Great Lakes guru Joe Balog finished the year in grand form this weekend, placing second in the Bassmaster Open event on Lake Erie. Balog scored 10 bass weighing nearly 45 pounds, all caught drop-shotting deep structure. However, maybe luck had a little to dow with his success. Always a believer in “fisherman’s lore”, Balog once credited lucky underwear for an EverStart Championship win, and carries several lucky items in his boat.
On the weigh-in stage on the final day, Balog joked with weigh-in MC Chris Bowes, crediting a lucky hat for his success:”I had fished all morning in an area with several other competitors and got my butt kicked by them as well as my co-angler. Everybody was catching fish but me. Finally, I left with a small limit – I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran to a place way out in the middle of nowhere, and caught nothing. On my way to a new area, my hat blew out of the boat. Rather than retrieve it, I drove on, short on time. “I always keep a spare hat in the boat, so I dug it out, and it was this old, junky Frabill hat I’ve got on now. I put that hat on and, I swear to you, I culled every fish I had from that point on. Each spot I went to I caught 4 and 5-pound fish for the rest of the day. It was amazing. So, don’t touch this hat, man, this is my lucky hat…”