve got a simple question before that “40% OFF” banner convinces you that you suddenly need $600 worth of tackle: Would you have wanted it if it weren’t on sale?

📞 The Live Well: Listener calls, Jighead conversation and the usual amount of questionable judgment.

📬 Plus, we’re building The Weigh-In, our direct connection to the Jigs & Bigs community, with quarterly updates, opportunities and subscriber-only giveaways. Get on the list at JigsAndBigs.com.

And this week we introduce something new at the end of the show: The Final Thought.

Sometimes the biggest adjustment you can make isn’t what’s tied onto the end of your line.

It’s what’s happening between your ears.

Keep your lines tight... and your minds open.

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🎣 SUPPORT JIGS & BIGS

How much of your fishing knowledge comes from experience—and how much is something you’ve repeated for years without questioning it?

Alex Rudd and Dave Urke—the Wolf of Walmart and host of The Whole Angler Podcast—join Bobby Roast Beef and Joe Brown to put their fishing beliefs on the table. From lure color and scent to seasonal patterns, catch and release, moon phases, and bananas on boats, the conversation mixes practical lessons, strong opinions, and superstitions nobody’s quite ready to surrender.

In Broke on the Boat, we confess to the gear fishing culture convinced us we needed, including expensive glide baits, technique-specific rods, and premium jerkbaits. Then the Live Well brings listener questions about forward-facing sonar, fishing pressure, and how creating fishing content changes your life.

And somewhere along the way, a kid asks a question that makes everybody reconsider the humble plastic worm.

What fishing belief will you defend—even if you can’t prove it? Call or text the Jigs & Bigs hotline: (413) 324-8519.

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Sign up using the mailing-list form at JigsAndBigs.com. [Found on the bottom of each page!]

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Follow or subscribe wherever you listen, leave a rating and review, and share an episode with a fishing buddy. Subscribe on YouTube and follow Jigs & Bigs on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok—find our channels through the website.

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Every bite tells you something. So does every follow, short strike, miss, and fish that refuses to commit. The question is whether you're actually listening.

This week on Jigs & Bigs, Bobby and Joe break down how to turn those interactions into useful information instead of immediately reaching for another bait. The process is simple: OBSERVE → INTERPRET → TEST. Figure out what actually happened, develop a theory about why it happened, then deliberately try to reproduce it.

We talk about reading subtle clues, changing one variable at a time, recognizing when the fish are proving your original plan wrong, and how a simple adjustment turned Mike's frustrating underspin bites into fish in the boat.

Plus, Bobby recaps a productive trip to the upper Connecticut River that included his first walleye, Joe explains why fall anglers should pay attention to the birds, and Broke on the Boat tackles the expensive habit of trying to buy solutions to fishing problems.

And when the show is over... don't leave quite yet. There's a little something extra waiting after the closing song. Consider it a glimpse of the Jighead experience that usually doesn't make the final cut.

Sometimes the most important thing the fish tells you is that you were wrong. That's not failure. That's a clue.

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📞 CALL OR TEXT THE J&B HOTLINE: (413) 324-8519
Give us your fishing tips, ask a question, drop a hot take, or tell us what happened on the water. You might end up on an upcoming episode.

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Was uncertainty ever a problem in fishing that really needed to be solved?

That question sits at the center of Episode 343.

After Cole McCausland’s comments about forward-facing sonar lit up the bass fishing world, Bobby takes the conversation to the Producer’s Desk to look at the argument from a different angle.

There’s no question that forward-facing sonar takes skill. The anglers who have mastered it didn’t simply bolt electronics onto their boats and magically start winning. They invested the time, learned a new tool, adapted and got damn good at using it.

But fishing has always involved incomplete information.

You don’t know exactly where every fish is. You don’t know which one is going to bite. You don’t know whether the pattern you found at 8 a.m. will still exist at noon. Sometimes skill puts you in the right place. Sometimes luck plays a part.

So if technology removes some of that uncertainty, is that simply the evolution of fishing... or are we changing one of the fundamental skills fishing has always tested?

And because this is Jigs & Bigs, that’s nowhere near the entire show.

Joe is back and officially selling the Ikon as he prepares for retirement and life on the road. Bobby somehow crammed an absurd amount of work into one week, gives an update on First Cast Month, talks about what’s coming for Jigs & Bigs, and actually managed to sneak in some fishing.

On Just the Tip, we dig into something every angler can use: after you get bit, can you identify exactly what happened well enough to do it again?

Then we hit the Producer’s Desk for the forward-facing sonar discussion, get appropriately irresponsible with Broke on the Boat, dive into the Live Well, and generally behave like people who probably shouldn’t be trusted with microphones for this many consecutive hours.

The question this week is simple:

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📞 Jigs & Bigs Hotline: (413) 324-8519

Have a question, hot take, fishing story, or an opinion on forward-facing sonar? Call or text us. You might end up on the show.

This week’s episode is a full-on marathon — and it’s worth every minute.

We kick things off in classic Jigs & Bigs fashion before diving headfirst into a long-form conversation with Ken Duke that goes way beyond the usual fishing talk. We get into the phrase everybody throws around — “grow the sport” — and ask whether that’s really the right goal in the first place.

From there, the conversation opens up into the health of the fishing industry, the role of media, what makes content actually valuable, and how anglers, creators, and brands all fit into the future of this thing we love.

This one is thoughtful, honest, and loaded with substance.

If you care about where fishing is headed — and not just what bait to throw next weekend — this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen, enjoy, and let us know what you think:
Should we really be trying to “grow the sport”?

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Every fall, bass anglers hear the same advice: FIND THE SHAD. FOLLOW THE BAIT.

Great advice...

What if your lake doesn't have shad?

That's exactly where we're going in Episode 341.

Kai Ludden, aka Kai the Fish Guy, returns to Jigs & Bigs as our guest co-host, and this time we're digging into fall bass fishing in northern lakes, ponds and rivers where shad aren't the primary forage...or aren't there at all.

Instead of blindly applying the standard fall playbook, we're looking at what bass are actually feeding on: yellow perch, bluegill and other sunfish, minnows, young-of-year forage, crayfish and whatever else your particular ecosystem provides.

And Kai brings something especially valuable to this conversation. With his background studying freshwater fish and fish behavior, we get beyond “throw this bait in October” and start asking why these fish and their forage are behaving the way they are.

We get into how different forage species respond to changing water temperatures, daylight, vegetation and habitat; what those movements can mean for bass location; and why you shouldn't assume every baitfish in the lake got the same September memo.

Because here's the problem:

You can't follow a migration your lake doesn't have.

On Just the Tip, we build a practical fall-fishing approach around identifying the forage that's actually in YOUR water and following the clues those species provide.

Then on Broke on the Boat, we're asking what you really need to change in your tackle when the forage isn't shad. Can you adapt the baits you already own through size, color, profile and presentation? And if you're actually going to spend money to better match the hatch, where does that money make sense?

Plus, Kai catches us up on his Massachusetts freshwater pin quest, including the grind that produced his 31½-inch lake trout, we talk tournament fishing, fall fishing, listener questions, and naturally wander into some of the usual Jigs & Bigs bullshit along the way. 341 captions 341 captions

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📞 JIGS & BIGS HOTLINE: (413) 324-8519
Call or text us with your fishing questions, stories, hot takes, or questionable life decisions. You might end up on the show.

Fish the forage that's actually there. Not the forage the internet told you should be there.

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How much of the way you fish comes from what YOU have actually learned… and how much came from somebody telling you what should work?

Fishing reports. YouTube. Tournament results. Facebook groups. Dock talk. Your buddies. Pros. Influencers. We consume an insane amount of fishing information, and none of that is necessarily a bad thing.

The problem starts when somebody else's experience becomes more important than the evidence you've gathered yourself.

This week on Jigs & Bigs, Bobby, Joe and Mike dig into something we're calling borrowed confidence.

Somebody crushes them on a bait, so you buy it. Somebody says they're deep, so you run deep. A tournament gets won offshore, and suddenly everybody's offshore.

But none of that information knows exactly what's happening where you're standing, on your water, at that moment.

Information should influence your decisions. It shouldn't make them for you.

🎣 JUST THE TIP: We break down what real fishing confidence actually looks like, why confidence and stubbornness aren't the same thing, and why becoming a better angler means learning to trust your own observations while still being willing to let the fish prove you wrong.

💸 BROKE ON THE BOAT: Can you actually buy confidence? Sometimes a bad day sends us straight to the tackle shop looking for the bait, rod, reel, electronics or latest piece of gear that's finally going to “fix” our fishing.

And man… that dopamine hit feels fantastic.

But did you actually solve anything?

Plus, we get into our weeks on the water, listener interaction in the Livewell, some laughs, some bullshit, and the usual detours that make Jigs & Bigs what it is.

Learn from everybody.
Listen to good information.
Pay attention to the evidence.
Then make your own fucking decision.

Don't borrow confidence. Build it.

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THE BIG IDEA:🎣 SUPPORT JIGS & BIGS

You can always make more money. But you can’t make more Saturdays.

Fishing time is limited — and sometimes the difference between a frustrating day and an incredible one is recognizing a 20-minute window before it disappears.

This week on Jigs & Bigs, Bobby, Joe and Mike dig into how anglers can get better at recognizing when something on the water has changed. Wind picks up. Clouds roll in. Bait starts moving. Current changes. You get one bite…then another.

Did a window just open?

We talk about why your original plan shouldn’t outrank the information the fish are giving you, why tournament anglers can get burned by fishing memories from practice, and why sometimes the smartest thing you can do when the fish start talking is stop fucking around and fish.

Then on Broke on the Boat, we look at something more expensive than tackle:

Your time.

For the tournament angler, wasting 30 minutes can cost placement, points or money. For the weekend warrior who might only get a few legitimate fishing days each month, wasting a Saturday can hurt even more.

Plus, we hit the Livewell, talk tournament fishing, tackle some listener questions, and get into the usual Jigs & Bigs bullshit along the way.

• How to recognize a feeding window while it’s happening
• Why “one fish is just a fish — two is the beginning of a pattern”
• When to abandon the original plan
• Fishing current conditions instead of fishing memories
• The real cost of wasted fishing time
• Making limited time on the water count
• Tournament talk with Mike
• Listener questions from the Livewell

The takeaway:
You can't control when the window opens.
You can't control how long it stays open.
But you can be ready when it happens.

Recognize it. Fish it. Learn from it. Don’t waste the fucking window.

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EP. 339 — You Can’t Make More Saturdays is the one I'd run with. The title → artwork → 12-second cold open gives you a really cohesive package without simply repeating “Don’t Waste the Window” three different ways.

🎣 THIS WEEK:🎧 LISTEN & SUPPORT JIGS & BIGS

The calendar says fall. The fish may disagree.

This week on Jigs & Bigs, Bobby digs into the fall transition and why anglers get into trouble when they start fishing the date instead of the conditions in front of them.

On Just the Tip, we break down how to recognize the real signs of a seasonal shift — water temperature trends, forage movement, vegetation changes, bird activity, fish location and more — and why one clue by itself doesn’t mean much.

One fish is just a fish. Two is the beginning of a pattern.

Then on Broke on the Boat, we talk about the fall tackle trap: why changing conditions don’t automatically mean you need a whole new pile of gear, and how to make smarter adjustments before reaching for the credit card.

Plus: fishing recaps, Livewell input from the Jigheads, some absolutely ridiculous stories, and the usual Jigs & Bigs chaos.

The big takeaway this week:

The calendar tells you what season it is. The water tells you how to fish it.

Fish the clues. Not the calendar.

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Dark Horse Tackle — $5 off $30+ with code JNB5
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Ark Rods — 10% off with code JIGSANDBIGS
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Omnia Fishing — 15% off your first order with code JIGS&BIGSFIRST
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Bassdash — 15% off with code JIGANDBIGS
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BluBlocker Sunglasses — Free shipping on orders over $50 and your purchase supports the show
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Chill Steel Pipes — $20 off with code jigsandbigs
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“HEY! YOU CAN’T FISH HERE!”

Okay… but can you?

Episode 337 of Jigs & Bigs dives into one of those situations almost every angler will eventually encounter: you’re fishing water you believe you have every legal right to be on, and a property or dock owner tells you otherwise.

This week’s Just the Tip is all about knowing before you go.

Public water vs. private property. Private docks. Legal access. Navigable water. Fishing from a boat vs. wading vs. standing on the bank. Sportsman’s rights and interference laws. And what happens when somebody hangs a NO FISHING sign somewhere that might not actually give them the authority to tell you not to fish?

The complicated answer?

It depends.

We look at examples from around the country to demonstrate just how dramatically access and angler-protection laws can differ—and why something Bobby said on a podcast or some jabroni confidently posted on Facebook should never replace doing your own homework.

And if a confrontation does happen?

Knowing your rights doesn’t mean you have to exercise them at maximum volume.

We talk de-escalation, respecting property owners, knowing when to walk away, and even when it might make sense to call the game warden yourself.

Just remember:

Calling the warden isn’t calling in reinforcements. You’re calling in a referee—and the referee can throw a flag on YOU.

Then on Broke on the Boat, we're talking CHEAP INSURANCE—the inexpensive purchases and simple maintenance that can keep a tiny problem from becoming an expensive one.

Because spending twelve bucks to protect a $300 rod isn't expensive.

Replacing the $300 rod because you wouldn't spend twelve bucks?

Now you're Broke on the Boat.

Plus Joe and Bobby get into the usual fishing stories, bullshit, listener interaction and everything else that makes J&B… J&B.

🎧 Listen to the Jigs & Bigs Podcast on Spotify:
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Know your water. Know your rights. Know their rights. And don't be an asshole.