I remember the email last year about Top Hooker, the poorly named “reality TV” show which was to be put out by Animal Planet. The idea was to get a bunch of really good anglers together and let them compete to see who could take home the prize of being America’s… ummm… “top hooker.”
I see this… and… facepalm.
Ah… a pun. Those are timeless, no?
Well, the first trailer is out for the new show. Yes, it is as bad as you’d expect it to be. There is bow hunting for fish (because archery is a key part of fishing, as everyone knows), I’d be shocked if there wasn’t noodling in there somewhere, and even zip line fishing, another key skill of the well-rounded angler.
I expect to see lots of dead fish and lots of poor handling and lots of bravado.
I’d love to see a show with real fisherman trying to figure out real situations.
Here’s the show I’d like to see.
- Gather nominated anglers. No one should be able to put their own name in. The best anglers don’t need to tell anyone they are the best. Other people talk about them, knowing they are the best.
- Put them in different situations and see how creative they are, how flexible they are, how well they understand their prey, judge the level of their tactical skill, asses their conservation ethic.
I’d like to see them fish a bait ball, cast a midge on a spring creek, high-stick some pocket water, strip-set a bonefish, chase down a rooster and pop for a LMB. In the end, there has to be some subjectivity to really determine who did better. I know that I could do a crappy job of landing a fish while someone else did much better losing one.
I’d like to watch that.
I’d even bet, if you had the real McCoy’s, that these anglers would help each other, talk though situations, share knowledge and would generally be enjoyable to be around.
I’d like to see that show, but they’d never make it. There is no money to be made on TV when people behave themselves and when failure is more spectacular than skill.
