I guess let's start with some some easy easy stuff all right tell me the story of
how you first started coming up here when when was that well it's a one year
was that it was that way our daughter was one Tyler was eight so I mean that
was over 30 years ago and like I said it was a friend of ours had said something
about the camp about about this place and we decided just to come up and try
it so my wife had called the resort and the resort owners at the time she
talked to the husband and he had a cabin but it was a really tiny cabin so
there was five of us in a tiny cabin it was rather comfy and cozy but it was
kind of chaotic but and at the very beginning it was kind of like is this
really gonna work out well the following year we called to see if we could get a
bigger cabin and well that's when we ended up with cabin 3 here and from that
point on it was just we started meeting people up here that we knew got to be
good friends with and it was just one of those things where we would always come
up at the same time every year so we could not only be up here but also be
with those people as well it was just was meant to be did you come up looking
for fishing or was it family time or it was kind of it was mainly family time I
mean fishing was a bonus yeah I love to fish but the kids were kind of small
at the time so it was me out the boat most of the time by myself and but as
obviously as they got older then they were able to get out here but that that
was the bonus fishing was bonus so did you grow up fishing yeah kind of I mean
my my mom and my grandparents liked the fish fish bullheads on the rock
river over by Burnett when I was a kid and so we started there and then my
stepfather was a big fisherman I used to fish a lot with him chart fishing and
all that kind of and it just kind of evolved in that then I got then as my
brothers started getting older they started getting into musky fishing
well then that's kind of hooked me on a musky fishing it's done that way ever
so you came up here did you kind of were you looking to fill a freezer or was
it just more of the action out there well in some cases it was to take fish
home yes because it nothing's better than having a fish fry at home in the
middle of winter it reminds you the place I mean I would stand out in my deer
hunting outfit on the grill because we would do it on the grill I would take a
iron skillet fill it with oil and that's how we would cook so it wouldn't smell
up the house and I would stand out there in middle winter and cook fish but and
it's like yeah there's nothing like it tastes it's great bring it brings
summer back exactly that's exactly right so was was wall what was walleye
fishing like up here at when you first started up here when it was kind of a
hit or a mess I mean it was difficult you know you could hear people talking
about it it was it wasn't wasn't anything it like it is now it was you
were like unless you went with a guide that knew the obviously the flowage
better than you did and knew where to go it was difficult for just the average
Joe to find walleye go to the spots that you would read about and so on but the
chances of catching them and actually back in those days there wasn't a size
limit on a walleye people were taking fish out there were eight ten inches long
and keeping up so I don't know if that decimated the population but it wasn't
really good for it and then yeah it it was it wasn't the greatest so researchers
talk a lot about you know opportunistic fishermen of like if one species isn't
there you'll you'll find another species and if you wanted to be here and walleye
weren't readily available you're not going to turn into a die-hard walleye
fishermen no no no no no we you know typically I mean we didn't specifically
seek out walleye I mean it was a bonus if you caught one and but we were up here
for the pan fish to take home you know if you got a walleye oh awesome you know
but normally it was crappies and blue gills in the spring and in the in the
summertime fishing is kind of tough so you take what you get and in the fall
well we were typically up here in the fall if we come up for musky fishing and
that was about that we didn't fish anything else so for some of the other
people that were up here was it kind of that same thing of just you know what's
just nice to be on the water yes that would pretty much I mean they they did
fish actually our friend Bert would he was die-hard he was over the top he would
and it really didn't matter what he caught he just wanted to catch fish he
did when he was younger you used to tell stories about how he was a die-hard
musky walleye fishermen but as he got older and he's the one that taught me
this place if I weren't for him I wouldn't know it so as your kids got
older and you start put the pool in their hand oh that's gonna come out oh
absolutely absolutely yeah we started them off as young as we could well we
used to live there used to be some farmers ponds that you could fish out of
and that's how we kind of introduced them in the fishing we would just drive
over to the farmers pond and just sit along the edge and try to catch what we
could catch and nine times out of town we wouldn't take anything because God
only knows what was in that pond but you would catch fish and that's how they
got going and then yeah when they got old enough to be in the boat and stuff
like that yeah it and my wife is always really good about making sure that we
had things there that if we were gonna go out fishing that if they lost interest
that they had something else to do like whether it was a coloring book or a
reading book or you name it she had something them to do and so it kind of
bite at the time you know because if it's not you know how's a kid's
attention span gonna be if they're not catching fish understood completely
it's bad enough with panfish could you imagine trying to take a kid while I
fish no no not at all not at all I'm not unless you go to a lake that's just
completely full of all I see I know yeah it's it's difficult so tell me a
little bit about the evolution of coming up here and what it's meant obviously
they started with little kids and then they've gone into adults and now this is
your first time with grandchild right right it's just been amazing I mean
it's it's um it's kind of like you see the generations and you and you try to
instill in them a sense of respect obviously we've always tried to instill
it in our kids but respect for this place I mean there these places are
going away you know you go down where we live you go to a lake there's houses
on top of houses and you don't go on the lake during the weekends because there's
no room for you or you go out there like as early as the past began in the
morning you get off the lake before the crazy said it not up here I mean especially
on this end of the fluids where you hardly ever see boats I mean they'll
come flying by or the kids will be water skiing and stuff like that there's
no place like this and so the kids have really understand that yeah this is a
unique place and it's just amazing how they've adapted to it I mean they love
this place and whenever we whenever we have the opportunity to have them all
together we whenever we're up here we try to make it so that they have the
opportunity if they can come they can be here too so it doesn't matter to us if
we have to pay for it or not doesn't matter the point is we're gonna be here
so why don't you come you were talking before a little bit about some of the
shift that's occurred with the fish population that are in here right and
you've seen some of that change over the years right and like maybe some of the
evidence that people are talking about what's being done work well yes
absolutely the walleye population it's amazing and a lot of it I see online
basically the guides are really good about posting stuff when they take
guys out to fish obviously they're promoting your business but in the same
token is promoting that the walleye fishing I mean I would say five years
ago maybe yeah I would say five years ago it wasn't like it is now I mean
there are walleyes there are a lot of what the guys called shorts stuff that
was under the the slot limit and so you you could slowly starting to see the
evolution of the fish starting to get to the point where I mean yeah you'd
catch a big fish every once in a while but nine times out of ten we always
called them cigars they were little big short ones or they were just they
weren't big enough that really an average honest fisherman wouldn't keep and it's
just progressively gotten better and and the slot limit seems to have made a
big difference I like I said I think the the lake association the people that
own the resorts around here that put all the effort into this stuff have really
made a big impact on doing research and and basically seeking out experts how
can we make this better I mean because this is their livelihood and so at the
end of the day it's a combination of all that and and and I don't I'm not
really big into what the Department of Natural Resources has done up here I
don't know all the things but I know the changes that they've made at least in
the case of the walleye population in my opinion have made a huge have made a
big impact and that's that's a good thing now my grandfather used to say
everything cyclical now is this a cyclical situation I hope not not for
the sake of the fishermen that like to fish walleyes all the time for the
sake of the guides that make good money doing it you know it's like yeah and we
don't have a lot of places like this in Wisconsin could you imagine the
situation where you hear things are so good that you're like no today we're
gonna target walleye we may have up here for a week but day two or day three like
let's go walleye fish let's try and find maybe maybe I'm not that good of a
walleye fisherman I don't really know the ins and outs as well I've got a couple
really good friends that have been trying to give me some ideas and stuff
like that but for the most part it's kind of like depending upon the time of
year we come up usually it's always been this is what we're gonna do we've never
really taken that input to make the decision that yeah we're just gonna go
fishing for walleyes it may be it and you know it's a good idea to try that I
doesn't hurt to try it talking a little bit about the change in the resort and
what they've been pushing because you probably remember that I remember
being as long time ago the resorts would say we're a walleye resort we're a
fishing resort right here to fish and now it seems like the shift has been more
to party or relaxation and less on like the other activities on the water well
you know and I I would agree with that yes when we first started coming up
here it was like a family fishing resort there wasn't actually we first
started there was no bar there literally wasn't a bar it wasn't until the owner
after we first started coming up actually put a bar in and but it stayed calm I
mean yeah the guys would go up to the bar and you could have a drink and do this
kind of stuff but they didn't have music they didn't they had you know jukebox
and stuff like that and then it evolved to a different type of resort thought
process where yeah it's partying and and bringing people in from off the
flowage to setting it up so that you had something there for people who want to
come whether it's music or whatever drink specials that was that was what
changed and then now it's kind of gone back to it's it's kind of the people
that own and now in my opinion have figured out a balance they they have
music on certain days to bring people down here and then but yet in the same
token it's not that way 24 seven and and I personally think that to me that's
the best way to go I completely understand that at the end of the day
it's about making a dollar they got to keep this place going and you're gonna
do what you need to do and everybody vacations differently so and we we're
quiet people we want we want things calm you know your wife's not here this
week but you said she she's been supportive of you fishing how how does
that go into relationships of fishing if one does fish and one doesn't what's
the balance there well she she loves the fish it's just about getting getting
a point getting the time to be able to get out to fish when now that we're
retired and the kids are older and they're not in the house well we're up here
we usually pick certain days we'll go out for a couple hours of fish and
catch fish and she loves the fish actually her present to me for my 40th
birthday was buying a fishing license she never fished up into I mean she
didn't fish like she does now and so that was that's that was cool and from
that point on we've just been doing it I mean we have her own thing she loves
the kayak and she could be out there all day long in a kayak but no we it it
really hasn't affected our relationship whatsoever but that's that's
important right that people find you know that you hear about like fishing
widows yeah guys are always gone yeah finding that blend yeah well and she's
very understanding she knows that she knows that you need time by yourself she
needs time by herself you have certain hobbies I have certain hobbies they don't
always have to be the same it would make life rather boring in my opinion but
but yeah I mean she's always been supportive of all this stuff and 99.9% of
the time she's the one that pushes a lot of it you know I'm yeah she's she's a
driving person at all let's put it that way so you if we know the last couple
days yeah how's it's been okay yeah I mean the the blue gills are starting to
come in so we can get some pan fish and we got it some crappies we haven't seen
any walleyes yet but again we weren't strictly fishing this is typically when
we start fishing for these things of all if we go out earlier in the morning yeah
you may get lucky and get a couple of walleyes depending upon where you're
fishing on the floorage but it for the most part it's been good it's been
comfortable let's put it that way the last four or five years the weather has
just been incredibly weird up here I mean in the memorial day weekend it's
like 90 degrees it's like that's unheard of I mean I were used to come up here
with my friend Bert this this week typically and there were times we would
literally have to have our deer hunting gear on to be out there fishing it was
so cold or we wouldn't be fishing because if the water temperature is in a
certain temp you're not gonna be catching kitchen fish so when you're out
there can you tell like from the first bite when it's a walleye to hit a little
different oh yes yes oh absolutely typically you're fishing much deeper
water for walleye then and when you're fishing pan fish this time of year you
usually fishing closer to shark as they're coming into spawn but yeah while
you can definitely tell it's a nice soft bite and it just goes really slow way
it's not one of those things where it's gonna pull your hand and you got to be
kind of cognizant of yeah this could be what I think it is and then as a matter
you have to make sure that you don't lose it what is the balance of
bringing one in because my my great uncle always says don't horse it exactly
no you just got it you've just got to make first of all you got to make sure
you got it hooked and then the other thing is you just bring it in slowly I
mean it's not it's not like a northern it's not like a musky where they're
just gonna rip the pole out of your hand no not a walleye it hits you know it's
there and you just slowly bring it back to the boat if yeah yeah if you you could
literally tear the bait out of its mouth and sometimes they're soft mouth
they're just tasting it to see if that's what they really want so it's just a
matter of giving them time to get it and then you just bring it back slowly
is there a different feeling though especially when you weren't expecting
a walleye yes absolutely absolutely yeah when you bring it up to the boat and
it's like yeah the first thing is you scramble for the net
you don't bring the thing over the side of the boat without a net
and do you I'm assuming you've kept enough walleye to eat yes absolutely
oh yes it's like uh first water lobster it's walleye's the best
why is that i don't know it's just a better fish but tastes better
i mean i'm partial to blue gills and crappies but if i get a walleye
no that's like that's like i said it's like lobster
it's great did you give those to the kids or do you oh no no oh yeah oh yeah
yes yes absolutely i was it sure if that was like the inside tender where it
no no no exactly no no everybody got everything we've shared for everyone
everyone so talk to me just a little bit more about
like what it means to you to have your your grandson up here this is oh it's
just amazing this is his first time right yep yep it's
third third generation now hopefully it will continue hopefully this place
will be here you know with all the things that are changing in
in a world right now i just pray to god that he has the opportunity
to have the opportunity that his mom and dad have
have had in that we've had you know it's like
i guess sometimes people don't really appreciate
how much that kind of legacy that you leave what that really means
you know at the end of the day i'm hoping that the kids will
that the grandkids will be be cognizant to the
this place because like i said there's no other place like it in my opinion
here at least in the state of wisconsin i mean when you go back home and
they say oh what'd you do like oh does that put the do you have a special name
forward or how do we always call it the chip
yeah we're up as a chip and and everybody knows
people that we know know where we typically go when we're up at the chip
so it's like yeah they're very familiar with the things that we do
and um yeah and then my wife will spend weeks posting pictures
on facebook or whatever so everybody gets a chance to see what we're all
doing and that's i mean that's one of those things that
is almost universal for a lot of people in
scott's like to say i went to resort yep fishing yep
one the cool thing about it too is then if there's people that
don't really understand or really don't know or are interested in it
i mean you pass that on to them and the potential of them
getting their kids and their grandkids involved in it i mean it
it basically kind of snowballs into something because we've had friends that
um have come up here that have never been to a resort before
and now granted they're not staying here anymore they found other place
but the whole point was is that they were actually able to go up to the
northwards find a place to actually stay and witness this kind of stuff
it's like yeah there's in my opinion there's nothing better
and that's why up north means something absolutely that's exactly
get what what's what's the up north north the highway 10 or something like
that or something that's a debate over i know i i know
it depends on how far you went that the line goes north you know i i always said
it would be so much nicer if we were only like three hours away
but the kids always could come back and make the statement that well if it
was only three hours away it wouldn't be as special as it is
it's a good boy all right can i get you to say and spell your name for me
just so i have it correct on t-shirt my name is randy
mas his last name is spelled m-a-a-s all right and can you also
give me the names and spellings of uh oh okay so just we have it correct
all right um i won't ask you for birthdays or
anniversary no no no no no her her her name
her name is her name yes abby's name um oh first of
all it's tyler mas same spelling last name
and uh it's Warner is our grandson Warner w-a-r-n-e-r
mas and it's abigail and i'm gonna mess it up by
knowing him is abigail
yes yes yes yeah we changed we yes the Gaelic version
actually her mom's Irish heritage so
that's it no don't ask birthdays amoss as well
she is amoss at this point yes all right that was great anything else you want
to add no oh yes yes well i cheeks
i learned that when you were the ones doing the fish fry
yes the walleye cheeks went last and i was like oh you can have it we're good
we're good i have some more yeah yes i forgot all about the
walleye what are you guys gonna eat oh we've got these i'm
i've forgotten never forget that one year i had it was
i was up earlier and then tyler came up later and i had caught a
it was 20 22 inch walleye over in scott lake
and um two days later he came up and the third day
he caught a 22 inch walleye on scott lake
that's the that's the limit that you can keep
because it's based off of because it's the um what do they call it i can't
remember well it's it's also um or the trophy
well no no it's also set by the um the state
for the tribal lands too okay for the for the indigenous people up here
so they've they've got the slot limit that you can you
seceded area seceded territory is called so that's what this slot limit is part
of what they call the seceded so 22 i think it was
was the max you could keep because i remember never forget i had caught the
fish and i had it in the boat and i had
texted at the time the resort owner
that was here at the time what's the max that i can keep
because i was actually on the water because i wasn't going to put the boat
fish in the boat because that's possession and uh
she texted me back it said 22 and i measured it got it
it was able to bring it back so i i knew did it
did the tribe liquid array come out here i you know i don't know i've not i've
not seen them but i don't know i mean we see them on the floor which i mean
they've got spots where they go and stuff like that but
as far as as far as being on the water i really wouldn't know
i know they're out here but i mean i know that back in the 80s that was a big
deal was that that was probably on no a little before
you first oh yeah way before yeah yeah but
you heard of any tent i mean is that something that's still coming i've
i've never heard of anything and in my opinion i have i have an opinion on
on how the native americans have been treated in this country
so i'm not going to get into that but that's not a issue that you know
people it doesn't seem to be it used to be the thing like there's no
walleye there's no spirit well you know and it seemed to be a
at least just from what i remember going back that far
it seemed to be a bigger issue over in the uh east or the uh yeah eastern part
of the state up here you know when you're talking eagle river
rain lander um in aqua stuff like that that seemed to be the bigger area i
don't ever remember it being over it may have been
when when the spearing started to be a real big
thing but i don't i don't know you know and
personally hey this was their land first so
why not let them do what they're going to do
you know as long as as long as the rules for them are the same
if the rules for us are the same for them i don't have a problem with that
whatsoever it's when people take advantage of things which we all
have a tendency to do that's when things get crazy
so i heard that that got dug out of the muck
yes yeah that was alive yeah actually berg
the guy that was up that he used to come up with um
he would bring that up what we had leave it up here every year
and then what he would do is when we would come off the lake
instead of going up and cleaning the fish every day
well that was back in the day when you could keep
well initially it was 50 then it went down to 25
we would put them in there so that you didn't have to clean every day and then
they would stay alive because you don't want
obviously dead fish they don't taste good and for whatever reason
his last year i never i forgot to grab it
and it just stayed up here and somehow it stayed in the lake
and uh abby had tendancy abby found it and so we're taking it back home so
it's coming home with us perfect yeah all right i think we're good here
so thank you you're very welcome for sharing your story