They're doing good.
Yes, they are.
All right.
So give me a sense of how the fishing dynamic works.
Obviously, this afternoon, we saw you with the pole
and you with the comfy lawn chair.
How do you guys work that out?
Well, you summed it up perfect right there.
For the last couple of days, that's
what the dynamic has been with the sunlight and the high sky.
And now it's been tough.
So I got a lot of color.
Caught a few fish here and there.
He has the eye.
He has the tables in and out.
Yeah.
I'll fish.
And after a while, I'm like, OK, too many snacks.
Lost too many jigs.
I'm going to just sit here.
Yeah.
And after a long winter, this is lovely weather.
If we were fishing with lures, it would be real expensive.
It's just jigs.
Jigging them in.
Yeah, and jigging them in a crawler, whatever.
So we hear a lot about the wives who lose husbands to fishing.
What's your advice for the women who complain my husband's
always gone?
I mean, well, I just enjoy being outside.
I mean, if I could just sit there and just watch them.
If you don't like to fish, bring a book.
There's so many things you could do.
But just to be outside, and especially
after a long winter, I mean, this is amazing.
This weather, and he could fish in.
I'll just enjoy the outside.
I grew up fishing, though.
Yeah, I use his menos worms.
It doesn't make a difference.
Yeah, I do my own bait.
I take a mining off, unless they're really, they swallow it.
But when you're raised from a little kid, you're fishing.
It doesn't bother you, the worms, and I'm even up to leeches.
That's good.
So anyway, real quick, I'll tell you
that we've both been coming up since the mid-'60s
around there.
I would come up to Woodruff to go to Brandy Lake
with my family, and it's on our annual vacation.
And Natalie was down in Lake Tamahawk area.
Well, just had a bit of a resort, so a lot of fun.
A lot of memories.
So if you would compare the fishing from your youth
or over the years to where it is now, especially with walleye,
because that is one of the concerns up here, right?
Right, right.
Yeah, well, I had a real nice night, two nights ago,
and it's a rarity.
It was a rarity.
But it was fun.
So I think it was six all day, but three would have been keepers.
They were legal.
I know it's a concern, because it was overfished everywhere.
Everyone was taking them.
And they put limits on, hopefully, people abide by that.
So the lakes are going to be plentiful, because it is.
I mean, you hear even about panfish on different lakes
that used to be unlimited, and now they're
trying to, everything's being overfished.
I mean, it's so popular up here, a lot of congestion.
It's on the lakes, too, so.
We were just talking to locals that live up here yesterday.
We've run into them several times here,
and they're not happy with the congestion up there.
Yeah, it's we only deal with it a week or so at a time.
But when you're living it, I guess, anyway.
So another interesting thing is, obviously you guys
are traveling from a long way, and a lot of people
are coming up with $70,000 boats,
and the whole fancy reel.
And you're catching fish right from the shore.
I mean, do you look out there and think of this laugh?
Or you know, I'm sure there's people
thinking, oh, you get stuck on shore.
Well, it's hit or miss, and it's good and bad.
I do have a friend up here that has a place in Woodruff.
And on occasion, we'll drag that boat around
and hit different lakes.
But as far as Natalie and I, yeah, it's this dam here.
It's accessible.
I sound like an old man.
I've had both of my knees replaced, and it's easy.
It's not great, but it's accessible.
Like I said, my siblings, my parents,
I want his houses up here.
Relatives live here.
They're just not up here yet.
But it's pulled the pontoon, a little spider lake.
Or my siblings are on Hasbrooke in Lake Tamahawk.
So we have an outboard, but just take out the fishing boat.
But this is nice.
I mean, this is nice.
You can walk around.
When you're on a boat, you're kind of stuck.
But you know.
You're going to go get something to eat now.
So just one last thing.
I want you to describe, what's the excitement for you
when you catch a walleye?
Oh, yeah.
Oh my god.
Well, I guess this harkens back to what you just asked me.
It's a pretty rare occurrence.
Yeah, but the other night was an exception.
Like I said, it was five or six walleyes.
But yeah, it's pretty cool.
I like it.
He's tickled pink.
Yeah.
He is so excited when it's a walleye.
He gets the big other fish and a lot of bass and monster
crappies or crappies.
Always going for walleye, per se.
But yeah, an occasional musky.
Nice northern every once in a while.
But the walleye's making me happy.
Walleyes are, yeah.
Walleyes are.
Yeah.
Good.
Does he smile bigger when it's a walleye?
Oh, gosh.
Like I said, he can get the net.
Get the net.
I know.
I got to be more patient.
But it is exciting.
Thank you.
Can I get you to say and spell your name
just so I have it correct?
Sure.
On Natalie, N-A-T-A-L-I-E, Jerick, J-U-R-E-K.
And Richard, bake, R-I-C-H-A-R-D, B-A-K-E.
All right.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
All right.