The James Holst Influence

Last weekend I headed to Green Bay to do some walleye fishing.

Having never been there before and not knowing where else to start, we fished between the Oconto and Peshtigo rivers. We caught enough to keep us interested and the average size was impressive compared to what we were used to. Sone good tips from the IDO show got both me and my uncle personal best fish.

What was striking to us was EVERYBODY was throwing Green UV Rippin Raps! I swear some boats had 4 guys and every guy in the boat was throwing the same bait! Had to chuckle as it’s what I used a good portion of the time too.

Had to ask myself, if James and Paul Delaney didn’t like the Green UV Rippin Raps so much what would the bait selection have looked like out there? It was pretty impressive to see what I have to think was the influence of Holst and Delaney out there!

P.s. I was pretty star struck over there. Paul Delaney was staying at the same hotel we were, backed my Tuffy in next to his Ranger each night. Also ran into and chatted with Keith Kavajecz out on the bay on day one. I also hear a very well known fishing show TV personality and guide were planning to film out there last Sunday, a day after we headed home. Hope they were able to put a good show together!

Tucker

Who’s James Holst?

Was John Gillespie out there on Sunday?

It is fun to watch. Whatever he throw’s people will buy. Was Shimano now Okuma. St Croix then Okuma. Was Humminbird now Garmin. Most people like to follow, just find the fish they will bite whatever you throw at them. I’m guilty for sure, I buy what he use’s too. LOL

Weird? Plastics worked better for us on GB last weekend , most people were throwing raps they also caught fish. Boats were pulling boards also.

My uncle threw almost exclusively plastics while I mainly used Rippin Raps. Our number of fish caught was pretty even. I caught a few more over 26 than he did, but he also came away with big fish of the weekend at 30.25 on a smaller twister tail plastic.

Sheep

… and that night at the Peshtigo Bar, everyone was sipping a Balvenie Portwood too!! James has quite a sphere of influence on many levels

BfishN tackle came up with a new color for this moxis and ringworms and I had caught most, if not all, of my walleyes on this color so far this spring. Thought I had a nice secret to myself… that was until James began the show on pool 4 a few weeks back with it on I was a little butthurt about it..

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

Sheep

Sad, and true.

curleytail,

Thanks for putting a post. Congrats to you and your uncle on your new personal best fish.

We have been going over there for the last 3 years in the spring since we watched one of the shows James and Paul did. Last year the Green UV Rippin Raps produced a 28, 29, and 30” walleye all within a half hour, very impressive!

3 years ago, when we made our first trip to Oconto I meet Paul Delaney at the hotel one morning. He was picking up his clients for the day. I went and chatted with him for a bit, he was really nice and helpful.

I know because of James and his pro staff I have caught more and larger Walleye than I did before watching all the great shows IDO has done. I also own a lot more Rapala and VMC tackle now. It is really impressive how they do new shows pretty much every week with up to date techniques to match current conditions and give enough information that we can go replicate a similar bite. I always wonder how many more techniques I could learn if they did shows when the bite is good in June. I am sure they need some time off, but it would be cool if they could record some summer shows and save them for when they have a rough week and show a prerecorded summer show instead of a repeat.

Do all sizes catch fish like jigging raps or does one size seem to be preferable? I love #9 jigging raps in fall but curious about rippin raps in spring

This will happen when one has the best fishing show. I have bought more products because of James than all the other fishing shows I have ever watched combined. I guess I am now an IDO sheep.

Tuma wrote:

This will happen when one has the best fishing show. I have bought more products because of James than all the other fishing shows I have ever watched combined. I guess I am now an IDO sheep.

They pitch products, but show you where and when to do it. Vs fishing in Canada, on some remote lake that most guy’s will never have the opportunity to fish. A pretty rare combination of transparency and honesty is refreshing and imo why the show is at the top of an incredibly packed peak of fishing shows, yet continuously puts out a informative and helpful product, in an immensely competitive market.

I am not beating up James on the Rap train , I hardly fished plastics before James introduced my to the moxie. The TV guys
, pros , guides are the spokesmen/ sales persons. There is a reason the outdoor company’s work with these people.

basseyes wrote:

They pitch products, but show you where and when to do it. Vs fishing in Canada, on some remote lake that most guy’s will never have the opportunity to fish. A pretty rare combination of transparency and honesty is refreshing and imo why the show is at the top of an incredibly packed peak of fishing shows, yet continuously puts out a informative and helpful product, in an immensely competitive market.

I agree 100%, keep up the good work

Craig Sery wrote:

Do all sizes catch fish like jigging raps or does one size seem to be preferable? I love #9 jigging raps in fall but curious about rippin raps in spring

The size 6 Rippin Raps seem to do the best for us. When they are biting good they will have the whole thing in there mouth. When they are off you will feel bites but not hook many.

Those of you calling out the sheep comments must not watch fishing shows, read forums, or ask for tips from others?

I take at least some pride in figuring out a pattern on my own. Having a tip about a certain bait is the tip of the iceberg. Pinning down the location and presentation is usually the real key.

I’ve never fished there before, barely even fished a Rippin Rap in open water before. It’s something that seems popular and James doesn’t seem the type to blow smoke so I figured I’d start with sonething he and a top guide seem to have confidence in. It seemed to work well so I had little reason to change that. Although I did switch to plastic at times and scored on that too when the Rap bite died for a couple hours one day.

I mostly started this post because it was amusing to see how popular the show must be. It also speaks for Jame’s success as an angler and influence. He doesn’t PUSH his products like others do yet I’m a lot more likely to purchase what James is using. He lets experience and results sell the products for him, rather than blathering about them every 30 seconds.

Love the show and I think we owe at least a few of our fish to it!

Tucker

curleytail wrote:

He seems to let experience and results sell the products for him, rather than blathering about them every 30 seconds.

Are you saying the new maple flavor from Mike’s Country Meats doesn’t produce?

404 ERROR wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>curleytail wrote:</div>
He seems to let experience and results sell the products for him, rather than blathering about them every 30 seconds.

Are you saying the new maple flavor from Mike’s Country Meats doesn’t produce?

Now that’s funny! I also noticed trying to find his guests a girlfriend doesn’t seem to be a central topic on Jame’s show. Weird huh?

While sponsorship can get old coming from any source, James and IDO are on the lighter side of it. At least he wouldn’t turn the truck around if they forgot to pack some Johnsonvilles…

My name is Eelpoutguy and I’m an IDO sheepaholic.

Tackle is the least of the problems of following IDO tv cost wise.The Skeeter boats are the expensive part!!!

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Its the camera man that makes them look good to get the sheep to fallow.
From what I have been told.

For those that don’t know who James Holst is, he is Pat Mcsharry’s understudy.

I think I had a Mcsharry at McDonald’s once….