By Chad La Chance

Admit it, at some point you were sitting on the couch watching some fishing show and thought, “ I could do a better job than that guy if I had my own show” or perhaps “Geez, that’s a gig I could get into!” I know this, because I used to think those thoughts all the time – even blurted them out to others in the room and discussed them over brews with my fishin’ buds. They all admitted to having the same thoughts at some point and I bet you have as well. It feels natural when watching someone else do what you love to do for fun, only they’re getting paid for it.

Well, I have good news; you can have your own fishing show! And while it may seem daunting at first, it really isn’t that hard. Keeping a few points in mind might be a good idea before you quit your day job though.
Before we delve into details, a little background on where I’m speaking from seems pertinent:

Fishful Thinker, LLC was originally founded as a Colorado outfitter in 2002, running guide trips for bass, walleyes and trout. In 2006, I started doing a local weekly fishing report for a regional outdoor talk radio show (now known as The Ticket Outdoors with Terry Wickstrom) which blossomed into an invite to be a one-off guest on Wickstrom’s long running, but now defunct TV show, Mountain States Fishing. I was hooked immediately and began investigating ways to host my own show. Fast-forward to now and we just completed our 5th airing season of Fishful Thinker TV. Who’d a thunk we’d make five seasons? Certainly not me, but since I get emails all the time from folks asking about how to get “in the biz”, here goes.

First is the big picture; What is your perfect fishing show? What would your theme be? Where would you fish and for what species? What would it look like overall? In the case of FTTV, I gathered a group of friends and watched snippets of a whole slew of fishing shows we’d recorded. We took notes of what aspects we liked and didn’t like for each show – everything from graphics to music to editing characteristics – in a focus group sort of way. Once we had an idea of what the show should look like, I set out to research actually producing it.

It got a little trickier here. You basically have two options; hiring an existing production company or producing the show in house. The first is much, much easier but has two main draw-backs in the high cost and loss of control. If you hire someone else to produce it, you’ll be at their mercy to some degree. We chose to produce it in-house, but to hire out the final editing. We bought camera equipment and mics and hired a buddy who then learned to film through a private class. I figured it would be good to film with someone that understood fishing, not just filming, plus if you’re going to travel around a bunch with someone, it may as well be someone you like hanging out with, right?

Next I picked up a workstation and started learning to edit. To say this process was slow would be a major understatement, but I wanted to maintain control of the content. I’d rough edit each show down and then pass the video off to a post-production company to tweak and make network worthy. Even storing and moving video around is a little touchy given the file sizes, which got worse when we upgraded to HD. We solved the problem with 8TB Seagate Black Armor drives (yes 8TB each!) for storage and 1TB GoFlex portable drives for moving video around.

So, having shows on a hard drive is great, but where to air them? Well, as with most things in life, it comes down to money. In a nutshell, most outdoor networks will sell you airtime (given your show meets their minimum standards of course), which you can then sell commercials within. This is how you’ll actually make money, hopefully. If your show is popular and folks tune in regularly, your commercial spots will be worth more money to sponsors. In the beginning, you’ll need to sell your commercial space based on a “pilot episode”.  Sharpen your sales skills because this, in my opinion, is the hardest part.

Since FTTV was to be focused on education, I felt our content needed to be regional, so I went with a regional network in Altitude Sports Channel, which airs in 10 western states. If you want a national network, you’ll need a national sized bank account. My advice; start local or regional.

Being “in the biz” means business, which implies revenue, which brings me directly back to the hard part – getting paid.  Fishful Thinker TV has always had the same great title sponsor in Sportsman’s Warehouse and I’d strongly suggest working on long term relationships with companies you actually believe in as opposed to grabbing the fast buck. In fact, almost all of our promotional partners including Toyota and St. Croix have been with FTTV since the inception. If your show is successful and ongoing (like any start up business, many don’t make it past the first year) it will be imperative that you have companies to grow with, not be starting from scratch each season. Think of it as earning a yearly promotion rather than having to find a new job each year. The more you know about the industry, the better off you’ll be. Do your research.

While I’m talking sponsors, I’d like to digress for a minute. Since you probably have favorite shows, keep in mind that the only reason those shows, etc. can air is because of the companies that support them. Of course those companies are doing it in hopes that they’ll ultimately make money from the exposure, but consider that the shows will go away if those companies do not find value in advertising on them. At least strongly consider the companies that support your favorite shows in your own shopping decisions. ‘Nuff said.

Here are few other things I think are important if you’re considering getting into the fishing media in any way. First, it’s a small industry. Integrity and honesty are imperative when dealing with the companies, networks and consumers. The fishing biz is not a get rich quick scheme by any stretch.  Plan on working long hours (longer than you work now most likely) and plan on making some sacrifices in other areas of your life to accomplish your goals here. Whether any of that is worth it, only time will tell. It has been for me.

I’ll close in saying that it is a realistic target to at least be part of a fishing show. The (non-cash) rewards are great and you’ll probably get to experience many things most anglers don’t, but it’s not easy either. We’ve had very long days on the road, spent ridiculous hours in an editing bay and countless hours dealing with sponsors.  But, we’ve also filmed in some beautiful places, met lots and lots of great people and have genuinely enjoyed bringing the angling lifestyle to the air in our own little way. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.