Ep. #2 - Kevin VanDam On Bass Fishing BBQ And Bourbon

Today, I'm joined by my buddy Kevin Van Dan.

“We're going to be talking fishing, cooking, and a whole lot of other cool stuff.”

All right, everybody. Welcome back. Super excited here to jump into my long list of guests that I've been lucky enough to agree to join me on the podcast.

Not that this man needs any introduction, but, you know, I'm going to read off some pretty amazing statistics here.

So, KVD, four-time bass master, classic champion. The bass master just came by a couple weeks ago, so we all know how big of a deal that is. Seven-time bass angler of the year with 25 bass tournament wins in over a hundred top ten finishes, a member of the bass fishing hall of fame since 2018. Let me just tell you from recent experience with him personally. This dude can fish. Kevin, welcome. And it's awesome to be down here. You know, it took us a while to get this, you know, put together, but we've finally got to get, I got to get you out in the boat.

“And, you know, and I've actually been to your store before, so it'd be cool to actually be there with you for a chase.”

That's right. You're such a good guy that you came in town, and you knew I was busy, and you didn't tell me you're in town, so it's not to bug me. Or, you know, make me leave my schedule, whatever I was doing, actually I was on a bourbon trip. Yeah, you were, you were, you were on a bourbon run. Yeah, a special one too. Yeah, I'd, I'd, I'd, I'd located in on some Buffalo Trace and tea collection that friend had gotten from me and Dallas, and I was going to pick it up. So, that says something that you let me go pick the bourbon.

Yeah, you know, it's, we both, that's the cool thing. You know, from the first time we met, you know, we share a lot of, a lot of the same outdoor passions.

Obviously, I love, I mean, we're our whole family, we're all foodies, we love to cook, and do a lot of outdoor grilling and things like that. And so, you know, once we started talking there, you know, and then I found that you like bourbon too, and you're like to hunt, and you like to fish. So it took us a little while to actually get together and, and, and be able to, let me show you a little bit of what I love to do, but we definitely have talked a bunch, text it a lot over the last handful of years.

Yeah, no, it's been awesome. You know, we, we met each other at Luke Bryan's house. We, Luke has a charity called Redbird Games that we both support, which is awesome. You know, I know you are very close friends with Luke, so for people that don't know him, amazing charity that he, event that he does with his family for the Brett Boyer Foundation, and we actually met there. Really cool event. I can't read that games because you could, you could fish, you could shoot ski, you can blow up stuff, blow up.

Pumpkins, you know, a ten or eight, I mean, you know, it's, they, they really do a great job. And Luke is, as you know, man, he's an awesome person. I've gotten to know him really well, bend to a lot of his shows, and we fish together often, I mean, I've just been as like a month ago or so. I've done it as a place, fished with him, and Johnny Morrison, Bill Lance, and Steve Harvey all the same time. So I mean, and Luke was, you know, gracious to host us all. And he, he's got, you know, he's really passionate about, he's got some, some great fisheries and stuff, but same thing, you know, to be able to, to get you out on the boat here in Texas.

And I know you don't, like, bass fishing is not your, your thing. Well, it's not your, you haven't, you know, spent a lot of time at it. Yeah, it's like anything.

“You know, I mean, you were just at the masters. I mean, I like golf, but I'm horrible at it. You should, you should see me with a golf club. I cannot, I'm just, I know, and I want to be.”

And, you know, it just takes practice though, but it sounds like you and I have another thing in common.

Oh, are you bad at golf, too? I drink really well, and of course. Well, that's the most important thing. Yeah, you got to have some cold beers for sure.

Yeah. So we've been talking about newness for a long time. Kevin was gracious enough to invite me to be on his show, the Vandam experience. So we filmed that episode yesterday. We went to one of his friends, Private Lakes, which was unbelievable. I mean, I know you fish a lot of cool stuff, but boy. Yeah, that was special. Yeah, John is the, you know, the original owner of St. King, lure company, and, you know, he's obviously, you know, born and raised in Texas, and, you know, he's kind of been all over this area, but he's really into, into fishing.

The television show, you know, as you know, these days, you got to, we do everything. Oh, yeah.

You'll see some stuff on social, and, you know, we've got a lot of things to do it, but yeah, to be able to, to get you out there and show you a little bit of my world. What it's all about and that daunting. That's kind of fun. Well, you, I mean, we have, we have a good day though. We have a great call out of fish. I like to good weather day because we're going to cook together today, and it's, it's a little rainy, but, you know, I told you that I loved a fish and people that follow me know that I'm in outdoors all the time.

Like you said, everywhere from fishing from Canada to Key West, all different types, but it's usually with friends that, you know, we're lucky.

“We know a lot of people, you know, that a lot of pros, you know, honestly, I'll just say, like, through Yeti, you know, in a minute, we'll talk about some of our mutual relationships and business.”

But the Yeti relationships that I've met made over the years and as you as well, I mean, first big Yeti and bastard Roundup I went to, I'm surrounded by like the who's who of fishing and hunting and bull riding. And we all become really good friends. So I've been fortunate to fish a lot of people and I love it. And then I'm building a home on a little private lake, but I told you yesterday that bass fishing is something that just no one in my family was like necessarily really good at. So, you know, if we bass fish, it was like you're just jumping upon and doing something, but I'm always so intrigued by there's so much to bass fishing. There's so many different, you know, baits and just techniques and it is wild in that time of year and the conditions and so.

It's a science that's far from exact and it's, I mean, again, I've been doing it, you know, I've fished professionally, you know, on tour for 33 years and I still fish a lot. I started fishing, my dad started me fishing when I was like three years old. I actually wanted to ask you, so you got to tell us like, I want to know how you got into it. Yeah, so our family was kind of the same thing, you know, my dad took me ice fishing when I was three. Makes sense.

You know, I had four brothers and I have two brothers and two sisters, so we have a big family, it's hard, you know, when you've taken kids fishing, there are a lot, it's a lot to manage five kids at once. So, you know, he would, you know, take turns and but we fish just for whatever growing up. And my old brother really got into into bass fishing, joined a bass club, you know, he's six years older than me and he would take me along and, you know, I started a bass fishing at a probably five or six.

But, but I didn't really get into it until I was, you know, a little bit older than that.

I fished my first tournament with my brother when I was 14.

And we, you know, we finished second and won some money and I'm like, wow, this is pretty dang cool, you know, to be able to do. So I really jumped in at full time and when I got my driver's license, you know, at 16, joined the same bass club and just, you know, travel around the area. But I mean, within two years, I was kind of all over the region and fishing tournaments and scaled it up. And I mean, I mean, I mean, in my early 20s, I started on tour, you know, so I mean, and it just, I just was eight up with it, you know, from the get going.

“That's, that's what it takes, you know, I mean, when I went to school, there was lots of three sport athletes.”

I played bass ball and I got into it with my, my coach who was one of the teachers when I was a sophomore and I quit bass ball to, to pursue fishing. And he, man tore me up and down for, for doing that and kind of worked out pretty good for me. You know, the other day, you know, all right.

So I wonder now, you know, not to skip over your entire amazing career.

But obviously, kind of like, you know, now in retirement, you're very busy. Yeah, I didn't, I mean, I retired from, I don't even have that word. Yeah, I mean, I changed jobs basically. Yeah, so yeah, you know, after 33 years and just just a lot of, for a lot of different reasons, but probably more than anything.

“Just family time as you know, I mean, you work your tail off, you have to travel a lot to you.”

I mean, when you're on tour, you're married to the tour schedule. I mean, you can't miss an event. You, you have to, and they're, you know, a regular, like a bass master tournament or major league fishing tour event. You know, they're weak long. And when the schedule comes out, that's your schedule.

That's your, that's what, I mean, if there's a anniversary or a birthday or a party or a wedding or there's, there's no missing it. Yes, no. It's not even like the PGA tour that you can kind of pick some events and you got to go. You have to go, period.

So I did that for 33 years. And so I've missed a lot, you know, I mean, you, and you know, my, my sons, you know, Jackson.

He's, he's actually here cook for with you for for you. That looks event before. So yeah, I've missed a lot.

“And, you know, a lot of, a lot of different things in my wife and boys of sacrifice a lot for me to pursue my career.”

And it's been great. Like, you know, I mean, it really, I couldn't script it any better. And I love the competition still do and I love the people around it. That's the cool, that's the cool thing about our industry. And I'm sure it's the same for you as the people are awesome.

You know, and your friends and kind of miss that camaraderie a little bit. I mean, you're still around it. But yeah, but, but I, not as much. You know, the big events of when I go to the Bass Master Classic or go to the, you know, Major League Fishing Red Crest or we go to I cast in the summer. You, you see everybody in there.

Yeah. And, but it's a lot less when you're on tour.

It's like second family, you know.

And we, and I've, you know, forced a lot of great friendships and relationships over the years doing that. Yeah. But what I'm doing now and, and then this day and age of media as you know, it's a lot of work. You know, I'm, I do that my television show. You know, we were very visible on social media and same thing on YouTube doing content videos and educational pieces of that.

You constantly have to be putting out content. Yeah. I don't like the word influencer. Like, I'm, I'm, that's, you know, how brands and companies look at you. I'm just an influencer.

You're, you're an influencer. But I, there's, there's lots of people out there that do it. I consider myself a professional. Professional. And you brought that up.

I actually was talking with Tuffy Stone a few weeks ago. And the, another, yeah. Amazing. Yeah. I love Tuffy.

I know you worked a lot with him. But he brought up that Carter Andrews said to him that, you know, I'm not an influencer. I'm a professional, which is one of the, you know, not to just blow yet up in this podcast.

But that's one of the reasons I love them because they have not succumbed to, oh, well, this person has two million followers.

They work with the best in breed. And, but I'm 100%. I brought this up because I, I love what you're doing.

“People will come at me with the number one question we've gotten for years is, why don't you have a restaurant?”

And I have to explain people my perspective, you know, I'm fortunate that we've built this brand and ultimately it's not this simple. But I get to do what I want to do. Like my job yesterday was to fish with KVD, which was a pretty good day. But it is a ton of work. Like, I don't sleep much.

I, you know, driving around around like crazy. You know, I sent a photo of our fish this morning to our friends in Austin. And they said, man, you're all over the place. And I'm probably here that everyday. I'm like, hey, I already hear that from my wife.

I don't need to hear it from you. But it, you know, I know you're very busy. I can just tell through our friendship how you're all over. But you got to be loving it. Yeah.

No, I do. And look, the cool thing about what I get to do, and I would say you're going to say the same thing is like, it's really neat when people that are passionate about what you're like cooking or really in or whatever. They're going to come to you and ask you, and you've gotten to meet. You know, both President Bushes and lots of professional athletes and, you know, musicians and, you know, Luke Bryan and Steve Harvey.

I mean, you meet a lot of really cool people that just absolutely their thing is they would love to be in your shoes, right? They want to say, hey, I want to learn to bass fish like you or I would like to be able to learn how to cook 24 turkeys at one time for the NFL. And you know, make it all happen. And that's the, that's the neat crossover is like you get to get a view and other people's world. And it's, you know, people say the grass is always greener, but it is pretty neat.

“I've gotten to do a lot of, and that's what this new venture, the Van Dam experience is all about.”

It's not just about fishing. You know, I've done fishing shows my whole career.

But I've never had, you know, for my first right king and best pro shops and things like that, but now I get to do what I want to do.

And I get to pick guess that I think people want to see. And that's a whole thing that I'm going to do is like show the world who mat pitman is and what meat church is all about. And because you're authentic. This is, I think you said about about yeti. I mean, it's not just some guy that's got a bunch of followers in there. It's somebody's chasing around. I mean, your, your recipes are legit. And, you know, when you, it's, it's no bullshit, no nonsense. This is how you spatch cock a turkey or this how you're going to do a smash burger or grill a tenderloin and your seasonings are just like, like, I've tried them all.

My dad, my dad, um, loved to collect barbecue sauce. So that was this thing, you know, so he travel around and do it. And we'd learn, we'd go to all these restaurants and you want to learn, um, with the best way to cook this or you change it a little bit and call it your own, you know, and different recipes and things like that.

I'm sure you're at the top of the game in, in your, in your field, you know, I mean, toughy stones, a great friend and an unbelievable competition barbecue guy.

But I mean, you have built something way bigger than what most anybody else in the space has done, you know, and they can, they all cook amazing. Yeah, but there's more to it than that.

“You know, we, so funny, I met toughy January 2014, I was on barbecue pitmasters and he was a judge and I'm working on my cookbook now and he agreed last year randomly fishing and key west together.”

That he agreed to write the forward for it. And, um, you know, he asked me for years ago a little bit of help to try to start to grow his seasoning business and because he's your boss, how you can kind of pivot and whatnot. But, you know, when we started doing what we're doing, it was unique. There was no one doing it this way now. There's a lot of people kind of trying to do that, but it's a ton of work. It's a very rewarding.

I was going to ask you yesterday, it's a dumb question. I know you still enjoy fishing, obviously, but does it ever feel like work? Because I have to remind myself, it's not that I love cooking.

I do when nobody else is around. So it's my absolute passion, but you just get caught up in the how busy you are in life and what you're doing that I have to sometimes remind myself, man, you can be sitting in a cube doing IT work again. So it's going to be okay. You'll be alright. 100 percent, you know, I love what I do. And the day that you don't, it's going to show to you know, and it's going to, it's going to, it's going to reflect in the shows that you do or the content that they show would be very good if you weren't injured.

You know, the things that I love about what I'm doing now is I still get to, you know, I'm still traveling around the country to all, you know, I would have never fish to lead a bend in Sam Rayburn and clear lake in California or the Potomac River, Oak Chobier, all these places if I wasn't on tour. And so a big part of what I'm doing now is going back and revisiting those places and trying to time it at the right time of the year where the fish is real good and, you know, we show some historical footage in our shows from the tournaments that I've won and things in the past, but I, man, I've jacked up, I mean, I love Texas.

“Texas is like probably the most iconic bass fishing state out there. Texas Parks and Wildlife manages their lakes and has done a such an amazing job that they're, they're the model for most other states.”

I mean Florida is following the same things. I mean with, you know, the restrictions like lake forecast, you know, with the slot limits and things like that.

So getting to come to Texas to fish to me as a treat. I'm, I'm, to get to go yesterday, you know, to fish with, yeah, at Johns Lake there. I mean, I, I could hardly sleep tonight before. I mean, I do need to tell everyone listening or watching what you said to me the night before, but you came in town the day before and you scouted it out and when I talked to you, Kevin Van Dam was giddy. You, you told me that it might have been the most special place you've ever fished and so regardless how it turned out for me, I was like, dang, this is going to be cool.

Well, yeah, I mean, we, we caught a lot of fish, but, you know, obviously any, you can only control the weather so much and we looked at, you know, your schedule's busy, you had, you know, a couple of days that we, we could a lot to do in the show and then, and then cooking together, you know, going to go into your place and cooking, doing the podcast and things like that.

“And the weather, you know, like today, it's raining and we, we chose that, but obviously, the big cold front came in, you know, when we got, when we got to go out there in the morning, it was like 47 degrees.”

And it's, it's, it's late April and they're, they're, they're in the tail end of the spawn and that water temperature dropped it. I mean, it, it's shut some down. Yeah. And they just, when they're the factor, I don't know that. And I, I learned that a lot of the day before I go there, the winds blow and then I'm, and I'm just driving around and I'm looking, you know, and I just see what stage these fish are in and, you know, everyone that you throw near would, would chase your, my bait and I like I was just trying to really wanted to have you catch a giant.

And you had plenty of opportunities to, I mean, we had bites and stuff, but, and that was the other big thing is like, you know, because you asked me all the time. I mean, as much as your sons into it, and he's got a great opportunity that the age he's at, you know, it's a lifetime sport. It's like golf or whatever. You don't have to have a certain physical after but it does take time. It does take practice, you know, to, and with the stage that the fish were in, you know, casting accuracy is going to be a, and then you got to play the wind and, you know, every, every bait you pick up is different.

Yeah, and you, I had three, we should talk about fishing for a little bit, you know, talk about yesterday, but, you know, I had three different setups with baitcasters, you know, asking me how, you know, how professional you're the baitcasters, and I said, I can throw one kind of barely, but I knew we'd work on that, but that was part of, you know, I was like, hey, I'm coming in the learn.

We had a little open windows of where there was time. What they mean spawning in that lake is not the easiest because of all the timber.

There's lots of grass and algae and slime, and I mean, in the fisher and eight, some of my six eight inches of water. Crazy. So you just, yeah, it's, it's, it's just different, you know. Yeah, we get out, we launch the boat and you go out and rip out an eight pounder right off the bat, like no pressure. And you were pretty stoked about it, which it was all, it was all some fish and what we had a great day. I didn't catch an eight pounder, I did catch a pretty nice one, so I was super excited. I've caught a lot, and I'm not, I'm not in mid-season shape yet.

“My left hand is sore from casting, so what should I say?”

Yeah, no, it's, it was awesome. It's, I love it. And I love to, to show people that, you know, haven't had a lot of experience or that are learning. It's like the recent trip I did with Steve Harvey. I mean, Steve Harvey's, you know, been fishing his whole life, but he's just really seriously got into bass fishing like three years ago. And so he's, he's like your son, he's a sponge, just asking questions the whole time and, and I, I love that.

What are you actually, you sent me by the way with, with all you guys in these huge bass that you caught with Luke and Bill dance on the, and Steve? Yeah, it was an unbelievable day.

I showed it to my wife and she's like, is that Steve Harvey?

Yeah, he is so funny. You know, and you know how Luke to Luke is really hilarious. He's hilarious too. Those two together, and then you put Bill dance on the mix, who's Bill's a prankster and Johnny Morris too. He's, he's a sneaky, Johnny and Bill, and I, we can't even talk about that, you know, I mean, we, we couldn't film it or anything like that. They pranked Luke and Steve, and Steve is the, he is prides himself.

I mean, he's, that's his background is, you know, he's a comedian. And, uh, well, those guys got, got them. Got all of us, really. And I didn't know what was happening, but they were in on it together. And, uh, yeah, they, they told us this story and it was, it was horrible. Like, I was mortified. And then when they dropped it, the punchline, and I wish I could, it's just, it's not for broadcast for sure.

But it was epic. And, uh, it's something that I know that all of us will remember. And that's what, that's what Fishing's all about, man.

“It's about bringing people together and having a good time and, and that's why, you know, Fishing and, you know, cooking are so important.”

You know, I mean, we'll speak in a good time. I'm going to, I'm going to bust something out here because I don't know why it's this podcast over. I brought a special bottle for you to try. If you're going to call my podcast, you're going to have bourbon. And, I mean, I don't know what time people are watching this.

The only times you and I have ever gotten together, we always end up having bourbon.

Well, I'm not just going to tell people, it's 9.30 in the morning. We're filming this. And we're doing it. Casey, you know our friends at pursuit spirits. Yeah. So obviously, you know, Ryan and Kenny. So I don't know, have you had this yet?

No. Okay. So I've seen, I've seen it on on his social. You know, so this is his secure bloom bourbon. And so I'm going to tell you what Ryan did with this. So Ryan, Ryan, see, so if you guys, we hear me talk about time.

So bourbon pursuit podcasts, pursuit spirits, the number one podcast in bourbon. But Ryan's a master blender with a master palate. And he's, you know, in a lifelong pursuit to make the best bourbon. And so what he did was he's tested all these various woods. And he tested this occur a bloom wood.

And people are raving about this. Like I've seen that it's people. It's like it's blowing up the bourbon world right now. People are saying potential bourbon in the year. Yeah. That's, that's it.

Let's try it. Yeah. Let's do it. That's what they're made for, right? So I've got you got you a little gift here. You know, spin that open.

This is a Glen Karen holder. Take that with you. So on your travels, you can put that in your Yeti backpack. And you won't break your glass. So what can you hear?

Yeah. I've got that. How about that? Deep etched. Yeah, I don't, I don't have any KVD bourbon.

Well, glasses yet. I'm learning. Bet you will seem we're going on a bourbon trip this summer. How about that? That was when you texted me and said, hey, what, what do you think about this?

I'm like, yeah. So I've been to Buffalo Trace a couple of times. And it's incredible. I mean, I've tell anybody. Thank you.

I would tell anybody.

“If you're going to go on the bourbon tour, that's you have to go there.”

It's all my, everything, all my favorite bourbons come from there. So we'll see if this one. Hang on.

Yeah, it knows that. Dye smells so good.

It's my breakfast bourbon.

And I'm okay with, oh gosh. It's, it's really. Oh my gosh. That is. It's got a lot going on too.

I mean, it is. What does that? It does have like it. It is. All these various woods.

And yeah, I mean, last week, I saw this guy Tyler, big bourbon influencer, say that it's his current bourbon of the year. And that's saying something. So it's quite good. I mean, I like their double oak.

I mean, I love everything that they put out. They're right. It's a staple of mine in old fashions, but I saved this. So they sent it to me. And I hadn't opened it.

And I told Ron, you're coming.

And so I'm actually listening to something with you. Oh, wow. Not that. Ryan, well, I met him with you at, and it looks charity event. He was staying there.

And yeah, he sent me some different stuff. I mean, I just, it's weird for me when I'm sample and bourbon to, like, the flavor notes and things like that.

“He is, like, he'll break it down and tell you all the different things, right?”

I'll go right out of the way and I'm like, it's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Yeah. So crazy. He's got the gift.

It's insane. Ryan will sit down. And if you ever watch it, they do this with he and Kenny do this whiskey quick. He's he'll nose it and he'll tell you what he's smelling. He'll taste it.

And I always joke. He'll say, oh, I'm getting, you know, toffee and oatmeal cream pie. And then you go that drink it and you're like, oh, yeah, I do taste that. I could, it's, it's good. I know.

I mean, that's, I need to be around somebody like that just to learn. But I do know what I like. You know, I mean, for sure. I know I like this. It's really, really smooth.

So my, and I, and I'm like, my wife, she's like, I don't understand it. Or any people that have never, you know, experienced bourbon.

I always say the third sip is the, you know, the first one you're going to get the burn.

Oh, yeah, the second one. And you just wait a little bit. The second one. It smooths out a little bit.

“The third sip tells the story in the third sip.”

Oh. This is for, this is sip number four right here. I felt really bad, man. That it's good. I drove out to the fish of yesterday and I had this bag full of bourbon packed up.

I left it for in the morning and I got it for them. I left it for 30 left the bourbon at home. So I'm making up for it. Don't worry. I'm going to send you home with send you home with some wealth.

So the coolest thing to me, one of the coolest things about Matt Pittman and me church is that you have that relationship with Buffalo Trace. And you get to go to go there and pick a barrel. So Kevin's going to go with me on our annual barrel selections this year. This is your four four year three year three.

Zach Martin's going to go back with us who went with us last year. Future Hall of Fame retired year before. We went and picked a full proof and a Buffalo Trace last year. This year we are picking. Yeah, because you did 107 and Buffalo Trace and 107.

Which are two of my favorites. The one. Yeah, they want to seven. They're crazy. They're both great.

“I said, I was about to say the 107 special.”

But several people thought that Buffalo Trace single barrel was even better. This past year we did. Another Buffalo Trace which yielded almost 100 less bottles in the barrel. Wow. Yeah.

Leaky barrel. But very good barrel. It was really beat up. Like the one that we visually went in and said, we want to try that one. Ended up being the one that we picked, which was neat.

And then we did a well or full proof, which you're going to have that today. But when you go this year, we're going to do an Eagle Rare and a Blanton. Yeah, that's to be able to. So that Eagle Rare 12 year is. Oh, man.

It's amazing. We're going to, we'd have to butter Harlan up for that. You're going to have to pull some fishing strings and go 12. Well, if he likes the fish, we'll, we'll, we get up for, for that year to say. Hey, like, or, you know, a Rockhill Farms or something like that.

Now everything they make is, I've told you that my kryptonite bottle is the well or single barrel. Yeah. That is my, it's so smooth. It's just, to me, that's the, yeah. The CYPB is great.

The full proof is great. But to me, that is the one. That's my, we're going to have fun for my pal. It's coming up in August. We'll put that on YouTube.

This is up there. Right. From the, so obviously we're going to go to pursuit as well. They open this tasting room on whiskey road. It is super cool.

A bar downstairs called trial and error, which my wife's like yours doesn't love bourbon. She'd love trial and error because they've got cocktails of all different spirits. But anyway. Okay. I'm going, I'm going to talk a little, I'm going to talk a little a little cooking.

All right. So you said something that perk my interest.

And I know yesterday I mentioned that we call it meatchairs because it's about making great memories around good food. I'm a relationship guy. I teach when I mentor, you know, kids or, whether it be my son's seventh grade class or I mentor some culinary students at Hawaii Food and Lime last year. I'm in toward culinary students a month ago and fourth.

I always tell them that networking is the most important thing.

But I quickly say networking can be a very grimy word also. But I said life is about relationships. So in my corporate life at one point, a company I was working for was downsizing significantly and there were major layoffs. And I was a victim of a layoff early in my career in its stung because I didn't leave them on in terms. But I went to this out placement agency and I thought, all right, this guy's going to finally find a job.

And this guy looked at me and he said your next job is going to come from within your network.

“And that was like, oh, whatever, but I'll never forget it.”

So I tell all these kids that I'm in toward relationships are so important because your next relationship like boyfriend girlfriend. Your next job opportunity will probably come from someone you know. I also often say good people help good people. So anyway, relationship guy, but to me, cooking's about the memories. Like we're going to remember, you know, drinking this together.

So it's funny.

I always say that barbecue and bourbon have all these parallels and you know, fishing outdoors the same way.

Like you're remembering the time at deer camp. You're going to remember the time you spent in a boat together.

“So for me, you know, that's what that's what cooking's about for me.”

So I'm going to jump right into you. I normally would say, do you like to cook, but I know you like to cook, which is one of the reasons we did this. So once you give us a little bit of the background, I mean, obviously I know Jackson or someone to culinary school. And as you said earlier, we've cooked together, but tell me what cooking means you why you got into it or why you like it. Yeah, I think really my dad, it's still like, especially for grilling and, you know, and at our at their lake house.

He's got the whole deck is loaded with, I mean, we've got infrared grill, you know, a regular, a regular gas grill. We've got a pellet grill, we've got a charcoal grill, we've got a flat top, and we've got a cage and fryer. Here's you've got a, you've got to have all, all those things.

And so just, it's just something that we always do, we get together for Sunday dinner as a family at my parents lake house.

And we cook stuff. I mean, and it's our family now with my brothers and sisters, all the nieces and nephews now are married and having their own kids. I mean, a Sunday dinner for us is 35 of us. Yeah, so you're not cooking just a couple of things and we do, you know, you know, ribs and chicken or we'll do steak and shrimp or, I mean, we, we cook a lot of wild game too. I mean, salmon or whatever, you know, I mean, it's, it's just, and I've learned from traveling around a lot of restaurants and things like that.

And then obviously once I started to get a little bit more into the barbecue world, got to, got to know you. I've, you know, texted you plenty of times, like hey, about this recipe and, you know, I had a, got a relationship with Weber. They're, they're one of the brands that is owned by the same people that some of our fishing companies are.

“So I kind of got to know those people, so Dustin Green there and that's how I got to meet Tuffy.”

And you say about networking, I mean, so I can, I can text Tuffy any day of the week and say, hey, well, this, what should I do on this brisket or what, you know, or you and to me, that's, that's amazing because anybody that cooks out or wants to grill. There's, there's horror stories just like the stakes overdone or it's a dry or burgers or you burn it or or whatever. It's so easy now with the technology that's out there. With, with these grills and grittles and flat tops to be a superstar cook like to cook the most amazing stuff.

I mean, all you got to do is pull up any one of your YouTube videos on any recipe and it's going to lead you through it to make it simple. You know, I mean, and that's, that's what you, what you want to do, but I was doing that, you know, I've been doing it for a long time. And both my boys Jackson and Nicholas, they love it too. So we've, we've done a lot of things together. I remember our first, the first brisket that I ever did by myself. And what we did is we copied Franklin Barbecue's recipe from, you know, I mean, what famous down there and did a 16 hour cook.

And at the time, it was on a trigger that's, you know, I had a trigger then and it turned out unbelievable. It was, we did it for our family. It was like a 16 pound brisket and it was gone in 30 seconds nailed it. And it, you know, I've just, that's a lot of work, 16 hours and staying up at night and doing it. So I've just always loved it.

So our weatherman here, Pete Delkis, good friend of mine, he takes my recipes and he goes on there and he says, there is recipes and I copy them and it's our little bit.

I want, I want to bring something up you brought to me yesterday. So when I, when I really dove into Barbecue, I kind of poked fun at pill grills and I'm all traditional and all that and obviously you know that I've come beyond full circle eight Crow big partner with trigger. But I know that you love a pill grill and you mentioned you already have, you have all these cookers in your arsenal, but tell me about your love of a pill grill and why. So, and I've had a trigger, I've got a Weber now and it's just so easy because, you know, you got a temp probe, if you're cooking a brisket or a primer up for us, it's smoking a primer up, oh my god, it's it's so amazing.

Because first and foremost, you've got a billion recipes that you can follow and you can see the size and know how to season it and all that, but the temp control is just too perfection.

“So to me, the best way to cook like a big thick steak is reverse here. Yeah, and now these pellet grills are set up where you can go low and slow and get them set it at 200 and you know cook up anything, whether it's a pork shoulder or anything.”

And just time it out and then at the end you pull it off let it rest crank it up and like I do whole beef tenderloins and that's the way that I do it. Yes, just reverse, just put a sear on them on the end and what do you sear it on at the end, we need to go to 500 okay I go so the the Weber sear road will go to 600, but I just like I just I do I'm always afraid of scorching it a little too much. And you and I've got five grills right so I could easily seared off on charcoal or gas or even like that pellet grill of 500 and you do but the flavor and the the hard part for me is my my whole group so my wife she doesn't like it over smoky and that to me what I really like about the pellet grill is you can set the temperature to cook anything you want where you can be a more smoke.

Or less smoke, you know it's a great point because my wife's the same way you can really tell that in desserts we just did peach cobbler for some folks here last week and they're like oh it's smoky and I said on a pill real but not too smoky.

“Like call out wives but more times than none I hear a lot of wives don't like as smoky but I like I like a little smoke and everything from a cocktail to dessert. Oh 100% smokey old fashion is you know phenomenal but it me my favorite.”

Smoke is whiskey like yeah we saw some of my best memories are hot and I was with John at their at the at the berk ranch in South Texas and cooking steaks could be steaks which we had I'm going to bring that up.

Yeah down there and cooking it over straight mosquito. I mean I've never had tasted anything like that and it's and it's it's it's part of who you're with and what you what you know.

And what you're doing it you know the memories you make it deer camp or you're on a fishing trip and then eating great food like that I mean those are and I took my boy's down there and did the same thing and that's you know they make this pot of berk ranch beans just being slow cooked with chunk whatever leftover meat and the kubi sausage and all that and they're like the best lunch ever but it's it's where you're at and who you're with is right that's a big part of it. I mean we got talk about that last night actually I'm before I talk about that I want to call out one thing interesting ask why you like Pilgril and what you said was a temperature control I'm more times an on go to the fact that we're just all busy and you can go do something else while your food's cooking you can but you're right that you know it's a tip by your phone right.

“You know it's just going to control stuff now Pelgril's eight and nine years ago weren't you know they were so much a lot but now they're they're pretty dead on mine.”

Mine stays locked if I if I said it to 50 or whatever and the other thing that I really like is that you have all these different flavors of pellets so like if you're doing. Sam and not that somebody's going to empty their pellet hopper whatever but you know like I like to do salmon with Applewood or. You know you can even a lot of people do birch or whatever but you you have pecan you I mean you you have oak you can you have all these different in the blends are great to not that there's a ton of difference but.

That I can get mesquite pellets you know I mean I just love the flint a steak or mesquite is there's tough to beat you there's not one like it every time that I eat a steak.

Yeah those those memories are talking about that well okay so let's just talk about this dinner last night to your point.

“So yes I get to go to my friends and say I fish with KVD yesterday, but I also have already gone and brag to two friends this morning.”

That I got to have lunch and dinner with Carl Kubey and so you know for people that don't know Kubey's Kubey's is a restaurant and I will say meet. The processor in Dallas, Texas and Sniper Plaza across from SMU we learned just in two years we'll celebrate their 300th anniversary which is insane but.

Kubey's they make the most amazing sausage really cool restaurant I've actually had deer process there it's been a while because I don't so far away that the weather's got to be.

You get deer to hard to get the Dallas or but the only reason I would ever do it and I last time I did it was in the dead of winter because their sausage is so good but but. Kubey came and he made us you know it was a simple lunch was sandwiches but then he had his his is a chicken salad which he said he sells like 1500 pounds of a week which my wife's already like okay go get me a court and then last night he grilled some steaks over charcoal for us. I would say that he would say green spinach and twice baked potatoes from kubey's he brought some of the sausage the sausage is.

Kubey sausage is.

If and you can you can shit here they ship anywhere that their sausage is.

It's exponentially the best I've ever had there's crazy and he blew away and said he has like 150 sausage recipes they sell about 30. Yeah 15 old some frozen but did he say I don't know if it's 14th or 15 generations.

“Yeah I think butcher I think so he's team which they're German yeah but his his dad came over that Germany one came over to corpus christie and.”

He wasn't going to work in this business he went to SMU and said he was laying around one morning his dad shook him at 4 30 months that come on kid you're going to work and he said I don't have a job next thing you know he was processing deer. But such a humble dude great guy it was a treat for me to get to know him exchange phone numbers like I'm fired up. Well so I've been eating his steaks and because him and john are close friends and you know down down there at the ranch they have a freezer full you know and you go down there to.

Just on the weekends or whatever I go would go once a year but you know we we grill at steaks or so we're meat fest right I mean we're straight carnivore when you're at the ranch. I mean we might grill you know backstrap from a deer here and there but we're worried and we're eating.

“Yeah great food and stuff and they those guys got dialed in to like hey kubies pisser they're all from Dallas yeah they got dialed into kubies early on and.”

It is it's pretty big following a lot of people I know you love those guys so I'm very very excited as you can tell about that but yeah the boss said well once you go over and get me some of that chicken salad so. I have to be dialing that up pretty soon so all right tell me what what do you got coming up next no so. I am with with what we're doing with the with the show and all that it's it's very interesting to try to make a good blend of content right so just like what you're trying to do you I mean you you got you're still dedicated educational cooking videos but you also.

You're out doing a vansher doing barbecue festivals you're doing cool things with the I mean how cool is it to say you're the official pitmaster of the Dallas Cowboys there's nobody nobody that. You know that can say they're they've got an NFL you know relationship I appreciate that you said. You know, which I respect you got you got our Dan Campbell love that guy and I love a lot of your players because I'm a band of boy. But you said that to me earlier in your mental out that you said it you know it's been a hundred of a lifetime working the Cowboys lifelong fan.

Yeah, and you know it's funny when you go and social about you get to hear the know it all's talk about the record what not it doesn't matter it's it's like the most first class organization like within the organization and how they treat me and the opportunities they provided in my family the fact that we have a product with the Dallas Cowboys.

With the Dallas Cowboys star on it like it's in it means a lot it's so it's a huge it's a huge deal I'm this you know the lions in the Cowboys other than we have never won a super bowl.

Well that's it's whatever the 50s are not in the modern era. It's been a rough goal of it but so like we have similar postseason. Yeah, but right now the lions are you know it's real positive. Oh, yeah, you know my my producer Brandon he's a season take it older I go to several games a year I love it. I'm I love doing that but so to me that's the fun thing about what I get to do is I'm going to do.

Yeah, you know with with a guess but I also like to show people unique guests and show their passion for the outdoors so that they're mission interesting.

Yeah, it's it's fun right so I've got I've got some good ones lined up I like say I filmed with Steve Harvey this year with Bill dance and Johnny Morris and Luke. Dustin Lynch is on my schedule Dustin's a Dustin's a unbelievable country artist as well and passionate outdoors guy loves to hunt loves to fish so I've got him coming up. I think he's going to come up to me he his thing is he wants catch small mom so he wants come to Michigan which is something that would blow your mind.

Yeah, it's like it looks like key West Michigan is you know we we were blessed with some gorgeous water but so yeah so I'm going to have a good blend of gas and.

“We we do a lot of networking same kind of thing you know that's why we're doing this I mean obviously.”

It's it's fun but you meet people and it's great relationships just like you talked about with the yeti people I mean it's probably why and one of the reasons we've no a lot of the cool people we know in the outdoors is because of yeti totally. Carter Andrews has become a great friend of mine. Yeah, you know and and really a mentor in a lot of ways because he's been doing salt water. But he's been doing television for a really long time and when we made the transition to to start the van dam experience.

“I asked him a ton of questions and he I mean we're not competing against each other we maybe we are with certain sponsors but I mean he told me everything and it's it's no different I mean.”

I loved to bounce ideas off you business wise and we're all we're all better for it you know to be able to do that so and I love it both love bourbon. I'm looking real forward to this orchestra I do need to tell you before we wrap up here that I don't know if I've ever told you this but. I don't know if you have any idea how much it meant to me that you introduce me to build dance but the year before I met you. At Redbird Games I said this yesterday you know there were celebrities kind of rolling into Luke's thing and my wife was with me and so she's like oh that's so and so that's so and so artists and then I don't I don't ever get nervous and I don't ever fanboy but when build and spalked in I'm like oh my god that's.

That's a build dance and she was like who's build dance I'm like so being for me Tennessee and I've told you my papal awards Tennessee had I'm sure because of when he's Tennessee fan but he wore the flat bill. Our flat top it anyway and so the next year you introduce me to him and such a you know awesome guy and like somebody I don't it was like constantly on my papal's TV so. Bill is really special he's been so good I've known him for a long long time and he has just always been genuine he loves my boys more than he probably likes me but I mean as first thing when I see me he and that's why he's built a dance I mean he asked me about my wife and my boys before he asked me anything about me.

It's awesome you know but no that's you know in the fishing industry I've gotten to to beat a lot of cool people and you know the guys that I grew up. Bill dance and Hank Parker and Jimmy Houston and role in Martin Johnny Morris written on I mean it's on and on and on and on and when you sometimes when you meet people that you.

“You know I think are your heroes you you can be disappointed because I've I've met other people in other worlds that have let me down yeah but in in the fishing world there's some really really really good people and and I've been been lucky.”

And been lucky and bless the in with what I've gotten to do to meet people like yourself and a lot of other really awesome loop Brian I mean Steve Harvey I mean it's both bushes both president to be on the fish with those guys I mean.

You have the secret service after you because you ill yeah I've got secret service stories for sure but but now it's it's been amazing the opportunities and it just seems like.

In this new world that I'm in the opportunities just just keep coming you know I mean when when you're blessed. Blessings just seem to like go tenfold at times you're a good guy and you I mean well that's right know what you did for me like like you didn't have to watch me back last year big casserole day long but you did and I appreciate you helping me with that yeah no good things happen to good people you know and and. The harder I work the luckier I get you know there's no shortage for that and you work your tail off and that's something I mean you know that and see that and nobody's successful it just things don't just happen.

I think I like to have you on every week well it's just it's true it's it's.

“You know it's honored for me that you come down here not only let me fish with you but we're going to go over and cook today we're going to.”

We're going to make a new variant of some smash burgers that I'm pretty excited about because I mean a smash burger is. Isn't a sound basic but it's the most it's the best hamburger of all time a smash burger.

“It's the only way to do it you know I mean get that crust on the burger it's gonna be fun.”

Yeah, no I'm just gonna be tasty. I'm looking forward to the rest of the day man. I love I love I'm always learning my wife.

I talked around the phone on the way down here and she said just make sure you take it all in big you know that's cool.

“Be aware learn you know enjoy it and you said don't you know I've got to.”

We've got another shoot tomorrow. Yeah, we're gonna I'm filming on the water tomorrow, but she's don't be in a rush just enjoy your time. You know it's awesome. Look and learn see everything that you can see because you know we're in a parallel world and you cook I fish but we're we have things. Yeah, it's the same things totally.

I admit I didn't you know realize that when we first started hanging out, but.

It was a spent time together and watch your show more and like it's it's it's the same just a different vertical you know basically so. Well, thank you so much. We got to get over to go cooking let's I'm ready for a smash burger. Thanks Kevin. Appreciate you guys listening and watching the podcast if you're watching us on YouTube be sure to like and subscribe and turn on your alerts if you're listening to this. Be sure to follow the podcast and mark the downloads for automatic so that you can listen to these podcasts no matter where you're at while you're on the go.

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