>> It's just something I've done
all my life.
>> One look around
Jay Gascoigne's man-cave
and you see his priorities.
>> I don't like crowds.
I don't like big cities,
you know.
This is my answer.
>> The question though is,
what is he most proud of?
>> You get to thinking about it
and not everybody has
a patent.
>> A patent from the
federal government for
an electric fishing rod.
>> My wife says if I had
stayed in school I probably
could have been an engineer.
That's her theory.
I just like hunting and fishing
too much, I guess.
>> What started with the base
of a Christmas tree stand,
a 2x4, and a motor,
has evolved through
six prototypes to what's now
officially called
The Fishing Partner.
>> There's no high tech.
This isn't rocket science.
[ice splashing water]
>> It was out here on
Stateline Lake
in northern Wisconsin--
>> When you're fishing
you got a lot of time
on your hands.
>> --that this product
was market tested.
>> This sets the trigger
and then you turn it on
and if a fish bites it,
you'll hear a buzzer go off
and hopefully a fish
will come out,
if everything works out right.
[beeping]
Hey! It's finally got one.
Aww, geez.
Okay, let's try that again.
I just hope we get
more fish here.
It's a little slow.
>> Jay's human fishing partner
most days is Wayne Pavelka.
>> Sometimes we are the
only ones out on the lake here
because we don't give up.
>> These self-described
grumpy old men--
>> Man, what's going on?
I don't know.
>> --didn't always share
the same optimism for their
battery-powered companion.
[laughter]
>> You thought I was nuts,
didn't ya?
>> I thought he had
too much time on his hands.
>> But Wayne watched his friend
tinker and toy
with different plastics
and designs.
>> Man against machine.
[motor whirrs]
>> And $16,000 of his
own money later--
>> Hey, we got that one.
>> --Jay Gascoigne
became a patented inventor.
>> It's an extra set of hands.
It's a lot of fun to play around
with while you're jigging.
Sometimes it'll out fish you.
It's like a little competition.
>> But Jay didn't spend
years baiting hooks
just for more pan fish.
>> Hopefully, they'll
be handy for somebody
to use that can't go out
and do the normal, every day
type of fishing the we do.
>> Somebody like Tim Soens.
>> Just a pretty good
all around good friend.
>> Tim and Jay went through
school together in Kenosha,
but they bonded more
outdoors than indoors.
He was an avid fisherman
and hunter, and then to be
inflicted with
a problem like that,
that's hard to take.
>> Tim's problem was
severe arthritis.
Jay's original fishing partner
simply couldn't hold a rod
any more.
>> You want to try to make it
a little easier for a guy.
And I kind of told him that,
well, maybe I can help him out
with it 'cause I had
come up with it
but I just didn't perfect it.
And then, he had passed away
after I got the majority of it
really on the road.
So I kinda felt bad about that,
you know.
Never got to enjoy it,
but at least he knew
I was thinking about him.
>> And with each
stationary cast today,
Jay still is.
>> Hopefully it'll
help somebody out
with the same problems.
[beeping]
He's on!
>> Now, this fishing partner
won't catch a trophy fish.
>> That's called a pumpkin seed.
>> But that's never what
this friend had in mind.
>> You're not going to catch
that 40-pound Muskie with it,
but you'll have a good time
out with your friends
and you can enjoy it.
I'm hoping that it can bring
somebody some pleasure.
>> One little fish
after another.
>> They got a mother and
father around somewhere.
>> Jay Gascoigne has a patent
on this fish tale
as well.
>> It makes me happy when
a plan comes together.
[motor whirrs]