Ice fishermen in the media

[robert aldrich]

In my past two years of being an ice fisherman I have watched Jason Mitchell outdoors and Midwest Outdoors. I have started wondering how are ice fishermen portrayed in the media today. Most outdoor television shows about ice fishing come out in the fall/ winter period. What kind of structure doe’s the shows has, and are the shows relative to the every day ice fishermen like me. I have chosen to examine the ice fisherman in outdoor television shows.

yup i am doing a reserch paper on Ice fishermen in the media.it is a final paper for a mass comm class.

[KidMoe]

Congrats on writing about something that interests you! I've been taking notice of the same issue for the last year. I have come to the conclusion that most of what they cover does not pertain to the everyday ice fisherman any more than to get us excited for fishing. These shows are like most fishing shows where they are fishing prime locations often with local guides. I believe that the portrayal in the media shows ice fisherman being much more successful than the average. Hope this helps!

[Will]

+1

[Marcus Taplin]

Robert, if you have any questions let me know. I am an avid fishermam and work in the TV industry at FSN. I have a pretty good background in media history and ethics too.

Good Luck glad I am done with papers and finals!

[curtistodd]

some popular ice fishing hosts fish with 5 or more other people, and when they catch a fish, they unhook it, and put it on the hosts hook, drop it back down the hole, turn the camera on, and then the host reels it up as if they caught it. Some of those half-hour shows take four or five days to make. Even the "greats" get skunked some days. I like watching the shows, and there is stuff to be learned, but trial and error is where a person really learns.

[reinhard1]

there are two TV personalities in my opinion that are down to earth guys. also have good ethics and catch their own fish and all the rest. one is John Gilespie. yes he's loud and very much of a hugger but he has a show every week and fishes in all kinds of weather and temps. sure he fishes with guides, but Gilespie and his guides dont mind showing you what they are using and different techniques used.

the other is my favorite, although he does not have many shows. Butch Furtman [a native Duluth guy} catches his own fish and is a guy i would love to fish with at some time. one of his favorite lakes is Boulder near Duluth and i have also seen him do shows on Island Lake as well. Jason Mitchel i believe also is a strait up guy who catches his own fish and is fun to watch.

i remember one time there was a film crew on Chisago years ago with a popular TV host [still has a show]. i was fishing with my daughter at the time for panfish when this bass boat pulls up near enough to us were we could see what they were doing. they had a film crew in a boat near them. the guy had a kid in the boat and would put large bass and crappies on the kids line and let the line out and the kid would reel them in. same with him. this took all of a half hour and they left. the possitive side to that episode was that they released all those large fish in the lake that they had in the live well.

that is the only time i have ever seen that. do some still do this? i dont know. i like the In Fishermen Ice show. they seem to catch their own fish judging by the energy the fish have during the battle up the ice. they do catch a lot of large fish, but maby that's because they have the ability to go to these spots and have the guides to show them where. good luck.

[NAMASafetyDirector]

I've seen this a couple times on Lake of the Woods now. Doesn't it seem funny to the viewers at home that all the guys on these shows are shown catching the "dime a dozen" 28-30" walleyes that LOW has to offer. I've seen it fist hand, a whole fleet of guys doing a show, one guy catches a nice one and on the hosts line it goes and the camera comes on and the B.S. ensues. Just the nature of the T.V. beast. It's like all t.v. in fact...promotions,resort/guide advertisments, lures,apparel, electronics etc. Until, RFD or Prarie Public Television starts doing and ice show I think we're stuck with it. I did manage to watch Gillespie for approx. 6 minutes last week till I just couldn't take it anymore, one more "GET THE FRABIL"...and I was going to body slam the t.v.!!!

[leech~~]

I've seen this a couple times on Lake of the Woods now. Doesn't it seem funny to the viewers at home that all the guys on these shows are shown catching the "dime a dozen" 28-30" walleyes that LOW has to offer. I've seen it fist hand, a whole fleet of guys doing a show, one guy catches a nice one and on the hosts line it goes and the camera comes on and the B.S. ensues. Just the nature of the T.V. beast. It's like all t.v. in fact...promotions,resort/guide advertisments, lures,apparel, electronics etc. Until, RFD or Prarie Public Television starts doing and ice show I think we're stuck with it. I did manage to watch Gillespie for approx. 6 minutes last week till I just couldn't take it anymore, one more "GET THE FRABIL"...and I was going to body slam the t.v.!!!

Lol Jim, Soon you can turn off the tube! Ice is coming! Then you can say "Im not sure where I will be fish next week but stay tuned"

[Shorelunch]

The fishing TV shows are a vicious cycle. The shows desperately need sponsors. Most sponsors have decreased marketing budgets and/or need to ROI. Therefore, the TV shows need to promote all sponsors during a show - and look good doing so. If I'm a crankbait manufacturer and the TV show is catching little or no fish on my lures, it sure doesn't look good, does it? Same for resorts, nets, rods, etc.

A lot depends on the show and the show's sponsors - and how "pukey" they get with promoting the sponsors each show. Some sponsors get that a soft sell is better and more received by the audience - and some shows and sponsors want the "sell sell sell."

The TV fishing show world is tough industry to crack and to survive in, let alone make money in.

[TylerS]

Look up "IN-Depth Outdoors" on the u-tube. Looks like a pretty well-produced show, and the most recent episodes are ice fishing related.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

Typical ice fishing show:

Hey guys we're here with XXX resort on XXX lake. XXX resort has top notch guides and take care of you. They will put you on monster XXX like these that we have caught all day. (edit out the 24 clients in the back ground who each caught one 12 inch perch) Here is XXX, owner of XXX resort to brag about the fishery.

"well the high water here at XXX has been awesome. we have been catching 48" walleyes and 24" crappies all summer, fall, and winter." "Anybody can come up and catch these fish, as long as they are paying me."

Cue advertisement for XXX resort, tourism bureau, and some goofy product that will shave 5 seconds off your setup time but take up half your truck bed.

Hey guys were back at XXX for day two. Today we are going to fish a small slough that the locals threatened to drown us in if we said the name on the air. well, since this is TV and its all about the $$, the name of the slough is XXX. Come up and get you some of these monster perch! We have been catching them all day on these $6 lures that glow, rattle, have built in scent, and do loop-de-loops when you jig them. These fat XXX slough perch are absolutely destroying these lures. We've already got 45 perch over 14" and after the break johnny the camera guy is going to get his limit too.

Cue advertisement for a $150 a night lodge where your "guided trip" consists of a bomber ride by a schnaaps sipping Vietnam war vet to a plywood box full of sunflower seeds, pistachio shells, and dried up minnow heads.

Hey guys, its time for our tip of the week. Today we are going to talk about how to use your $1200 in electronics to sight fish for panfish. Its a little known secret that looking down your hole for shallow fish is not the correct method for sight fishing. To do it properly, you need a gps, flasher, and camera, all synced to the SOCOM encrypted radio network to effectively work these smart bluegills. Do all this and you might catch fish like I am here.

Well folks thats our show for the week...Next week we'll be on leased land, with a guide, squawking on big river flute calls over 42" magnum honker shells skyblasting geese with 10 gauges near Devil's Lake. Until then, from all of us at I'm a Tool Outdoors, Catchphrase!

[TylerS]

Dear carpshooterdeluxe,

BWA-Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

Sincerly,

TylerS

[butsy]

i have to say robert, that one guy i know that is authentic is dan small of the outdoor wi show. i know he's authentic because i've watched countless shows where he catches or shoots...nothing whatsoever. he did a duck hunting show at green bay where they didn't see a duck, much less fire a gun, in the whole episode, filmed over several days.

many of the OW fishing shows, he either gets skunked, or catches a few tiny ones. granted it's pbs so he doesn't have the budget of other shows. as authentic as this is, it is also boring as h#ll. when i watch a fishing show, i expect the host to catch a fish. just WATCHING a guy CAST and blather on about the fishery is boring. it does make you think about the OTHER shows though...

i would suspect that this is the case for most of us- sure, extremely detailed, information shows like InFish or Fishing edge give us biology, ecology, other fascinating info, but they also catch fish too.

the producers of the shows give the people what they want-action. sure, some of them use create editing or less ethical methods to get this action on tape.(you can tell sometimes when the weather conditions have drastically changed- or the scenery, clothing, companions lol)

some viewers see it a mere entertainment, and don't care about the authenticity-it's escape for them. some viewers want to be educated, in the in-fisherman type shows. and some shows are 30 minute adverts for some area/resort like other posters have mentioned.

[curtistodd]

carpshooterdeluxe - double hahahahhahahaahhahahaha! Funny post.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

[Finlander]

FISHEMEN AREN'T LIERS! WHAT ARE YOUSE GUYSE TALKING ABOUT?

[broman]

Look up "IN-Depth Outdoors" on the u-tube. Looks like a pretty well-produced show, and the most recent episodes are ice fishing related.

+1

[Jarrid Houston]

Check out Jig-Heads, Butch Furman, John Gillespie, Joe Bucher, and some of the guys from Mid-West Outdoors (Teddy T, Jason Mitch, Jim Hud, and one of the newest guys and a friend of mine charley nelson. In my opinion they are all honest average people, but respectively better fishermen than most. And that comes with dedication of doing what they love to do!!! Yes they promote products, but I can tell you as a guide, I promote the products that come to me free of charge too!!! Gotta love the outdoors shows when one is locked up in the house though!!

[robert aldrich]

Gotta love the outdoors shows when one is locked up in the house though!!

true verry true.

[reinhard1]

Butch Furtman is an excample of a guy that is one heck of a fisherman. my brother says very few people have the knowledge of the north shore streams like Butch has and the knowhow of how to catch steelhead and loopers. My brother has put in many years on the north shore [also has caught the state record king salmon back in the late 80's which has been surpassed since] and respects Butch as a person and a great angler.

i agree with your whole post with the rest of the personalities you named. for those who think having your own show is easy, try it sometime. Furtman is not a rich man, but a man who has entertained and instructed many into learning different tactics to better improve their angling abillities. advertising is part of the show, otherwise it's not possible to have one unless independently wealthy. good luck.

[Jim Hudson]

Have been honored to film with quite a few different television programs through my career in the fishing industry. With that - I have heard of the many horror stories of "canned" shoots. Thankfully, I have never been around this type of behavior.

Now, shooting a show in the open water is tough, but ice fishing related, one thing that is common, it is 10 times the effort to get a great show shot. If you can do a shoot in one day, its a gift. Two days is a minimum to put all the content together. Sometimes three (most I have been on). Weather, negative fish, changing conditions, equipment failure due to cold, etc etc just make it difficult to put together a complete program.

The Next Bite Crew (Parsons - Maina - Kavajacz), Butch Furtman, John Gillespie, Jason Mitchell, , Dave Carlson and the folks I have filmed with at In-Fish are all stand-up folks and put together great programs that are fun, exciting and educational - even if their shows vary in content and editing budgets.

[Stick in Mud]

I guess my own interest increased in these shows when I stopped thinking they were "real." I typically make fun of reality-TV, but heck, ice fishing shows are reality TV for people who wear camo and know what a "crawler harness" is. It looks real, but it isn't as real as it looks. Just like Kim Kardashian.

But almost all the outdoor media is the same. It's either reality TV or an infomercial. I'm fine with them in between seasons, but when I can get out fishing, I'm doing that instead of watching the tube. Reality is better than the TV.

[Chode2235]

Carp,

That was one of the best posts I have read around here in a long time.

But don't forget the other media channels too, particularly online. Sites like this and others attract a lot of eye balls and I am fine with all the ads, and the sponsorships as bandwidth bills are high and hey, I need a shelter. That model works.

The one that gets me are the folks who receive personal sponsorships for brands or products who come on these boards and pretend to give you an honest opinion of something, or just want to sell you a bit more. You pick up on those folks pretty quick when you read these boards enough, but it seems like if you are sponsored by someone you should be a bit more transparent about it (like the site ads, no confusion there).

"Naw, you don't want XXX flasher. YYY all the way, with their new super duper clear screen and 1/xxx inch separation you can see exactly how big each fish is."

"Oh, those ice shelters... Well yes, most of them fell apart last year, but don't worry they got them all fixed and they're still 10x better than XXX."

"I totally pounded the fish this weekend, but I had to go through my tackle box to find the lure they wanted. Luckily for me it was the new XXX jig that I picked up at ZZZ on sale last week."

Everywhere you look, someone is trying to sell you something. Especially in the sport fishing industry (as the numbers are down, but each angler is spending more). I just wish folks who are getting paid to express an opinion would be clear that they have a financial stake in that opinion.

I can handle the informercials online, as the videos are cool and you know they're trying to sell you something; but I have a hard time when word of mouth is paid for.

OK, ill come off my soapbox now...

[LeeMB]

Over the years I have fished with many TV shows as the local guide guy. I have never seen fake hookups or anything close to fake shoots. Usually, but not always it takes a few days to get the show shot.

In the last year or so I have been on the ice with the guys from the Next Bite, In-Depth outdoors and In-fishermen. There were no fish filmed that were not hooked by the guy on the tape. All 3 of the above mentioned shows were class acts. don't know where the "canned" show stuff comes from

[duck2]

Good luck on your paper. Besides the perspective of the commercially driven ice fishing / outdoor shows, you may also want to include the portrayal of ice fishing to the non-ice fishing public.In particular I refer to the Grumpy Old Men movies. Many people, when I tell them I like like ice fishing, immediately bring up Grumpy Old Men. I think that movie has done more to raise awareness of ice fishing (correctly portrayed or not) than all of the ice fishing/sportsman's shows. It humorously reinforces the stereotype of an ice fishing rod being a stick with a hook on one end and an [PoorWordUsage] on the other.