(soft upbeat music) - Yeah, buddy!

- There ya go, there ya go!

(Gee laughs) (fish splashing) - There is, there is a happy fishermen.

- Yes!

- [Eric] That's right.

- [Don] There you go, Gee!

- You guys are awesome.

(laughs) Thank you.

- [Narrator] This is a show about the men and women that serve in our military.

It's a story about life as a soldier and now a civilian.

It's a story about honor, courage and sacrifice.

Join us as we make friends, catch fish and give back to some of the bravest people there are.

These are their stories.

This is "Fishing Behind The Lines."

(soft upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Fishing Behind The Lines" is brought to you by... (soft upbeat music) (soft upbeat music continues) - Hi, folks.

I'm Don Meissner, and I wanna welcome you to this week's "Fishing Behind The Lines."

We have a...

I always say we have a special show 'cause I feel every show is special.

But today I've got two guests.

I've got Rob Berry and Alfred Gee.

And there's an interesting story here.

Rob was a first sergeant in the army for 20 years and Alfred is a commanding officer.

And so we have the sergeant and the commanding officer together to see how that whole thing plays out in fishing.

We got a beautiful place to go today.

This is Veterans Day.

So, that really makes today's show special.

We're gonna be fishing for largemouth bass and northern pike.

The wind is supposed to come up.

I don't know what's gonna happen, but I do know that both these guys are psyched and we're ready to go.

- Yes, sir.

- [Don] You know, folks, Alfred and Rob are only part of our team today.

We also have friends of mine, Melissa and Wild Bill Locy coming to help us because it always takes a team to make anything happen and I don't wanna forget Eric, our producer and cameraman that is always there to try to capture all the great times that we have each day.

You know, this is the time of year that I love to fish because we usually have these waters all to ourself.

And wouldn't you know, Melissa was the first one to tackle a fish.

I'm hooking it like crazy.

- [Melissa] Oh, fish on.

(grunts) There's a fish.

- [Don] You must've too, right?

- [Melissa] Fish on.

- [Eric] Fish On.

- [Don] Bill, has the famous lure (laughs).

- [Bill] It's the lure that I've abandoned.

- [Don] You get off?

- No.

- [Eric] They're here.

- [Don] Well, we got to remember this right.

- [Eric] Yup.

- [Don] What color hydra?

- [Melissa] Right there.

Real nice pike.

- [Don] You got a net?

- [Don] Rob, boss, take your net out.

I'm coming back Melissa.

- You want to net him?

- [Rob] Yeah.

- [Don] It's gonna be tough.

We're gonna hit that boat.

Don't knock the cameraman over though.

- [Melissa] That might be a little small.

- [Rob] Melissa, I'll come in.

I'll come in... Oh, he's got a net.

- He's wrapped around it pretty good.

- [Don] Oh, I see that.

There's a bigger net behind you, boss.

Yep.

- [Rob] Oh, that's a nice pike.

- Yep (grunts).

- [Rob] Wow!

(Don chuckles) - [Rob] Whoa!

(laughs) Yeah (grunts).

You see the size of that thing?

Man, so my pike really was the baby.

- [Melissa] There she is.

- [Gee] Wow, that's a beauty.

Oh, wow!

- [Don] Yup.

I Got it.

- [Rob] Okay.

Now push this-- - I'll tell you what, this may be on good for today, but, oh my God, this is a... Melissa's using my favorite lure of all time, the orange hydra.

And I should have been careful here.

I forgot it's got the treble down here.

The fish, this fish isn't even hooked right now.

Look at that.

(Bill laughs) - [Melissa] I got him on the wire.

- Yeah, you did.

This is a strange situation I'm in.

(Melissa laughs) Number one, the hook barb is caught in the net itself.

And so this is a lesson to all of you.

If you're going to use a net, get one of the rubber, the rubber nets, not one like this.

You won't believe it, but we actually are halfway there.

There's the pliers.

- [Melissa] Nice fish.

- There's Melissa's beautiful pike.

And if you think it's easy doing one of these shows, then (chuckles) you're wrong.

Because look at the crew, we got to try to put this together and thank goodness for Melissa.

Now I got to tell you, Melissa is a legend in this area.

She's a top muskie fishermen and everybody in the North Country's heard of her.

Now she's bringing her talents here to the, this will be gone group of people that can't get a strike.

I've held him out a long time and I've got to try to get his gill back.

See, I had his gill pinched in.

(fish splashing) There, you see.

- [Rob] He's gone.

- He says, "Enough of this crap."

(all laughing) I'm gone.

Well, that's a start.

So, that's a good one too.

Thank you, Melissa.

- [Melissa] You're welcome.

- [Rob] Nice job, Melissa.

- I'll tell you what we're gonna do.

Forget about us.

We're gonna zone on Melissa the rest of the day.

(all laughing) (acoustic guitar instrumental music) Rob, I don't know what that was.

- [Rob] I don't know.

- [Don] I'd like to think or hope it was a bass only that, that means both fish are hitting.

- [Rob] It was probably like a 20 pound bass.

I was, I was... (Don laughs) There's one.

Oh!

- [Gee] Oop, sorry.

- [Rob] Son of a... - [Don] I can't believe it.

- [Bill] Fish on!

- [Rob] Got one?

- [Bill] Fish on!

- [Don] Bill's got one?

- [Bill] Yup.

- [Rob] Holy cow.

This is amazing.

'Cause I had one.

Mine was bigger.

- [Bill] Get back here.

- [Rob] Boy, It really, it really hit it hard.

- [Don] What is it, Bill?

- [Bill] Another pike.

(grunts) Big pike.

(fish splashing) - [Melissa] Nice pike.

(fish splashing) - [Bill] He swallowed it too.

- [Rob] Yeah, he did.

(gentle music) - You got him?

- Yeah, I got him.

- Oh, wow!

Pretty fish.

- [Don] Bill, tell them about how it hit.

What would you doing?

- Well, he hit it.

I didn't think he got it.

And next thing I know my pole just bent over like a bamboo rod.

- [Don] A bamboo rod?

- Yeah, he just took it.

I mean took it.

- [Don] Wow!

(Bill laughs) Well, we're apparently into a place where there's some pike.

- Nice fish.

(fish splashing) And gone.

(gentle music) - [Don] Hold, hold up, until Eric's ready.

- [Eric] Oh, I'm ready, you're good.

- [Don] Okay.

Sorry, Melissa.

I'm coming over.

- [Melissa] Are we netting all these?

We don't have a net over here.

- [Don] I'm coming.

- [Melissa] Okay.

(fish splashing) - [Don] What is it?

- [Melissa] Pike.

- [Don] Is it?

- [Melissa] Yeah, right off the tip of that.

- [Gee] You got one?

- [Rob] No, I don't.

- [Gee] But that's already three.

- [Don] This is a new way of doing it.

Oh, geez!

Oh, my gosh.

These fish and Melissa, I think, I'm hoping we didn't get it too deep.

This bait... Yeah, just give me some slack.

- [Melissa] Yep.

- [Rob] Melissa, he was up on the bank, right?

- [Melissa] His right off this ledge in front of this, these trees.

- You know what, Bill (fish splashing) we should be keeping these fish and have a fish fry.

- [Bill] Yeah.

- These pike are beautiful pike.

- [Bill] They are.

- Man, I've never seen such big pike.

- [Melissa] You've got my lure still, Don.

- (chuckles) I should keep it.

(Melissa laughs) (soft upbeat music) Part of our day you know, we go out, we get to know each other.

We enjoy more than just the fishing.

Right now, we pulled into shore we've had some sandwiches and started getting ready for the next part of the day.

And we thought this would be a good time to talk.

Talk about what our life has been like and what each of these people that are here with me are like.

And you know, Melissa is a huge part of today's show.

And I said, "Melissa, I want you to come on and sit with us."

But she, she stayed off to the side 'cause she was a little bit shy.

But I got to tell you, she's as good a fishermen as I've ever seen.

And if it wasn't for her here today, I probably wouldn't have a show because I'm not doing much to help out.

You know, it's interesting here on Veterans Day, I've got Rob and I've got Alfred here.

You were enlisted 20 years in, correct?

- Yes, sir.

- And Alfred is the commanding officer.

- Mm-hmm.

- So, now that you're out, you've only been out a short period of time.

How was the relationship between you two?

How does it change with you being, (chuckles) not in the service now?

(Bill chuckles) - There's a lot of things I wanna say to you now that I'm not... (all laughing) No, I think well for our, for Gee and I, we are...

So, he wasn't my commanding officer, right?

And so while you're in the military, there is a, you know, understanding that, you know, enlisted officers, you know, there's not a lot of after work activities that you can really do, right?

'Cause there is that fine line.

But we had a great relationship prior to me getting out, you know.

It's funny I, regardless of rank, you always kind of gravitate towards good people.

Right?

- That's a great way to put it, really.

- He's always been a good guy to me.

I mean, it was never a rank issue.

He understood and I understood that there was that.

And I always called him sir.

I think I still call him sir.

(all laughing) He gives me crap for it all the time, you know?

But you know, there's that mutual respect, right?

And we understand that there's a line that you don't cross.

And you know, now, you know, that I'm out, you know, I'mma step all over that line.

(all laughing) No, I love the guy.

He's a great guy, a good family man.

Great officer.

But you know, mainly a good person, right.

And I'm not just saying that 'cause we're on camera and you know that.

- Right.

(soft upbeat music) - [Melissa] Oh, there's one.

You got one.

- [Don] Fish on.

- [Bill] Rob, got one.

- [Don] Whoa, Rob!

- [Melissa] Right at the boat.

- [Don] Right at the boat.

- [Melissa] Scared ya.

- I mean, a little.

(all laughing) We can edit that out though, right?

(Melissa laughs) - Grab him under the gill.

- Got him.

- [Melissa] Watch your head, watch your head.

- I'm sorry.

Oh-oh.

- [Eric] This is where I-- Got the cameraman.

- I love it, man (laughs).

- [Eric] Let me get a picture of you Rob.

- Rob, that's a nice pike.

- Yeah, she's nice.

- Rob, how come this boat right here hasn't caught anything yet?

(laughs) - [Rob] That is nice.

- [Bill] I saw that fish come up all the bottom.

And he nailed that.

- And he hit right by you?

- Yeah, he hit back from right there to Gee.

And it was, I was probably what, a foot in on water.

- [Gee] A foot out.

It was right there.

- It was exciting, man.

- All right.

Well, we're in a good spot.

- [Rob] You know, you're just sitting there just like, "Man, I ain't gonna catch a fish.

Don's making up, boom!"

(all laughing) - [Melissa] Alright, I'm gonna become a pessimist now.

- That's all it is, man.

Just got to guilt the fish into biting.

(gentle music) - You know, there seems to be and I've talked about this before, but it's just brought out with you two guys here again.

There's, it's stronger than just a bond.

It's, it's a brotherhood that exists.

And you know, I know that's a cliche word, but I see it all the time.

And it just seems to be exemplified when you guys or other guys get together, you know.

It's something that is hard to duplicate out there in the rest of the world.

I don't know if you know what I'm saying.

- No, I do.

And I think both Rob and I both agree, sorry.

(all laughing) It's a bond.

It's a brotherly bond, right?

You grew up in a household, you have siblings.

You spend every day together breakfast, lunch and dinner together.

Well, same thing with military, the only thing, we're all, we're not blood relatives.

We have something deeper than blood, right?

We have the mindset.

We have the mentality.

You have, in our case, as army, soldiers, you have the army values.

You have the mutual respect because everybody, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you're from, it doesn't matter where you come from.

It doesn't matter what sex you are.

It doesn't matter what your religion, your political aspects are, right?

You all carry the American flag on your right arm.

And then you have U.S. army on your heart, right?

And that makes you a deeper family.

Then you look at the training aspects, the real life scenarios, real life events, right.

You spend as in our case where infantry men.

So, you spend a lot of time in the woods and you get very uncomfortable.

You get very comfortable being uncomfortable, right?

And-- - It's interesting.

- When you're in the military, right?

You don't, you don't talk about when you get an award or, you know, good stuff like that.

You talk about, "Hey, when we had to dig that battle's position."

And it was just raining on us.

Or hey, when we were in Alaska and it was just negative 50 degrees and we were just freezing.

And you know, we were cuddling to stay warm while we're pulling security on a perimeter.

So that brotherhood, I think is built on the experiences that you achieve in the military and all of that-- - It's that hardship too.

- Yeah.

- Right?

You know, they always say, you know, the harder, the more difficult something is that you endure or somebody, the closer you become.

You know what I mean?

Like-- - Yeah.

- Some of my best friends were through combat, you know what I mean?

Because you just, you see so much and you go through so much kinda like, you know, with training with us, you know, out in the field, you know, you know, imagine like a fishing trip where, you know, it's just crazy and everything goes wrong and-- - [Don] Like today.

(all laughing) - But it brings people closer together, you know?

- Yes it does.

- 'Cause you know, him and I, I can't tell you a whole bunch of good stories in the army, but I can always tell you the very crappy fuel problems, you know?

'Cause you remember those.

And you remember who was around you and the experiences you go through it, so.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Rob] There's a fish.

- [Melissa] Fish on.

(Melissa laughs) Oh my God.

- [Don] Got one Rob or Melissa?

- [Melissa] I got a pike.

(fish splashing) Nice pike.

- [Don] Did Melissa got another fish?

Holy!

- [Melissa] All right, I'm just gonna release it then.

- [Eric] Tell me what you did.

What happened?

- I switched lures to a weedless since we're in the weeds and this was the first cast.

- [Don] Oh, nice pike, Melissa.

- Yeah.

(tuba instrumental music) Woo-hoo!

(gentle upbeat music) - [Don] Keep the rod bent.

- Okay.

- [Don] Keep the rod bent.

- It's a big pike baby!

- [Rob] Hey, let's go.

(Gee laughs) - [Don] Keep the force on it.

Keep-- - I think it's a bass.

- [Don] No, it's a pike.

(Gee laughs) - It's a pike.

(Gee laughs) - Bring him over here to me and I'll do my best not to screw you up.

- Yeah, buddy.

- There ya go, there ya go!

(Gee laughs) (fish splashing) - You need the hook remover?

- I don't think so.

I need to hold him.

I'm doing everything, but what's right.

(Rob laughing) - Hey, for the record that's the biggest fish of the day, okay.

(all laughing) Wow!

Look at that.

- That was incredible.

- Oh, what a lucky catch?

- [Don] There's your pike.

- Yes!

- [Don] You got to pose with him.

- Oh, yeah.

Most definitely.

- [Don] Okay.

(Don chuckles) There is, (Gee laughs) there is a happy fishermen.

- Yeah.

- [Eric] That's right.

- [Don] There you go.

There you go, Gee.

- You guys are awesome (laughs).

Thank you.

I'll let him go, yeah!

- [Don] Yep, let him go.

- There you go, buddy.

Go safely.

- [Melissa] All right.

- That was awesome.

- [Don] That's great.

- What was this lure called again?

- It's a hydra - On a Hydra.

Oh, that was awesome.

(Don laughs) And you called it too.

He said, "Hey right around this bank I guarantee you're gonna get one."

(Rob and Don laughs) - [Rob] Wow!

Good job.

- Do you realize I'm the only one that hasn't caught a fish today.

And I'm the only one... that's about the best I can do is call it.

(all laughing) - Hey, but you definitely guided me on that one.

- Okay.

Good job.

(acoustic guitar instrumental music) Bill, you've been sitting there.

This is the longest I've ever seen you sit without talking.

(all laughing) But it's really interesting to go back generations or go ahead generations.

You were in the Marines in Vietnam and now you're sitting here with people that have been in the modern army.

- Mm-hmm.

- What are your feelings right now as you sit here today?

You must have something going on in there.

- Well, I'll tell you what.

Listened to these two gentlemen talk, the chills just bring up the back of my neck because-- - I agree.

- I am familiar with the camaraderie.

I'm familiar with being in the military.

And I'm sitting here and the hair standing up on the back of my neck.

And I just wanna give you guys a big hug.

(all laughing) And say Happy Veterans Day, because it's important, that it's not only the Marine Corps that has the bonds and the friendships and the respect.

It's every branch of the service.

And I'm sitting here just (chuckles) wow!

It's not dead.

- No.

- It's not dead.

Their camaraderie is not dead.

Whatever you do in your life, as long as you have friends and friendship, as long as you can share, pass it forward.

I mean, this is, this is amazing.

I mean, it's an honor.

- I got to tell you, this conversation this day exemplifies, personifies, it really lets you see what "Fishing Behind The Lines" was meant to be when I first envisioned it.

When I wanted to tell the story of our military.

This is an honor for me today.

And to have two guys like this, I shouldn't say two, three, a long time friend.

Like this to share this with and we can't forget Melissa.

How can we forget her?

She's the one that makes it all possible in catching all the fish.

(all laughing) In any event, I hope you're enjoying our show today.

And now we're gonna get back out on the water for a little final, final try to see if we can get another fish.

(soft upbeat music) - [Gee] Do you think there's muskie in here?

- [Don] No.

I used to think so, but I've never through all my years had one on in here ever.

So, it doesn't mean...

There's one!

- [Rob] Don's got one!

- [Don] Boy oh boy!

It's about time!

I was getting a complex.

(Don and Gee laughs) - [Gee] He's meaning to fight.

- [Don] Holy cow.

- [Gee] That's a nice one.

- [Don] I thought for a minute it was a walleye.

When I (chuckles) saw his fin.

- [Gee] Oh that is a nice one.

- [Don] Well... - [Gee] So, when you're grabbing a pike you're grabbing it through the, near the gills?

- Yeah.

What I do is I push my finger on each side of the gill and that kind of like paralyzes them.

I say, as I grabbed the hook and risk having him flap right now, I got it out.

- [Gee] Yeah.

That's a beautiful one.

- That's the lure we've been using by the way.

Today you heard us talking about it.

It hasn't been on the market for years.

It's called the hydra.

It's the most deadly pike lure I've ever used in my life.

Sometimes I don't like to use it 'cause it has a little treble and it tends to hook them sometimes deep (chuckles).

Hasn't hooked them very deep for me today, but it's a good way to end the show.

I got to tell you, I really didn't expect to have such a fantastic day.

Called for 35 mile an hour winds, and granted it's trying in.

Called for a lot of rain and we miss most of that.

But the big thing is we had a great bunch of people today.

And we had a ball, I hope you've had a good-- - I've had an outstanding time.

What a better way to spend, you know, a Veterans Day amongst friends, family, and on the lake fishing.

And actually getting two monsters.

So, that's awesome.

(Don laughs) - Remember they were monsters.

I know who I need to take out every time.

I can't displease him.

Anyway, I hope you've had fun watching us and we'll see you on the next "Fishing Behind The Lines."

- [Announcer] "Fishing Behind The Lines" is brought to you by... (gentle upbeat music) - You know, folks, the fishing was really fantastic today.

But that's only the beginning of the attractions to see and do around here.

For more information about this, go to our website WPBSTV.ORG.

- [Announcer] If you would like a copy of this episode of "Fishing Behind The Lines" for $15, including shipping and handling, visit wpbstv.org and click on the Shop WPBS button.

Please ask for the episode number on your screen.

(acoustic guitar instrumental music) (gentle inspiring music) (acoustic guitar instrumental music)