We kick things off when 2015 Bassmaster Classic Champion and country recording artist Casey Ashley drops in. Casey breaks down his keys to becoming the first ever angler to win the world’s most prestigious fishing tournament on their home lake. We find out his game plan on Lake Hartwell heading into the coldest Classic in recent memory. What bait was instrumental? What depth did he find his fish?

Casey also talks about the weigh in and the anxiety of not knowing what the anglers atop the leaderboard were bringing in. He confesses he had no idea that Bobby Lane was bringing in potentially game changing 6.6 lb’er! At the end of Day 3 however, Casey’s 20.3 lb five fish limit was good enough to take home the Classic crown and a $300,000 paycheck! Not bad for a small town country boy who dabbles in country music on the side!

 photo CaseyAshley3_zpszhve82z1.jpg

Next, we are joined in studio by the “Unofficial Mayor of the Fort Worth Stockyards” and longtime Texas singer/songwriter Brad Hines. If you haven’t heard Brad’s story you are in for a real treat, not to mention some great Texas country music as well! We discuss his latest “Live and Loaded” release and Brad will play a couple tracks of the record. (We’ve also got an extra autographed copy to give away during the show!)

A great story teller, you won’t want to miss Brad reflect on a turkey hunt gone sorts of wrong! He also revisits an off shore trip that ended up with him and a buddy checking a hundred or so pounds of Mahi Mahi in their suitcases. Wrapped in trashbags and topped off with ice, they got the fillets back to DFW…he lets us know if it was worth it!

 photo Brad Hines2_zpshyomtlbx.jpg

Our good friend and longtime largemouth guide Charles Whited of Barefoot Fishing Tours joins us next to talk early spring pre spawn patterns. Or…should we say lack thereof so far in 2015 as Artic cold fronts keep hammering the Texas landscape. Regardless of the bass moving in and then having to reset due to these cold fronts, Charles is always dialed and has his clients catching big bass year round.

We get his favorite baits and color schemes for these unstable weather patterns as well as mono vs fluorocarbon line in clear water conditions. How fast is he making his retrieves? Heck, Charles even weighs in on weather or not Sharelunker entries should be allowed to come from private water bodies. Heck, his boat has landed two Sharelunkers in the past two years- not many folks can say that! Charles with a nice limit that earned a paycheck at last week’s Texas Tournament Zone Tournament on Lake LBJ:

 photo CharlesWhited8th_zpspzyofsi3.jpg