[gentle piano music]
[bird chirping, calming music]
- Narrator: Wisconsin is a state that is defined by water.
- Local: All right.
- Narrator: There are thousands of lakes.
- Local: That's it, you're good.
- Narrator: Miles of rivers
and streams.
- Woman: Let me get a couple casts in.
- Narrator: And with water comes fish and fishing.
- Like this one I got on, Jess?
- Yeah, okay, okay, fine!
- I think it's a live one.
- Yeah, that's a slab.
Oh, that's what you want.
- That's a pretty color. - Look at that!
- My grandfather took me out fishing.
He loved to fish.
And he didn't care, you know,
if he caught anything, as long as his line was in the water.
- Narrator: As long as your line's in the water.
- Man: If you've read
Aldo Leopold "Sand County Almanac,"
I think one of his statements is,
"It's not the size of your catch that's important,
It's the chance."
Just being out here...
[birds chirping, relaxing music]
[boat engine runs quietly at low speed]
- Woman: Well, I fish whenever I can.
Not as much as I used to.
[birds chirping, calming music]
It's just relaxing.
I don't care if I never catch anything.
Then, I don't have to clean it. [laughing]
[gentle, upbeat instrumental]
[water splashing]
[adult whoops and laughs]
- Child: Nine, I got nine!
I have nine.
- Crew Member: Is that the first fish she caught today?
- Man: No, they got half a pail full of 'em.
- Women: No, she got a whole pail full right here.
- Child: I got nine. - Woman: Hold your head up!
- Crew Member: Nine? Wow! [woman laughing]
[gentle instrumental]
- Narrator: It's not the size of the catch that counts.
It's the chance.
- I'm trying to get him on--
- Narrator: The chance to be out
in the state defined by water.
The chance to forge connections
with friends, within families.
- Man: My dad actively took me fishing
in a little 12-foot jon boat,
ever since I was six years old, probably, so
I used to throw all of his expensive lures
so high up into the trees that he finally got wise
and started giving me cheaper tackle to fish with.
[birds chirping]
- Woman: My mom took me when I was a little kid.
Cane pole out there and caught a lot of crappies.
They're good fighters for a little kid.
- Man: [inaudible] with a paddle, although she never paddles.
- Woman: I'm not allowed to paddle.
- Man: She paddles only when there's heavy headwind. [laughing]
[birds chirping]
- Narrator: The chance to forge connections
with the natural world.
- Man: Pile of poop that looks like a large [inaudible] in the water down there.
- Narrator: There's an old saying,
"I like fishing because of the places it takes you."
Wisconsin is filled with those places,
places of water and fish and stories,
stories of people who share a common connection.
They've all "Gone fishing."
[tranquil music]
[water trickling]
- Narrator: Major funding for Gone Fishing
is provided in part
by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.
For more than a century,
Wisconsin has been a prime destination
for fishing, fun, and fresh air.
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism has information
to make everyone's time on the water
the time of their life.
And by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
managing Wisconsin's lakes, rivers, and streams
for the fish within them and anglers from near and afar.
[birds chirping]
- Ian: I got one!
Look at him.
- Narrator: It's a Saturday morning in May.
The bluegills are biting.
- This is a good fishing place for a good day, actually.
- Narrator: A good day
for Mark Weller of Waunakee, Wisconsin, and his two sons,
Ian and Garrett.
- Looks like you got a lot of seaweed.
- Narrator: To while away some time
in the fine art of fishing.
- Set.
Oh, here, wait,
set, set, set, set, set, set, set, SET!
What are you doing? [Weller laughing]
Oh, he got off, all right!
- Narrator: Unlike many in this state,
Weller didn't grow up with a family tradition of fishing.
- My father died when I was seven years old,
so I never had that father figure
to sit down and say, "Here's how you hold a rod.
This is what you're trying to do."
Okay, ready?
He's coming back.
Can you see him? - No.
- There, perfect.
Excellent.
- Narrator: When Weller's oldest son was three,
he wanted to go fishing.
Weller learned how to fish
as a result of his son's interest.
And now, they're all hooked.
- Have another one. [Weller laughing]
Look at that!
Oh, this is great.
- Another pup--
- That's a little bigger size.
[water splashing]
There we go.
We got a fighter. - WHOA!
- Weller: We got a fighter. - Big one.
- Weller: There you go.
- Ian: Well, I like being outdoors.
I like to hear water.
You're just sitting there,
and then suddenly your bobber goes down,
and then you have a huge thrill.
- Narrator: That thrill may be the lure of fishing,
but every fisherperson catches so much more,
learns so much more.
- It's a bluegill because, like,
it has a lot of blue stripes,
and it has like a blue spot, like, right there.
- Narrator: There is the friendly competition.
- Stand back.
I got this one.
- Narrator: The disappointments.
- Got him!
Had 'em.
- Oh, he just went away.
- Hey, got one!
- Yeah, that's a small gill.
Very small!
- Narrator: A few lessons in the relativity of size.
- That's a good one.
- That's a good size, actually.
- Narrator: But most of all,
there's the chance to be together,
in a good fishing place on a good day.
- Got one!
- I didn't.
[Garrett laughing]
- Ian: I got a pumpkin seed.
[calm guitar music]
- Narrator: To be out here.
It's a beautiful day in Wisconsin's Northwoods.
The autumn leaves have just begun to turn.
[car whizzing by]
[birds and crickets chirping]
[water plopping]
For many in this state,
the annual trip up north is a kind of pilgrimage.
Every year, Weller joins that trail.
He makes the time to take the trek north to go fishing.
[birds and crickets chirping, water trickling]
- Weller: This is heaven.
It really is that place in the world where I can escape.
Where all those urban pressures and,
and all the kind of day-to-day grunge in life
that everyone faces,
even all your own personal devils that,
that no one ever talks about,
for the hour or two or five, or whatever it is I'm fishing,
those go away.
So, I can kind of enter into this other world,
where, you know, I can look at birds,
I can look at the vegetation.
I don't have those pressures of answering the phone and,
and dealing with other folks.
And geez, maybe if I catch a fish in the process,
that's just gravy.
That's just fun on top of it all.
[Weller chuckling]
[dramatic music]
- Narrator: Weller didn't have a dad
to show him how to fish.
Instead, He has a North Woods mentor and friend
in Martin Hanson.
- Let's see what it does in the water.
- All right, here we go.
- Wow, you threw that a long way.
- He's an older gentleman
who has been kind and gentle enough to say,
"This is how you do it.
"This is what you oughta be thinking about when you do it,
and here's some tips."
That's magnificent to have someone
who kind of takes you under their wing and,
and shares that kind of knowledge.
- Narrator: It's knowledge gained
from over 60 years of Northwoods fishing.
- I was a little kid, you know,
I could throw a lure with a casting rod
at seven, eight years old and hit right on the mark.
- Narrator: It's knowledge that comes
from a lifelong connection with the land.
- There's an old rhyme, you know,
"The wind is from the north, the fish come forth,
"when it's from the east, it's the least.
"From the West, it's the best.
"In the south,
that's when they'll take it in their mouth."
So, a southwest wind adds up to be
the best around here for bass.
Used to be a gentle wind.
And it's better before a rainstorm.
But there's every rule you can make,
and then the rule is there to be broken.
[Hanson laughing]
[crickets chirping, crow cawing]
- Narrator: The places that fishing can take you,
and what that place can evoke.
[water splashing]
- Fishing is really two things to me.
One is the notion of catching a fish
and getting it into the boat.
But the other one is a sense of place.
Where you fish, what's going on around you.
What's the scenery look like?
What are the birds doing?
What does a place sound like?
[water trickling]
All of those other elements is, to me,
what fishing is really about.
You're in the natural world.
If you're in a boat and if you're paying attention,
you're gonna learn something,
regardless if you put a fish in the boat or not.
- Narrator: It's a place to learn,
to let go, to have some adventures.
[upbeat guitar music]
- You're gonna have a nice day.
It'll be good for muskies.
- Good.
That's phase two.
Martin, you catch me a musky. - Hmm?
- I said if you catch me a musky.
- I think we'll catch one.
- Narrator: That day,
Weller begins to take part in a Northwoods tradition,
the pursuit of the elusive musky,
the fish of 10,000 casts.
[calm guitar music]
The quest begins,
and the adventure is what happens along the way.
[birds chirping, peaceful guitar music]
- Fishing out there,
where you look behind your shoulder,
and suddenly you see a cloud,
a fog kind of filling the gorge,
covering the river, engulfing you,
you know, it's just one of those...
kind of moments...
that unless you stop from your day-to-day hubbub of life
and look around you,
you kinda miss that kind of stuff.
Fishing puts you in those kinds of elements.
[relaxed guitar music]
- Narrator: In the elements, chasing musky,
some fishers chase them for years.
- Sometimes, you're fooled.
Just go fishing.
Keep the lure in the water.
You'll finally catch one.
[guitar strumming]
- Narrator: The day after we left Mark Weller,
he caught one,
or so he claims.
We think it's a true fish story
about the fish of 10,000 casts.
- Weller: Oh! Man, he's gone.
[water trickling]
[crickets chirping, gentle guitar]
- The wind is blowing just a little bit,
but it looks like a nice day, though, man.
- Yeah.
- I think it's gonna be a good day.
- We should be able to get into some fish.
- Narrator: Fishing adventures abound in this state.
[vehicle ignition starting]
Far from the Northwoods,
30 minutes, in fact, from Milwaukee,
is Lake Nemahbin.
- Hey, you know what's nice?
Nobody out here.
- Yeah, that's why I love fishing during the week. - Yeah.
- Narrator: Another place of connection and escape.
And at the heart of it is fishing.
- Outdoorsmanship, oh, yeah.
[fishing rod winding] There we go.
They're feasting themselves on minnows down here.
- Yeah, gorging themselves. - Yeah.
- Narrator: Two friends.
Jesse Ray of Wauwatosa and Mike Nelson of Delavan.
- I'm getting bumps out there.
- Narrator: It was fishing that brought them together.
- Jesse: We met out here. - Mike: Yeah.
- Mike loves fishing.
I love fishing. - Yeah.
- That's how we met.
- Narrator: They met on this lake 10 years ago.
They fish.
They talk about fish.
- I don't care to depend on my drag,
just for the hook set, and then, I always hit my back reel.
You know that way, if wants to make a lunge,
I just, you know, give 'em line back.
- I like playing that fish.
- Narrator: They talk about fishing and the rest of life.
- I mean those bluegills, man,
they fight like,
hurt like a baby, you know, when a baby gets all upset.
[Jesse mock-crying] [Mike laughing]
Those bluegills will fight like that.
- I like to forget those days.
- Narrator: But most importantly, they spend time together.
That's not to say there isn't a little fishing rivalry
between the two.
- JR: That's a nice little bass. - Mike: Sure.
- Narrator: Nelson starts the day with a bass.
- A great size for the kids to catch.
They love catching 'em. - Yes, it is.
- It's fun. - That's beautiful, that's--
- Narrator: Within 10 minutes, Ray counters with a bluegill.
- That's the kind you clean up
and make some nice potato chips out of.
Yeah, Michael, now we even.
Yeah, you put your bass back,
but this bluegill may have to be dead--
- Oh wait, I-- I-- I-- oh-ho-ho! [Michael laughing]
- Oh, no. - Ah-hah!
[Ray laughing] - No, you didn't, did you?
- Yeah, I did.
- Oh, cut it out. - Oh-ho-ho, nice bass!
- Narrator: Ray ups the ante.
- Yeah, That's nice bass, Mike. - Little bit bigger--
- Now go ahead and kiss him like Jimmy Houston do. [Michael laughing]
Come on. - You kiss him first.
- Okay. - You kiss him first.
[lips smack] [Michael laughing]
We have a great time.
Every time we get together, we have fun.
We catch fish.
He shares his knowledge with me.
I share mine with him.
We always get fish. - That's right.
- And that's what it's all about.
- That's right.
That is what it's all about.
- Narrator: These two end the day with the tally
pretty even up.
Ray keeps the bluegills.
It's catch and release on the bass.
- Relax, I don't wanna hurt you.
Relax, relax.
I won't hurt you.
I'll put you back.
Get big.
- Narrator: Ray has a tradition.
When he is done with his fishing day,
he takes his bluegills
and heads to Milwaukee's Washington Park.
- I give the fish to people who are fishing in these ponds
because a lot of times, especially in the late summer,
the fish that are in these ponds aren't very big at all.
And these people are just, like, they're out here,
really fishing for subsistence.
They want, I mean, they wanna take these fish home to eat.
They want a fish fry.
How y'all doing?
Good, good!
Say, listen, I got some bluegills.
I, I got my share.
Y'all want some of these?
I like that in 'ya, brother.
Hey, young man,
you been fishing today?
Yeah? All right.
Hey, listen, I got, I got a lot of fish.
I've been catching 'em all day.
You want some of these?
I got a few you can have.
Look at this.
Look at that.
Let me see.
See that?
Some nice bluegills, huh?
You grab it, you grab that bluegill,
and you want to grab it from the front,
and they all gonna fall down.
See, it all falls down there-
- Narrator: It's a chance to make connections,
to share his knowledge about fishing
with a much younger fishing friend.
- This will get you with a bluegill.
See these here?
So, you know what, you go in, go in from the top.
You grab it-- [fish flopping]
Oh, that was perfect.
That's how you hold 'em.
All right!
- That's how you put 'em in your bucket.
[strumming guitar]
- Narrator: Passing it on.
It's an important part of what fishing's all about,
but it's just one part.
- If I don't catch anything,
it's not gonna matter today,
because as long as I'm not in the city,
I'm out here,
this wind's catching me,
It's fresh air.
Good, good company, good company.
Cut it out, Michael. [Michael laughs]
Don't be catching on air.
And, and I, and I can just be out here-
Hey, this is God's country, man.
I'm having a good time.
It's nothing better.
[water rushing, calm music]
[gentle guitar strumming]
[birds chirping]
- Sarah: Oh, that's right.
That helps to get 'em on.
I forgot about that. [laughs]
[birds chirping]
- Sarah: If we get lucky,
an overcast day is better for fishing.
But if it's sunny today,
the grasshoppers and ants and beetles
might be good for fishing.
- Narrator: Fishing can sometimes involve
a fair amount of fussing.
Fly fishing, in particular.
- Stephanie: So, Sarah,
which direction do I put this on, again?
- Sarah: You're gonna wanna reel with your left hand.
- Stephanie: I am?
- Narrator: The two women here, getting their gear together,
consist of an old pro and an eager novice.
- No, I reel with my right hand. - Sarah: Okay.
- Stephanie: Or do I reel with my left hand?
- I think you reel with your left hand.
- I'm trying to remember.
It's been a while.
- Narrator: Sarah Johnson and Stephanie Limbaugh.
Both will tell you
that you don't need a wad of cash
to hit Wisconsin's creeks and streams.
- Sarah: My first pair of waders,
I got for 19 bucks at Kmart,
with an old pair of tennis shoes and a borrowed rod.
So, you don't have to have a bunch of stuff.
- Narrator: What is necessary
is a great enthusiasm for learning.
- Sarah: And we'll get, we'll get right down in here
and fish right up around the corner to right up in there.
And we took some fish out of there the other day.
- What were you taking out, browns?
- Yep. - Narrator: And learning.
- What do, what would you like to put on?
- Narrator: Lots of learning.
- Stephanie: Yellow might, might work.
- It's hard to tell, though, what worked a couple weeks ago.
- Yeah.
- With the change in temperature
in the air.
- Yeah, It's really cooled down in the last couple of weeks.
- Mm-hmm.
[water rushing]
- Stephanie: Come on, little guys.
- Sarah: What we're trying to imitate
is something falling out of the vegetation.
[water rushing, birds chirping]
- Oh.
[Sarah laughing]
- Okay, lift quickly.
There you go.
With the current, the boulders,
it requires tremendous balance, timing,
hand/eye coordination.
And it goes way beyond that to,
you have to get a knowledge of the insects and the fish
and where they're, where they're gonna feed
at different times of the day if the sun's high or low,
and you have to learn to read water.
[water rushing, birds chirping]
I was introduced to Wisconsin
really through, by learning its streams.
- Narrator: Johnson used to work in Washington, D.C.,
a place not really known for fishing.
In fact, Johnson knew very little fishing in her past.
- So, I grew up in the city.
My dad didn't take me fishing.
Typically, hunting and fishing
are passed down from father to son.
And you're more likely to fish if you grew up in a,
a rural area versus an urban area.
- Narrator: So, how to start?
Ten years ago, Johnson and a friend
tried their hand at fishing.
There was a problem.
- I didn't know what to do when we caught the fish,
and I didn't feel comfortable with just
letting it suffocate or die.
And so, we ended up not fishing that day,
but she spread the word around
that I was looking for someone to teach me how to fish.
And so, I got a call from a friend of ours who said,
"Would you like to come over
and see some fly fishing videotapes?"
And I didn't realize it really at the time,
but it turned out to be a date.
[Sarah laughing] - What a line.
- Narrator: The romance began,
and Johnson was hooked instantly.
The first time I caught a fish,
it was on Black Earth Creek, right outside of Madison.
And . . .
I just totally unexpectedly cried.
And that was it for me.
It was, that was it.
[water trickling]
- Narrator: To be outdoors in this corner of Wisconsin.
[laughing] - Stephanie: I forgot I had hip boots on.
[Sarah and Stephanie laughing]
- Sarah: what better way to spend an afternoon
than out at a place like this?
- Narrator: An afternoon in pursuit
of a particular experience.
- I don't feel like this is gonna be a very successful day.
- I would be telling a story if I didn't tell you that,
when there's a fish on, when that fish strikes,
that there's something that happens inside.
That is very exciting.
I mean, there's a, a rush of adrenaline,
and you remember that, and it feels good.
And so, you wanna do it again.
- Oh, there he is! - Stephanie: We got one. [both laughing]
- Sarah: He's gonna be a...
- Come on, little guy, get outta there, so we don't mess it up.
- Narrator: But to catch that experience,
to catch these fish is no easy task.
- Sarah: And under the vegetation,
come on out of there. [Sarah laughing]
- I'm gonna go over there. - Sarah: Li'l stinker.
- Narrator: Fish in this creek are wild, not stocked,
and very wary of humans.
- Sarah: Diving for cover.
- Yeah, he's pooped out.
Oh, maybe not.
- Narrator: The more you know, the better your luck.
- Come on.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
- Stephanie: Trout Fishing is one of those sports,
fly Fishing, in general is one of those sports
that people that have been fishing for 20-plus years
still think that they have a lot to learn.
[water rushing, birds chirping]
- Boy, you've got a lot of bugs around you.
Can you say-- Oh, gosh!
You should try to get one.
- Stephanie: I think they're blue winged olives.
- Yeah, they look like it.
[water trickling]
- Stephanie: Which, I'm not seeing any hoppers
in the water, though.
What is it about the cool weather?
They're just not as active?
- Yeah, it makes 'em less active
or any sudden change in weather.
[water trickling]
- Stephanie: Should I fish this bank?
- Sarah: Yeah, but you're gonna have to stay low.
- Yeah, I don't think
I'm going to be getting anything over here.
Actually, I'm gonna go over this way.
- I realized that
I was very fortunate to have several people
willing to take me out and spend the time with me
to teach me what they'd learned
over years and years and years.
[bird calling]
- Sarah: Oh, that's so beautiful.
- I wanna try to help Steph
have those same opportunities, one,
and two, it's just fun to have a buddy to fish with
and somebody who,
you know, appreciates the same things about it that you do.
- How are you doing?
I've always had a passion for water.
And so, I just naturally gravitated towards
the most beautiful freshwater resource that we have,
which is cold water,
and the fish that live in it.
- Narrator: Wisconsin is graced
with over 40,000 miles of rivers and streams
and over a thousand miles of spring-fed creeks,
suitable for trout habitat,
suitable for this pursuit,
which results, of course,
in the making of memories.
- You know, six months from now,
we won't remember how many fish we caught.
We'll remember that day that we went fishing and, you know,
so and so fell in or--
- There was a hatch on.
- There was a hatch, and how beautiful it was.
And remember when those shadows were long
and the time that you spend together
and the things you laugh about.
That's what you remember.
[dramatic flute music]
[serene music, water trickling]
[bird singing]
[engine humming]
- Mike: No, we definitely plan it all year; I mean--
- Oh, yeah.
- It's all I think about all during the year.
I have pictures of, like, sunsets and of a cabin
right above my desk at work.
So I, it's something I'm watching every day, yeah.
I'd feel terrible
if I couldn't at least come up once a year.
- Narrator: Every year, at least once every year,
Mike Taglin of Omaha, Nebraska,
travels to Wisconsin to spend a week fishing
with his old friend, Barry Carlson of Madison.
The target this trip: muskies.
The place is always the same: Up North.
[calming music]
- Mike: We both really have an affinity
for this area up here.
I mean-- - Barry: Oh, yeah.
- Mike: It's so absolutely beautiful.
So, I mean, just, just to be out on the water and,
and be able to have this kind of scenery and stuff is,
is almost overwhelming sometimes.
[relaxing music]
[water splashing]
- Narrator: They both have an affinity for fishing
and the ways in which fishing can connect friends.
- Sometimes, being out on the water,
it's sort of like,
how, when you're in the dark,
you can talk about things that you can't talk about
face to face maybe, and you talk about stuff that I,
I think is freeing, too.
I kind of like that.
This is myself and my friend, Mike, in 1980 [laughs]
in Omaha, Nebraska.
It used to be art that was our common bond.
And we still appreciate and talk about art,
and he paints still.
And, and so we connect in that way,
but fishing is something that has pretty much replaced that.
- Narrator: Fishing has become a place of connection
for these two friends.
It has also become a point of departure
for Carlson's paintings.
- Barry: And right now,
I'm gonna have to push back some of these clouds
in the background that are too dominant here.
They need to be much lighter.
- Narrator: The light,
the color in the Northwoods,
the water, the sky,
that experience has become an integral part of Carlson's work.
- You know, when I go out and take photos
and stuff for my paintings, as well,
I tend to choose the times of the day
that the light's in transition between full light and a,
and a departing light or a waning light.
I always check my photos when I get back.
And I'll always find a few new skies, and then I can
oftentimes pluck skies into different settings.
- Narrator: Fishing has given Carlson much more
than a few skies.
- I wouldn't be making these paintings if I didn't fish.
- Narrator: Fishing has opened up new worlds,
new ways of seeing.
- Barry: It teaches me, I guess,
that anything is possible.
When I look at some of the things that I paint, I think,
"Well, that's not really believable cause, you know,
"I wouldn't imagine that you could possibly see
this kind of color in the water."
You'll sometimes see
a reflection that doesn't look like it belongs there,
but you go out on the water enough time
and you'll see, you know,
purple water, green water, blue water, and red water
and, and things that don't really make sense.
But because they're in front of you, say,
"Well, that's believable."
[engine revving]
- Wow. - Ready, Gridley?
- Narrator: Up North, what's in front of you,
can change in an instant.
[ducks quacking]
[flapping wings, splashing water]
A day starts in sun,
and within an hour, it's snowing.
It's snowing, and Carlson has a new experience
netted from fishing to capture in his paintings.
- That's something that's in my memory banks.
I did get a couple photos,
but the photos doesn't even represent the day.
[camera shutter clicking]
- Narrator: To capture an experience, remember a time.
Carlson was an only child.
Every year, he and his parents
would travel from Omaha, Nebraska to the Northwoods
for a week of fishing with relatives.
That place, that time looms large in his memory.
- Barry: It was a connecting time.
I could still remember.
You know, alls we did basically
is go out in these little 14-foot-long boats
with the Johnson or Mercury 20-Horse motor.
And, and we'd put a minnow on, toss it out and troll, you know?
Rarely would my dad ever cast until I was older.
He would be the guy who'd drive.
And I could just see him, you know, holding the,
the tiller and having his pole over his shoulder
and doing this.
- Narrator: Carlson's father has passed on.
But the power of that time, that one week each summer
still holds.
- I mean, it plays just this gigantic
place in my imagination and, and sense of self.
- Narrator: And his paintings.
Carlson calls his current series, "Memories Window."
The way an experience is framed,
looking back at a time and place,
across the distance of years.
- Barry: I think it's a sense of loss,
trying to recapture things that
you treasured at one time or another,
and maybe didn't recognize at the time.
And I think, oftentimes, you know,
dad would've loved the fact that I have a boat now. [laughs]
[engine humming, waves crashing]
- Narrator: Carlson has two children, Carsten and Frida.
[Frida laughing]
- Carsten: Yeah, sure.
- Barry: Okay, you're just gonna
send this thing out, cast it.
Poor, [indistinct fish name].
- Narrator: Time spent fishing,
is an essential part of their family.
- Barry: Because it kind of gets shallow out there
and then deeper and then shallower again.
- Where did I put the hook, Dad?
- Barry: Where did you put the hook?
I'm just trying to give them
some of the things that I had, and
he would've loved sharing it, you know?
It would've been fun for him to come up and be with the kids
and, and go out with me.
That's you know, the thing that I guess I miss is that I,
I didn't have the chance to really
voice my appreciation for some of his talents
and some of his patience.
Let it fall to the bottom and drag it real slowly.
Just, just like it's walking across the bottom.
- Narrator: Returning the favor,
giving his children the gift
of time spent fishing.
- Gotta have my lucky hat on.
- No, that's not your lucky hat.
- I can't find my real lucky hat.
[water trickling, gentle music]
[geese squawking]
[crickets chirping, cicadas buzzing]
[engine rumbling, bright flute music]
- I just like being out in the open,
fresh air, and I love the water and,
and there's, there's always something to look at.
[gentle flute music]
- Narrator: This is the Mississippi,
the biggest river in the country.
Flowing, moving with water
poured down from hundreds of streams and tributaries.
It's a place of strong currents,
beautiful views and some great fishing.
And for many who come here, this is the fish of choice,
The catfish.
If the Northwoods has its musky,
Lake Michigan rainbow trout,
the Mississippi has the catfish.
- Barb: Here we go.
- Narrator: This is the place,
this is the kind of fishing,
that Jean Ames and his wife, Barb of Potosi, Wisconsin,
enjoy best.
- Just fun,
relaxing, and challenging,
catching more than my friends, mostly.
[Jean laughing]
- He does a good job
if you can keep him out of the beer batter.
He likes to drink the beer batter.
[all laughing]
- Narrator: One of his friends,
also from Potosi, is Harry Blindert.
- Now Jean there,
he's uh, I think one day he lost two poles.
- Woman: We should have wore our hip boots.
- Narrator: These longtime river rats
are passionate about fishing.
Crazy about catfish.
- For one thing, I say
it's the most relaxing fishing there is.
- You just lean back and, and wait for the,
for the pole to jump.
And hopefully, it won't jump out of the boat.
- We ready if they are.
[gentle guitar strumming]
That's all I fish for, is catfish.
I don't fish anything else.
- Narrator: Blindert used to be big on bass fishing;
no longer.
- It's a lot of work, you know?
They say, "Bass fishing, a lot of work."
It's, you're moving, you're casting.
And catfishing is more relaxing.
Like now, throw your pole out, sit back, wait for a bite.
- Narrator: It's a wonderfully simple sport.
Catfish can be caught with very little.
Blindert no longer needs his lures.
- I probably got,
I would say probably $500 to $600 worth of lures
stuffed in my tackle box that I never use.
- Narrator: What has taken their place
is something called blood "stink bait."
- Blindert: This has got blood in it.
Now, this is the stuff
that smells like the bottom of the earth.
[Blindert laughing]
- Narrator: It's a paste,
slathered over a sponge and hook
and made from very rancid materials
like year-old fermented cheese.
It's called "stink bait" for a reason.
- Ah! [sniffs, chuckles heartily]
See for yourself.
It's sticky.
It's stinky.
It has to stink because catfish go strictly on smell.
- Jean: And have plenty of rags when this fit type of fishing.
- Crew Member: Can you still smell it on your skin.
after you've been fishing?
- For days. [chuckles]
- And this is what attracts them, by smell, all smell.
So if you got the right smell, you'll get 'em to you.
- Barb: Don't get too close. - Don't get too close.
It's like glue.
I got so much stink baits running in my veins,
and the mice are following me around now.
[upbeat guitar music]
- Narrator: Some are on the river to kick back and relax.
It's different for Keith Turner of Potosi.
The river is his home and also a place of work.
- Turner: We got one coming up.
- Narrator: And he, too, is crazy for catfish.
- I was learnt this way by an old commercial fisherman.
And that's the way I always did it.
My boys did this way, too.
Here's a nice one.
We'll take him.
[upbeat guitar music]
- Narrator: Turner has been fishing these waters
for nearly 50 years.
He worked two jobs for years.
The second one was catching catfish commercially
and selling them.
- Turner: Yeah, Illegal.
- Narrator: Which places Turner
right in the heart of Mississippi River culture.
In this corner of Southwestern Wisconsin,
the catching and selling of catfish
is part of the local history, the local color.
It's what local people know and remember.
[dramatic guitar strumming]
- Years back,
when I first started setting lines down this area in '65,
you'd be lucky to find a place on this landing here
on a Saturday morning.
On weekends, a lot of 'em was out here on this landing.
Now, me and another guy about the only one that uses it.
[dramatic guitar strumming]
- Narrator: The numbers fishing these waters for catfish
may have dwindled, but the process remains the same.
It starts on dry land in Turner's garage.
Hundreds of hooks are strung on a line
and wrapped across an old wooden frame.
This is the set line.
Each hook must be baited and slotted into the box.
The bait is gray crickets.
- If I get back swinging the way I wanna,
we'll be using 800 a day, so...
- Narrator: This kind of fishing is hard work.
It's fraught with obstacles
and requires a great deal of skill and effort.
Set lines must be led out.
- So, you gotta have three arms
and a couple legs to run these out.
- Narrator: And then, hauled back in.
Even the fish themselves are a problem,
with those painful stingers.
- Turner: It's when you get them thorns in your fingers
is what hurts.
You grab, there's a bad thorn right there.
You can feel it.
And one right there and one right there,
and they've got saws on 'em, like.
- Narrator: The river is full of surprises.
Trees felled decades ago
still hang around as submerged stumps.
[boat bangs against stump, engine sputtering]
Turner has to know this river.
- Crew Member: What just happened, Keith?
- What?
- Crew Member: What just happened?
- Hit another the stump.
- Narrator: It can sometimes be a very bumpy ride.
- Yeah, you see some wicked storms come around and out here.
I've been in three of 'em in my lifetime.
I've had waves come right over the bow,
right over top of me up here.
- Narrator: The Mississippi commands respect.
It can be a dangerous place.
- Turner: You're getting the fog out here,
especially in this area after I leave that stump.
You don't know where you're at.
You don't want to get away in them barges
cause they can be on you, and you don't know it.
- Crew Member: What would happen?
- Turner: Probably run you down.
- Narrator: Turner has an extra burden.
Despite all of his years on the river,
he doesn't know how to swim.
He's fallen in three times in 50 years.
Still, he stays, pulling up his set lines, checking his nets.
- A year ago, I run a hundred nets.
I had to be on the river every day.
I didn't get a day off.
And I decided,
time is getting short, you know, I'm getting older.
So,I sold enough now where we could go three days.
I'd have a fourth day
I could go to [indistinct] play a little blackjack.
[crew laughing]
[dramatic guitar strumming]
[engine rumbling]
- Rita says, "Keith, you quit the river,
"they just as well start digging your grave.
"Cause that's where you'll be
because you've lived on that river."
I have, I've lived on it.
Probably 80% of my time has been on this river
when I'm awake.
- Narrator: The places that fishing can take you,
and what happens while you fish...
- Turner: When you get on the river, you just relax.
That's what I do. I mean, I just,
I feel at home on the river.
You're at ease.
When I work my full-time job at Deere's,
come home after eight hours in there
and jump in that boat after I eat supper
and go to the river and just another world.
Relax.
That's it.
[engine whirring]
- Narrator: But fishing for catfish
is only part of this story,
for part of Mississippi River culture,
a very tasty part, is the cooking of catfish.
- Make sure you have your oil.
There's 350 degrees or above, or you won't have good fish.
- Take a big black iron skillet
- Crew Member: Okay.
- Put over a fire,
get it just about gray and then throw in some butter
and season your catfish fillet
and slide it across the pan a couple of times,
and it's done. [laughs]
[uplifting music]
We're going to go to the catfish feed tomorrow.
- Narrator: The catfish feed.
Keith Turner helped launch the very first one
over 30 years ago.
- Turner: First one we had is a 200-pound fish,
and we used the good old Potosi beer to make the batter.
- Man: All of us guys here,
we all seem to get along pretty good
except for me and Charlie.
We usually fight.
- Potosi Local: Finer than frog hair?
- Finer than frog hair.
- Woman: The Firemen's wives fix it.
And with potato salad and coleslaw,
all you can eat,
and they serve from 11 till 5.
And that's how they get their money to buy their equipment.
It's a big day for 'em.
- Narrator: The catfish feed.
Every year, the town of Potosi, Wisconsin
puts on a catfish feed,
a fish fry, featuring their fish, the catfish,
which is a source of great civic pride.
- Oh, I love it.
Good time, yeah.
[cooks shouting]
Putting everything together,
and it's a lot of work,
and everything seems to come together every year.
So, it's pretty good.
- Crew Member: Do you like catfish?
- I love it. [man laughs warmly]
You have to for this job.
- Crew Member: Are you fond of catfish?
- Oh, yeah, I love catfish.
Like to catch 'em and eat 'em.
[crowd chattering]
- Potosi Local: I'm watching how much you take, Gordy.
- Gordy: Huh?
- Potosi Local: I'm watching how much you take.
- Gordy: Yeah.
- Narrator: Mountains of fish will be consumed this day.
A day that starts with a parade.
- Potosi Local: These are the old, retired firemen
that are getting in here.
- Narrator: The retired volunteers lead it off.
[engine rumbling]
[siren sounding]
[horn honking]
It's a day for all things fish
[brass band playing, siren sounding]
that brings families and a community together.
[engine rumbling]
- Parade Announcer: Grant County Social Services.
The next float that'll be coming around the corner
is the Catfish Queen Float.
All of these young princesses
will be candidates for the Queen Contest.
Crowning will be at 12 o'clock.
Kyle Lang Meyer, could you please come up to the DJ stand?
Kyle Langmeier?
- Narrator: It's a day for making memories
centered around a fish and town pride.
There is a contest for Little Miss Catfish Queen.
- Wave, wave, wave like this at 'em
when they say your name, okay?
- Parade Announcer: And I believe
one of these ladies [indistinct]
[crowd cheering]
Kyle Langmeier.
Kyle Langmeier is gonna receive a $50 savings bond.
- Crew Member: What's your favorite kind of fish?
- Um...
bluegill.
- Narrator: Of course, not everyone is catfish crazy.
- Crew Member: How long have you been doing this?
- Eight years.
- Crew Member: Do you enjoy it? - No.
[Potosi local laughing]
- Crew Member: Too much work, huh?
- Yes, it is.
- Crew Member: [indistinct] enthusiastic.
- That's as enthusiastic as I get.
Yeah, there's a lot of, lot of hours involved.
I hate to, hate to guess
the hundreds of hours put in down here,
but this is part of the volunteer tradition of the town.
And we want to keep it up.
- Narrator: Part of the town, part of the tradition.
For over 30 years,
Potosi has set aside this day to celebrate their home,
to make some memories,
to remind each other of their shared connections
to their community and the river
and the ways in which fishing plays a part in that.
[cicadas buzzing, birds chirping]
For those who live here or those who visit,
time spent fishing creates a tie to a place and a time.
A warm August night on the Mississippi.
On the landing, just a mile from Potosi,
this couple caught a sunset.
[waves lapping]
[relaxing flute music]
No matter whether it's the height of summer
or the heart of winter,
there's something special that can happen
when people go fishing.
- Wisconsin Local: Come on, you fishies.
- Come on, fishies.
- Narrator: It's more than the anticipation, the successes,
the promise of future treasures.
Somehow, a passion starts up.
[Garrett laughing]
- Live for it.
It's in our blood.
- Narrator: A passion
that has more to do with place and process
than the catch.
- Sarah: Within a very short amount of time,
you have forgotten everything else's going on.
And your mind clears, and you cannot focus on anything else
but what you're doing when you're fishing,
what you're seeing and smelling and hearing.
What better way to spend an afternoon
than out in a place like this?
[water trickling, fishing rod winding]
- Narrator: In places like this,
across Wisconsin,
in all kinds of weather,
in all the seasons of the year.
[fishing rod flicking]
[rain pitter-patters]
- Barry: I like the idea of being out there.
Mind can relax
and open up and kind of, [Carlson exhales]
you feel that big breath come out.
- Narrator: It's all about the chance,
the chance to be out here.
- Ready, Gridley?
- Narrator: And what might happen
in that precious piece of time spent
gone fishing.
[bird chirping]
[water splashing]
[water trickling]
- Narrator: Major funding for "Gone Fishing"
is provided in part
by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.
Wisconsin offers anglers 15,000 inland lakes,
two Great Lakes, the Mississippi River,
33,000 miles of streams and rivers,
and abundant populations of fish.
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism
has information to make everyone's time on the water
the time of their life.
And by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
managing Wisconsin's lakes, rivers, and streams
for the fish within them and anglers from near and afar.
[water trickling]
[bright piano music]