Salmon TV

As a kayak fishing guide, professionally trained chef and public school educator I do lots of interesting and out of the ordinary things compared to your average cubical monkey, but honestly I can't see even the exciting days making for terribly good TV. 

As a kayak fishing guide, professionally trained chef and public school educator I do lots of interesting and out of the ordinary things compared to your average cubical monkey, but honestly I can't see even the exciting days making for terribly good TV.

That's it...pelagic's off the show

Ha! What would be awesome is finding some fishermen who live off the grid/off the land... has anyone run into anyone like that?

I live off the fish I catch, but my residence is an apartment....darn....

here's an idea.  you take a group of kayak anglers (my idea so i have to be included  ) and follow them paddling, fishing, and camping in almost any location in se alaska.  i'll bring the fly fishing gear so i can be ridiculed all the time because i have to beg for food from those who catch fish  .  long paddles, hard fishing, rough camping... what could go wrong?

Your problem as a fly fisherman is you haven't learned to KEEP YOUR CATCH. 

As a kayak fishing guide, professionally trained chef and public school educator I do lots of interesting and out of the ordinary things compared to your average cubical monkey, but honestly I can't see even the exciting days making for terribly good TV. 

Watch "Flying Wild Alaska" for lessons on how the mundane is dramatized and sensationalized.  By the time the editor, narrator, and musicman are done, chopping onions will look like dramatic, hazardous work. 

Is this just a hobby for you all? or a way to make a living? What are your day jobs? Would definitely need to work that in there!

I'm one of the few geezers here: IT Management (between gigs), kayak angler and crabber, private pilot/owner, home brewer, coffee roaster, bird hunter, amateur competitive shooter, and appreciator of fine woman, fine bourbon, and fine cigars. 

Your problem as a fly fisherman is you haven't learned to KEEP YOUR CATCH. 

wait, you have to keep your catch to eat it?  you'd think i'd be skinnier.

chris

What an incredible life. I'm jealous. If you could be on/develop a television show -in an ideal world- what would it look like for you?

Imagine filming a 50 lb Chinook caught from a kayak.
Imagine filming a 100 lb halibut caught from a kayak.
Imagine filming a 200 lb shark caught from a kayak.
Imagine filming a 200 lb billfish caught from a kayak.
Imagine filming an Alaskan salmon river run from a kayak.
Imagine filming a 60lb Ono or Mahi Mahi caught from a kayak.
Imagine fiiming a lb caught from a kayak.

I think a show roaming the US and perhaps the world - the Aussies are NUTS - the Hawaiians are awesome - the PNWers are stoic survivors - filming kayak fisherman making extreme catches might be a hit.  I don't think mundane catches will do it though. 

The problem, of course, is that while bass fisherman will watch for hours, fat guys on $50,000 boats catch little, inedible freshwater fish, not sure the same audience would be interested in solo anglers risking adverse conditions, traveling miles with only paddle or pedals, to land monster fish on 13' tupperware boats.  The other issue is while a film crew can be pretty sure the fat guys on the $50,000 boats will catch some little inedible fish, not so with the guys on plastic boats risking their lives for real fish.

It might take a couple crews and 9 months of world trekking to put together a 13 week series. 

If an audience was attracted to Robson Green and his Extreme Fishing tours in which he only occasionally caught fish of note, maybe there's an audience for something like I've described.

I really do love the idea and would be very interested to watch it myself. That being said, the reason extreme outdoor shows work is because there is a united group working toward a singular goal with high stakes. On the other end of the spectrum, competition also works. The problem I'm worried about is that since it's a hobby, what's drives each episode? Ya know?

There are hundreds of subsistence communities scattered throughout Alaska, many of which depend on traditional salmon (and other fish) harvest, hunting, and gathering.

I can think of a few genres of shows that might weave kayak fishing into them.  One would be a show that juxtaposes traditional salmon harvest of these communities with the growing sport of kayak fishing.  This is a slant on a theme that I've seen in my many travels.  For example, on our recent Christmas Island trip, I saw lots of native subsistence fishers in traditional dugout canoes.  On my next trip back, I want to swap vessels with one for the day, putting him in my modern plastic SOT kayak while I take the reigns of his traditional outrigger canoe.

Another genre would be more expedition style.  Follow the runs of salmon on a kayak expedition or series of expeditions.  Hit the many runs of salmon: the early summer kings, the summer chums, sockeye, and pinks, and the late summer silvers.  There are any classic fisheries to be explored by kayak that offer outstanding wildlife scenery.  The grounds eye (or waters eye view) from the kayak, and the reliance on human power offers a peculiar viewpoint not often seen in outdoor TV.

Of course you can combine the 2 genres ... kayak fishing expeditions to subsistance communities while following the salmon runs!   

Extend the show to the South Pacific ... I have a few locations lines up that would work.  Just swap Alaska subsistence community with Pacific Atoll subsistence community.

-Allen

Ok demonick, I must stand up for Flying Wild Alaska....The scenery is beautiful, and honestly I find it interesting how those pilots brave the weather and conditions...  Not to mention I would LOVE to try some of Ariel's stinkflipper    Yeah, she's on my list....

Allen, that's really useful information. I would be really interested in the subsistence communities scattered throughout Alaska who rely on salmon fishing for food, industry, etc. Do you know of any offhand or any people from those communities that I could look into?

The other issue is while a film crew can be pretty sure the fat guys on the $50,000 boats will catch some little inedible fish, not so with the guys on plastic boats risking their lives for real fish.

Of all the trips I've taken and fishing I've done, I only recall being skunked once, and that was mainly due to a lack of effort, spawning by an overindulgence of Sailor Jerry.


Simone, I would steer you towards things like the trips featured in these links.  While not exactly geared towards TV, a good producer and editor could find a way to make it work, and work well. 

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=8197.0
(Actually, I'll have to send the other as a PM, as it's in our member's only section)

Allen, that's really useful information. I would be really interested in the subsistence communities scattered throughout Alaska who rely on salmon fishing for food, industry, etc. Do you know of any offhand or any people from those communities that I could look into?

Taking it to email now ...

-Allen

Ok demonick, I must stand up for Flying Wild Alaska....The scenery is beautiful, and honestly I find it interesting how those pilots brave the weather and conditions...  Not to mention I would LOVE to try some of Ariel's stinkflipper    Yeah, she's on my list....

I agree with almost everything you said, but the amount of invented drama has turned me off it.  OHMYGOD a warning light!  They could die.  If the whatchamaycallit overframs then the plane could spin out of control and the wings fall off!  Watching Ariel "learn" to fly?  Why?  Even if she gets a mercy certificate who would risk their life and fly with her?!  My God!  She's kinda cute, but a TOTAL DITZ behind the yoke.  She has a future as a "personality" but not as a pilot.   Maybe it's because I know too much about airplanes and flying. 

I do love seeing the remote villages and the culture of life out there.  I do love watching Jim Tweeto get in and out of the bush in his '69 C180.  That is awesome, and he is a great pilot, but even then the drama is excessive.  "What if the snow is too soft?"  "What if the snow is too hard?"  "What if the crust breaks, the skids freeze, or the tail falls off?"  Good grief, Jim Tweeto has over 30,000 hours and has done what he is doing tens of thousands of times over decades. 

I DVR'd the first two seasons, but not this one.