In-Fisherman Storyline S1 E20: AFTER HOURS: The State of the Industry, Winter 2025

In-Fisherman Storyline host Thomas Allen is joined by good friends and local fishing experts to discuss the state of the fishing industry, boat prices and angler optimism as the new year begins. Mille Lacs guide Brad Hawthorne, Brainerd bass anglers Chad Foster and Brandon Cizek dig into the future of the sport we all love, with some laugh along the way. This is a fun discussion about where we're all headed no matter where you are in the fishing spectrum.

Truncated transcript: 

00:05-00:08: You're listening to In-Fisherman Storyline. 

00:08-00:18: North America's top voice in multi-species freshwater angling. 

00:13-00:18: Here is your host, Thomas Allen. 

00:18-00:28: Well, hey, welcome to another edition of In-Fisherman Storyline. 

00:23-00:28: This is another one of our After Hours editions. 

00:26-00:38: Anything goes, in fact, we're doing everything from got some ice in a cup and an adult beverage. 

00:33-00:38: And I mean, this is the first time for everything. 

00:35-00:38: That's Chad. He's working on a burrito. 

00:37-00:48: And I can't say that I have ever recorded anything for any type of professional publication where a man's working on a burrito. 

00:44-00:48: So Chad, welcome to In-Fisherman Storyline. 

00:48-00:58: Cheers. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. 

00:50-00:58: That is Chad Foster. He is a... 

00:52-00:58: We're going to get into your story a little bit tonight. 

00:54-00:58: I want to hear some of your your tales from the trail, if you will. 

00:58-01:08: In Brainerd, there's a short list of anglers who are... 

01:03-01:08: I guess they manage the accounts here in the Bass Tournament leagues. 

01:07-01:18: And Chad is one of those, but it didn't come by accident. 

01:10-01:18: He spent some time fishing professionally and actually went... 

01:15-01:18: Fished FLW for a while and fished a cup. 

01:18-01:28: I mean, so I know you got a mouthful, but I'm going to have you elaborate on that here just for a brief second. 

01:22-01:28: What year was that? 

01:24-01:28: 2018. 

01:28-01:38: 2018. 

01:30-01:38: Yep. On Lake O'Watchitah. 

01:33-01:38: Do you like that place? 

01:34-01:38: I had a blast. 

01:35-01:38: There's a lot of fishing there, but they're little. 

01:37-01:48: You know, it was funny in practice for the cup. 

01:42-01:48: Literally the first couple hours I went to a bar, threw a top water and caught a couple nice ones. 

01:46-01:48: I'm like, oh, this is easy. 

01:48-01:58: In the next three days, I don't think I caught another largemouth. 

01:51-01:58: It's been a long time since I've been there. 

01:53-01:58: And next to him, we'll come back. We want more of this story. 

01:56-02:08: He's busy working on that burrito, but where are we at here? Brad. 

02:01-02:08: I'm working on this button machine. This is a new thing I got. 

02:03-02:08: So you're going to have to bear with me as I kind of get through this. 

02:05-02:08: Brad Hawthorne, good friend, is a guide on Mille Lacs. 

02:09-02:18: He's known for his weekly ice updates on the lake, which I saw you out there today. 

02:14-02:18: Risking life in Limb to provide an update on ice conditions out there. 

02:17-02:28: We're going to talk about that a little bit, but how much ice we got out there? 

02:20-02:28: None. There's a little bit of shore ice, but the main lake is open. 

02:23-02:28: So I would say at this point, like, just chill out a little bit or bring the boat on the tube. 

02:29-02:38: Well, the good news is it's terrible cold out there tonight. 

02:32-02:38: So if that wind would ever lay down, we would probably end up with some real good ice, which I think is coming. 

02:37-02:38: I think we're going to have a good winter. 

02:39-02:48: And then on the other side, you might recognize this guy. 

02:41-02:48: He did the first edition of After Hours. 

02:43-02:48: And he's one of my favourites. He's a bit of a drama queen. 

02:46-02:58: Says a lot of bad words and he insults me on the regular, but I can't help it. 

02:50-02:58: Just there's almost an element of love here. 

02:53-02:58: Wouldn't you say? 

02:54-02:58: I would agree. 

02:56-03:08: Brandon Cizek is another one of those account managers here in a local bass league. 

03:00-03:08: But he's pretty good at breaking podcast equipment. 

03:04-03:08: He's been kind of futzing with that thing over there for 15 minutes. 

03:06-03:18: If you can manage to not bump that off the table again tonight, that'd be great. 

03:10-03:18: He or Mount is first class over here. 

03:12-03:18: Yeah, I need to probably drill a hole in that table. 

03:15-03:18: That's a good deer camp table though. 

03:18-03:28: Anyway, Brandon is great for opinions because he's one known for speaking his mind. 

03:24-03:28: And I think that's part of his charm. 

03:26-03:28: So we're going to... that's the crew tonight. 

03:28-03:38: We're not going to really set a time limit here. 

03:30-03:38: We've got a basic theme, but we've got a lot of topics to cover. 

03:33-03:38: Brad told me he wrote a list that's about 20 items long and didn't bring it. 

03:36-03:38: So he's going to do his best to remember that. 

03:38-03:48: But this is kind of a state of the industry going into winter kind of discussion. 

03:42-03:48: And I think that there's a lot of positivity. 

03:45-03:48: It's early December here. 

03:47-03:48: The election was a month ago. 

03:49-03:58: And I think without taking this podcast down the political path, 

03:52-03:58: we're just going to say spirits are high. 

03:55-03:58: A lot of good things happen. 

03:57-04:08: And I think that we're all looking forward to the future, I guess, with open minds. 

04:02-04:08: And hopefully everything we were promised is going to come true. 

04:05-04:08: So we'll kind of leave it at that. 

04:07-04:08: But Brad, I'm going to start with you. 

04:09-04:18: You and I have spent a lot of time on the ice together. 

04:12-04:18: We've talked about technology. 

04:14-04:18: I don't want to-- we've talked about how that's affected the fishing business some 

04:18-04:18: on this show. 

04:19-04:28: It's open game. 

04:20-04:28: Don't feel like you can't talk about it. 

04:22-04:28: But it's that time of year where things are changing. 

04:24-04:28: We've got new stuff coming out. 

04:26-04:28: All brands are promising new items in the next couple-- 

04:29-04:38: well, at least until I cast. 

04:31-04:38: So for a while, I mean, what's your-- with the people that you deal with, 

04:36-04:48: the clientele that are coming to rent houses and fish with you coming up this year, 

04:40-04:48: what's the feel? 

04:41-04:48: Are they excited to come? 

04:42-04:48: Do they feel like they're going to make up for last year? 

04:44-04:48: Yeah, there's so much pent up energy in the industry right now. 

04:48-04:48: Yes. 

04:49-04:58: Because we've had three bad years of ice. 

04:53-04:58: And it's been-- honestly, it's been kind of miserable working out there in that. 

04:56-05:08: But with that, you have-- on the horizon here, 

05:00-05:08: we have one of the best ice years we're setting up. 

05:02-05:08: I mean, we are teed up to have an awesome year. 

05:04-05:08: And the industry needs that. 

05:06-05:08: And the clientele, my phone's been ringing off the hook. 

05:08-05:08: People want to know. 

05:09-05:18: That's why I've been getting out there really religiously and doing those ice reports, 

05:13-05:18: just to kind of-- you know, we have to pull back the reins just a little bit right now. 

05:17-05:18: But people are excited. 

05:19-05:28: And they want to get out there, and they want to do it. 

05:21-05:28: Because the one thing that remains is we live in Minnesota, and we get winters. 

05:25-05:28: Well, we're staring down the pipe at a good one at this point. 

05:28-05:38: I mean, it's been very cold early. 

05:30-05:38: If the wind would settle down, oh, my gosh, has the wind stopped blowing on the wax? 

05:33-05:38: No. 

05:34-05:38: If you go on Eddie Liebach's Facebook page right now, 

05:38-05:48: he's got a picture out there of Hennepin Island, 

05:41-05:48: which is about a mile and a half, two miles out in front of his place. 

05:44-05:48: And if you zoom in on the pictures, you can see the five and six foot white caps 

05:49-05:58: rolling right up to the ice edge and busting. 

05:52-05:58: It's really cool. 

05:53-05:58: I suppose there's a bunch of ice on those seagull poop-covered rocks. 

05:57-05:58: Yeah, they're not white anymore. 

05:58-05:58: Not white? 

05:59-06:08: Are they getting cleaned off finally? 

06:00-06:08: That's the way to do that. 

06:01-06:08: Well, so talk a little bit about what you're, you spend your days managing. 

06:06-06:08: Do you manage a resort or do you have a guide? 

06:08-06:18: I've been a full-time guide for 23 years now. 

06:13-06:18: And so in the winter, I guide on the ice. 

06:17-06:28: And in the summer, I do walleye and smallmouth on the wax. 

06:20-06:28: And that's all I've been doing. 

06:22-06:28: That's kind of been my story for the last 20 some years. 

06:25-06:28: That's a good story. 

06:26-06:28: I know you're good at it. 

06:27-06:38: You didn't put me on any fish, though, when I needed you last time. 

06:30-06:38: I know. 

06:31-06:38: I mean, well, sometimes, you know, sometimes, you know, I see some finger pointing, 

06:36-06:48: you know, some projects are different, different than others. 

06:40-06:48: Go ahead and say it. 

06:41-06:48: I gave you the camera. 

06:42-06:48: You can catch one anyway. 

06:43-06:48: There it is. 

06:44-06:48: Can you believe this guy? 

06:45-06:48: Anyway, you do spend a lot of time year-round doing this stuff. 

06:48-06:58: So do you feel like the overall, I feel like when you work in this industry, 

06:54-06:58: you can kind of get a pulse of the positivity or the motivation for people to go fishing. 

06:59-07:08: And I think that that really hinges on our desire to help innovate, to write stories, 

07:04-07:08: to film stuff, to share content. 

07:07-07:08: It motivates everybody. 

07:09-07:18: How would you say that the -- what's the word I'm looking for? 

07:11-07:18: The position of the buyer, the consumer mindset right now? 

07:14-07:18: Is it pretty high? 

07:15-07:18: I would say so. 

07:16-07:18: So right now, everyone wants the best technology. 

07:19-07:28: That's where everyone's sitting. 

07:20-07:28: And if you're the guy that's been holding back and not wanting to commit to using 

07:26-07:38: this technology, by now, you're either losing tournaments in last place or even if 

07:32-07:38: your core group of buddies, if you're not using it, you're catching less fish. 

07:36-07:48: So how can someone that catches less fish call themselves fishermen? 

07:40-07:48: That's kind of where we're sitting at. 

07:42-07:48: I mean, whether you like it or hate it, it catches more fish if you like fishing. 

07:47-07:48: I mean, that's what you're doing. 

07:48-07:58: And the consumer level, I think right now, they're kind of looking at this. 

07:51-07:58: They're loving it because from their point of view, you have three different companies 

07:55-07:58: right now competing to be the best at this. 

07:57-08:08: And it's on the other end, on their end, they're getting the best of both worlds on it. 

08:02-08:08: That's right. 

08:03-08:08: Well, in ice fishing, there's a lot of technological applications that people can 

08:07-08:08: take advantage of. 

08:08-08:18: And I think that it's a good time right now to get out and try some stuff. 

08:13-08:18: And one of the things that I feel is -- one of the top topics I want to discuss 

08:19-08:28: with you guys is basically the price of boats. 

08:21-08:28: That's one of the things that we're all faced with. 

08:24-08:28: I know that Chad is -- if you haven't sold your boat, you're looking to, 

08:28-08:38: and you're going to make an update. 

08:30-08:38: I know Brandon is going to. 

08:32-08:38: I just bought my new boat. 

08:34-08:38: What's your situation? 

08:35-08:48: I purchased -- I ordered a 2025 and had it delivered back in June. 

08:40-08:48: So I bought early and holding over the winters. 

08:44-08:48: So Chad, one of the things we talked about -- and I thought you had a great opinion 

08:48-08:48: on this. 

08:49-08:58: I've been waiting to ask you this for a while -- is you have done a great job, 

08:53-08:58: and there's nothing wrong with your rig, but a guy that fishes as often and as 

08:57-09:08: effectively as you, why not have a brand-new shiny boat? 

09:01-09:08: Mine's paid for. 

09:03-09:08: Simple as that. 

09:05-09:08: I don't like payments. 

09:07-09:08: So it's paid for. 

09:09-09:18: The next boat I get won't have a payment. 

09:11-09:18: You won't have payment? 

09:12-09:18: So it clearly works. 

09:14-09:18: It does work. 

09:15-09:18: There's no argument about that. 

09:17-09:28: So getting into the boat owner scenario, you don't have to have the greatest rig 

09:23-09:28: to be successful. 

09:24-09:28: You can go out and have a good time with almost anything. 

09:27-09:38: No, and that same boat is the same boat that I fishing force would cup with. 

09:31-09:38: I'm kicking around fishing classic bass this year, and if I don't sell my boat, 

09:35-09:38: I do it out of the same boat. 

09:38-09:48: So what was your very first boat? 

09:41-09:48: Do you remember that? 

09:42-09:48: I remember mine playing as day. 

09:45-09:58: The very first boat that I traveled to different lakes with was, I don't 

09:50-09:58: remember the year, but it was an super old custom crossliner that somebody 

09:55-10:08: built out the front deck and had some crappy live wells and that kind of thing. 

10:00-10:08: And I actually had it up in Bemidji when I was going to school up there. 

10:03-10:08: I didn't just show that boat for a long time. 

10:05-10:08: It was, what was it? 

10:06-10:08: 15 foot, 16 foot. 

10:08-10:18: I think it had a 50 horse. 

10:10-10:18: I remember it well. 

10:11-10:18: I remember it well. 

10:13-10:18: It wasn't a fish hawk. 

10:14-10:18: Oh, this was pre fish. 

10:16-10:18: This was pre fish. 

10:17-10:18: The fish hawk was great. 

10:18-10:18: Yeah. 

10:19-10:28: That was, that was like a brand new boat for me. 

10:21-10:28: This was a red beat up and it had like tri-colored parallel marking on the 

10:27-10:28: carpet. 

10:28-10:28: It was ugly. 

10:29-10:38: I think they have to be mine had a tree grown out of it when I found it. 

10:33-10:38: But you know what? 

10:34-10:38: It's loaded. 

10:35-10:38: They did float. 

10:36-10:38: Yeah. 

10:37-10:38: I caught my first musky out of that boat. 

10:39-10:48: I did not fish a tournament out of that boat, but, and I probably talked about 

10:42-10:48: it on here a time or two. 

10:43-10:48: I did have a boat that I hauled around with a minivan. 

10:46-10:48: That's classy. 

10:48-10:58: Hey, you got to do what you got to do. 

10:50-10:58: Well, at work, get to the lake. 

10:52-10:58: I'm not going to sit here and say I won money out of it because current 

10:54-10:58: company would, would not believe that. 

10:56-10:58: But get Jeremy on here. 

10:58-10:58: I'll ask him. 

10:59-11:08: Uh, you want to hear a story? 

11:01-11:08: No, we don't have time for your story. 

11:03-11:08: Oh, come on. 

11:04-11:08: You do. 

11:05-11:08: So I want to hear it. 

11:06-11:08: So that's that boat and Jeremy will, will, I wish, I wish he could contribute 

11:09-11:18: to this because this is a friend of mine. 

11:11-11:18: Jeremy was on the last after hours podcast. 

11:13-11:18: He, uh, he knows a lot of my, my dark secrets, unfortunately, but I had a 16 

11:17-11:28: foot lawn that I gutted and I turned into a bass boat. 

11:20-11:28: You know, I'm using finger coats there and put carpet on it and storage areas 

11:24-11:28: all at garbage live well. 

11:25-11:28: And I went to fish a tournament and this was, this was within a week of me 

11:29-11:38: putting a new transducer on the back of the boat. 

11:31-11:38: And I think it was for, uh, uh, there was one of those square hummingbirds. 

11:36-11:38: It was like a five 35. 

11:37-11:38: Does that ring a bell? 

11:38-11:38: Yeah. 

11:39-11:48: Yeah. 

11:40-11:48: So I had that honor transducer was sticking off the back and this Lake 

11:43-11:48: we fish was full of timber. 

11:44-11:48: And I, this is the first time I'd fished with that new transducer. 

11:47-11:48: I was excited. 

11:48-11:58: I'm like, I'm going to learn all kinds of stuff and managed to get the boat. 

11:51-11:58: I centered on a log and, uh, I was full of, of idol, you know, uh, there, 

11:58-11:58: there are no wake lakes. 

11:59-12:08: You can't go fast. 

12:00-12:08: So I just managed to wedge myself up on there. 

12:02-12:08: And, uh, the only way I was able to move the boat was in a circle because 

12:07-12:08: it was stuck on this stump. 

12:09-12:18: And it was back and forth, back and forth. 

12:11-12:18: And Jeremy saw this whole thing go down. 

12:13-12:18: And when I finally rocking it back and forth, it popped off the log and broke 

12:17-12:18: off my brand new transducer. 

12:19-12:28: I saw it floating back there as I was driving and I drove that son of a gun 

12:22-12:28: right back to the ramp, put it on the trailer and went home...

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