Ep. 100: Time on the Water’s 100th Episode Live at Tackle Meet

Guests: Steve Heath (Tackle Meet) & Nick Trujillo (VikingHeads)

Hosts: Daniel Dahlin ([FISH]rx), El Charly, Luke Dean (Bait Slingers / Artemis Charters)

Episode 100, recorded live at Tackle Meet on September 13, 2025, marked the show’s first in-person episode and its first milestone. Instead of a studio recording, the 100th episode happened on the event floor — surrounded by [FISH]rx, VikingHeads, and Bait Slingers. “We started from three guys on FaceTime,” Daniel said. “Getting to 100 with the same three hosts is insane to believe.” The episode went wide on technique, gear, float tube fishing, bait building, community history, and what it takes to grow a brand inside the scene rather than outside of it.

In This Episode

• Luke’s wall system distilled: 5-inch paddle tail as the search bait, 1 oz for the island and big sandbass, quarter-ounce straight braid for spotties
• Counter-match-the-hatch principle: when small bait is everywhere, don’t size down — be the biggest thing in the column that looks like food
• Nick Trujillo on why the weed-guarded swim jig head came about: nobody made one designed for calico fishing in kelp and structure, so he made it himself
• Float tube weight selection: 1/8–1/4 oz for the harbor, 3/4–1 oz for the wall and reef — and why tube fishing gives you access to spots a kayak and a boat can’t reach
• Crankbait technique: 8:1 gear ratio to get the bait to depth, then slow down as much as possible — bottom contact is the only variable that matters
• Cabrillo Killer custom rod built by Waterman’s Collective: the name printed on the blank, a community partnership producing branded gear from inside the scene
• Lazy Tom Lures, Pedro Bite Time Customs, DaggerFace, Victor from Western Species, and Roxan from VikingHeads on what building a fishing brand actually looks like from the inside
• The wall as a freeway: “fish hang out, feed, and move on — it’s a crash on a highway, and you’re searching for the crash”

Why You Shouldn’t Match the Hatch at the Wall When Bait Is Dense

Luke’s wall system comes down to a 5-inch paddle tail as the starting point, 1 oz go-to for island fishing and targeting big sandbass, and quarter-ounce straight braid for spotties with no complexity added. That framework is simple, but the principle behind it when bait is thick in the water is counterintuitive: don’t match the hatch by going smaller. Go bigger with flash and be the most visible thing in the column that looks like food.

When there’s a ton of small bait in the water, a smaller presentation just disappears into the school. A 5-inch bait with flash stands out above it. The fish aren’t looking for one specific small bait — they’re keyed in on flash and movement. Give them the biggest, most visible version of that profile and it outperforms size-matching almost every time in that condition. For the full wall fishing breakdown, the SoCal structure fishing guide goes deeper on search bait selection and weight scaling.

Why the Weed Guard Changes Calico Fishing

Nick Trujillo made the weed-guarded swim jig head because nobody else had built one designed specifically for calico fishing in kelp and structure. The standard option was a swim jig head without a guard, which works in open water but constantly fouls in the kelp and rock where calico actually live. “You need the weed guard to fish in kelp and rocks where calico actually live,” Nick explained. “Without it you’re constantly fouling.” So he made it himself, and it’s the same head Daniel runs for calico on structure-heavy fisheries.

That kind of gap-filling is the through line across a lot of the brands at this episode’s Tackle Meet. The calico bass guide covers the structural fishing context that makes the weed guard the right call — fish that live in the kelp require a presentation that can get in there without fouling every cast.

Why This Episode Matters

Episode 100 is less about a single technique and more about what the show has become. It captures the transition from a remote conversation between friends to something that exists inside the broader fishing community — with real events, real partnerships, and real influence on how people fish locally. The fact that the 100th episode happened at Tackle Meet, surrounded by the brands and people that grew alongside it, is the point.

The fishing content in this episode is also genuinely useful — Luke’s wall framework is the clearest and most compressed version of his wall system in the catalog, and the counter-match-the-hatch principle when bait is dense is one of those ideas that changes how you approach a slow night at the wall. For more on the techniques referenced here, the spotted bay bass guide, SoCal structure fishing guide, and soft plastic color guide are the best follow-ups.

Watch the full episode on the Time On The Water YouTube channel. New episodes every Tuesday at 6 PM.