advertisement

Jackson: Not all fishing shows on television are a great catch

It was a madhouse in my office this week. What else is new? It's always crazy town here.

One of my interruptions was a chat about television fishing shows with Terry in Wauconda.

Here's a guy who enjoys fishing for largemouth bass on Bangs Lake almost as much as I do. When it comes to outdoor shows on television, Terry makes a concerted effort to turn off his big-screen set on Saturday morning and settle in to his comfortable recliner with some good books.

"It seems to me I've read one of your columns years back when you went off on these shows," Terry noted.

I told him I still hold to that belief about weekend outdoor shows on the tube, but I added one aspect.

I've noticed a tremendous number of so-called fishing and hunting experts who laid out the bucks to buy video cameras so they could record their exploits and show them on cable television. That's not all bad, of course, but the quality of today's screen production is something akin to a marathon comedy show.

I'm not referring to shows involving Lindner, Winkelman, Flip Pallot, and the like. They are part of a cadre of outdoor educators who are able to speak to the little guy in clear and understandable English.

My issue is with the men who continue to pound the shorelines and hardly ever head to mid-lake deep spots to find a school of suspended fish. These are the same characters who believe that the more horsepower hooked to their stern the more fish they'll catch.

Terry also highlighted something else to my attention as it pertains to some of the extreme showmen.

"I often wonder if some of the national sponsors, the companies that front some of the television newbies, and oldies for that matter, are able to see a return on their investment," he added.

Perhaps you are one of the souls glued to your television and watching as their $50,000-rigs race across a reservoir covered bow to stern with sponsor logos.

If you're lucky, you may even see sponsor names like Fred's Body Shop, or Lucy's Knit Clothing located somewhere like Chicahoula, Louisiana. If we all got together and left now before hurricane season kicks in again, may be we can get in line while Lucy opens her doors.

I've heard from dozens of others, like Terry, with their own strong opinions.

And I also heard from a television guy, Mark Zona, the last time I ran a similar column. I happened to mention some of the guys with three first names who also had a tendency to make the word 'fish' a two-syllable word (fi-yusssh). That particular column triggered quite a bit of pro and con reaction; mostly pro I might add.

If you have an extra hour or two on a Saturday morning before you eat breakfast, I recommend you dial up one of those channels where the boys are racing around the water and wind up calling whatever they catch a fi-yush. I say before breakfast for obvious reasons.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, catch his radio show 7-9 a.m. Sundays on WGCO 1590-AM (live-streamed at www.1590WCGO.com) and get more content at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.