Let's start by telling me like how
how did you start you grow up
fishing?
Yeah I grew up fishing when
I was little I
this might sound weird here but I
grew up as soon as I come out
hanging out with my mom from two
years old I was fishing like I
said we went to a pay Lake a normal
or pay Lake that was
run by some friends that you paid
eight dollars a person to go fishing
you catch four catfish and
you want to pay another eight
dollars you get another four more
and I did that all
through junior high up to
high school just fishing
and that's all I knew was get my
rod ready get my big bobber I got to
go get some worms I got go to the
creek and get some minnows and
oh I got get this kind of meat to do
whatever so to go catfishing
you know every Friday night
it was a basketball game or football
game and I I wasn't no nerd or
nothing I just chose that
I'd rather go home
after the game get
some sleep because I knew I was
ready to go fishing at five o'clock
and I wasn't driving in so I'd be up
at 4 35 o'clock 40
get closer to six I'd say let's
go I need to just get to the lake
get a good spot and
I just loved it and I think at that
time gangs had
been getting really bad in the town
of Joliet and I think
that's the way to save me and bless
me when I wasn't running around with
friends and gangs which I had no
problem with them that's their
choice I wanted to go
fishing I want to go hunting I
want to do something not
that I want have fun and that was my
fun that was thing so from
that is two
three years old till to this day
right now I'm slowing down I'm gonna
go older but I still love it I'm I
still give it but and
then the challenge for me for
fishing was I can catch catfish
and catch a bluegill that's kind of
easy you know and I come to
the state of Wisconsin and
everyone's talking walleye is the
best eating fish I've
heard of them I've seen them in
books but I've never caught one
myself so I go to Minnesota
with a guy and he said are we going
to jigging mental as I was earlier
I throw
it down I felt something
but I didn't I was starstruck
I didn t set the hook I didn't know
bring it up no mental and I was
getting frustrated like I gotta
learn how to do this so I got
jigging down so I'm like all right I
can jig with the best now after a
few years learning this that and the
other and then you hear it about
trolling trolling shad wraps and
crank baits well how do you do
that how do you know how much line
to put out or do this or that or
when do you do it so I
was fortunate enough to go down in
the Mississippi River in Wisconsin
for years and I knew a
local guy down there
came in good friends with him and
he offered to take me on his
wing to take me to a couple
FLW national walleye tournaments
and help out with gas and hotels
and stuff like that so I went with
those guys and so I was a
guy in the boat helping them with
things and they were showing me how
okay this how much line this how
many feet this is that and how to
put planer boards on I've never seen
a planer board for my life I don't
know what these are so I learned how
to do that and that was one thing I
wanted on how to to is
troll so then I got
pretty good at trolling but still
not mastered the way I want to but
okay I could I could
make it and then one
tournament down the Mississippi
River out fishing just a local
little tournament and the big
tournament was going on the same
time and I run into
my buddy Joe Carter like
a brother to me now and we
passed boats and I kid you not we
were only about four feet apart we
were going this way and I kind of
looked at him and like okay I got
talked to him he's doing something I
want to learn how to do and
so I didn't get to see him
after the tournament but I
ran into him at another tournament a
and I say hey man I want to talk to
you and he's okay and then we
got away from each other and there's
months go by again and
ran to each other another tournament
and this story
is kind of funny here but
I had took sixth place in the
NWT tournament I was excited and
my partner traveling partner at the
time drove off and left me at the
boat landing I'm in Detroit Michigan
with no ride nobody I'm just got a
check in my pocket and it's
raining and I'm calling and calling
calling his phone is dead so now I'm
like man I don't have no ride I
don't let me
see if I can find that guy I seen
the Mississippi River and so
I ran into him he was in his car
and he was sick he had what
they call a gout so he was in a lot
of pain and it's raining so
I come up to the door and bang on
the door he's like oh man this guy I
don't know who he is so he
rose down to when I say man we need
to talk I need to hook up with you I
want to learn how to get going
to the next level how you are and
we exchanged numbers and I think
within a week or two I say I gotta
call Joe I just want to
talk to Joe so I called him up
and we talked and we kept
talking once or twice a month we
talk and talk and and
he had some tournament teammates
and I
had fished with some local little
small tournaments with some other
friends and we got talking more he
said hey man why don't you come fish
with me and you can help me out you
know be my traveling partner well
heck that's all I need to know Joe
I'm ready where we going I get it
I was gonna quit work if I had to
get there to meet you fish and I'm
gonna make sure we got I got there
and he took me on his
wing and introduced me about four of
the guys that I fished with learned
a lot and
every day
it was a different
I don't know a different
technique of this person does it
this way and that person does that
way and I'm like I'm trying to take
all this in it's like I should have
been writing things down or taking
video or something but I just sunk
it all in and once I sunk it in
and then getting the
trust from these guys they
just took me in like you
ain't leaving Brett what times Brett
gonna be here we're picking him up
whatever I mean I was
I was part of a team and
from that point on I just
been going forward and working
hard and I've had
some close ones I took some seconds
I took some thirds I
had some lot of
four failures going backwards but
I still learned I met a lot
of great people on a tour I've only
had one issue with one
person and I say 20 something
years on the tour so I think that's
a good good percentage for
me right there thumbs up
I'm just hoping to
get to that next level and Joe
was helping me and these other
teammates that we used to piss with
that retired now they're
pushing and they know and there's
other friends of mine said hey you
know you can do it so I'm just
hoping one day I get my blessing
that hey I get more on both that can
say all right I'm gonna go jump in
the tournament you got a crawl
before you walk I might be I might
be last but I I'm going to be out
there and I'm gonna keep working and
working working and God willing
he's gonna bless me with a win or
get me up there and get what I need
and that's that's
that's all it's about and my my
son he loves the fish and I
taught right off
the bat that I never knew about how
to jig he loves a jig he likes a
drag bite he hates trolling
I want to learn how to troll he
hates it I can't get him to go to
Great Lakes with me trolling and I
have to tell him we're going cast
and to get him out in the boat with
me they go out
on the Great Lakes but we have to
troll because he thinks it's boring
I think it's effective because
you're covering more water but in
the new game now with the Ford
facing someone all right these guys
are seeing these fish and
pinpointing them that's another
thing on my bucket list I got to
learn how to do that and so
I've learned a few of those tricks
with a couple these guys doing some
tournaments I just got to do more of
it and I'm hoping it's
gonna happen soon
so what is it about
the challenge is it a challenge
or is it the curiosity or what what
drives you to master all these
elements of wall
the challenge for me is that
people look at me and think I can't
do it people say why is he out
there fishing walleyes
I'm not breaking any laws so
I like the fish to fish and it
tastes great so I want to I want to
challenge so walleyes to me is
the biggest challenge and so
I'm gonna go do it until you tell
me I can't fish in the world I
can't physically go out there do it
I'm going to fish and
that's that's about my I'm want to
go out and fish my heart out
and if someone wants to take me
on the wing and teach me something
I'm going to take that knowledge and
I'm all I'm appreciate it if someone
wants to sit there and look at me
and throw their eyes and and say
I'm crazy that's your opinion
I'm not going to sit and argue with
anyone I'm just gonna my dad's
famous word kill my kindness I'm
gonna do my thing and
one day it's gonna happen
so it was is part of
the the the I mean obviously walleye
is it you know it's it's one
of the species but as
part of it just that the idea that
some people think that you don't
belong in that space
there are people that say
that I don't belong there because
who I am and
I don't understand that I mean I'm
a citizen I'm person I'm man I
like the fish so why can't I go
fish that fish that fish got
a target on the back saying for just
that person no that fish
is out there swimming looking to eat
and I can feed them just as well as
you can so why I can't do it there
are people out there like that and
there are people out there rooting
for me to try to get get to that
level and like I
said I'm going on one day I'm gonna
do it I am gonna get to that level
and then if I win that'd be it
that's a that's a blessing there and
for me but I want to be seen
I want be known that I can do
this and then ain't gonna happen
overnight it's gonna take a year or
two or three but I'm want to do it
and despite
what they think about me and
other people like me
we we can do this
we can't do this in enjoy just
as much as anyone else out there and
have fun at it and hopefully succeed
in it
for you what's the difference
between fishing and
catching a fish when you're doing it
in your own free time versus in
a tournament what is it a
an adrenaline thing or what's what's
the difference between those two
to me is not it's not too much
adrenaline thing because when I'm
out fishing just play fishing I
have more fun with it when I am
out there in a tournament I'm
I'm focused I'm dialing want
to be dialing and hopefully the
fish cooperate the weather
cooperates that hey I gotta go out
there and play my a game
because hey there's a lot of money
at stake and pride
and stuff like that so when I
play fishing I'm not there
lollygagging throwing whatever
and we're talking giggling talking
trash each other back and forth
and I'm out there fishing a big
tournament I'm trying to get locked
in dialed in that okay I gotta be
serious I might only get five bites
I got to try to country all five
bites hopefully I can hook up and
get those fish in because there's
there's a pride and some money
and all that stuff on the line and
I want to be the one on top
what's that I mean you talked
earlier about when you first started
jigging you didn't quite recognize
a bite like you might feel something
but what's that like when you're
actually know what you're feeling
like that that sense of like oh
there's one there
well when I started fishing I used a
rod that was so stiff I think it was
like a telephone pole so stiff so
then after learning hey you got to
get a rod that's you know not
as stiff you gotta get the right
line I mean these rods right now
I mean I got a rod I can bounce it
off a rock and I can feel a rock I'm
like yep it's a rock oh I got line
that someone broke off up there's a
fish I mean they're so sensitive now
that now to me it's
just it's an art just how do
they want it you want a fast hop
do they just a just a slide
or just so
then you put all those things
together and figure out which way
the fish want it and where they're
at it's like night
and day just it's just having fun
catching fish
it's almost like jazz just like oh
yeah just like jazz you know yeah
it's like I mean it looks like
you're drumming there when you're
doing that
actually in that that's I never
heard it put that way but if you
were in the boat with me jigging you
probably would say that then too
because that's how I'm doing it I'm
trying to figure it out they want
hot do they want a low they want a
hard they wanted this I'm just I'm
just working it so I figured out
so one of the things that's unique
about walleye is they don't fight
the most I mean bass are known for
fighting the most and they're not
the biggest muskies the biggest and
the the easiest to catch are the
panfish so what is it
about wall eye that makes them so
desirable when they're not I mean
there's other things out there that
you people could be targeting
a lot of people target walleye can
they say they're the
one of the best eating fish out
there to eat you know you got span
fish you got your salmon you
got your catfish
and stuff like that but they always
say the wall eye he's going to the
best eatin' fish out There so to
me if you can master catching
something that is good eating and
you can't ask oh I'm gonna eat then
I'm not gonna starve I know I can go
catch some fish to eat,
that times you probably can't get
some because either they're too big
or too small whatever slides are in
that state that lake or that area.
But that's why a lot of people like
to target those walleyes more.
Bass fishing, I've never
really got into it.
I mean, it's so much
in the bass world right now.
If, honestly, if I could do it all
over, I would probably go
into bass fishing because that's
where the money is. You see, people
want to watch bass fishing on TV
because they're casting, doing,
using, stiffing stuff.
They don't want to sit and watch
eight hours or four hours of
trolling in the boat.
It's boring.
But yet... Sometimes that's how you
have to catch your fish.
So, if I could do it all over, even
though I like eating, I love eating
fish, if I was going to do it
for just to try to sport, to get
into there and make some money, I
would flip-flop the bass.
Now, can I still do it?
Yes.
I'm kind of, I'm focused on walleye.
I'm going to take one step at a
time. I want to get to that level
first with my walleye, to get
that boat, get to the tournament,
get maybe a sponsor or two to help
me out, and then do it.
And then, you know, then okay,
I might want to go try a bass
tournament and...
Fall on my butt because I'm not used
to it, but yet I would do it.
I'm willing to work that challenge.
So, when you're talking about
moving, you're getting a new boat.
You're testing out new lakes, you're
going over to Green Bay.
Is it always that edge
of like, I need to learn this new
thing? Is there ever a time when
you are not learning and you're just
enjoying?
Um, I'm always learning.
It's always something that, you
know, you might be in a new boat,
and you might feel like you know
like the back of your hand, but then
you got a new graph on your boat.
So you're trying to work this, tweak
this, this out, and that out to see,
maybe I turn the knob this way that
it's going to clear up something
this way or that.
So, with modern technology, like I
said, with the foreign facing sonar
out, that right there is a
beast in his own that, you
know... Guys are trying to figure it
out. The older guys are struggling
with it. The newer guys, they
got it down. I mean, just like video
games. The new guys, the new
generation got these things down.
Now the old guys are trying to catch
up to it and it's kind of hard.
Some of them got it or getting it,
but you know, and like I said, I got
to start from step one all
the way up to step two to get to
where I want to. And so,
you know for me,
it's, it's fun either way, but.
When I go out fishing, fishing with
the strands, we're just, I'm just
out there fishing to catch fish,
to give fish away or take
fish home or just going out to have
fun. But I'm still serious at
the point that I'm trying to figure
out how these fish want to
react. They might want, like I said,
they want it hot, they want a low,
they want to slow, they might want
it fast. I'm Still trying to pick it
out. So I'm always working, trying
to figure out something or different
color, different style.
But you know, you know whatever
cadence they want, I'm tryna put
that together and.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it
doesn't. Sometimes you just want the
old, old style, a hook in the
middle and drop it on the mound and
you catch a fish. I mean,
all you guys, these new baits and
all this stuff coming out nowadays,
the fish doesn't have a chance.
The sonars and everything, they
really don't have a lot of chance
to meet. They don't to bite, but yet
you can see them. So that's part of
the battle right there.
So what's the enjoyment
for you? You talked about you're
fishing with your partner and how
close you've become and fishing with
you son.
How key are those relationships
to that time in the boat?
That was a key with me, like my
partner Joe, I love him to death,
like I said, we're brothers.
If he called me right now during
this interview and said, hey man, I
need you to be here right now
and he lives in Iowa.
I'm going, if he needs help, I'm
there and vice versa with him.
Fishing with my son, it was one of
the things, that was something we bond.
You know, that's something we'll
always have together that he caught
his biggest walleye when he was
three years old.
Heck, it took me 21 years
to get a walleye that size.
He gets them at three and he still
rubs that in my face about them.
Like, well, yeah, you got me.
And so, but
just, it's just more, it just
relaxing.
You going out there with your son or
your best friend and just is
no stress, there's no nothing.
Just going out and trying to put a
program together, put a limit of
fish in the boat to go home and
just relax.
So I enjoy it to
the utmost that I
have the opportunity to fish with.
My buddy, Joe, my buddy, Danny,
my buddies, Scotty, my buddy John,
that we all get out there and we
just fish.
And we have a little competitions in
the boat and you know, nothing
major. You know, who get the biggest
one or whatever and who's got the
smallest one or who didn't get the
limit, stuff like that.
So it's just awesome
to get out there and have fun and
play fishing. That's what we call
it. We go pre-fishing for a
tournament, we call a play fishing,
we're trying to dial stuff in, but
we're playing because we're catching
fish, having fun.
We're playing.
Does fishing, will fishing ever get
old for you? I mean, it's literally
been in your life.
You're talking about since you were
tiny and sounds like with your son
too.
I don't think fishing ever get old
for me until I can't do it.
That's when I think, when I can
physically put a worm on my
hook or walk and get into
a boat or something and then I
will put fishing off
and talk to people about fishing
or hopefully my son is still fishing
that I can tell him where to go or
come get this bait or come get this
ride and go fishing.
I want some fish or something like
that.
But fishing until you
put me six feet under, I think
fishing is always gonna be in my
life and I just love it.
And I think.
A lot more people should do it.
I mean, it's not gonna
solve your problems but it sure
makes you feel better just being out
there in peace and mother nature
just relaxing.
And when I come home, dang, I
wish I had that money for that bill
but I was fishing.
I'm just, I'm okay, you know.
I have that stress, little stress
reliever right there. I'm going
fishing. I don't have a stress ball
to do all that stuff.
I go fishing.
And I just get my mind at,
okay, what am I gonna use to
catch a fish? What's the water?
Current look like. Where do I need
to cast? Where do need to be
sitting?
When problems aren't solved, I'm
just having peace.
So one of the things that you
show up at any tournament and you
can see it's pretty much
overwhelmingly a white male space.
What would you say to people to
bring more people in to
say that this is accessible for
them? They can be welcoming.
Don't be afraid.
Just go out there.
Do what you have to do.
I mean, I've met Joe
Carter, which is my buddy.
I've another guy from Iowa
named Rodney.
I met another guy from Florida named
Charlie and then myself
and another guy named Ali Shakur.
That's five people that
I've meet.
I African-American that fish
and love to fish.
I haven't seen Rodney in a while.
I haven't seen Charlie in a While.
I see Ali two or three times a year
fishing the tournaments.
And as you know, me and Joe, we fish
every day.
If he wasn't leaving to take
the boat down this week, I'd be
down there this weekend. We'd be on
the Mississippi River casting.
So I would tell people, just don't
be afraid.
I mean, I went out there.
And I didn't know Joe and Joe didn't
me and I didn't realize I was
running to Joe.
I just went out there to have fun
and made friends and I fished.
My first tournament, I did have a
problem with a person.
Did what I had to do.
I fished, I got out of the boat and
I went home and I fish the next
day with someone else and I never
let it bother me. I see the guy.
I have no time for him.
And I'm sure he probably thinks the
same about me and I'm okay with
that.
I'm always saying long as they don't
put their hands on me, they can say
whatever they want to.
That's fine.
They put their hand on me then it
might be something different going
on then.
But I would just, again, don't be
afraid. Just do it.
I mean, this world is out here.
The water's out there.
The fish out there, if you love
the fish.
Come on out there.
Come on.
I mean, when I see another
person out there fishing, first
thing I do is nod to them and they
nod to me or they come up to me.
I come up and say, hey man, how you
doing? I'm Brett.
Who are you? I'm so-and-so, where
you from?
Oh man, that's good.
Man, good luck. Hope to see you
then. I got a friend there because I
see that person again.
And just like we've known each other
for 30 years that we just can have
that bond. We just keep talking, you
know?
And I wish there would be more
people out fishing.
But I think some people are afraid.
Some people think this game
is just for certain people.
It's not.
This game is open.
And like I said,
I personally want
to get myself to that next level
to be, if you want to say it's a
person game, I want to be there.
I want be that person because I
know I can do it.
I just, I'm not there yet.
I just need a little help.
I'm gonna get there.
And I wish more people would come
out and fish.
Heck, it's fun.
It's fun
So one of the other things
that we're looking at in this story
is all of the money that's
poured into research.
From the universities to the tribes
and the DNR, like doing
the samples and rearing fish
and trying to stock the
lakes and figuring out how they're
being impacted.
And one of questions that we've been
asking everybody is, is that
worth it? Is the amount of money
that's being poured into keeping
walleye alive worth it.
In the big picture is
that one species being
important enough to enough people.
So do they stock bass and all that
too?
They stock muskies.
Stock muskies, I know that.
Yeah, not really.
I think it's well worth it.
I mean, it's a sport that isn't as
high on the pedestal as bass because
bass has been out there for
umpteen years.
So walleye just start taking up,
you know, in the last 20,
30 years, the FLWs,
the NWTs, PWTs
back in the early seventies
and stuff like that. So walleyes
just start going.
I think, it would be
a bad thing to stop.
Stocking walleye in lakes or
rivers, wherever you want to stock
them at for that
reason. I mean, it's
a fish that's a great
fish to catch is a challenge,
just as well as bass.
But I think that it would be a
disjustice to stop stocking for
walleyes and these lakes and
tributaries, whatever, because it is
a phenomenal fish to catch and
it's challenge.
It's worth it.
It's very well worth it, well worth.
I, like I said, I started fishing
catfish. I never knew what a walleye
was. I never know what a hair jig
was. There was guys catching fish
off of hair jigs. What's a hair jig?
What do you, how do you fish a
hairjig? No idea.
They got the nice little small
skinny rods and I got a fat rod with
eyelids on like that big fishing
catfishing throwing out trying to
catch a walley.
Had no idea what I was doing and I
never did catch one when I was
growing up. When I was little, I
never caught a wall eye until I went
to school.
Never caught one.
So did you, was it UW Eau Claire or
would you?
No, I went to school in a little
town up and it's called Ladysmith,
Wisconsin. Oh yeah.
So I was up there and met some guys
and that's,
they took me under the wing.
Some guys showed me how to fish and
I just kept on doing it and doing it
and doing so it was all right.
All right, we're going walleye
fishing. You ain't leaving me.
Let's go.
I'm there. Yeah, you get dropped in
the Ladysmith. You're in the middle
of nothing. I'm here.
Oh man.
It's good for hunting and fishing.
Oh yeah.
So my first walleye rod was the
ugly stick. It was easy to get an
ugly stick, something simple and not
that expensive. So I got an ugly
sick. So now I'm using St.
Croix as something that's really, I
can tell the difference when I'm
fishing. That's a rock, that's a
line, that a fish, you know.
So yeah, I think it'd be a
disjustice if they stopped
doing it with the walleye.
I think walleye fishing should
be around for a while.
Gonna get you to say and spell your
name just so I have it correct.
My name is Brett Rogers,
B-R-E-T-R
O-G-E R-S.
I'm from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Thank you so much for coming in.
Really appreciate it.
We're good here.
So we'll unhook you and let you
run and then we're gonna find time.
Yeah, he said if you look at the NWT
schedule for Monroe,
I mean, that'd be a good one because
we'll be there for a whole week.