Congrats to Keith for bringing home an Open trophy after getting mighty close the last several years – but it almost didn't happen because it sounds like one or more folks tried to sabotage his deal? Let's get into it:

> "I found a little backwater deal off the grid with my Gator Trax boat with a 90-horse Mercury – 2 deep holes way back in there. There were a few fish in there and I was able to catch a decent limit each day...tried to manage them.

> "I had 11.5-12 lbs the first day, then I got out and went in the river. I didn't fish much in practice... had Covid the week before....went out in the river, just fishing, just looking. I get on this rocky point, and catch one almost 3 lbs on a shakey head. I culled out a little one....

> "I had 13-03 and everything's good, I'm in 2nd place, but I don't know what I've got left.

> "[Day 2] I go back in the hole and try to get a good little limit again. I catch about the same [weight and he went to the river again]. I fished the same place I got the big one, nothing. So I go up the river and fished laydowns – boom I catch one over 3 lbs. I weighed 13-03 again, how about that? I was leading, life is good.

> "I show up the third day, excited – I think I'm about to win this thing. I just need a solid limit outta there, 9-10 lbs. I get there and someone put rocks in front of my deal.

> "There's rock levees all up and down the river...cuts in [them, some natural, some people did]. The Corps have left some of them open.... I didn't touch a rock. I was going through a little opening in the rocks – you couldn't get a big boat through there.

> "I get there that day – the water [level] hadn't changed. There's a moss line on the rocks, and you could see the rocks all the way around there had been turned up. Rocks were all sideways. [Someone put] rock all the way across [the opening], 2 inches under the water.

> "I'm trying to jump these rocks, and I'm on the phone with Hank [Weldon, Opens TD].... These [spectator] guys are following me, and then they jumped in the water and started pulling those rocks out of the way like it originally was. I had a marshal with me [to verify what was going on when on the phone with Hank]. ...filmed me going in and posted it on my social media.

🤯

> "I went in there – by that time it was 8:30-9:00 – and just stayed in there all day. I ended up catching a couple chunks. I was pitching laydowns in deep holes with a Berkley Pit Boss and I ended up with 11-something.

> "I got out early, weighed my fish, went and took a polygraph – I didn't do nothing, didn't break any rules – they gave me my money and the trophy and I left. They tried to get me bubba! They and didn't succeed."

Baits

> 3" Berkley Pit Boss (gp first 2 days, b/b the last day), 4/0 Berkley Fusion19 Heavy Cover Hook, 3/8-oz weight, 20-lb Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, Abu Garcia Zenon X Reel (8:1), 7' 6" H Fenwick Elite Rod (new). [Word is the new Fenwick Elites are designed specifically for bass fishermen fyi.]

> "The last day I ran outta gp Pit Bosses. I tried to throw another little bug, but I just have a lot of confidence in the Pit Boss. I had black/blue Pit Bosses – I put that dude on and they started eating that thing."

> The 1 shakey head fish was on a 5" Berkley MaxScent (gp) on a 5/16 -oz shakey head.

Electronics

> "I've got a graph on my console so I could see where I was going, and I saw the water temperature and the time...." [He was laughing saying that.]

> "My Garmin Force trolling motor was a big key. I ran that 36 with a Lithium Pros, which is real light."

Shout-outs

> "I just want to thank them guys that pulled those rocks out. I don't even know who they are. I don't have a clue.

> "Gator Trax boats and my Mercury 90-horse motor. Without those 2 tools [and a pushpole] I couldn't have gotten into those places."

I was telling Keith about my Labs, and he was like, "Wanna see a picture of my dog?" Texted me this:

🤣 Here's 5 with him:

1. What's with you and the Opens? 1 or 2 top 10s every year for about the last 5 years – do you like the Opens for some reason or what?

> "I get to fish the way I love fishing – out of a little boat and just have fun man. When you have fun, when you're doing what you like, you're gonna fish well. Simple as that."

2. Do you often use drones to find places to fish? [He did in this one.]

> "Absolutely. But not during official practice. Google Earth is a big tool, but a drone does help...you get a real-time image...a lot of those [Google] maps are old. When you're fishing off the grid [it helps]....

3. Does forward-facing sonar play at all in Louisiana?

> "Maybe at Toledo Bend [laughs]. Here's the deal: I do utilize it in shallow water on my big boat on the Bass Pro Tour. Even if you're not seeing fish, you're seeing structure [that's] just out of sight. It's really a fantastic tool – I just choose not to run it on my little boat. I'm in all the [shallow] stuff – it wouldn't last on my trolling motor 1 day...."

4. Would you say you're more Off the Grid, Off the Hook, Off the Wall or Off the Farm?? 😁 [His YT series is called "Off the Grid.]

> "Probably Off the Wall.... I do off the wall stuff man, that's just me. I fish crazy stuff, and every once in a while I find something that's worth fishing. That's how tournaments are won...a guy doing something that's different than everybody else."

5. If you had to pick 1 bait to fish in the fall for green fish in most of the country, what would it be?

> "Probably a swim-jig. You can fish it fast, skip it across the water up shallow, pitch it – you can dow whatever...that's a versatile bait. White, gp, b/b...."

He likes a 3/8-oz Berkley Powerbait Swim Jig with a Berkely Powerbait The Deal rigged vertically.

Here's the top 10 finishers' baits broken down:

Flip plastics = 60%

Frog = 30%

Jig = 30% – How about Joey Nania (5th), whose name keeps popping up in top 10s, using a 3/8-oz Z-Man Cross EyeZ/Squidward Power FINESSE Jig?? (natural craw) with a Z-Man TRD BugZ (hot craw?):

Crankbait = 20%, both squarebills

Weightless plastic = 20%

Toad = 20%

Bladed jig = 20%

10% each = Spinnerbait, Buzzbait, Swim-jig

Shout-outs

1. Who is AL's David Gaston and does he not have any sponsors?? Check that jersey. Got 3rd in this on – in the last 4 Opens he's fished he's finished 3rd, 6th, 28th and 6th...but before that he got 164th so he must've gotten mad at 'em?

2. Kenta Kimura fished that bug bait again – weightless!

Got 6th at the Red River and caught most of 'em on a 1/4-oz buzzbait with a Berkley Japan Power Flutter craw-lookin' deal on it, but he also fished that Berkley Japan Powerbait Jago Rocket:

Shoutin' out Brett McComas of Target Walleye, tho he's a bass-head too. Think his new nickname might be "Thrifty" – what do you think?

🤯 Looks like those X2 batteries hold up pretty good??

Could be?