Yes, you read that right. Mike Iaconelli was in Seattle Monday taping a segment of "City Limits" on Lake Washington. Back at the Classic, we talked about doing a show here, and he followed through. Thing is, the TV producer thought it would be great to do a SALMON show too, plus bass fishing! UGH!
Long story short (really long story), Mike went fishing with a salmon guide in the morning, then met me at the locks to do the bass fishing segment at 11:00. 11:00 rolls by... and gone....several phone calls of "running a little late" later, and I meet them at 1:00. I learn that they didn't catch any salmon.
Well, to maintain continuity, the producer decided to keep the salmon guide to do the bass fishing segment as well, and use my boat for the camera crew. Oh well, at least I get to see how it's done, right? Bass fishing from a salmon boat... this ought to be interesting. heh, heh
It took Mike 10 mins to decide this wasn't going to work.
New plan! Use Glenn's boat! So we swap boats.
Remember now, this was the day after a major cold front dropped temps by more than 20 degrees. By now a north breeze is getting stronger as another front approaches (we had no idea just how mammoth that front was!). A north wind on Lake Washington means the bite is very tough, to say the least.
Needless to say, Lake Washington shut down. The bite was non-existent. Even a Classic champion and AOY like Mike couldn't muster a bite, other than a few perch. Bummer - I really wanted the rest of the country to see how good the bass fishing is here.
Mike didn't give up, however. We hit several spots as the front approaches. The wind got stronger and colder, then the rain came..... then thunder and lightening. It took about 30 mins to convince him to come off the water - he was determined to catch one. However, several close lightening flashes finally got him to put his rod down and put the boat on the trailer.
Fishless.
Later that evening, we learned just how bad the storm really was as a funnel cloud was spotted not to far from where we were! (aside from the torrential rain pouring down and the lightening!) This was a one-in-a-decade storm, and as luck would have it, it happened on THAT day!
On Tuesday, they did the beauty shots of Seattle, including Mike throwing fish at Pike Place Market. They interviewed me to talk about the previoius day and about bass fishing in Washington. Who knows if they'll use any of it. I may end up on the editing room floor once they see my ugly mug on the screen. ;D
Not sure if this show will ever air, given no fish were caught. They're going to check with the network to see if they have to use it. They may come back to reshoot it later this year or next year, not sure. If it does air, I'll let you know when.
Here are the pics:
Trying to fish from a salmon boat
THAT didn't last long! ;D
Is that thunder?
All-in-all, had a great time hanging out with the crew and Ike. Had about 2 hrs just shooting the breeze with him as we were waiting to shoot my interview. Looks like we'll be fishing together again at the Classic next February.
I left out a lot of details here. Not sure if any of this is interesting, so I didn't want to bore anyone. Feel free to ask questions if you're curious.
Glenn
