What Happened To All The Good Bass Fishing Programs?

[BigmouthForever23]

I remember growing up as a kid my dad would show me some really good fishing shows. My favorite was the B.A.S.S Masters Classic on the ESPN network. Along with some others like Bill Dance, Field & Streams had a show too. What happened to those good shows? Do I just have a crappy cable package that doesn't air them anymore? Or did they just not get very good ratings? Perhaps Youtube/Internet is to blame? I have a decent cable package, but I never see any fishing programs. Any common channels I can look for that might air some?

[lo n slo]

They're still out there. You may want to check and see if your TV cable provider offers the premium outdoor channels....usually costs extra.

Right now the hunting shows are mostly being aired on the generic sportsman networks, for obvious reasons.

[bigbill]

I even liked watching the "Fishing Hole" show with Jerry McKinnis. Even the old reruns when he built his own boat was awesome. I try to catch Bill Dance, Jimmy Houston on espn during the week.

I wish we had prime time fishing shows. Why did they do fishing shows on Saturday mornings when where out fishing? All these Monday morning quarterbacks with sports. Where's the Fishing?

I look to this site for info and videos. Thanks to Glenn who planted this seed and let it grow. Without this today we'd be lost. And thanks to Hank Parker, Iaconelli and the rest of the pros who help us here too.

I watch the videos, listen and watch what they do with the rod and bait closely then go out and mimic them. This stuff really works when we do it right.

I been on this site since the very beginning. Glenn was giving me tips on using spinnerbaits. Again I can't thank him enough for sharing his knowledge.

[the reel ess]

NBC Sports has Bill, Roland and Jimmy. I also have World Fishing Network on Dish. I like Scott Martin Challenge, Timmy Horton and Kayak Bassin' on that channel. But my favorite is Lun*kerville because Mike D's just a normal guy who sometimes catches fish and sometimes doesn't.

[BigmouthForever23]

It's too bad if all the fishing programs are on a special sports channel. I already pay almost $100 for the Comcast package I have now...

 

But is it just me or were the fishing shows back in the day much better? My dad has a lot that he recorded on VHS and watching them, they actually taught you something. The ones you see on TV now are all marketing. You got guys reeling in monster bass and then they go on for five minutes trying to persuade you to buy the lure they are using and that will catch you bass. Example, it HAS to be a Zoom purple worm or a Kevin Van Dam spinnerbait. What happened with actually teaching the viewer something important, you know, like how to find bass.

[Turkey sandwich]

That's the catch 22 with those shows. The goal is to provide entertainment to help push product. Luckily, we have he Internet and you can find almost anything on YouTube, including how-to videos and classic fishing shows. I dig th bassresource's channel a lot, but there are a ton of others, too (Lake Fork Guy, Jeff Little, tackle Warehouse's channel. Etc)

[stkbassn]

They're still out there. You may want to check and see if your TV cable provider offers the premium outdoor channels....usually costs extra.

Right now the hunting shows are mostly being aired on the generic sportsman networks, for obvious reasons.

Just a comment on that, it's absurd to me how many hunting shows there are. Hours and hours of them. Even when the peak season for fishing shows is going there aren't that many back to back to watch.

[RUSS9999]

Dish network 5$ extra a month, lots of fishing shows

[bigbill]

I even liked InFisherman and the Dime Store Fisherman guys too up in Canada. Are we losing fisherman who watch these shows too is it declining?

Where's grandpa Hank Parker? Great show.

Glenn where's the Bass Resource fishing tv show??

We have our guys here on you tube.

[Jrob78]

WFN, fishing about 23 hours a day, 7 days a week.

[MIbassyaker]

Meh. I used to watch a lot of fishing shows when I was a kid too, but on Youtube nowadays there is collectively more thorough instruction and much greater concentration of useful information per minute by DIY-ers than by any TV fishing show I've seen, then and now. 

[the reel ess]

It's too bad if all the fishing programs are on a special sports channel. I already pay almost $100 for the Comcast package I have now...

 

But is it just me or were the fishing shows back in the day much better? My dad has a lot that he recorded on VHS and watching them, they actually taught you something. The ones you see on TV now are all marketing. You got guys reeling in monster bass and then they go on for five minutes trying to persuade you to buy the lure they are using and that will catch you bass. Example, it HAS to be a Zoom purple worm or a Kevin Van Dam spinnerbait. What happened with actually teaching the viewer something important, you know, like how to find bass.

A lot of times, it turns into a boat infomercial right in the middle of the show. Aren't there already enough Ranger boat and Evinrude Outboard commercials in that 30 minutes? Do you need to spend 5 more minutes of the show giving us a boat show? DANG!

 

There are a couple TV show pros that are horrible about this. Ranger pros, both.

[BigmouthForever23]

^I agree man. I find it funny how their boats are covered in sponsors along with their attire. It's like the show is one long commercial.

[the reel ess]

^I agree man. I find it funny how their boats are covered in sponsors along with their attire. It's like the show is one long commercial.

NASCAR on water

[the reel ess]

No, I'll still watch ol' Bill catch fish on a worm on a private pond as long has he does it.

[SirSnookalot]

I seldom watch any fishing show.  I know I don't catch fish cast after cast like they do on tv, I'd like to be learning how to fish the type of waters I do.  Even saltwater, The times I go with a charter my captain is the expert, he sets up just about everything, a tv show becomes only entertainment not a learning experience. IMO these shows do not depict real life fishing, understandable to edit out the scores of casts that don't get a strike.

[scaleface]

When I was little I watched "Championship fishing with Virgil Ward " whenever I had the chance. I can still hear the song in my head. After every show he would demonstrate haw he used his lures in an aquarium. Almost everytime , no matter what lure his technique was to lift it and let it fall .

[RoLo]

I'm not familiar with the other cable networks, but Bright House/Road Runner

still airs very good hunting & fishing programs on their 4-digit high-def channels. 

 

Roger

[F14A-B]

Truthfully, what I learned fishing in the 70's came primarily from Bassmaster magazine & just fishing & learning from a select few other fisherman.. Ray Scott grew the sport, I believe Bill Dance & Roland, Jimmy Houston.. Contributed as well. Times are waay different now, shows, to me, are terrible when compared to the past. I always learned more by reading & implementing what I learned on the water.. Hope you find a worthy show or two..

[WRB]

Watch Major Leage Fishing program, they rerun all the events. Very entertaining along with good bass fishing techniques and presentations being used without a specific sponsored product. Competitive format where the top anglers must perform at that time and place or go home. Very humbling to see the best in the sport blank while a few figure it out and catching bass on the same lake at the same time.

Tom

PS, the reruns are on various cable networks.

[gulfcaptain]

Love the Major League format.  No info, no idea, here's the lake, take 15 minutes then time starts.  Go get um.  Gotta agree with Tom, it's entertaining.  Also like Ultimate Match Fishing.  See how the pro in the back goes about figuring out how to catch fish missed by the guy in the front.  But there are still penty of fishing shows on.  All are going to have sponsors and baits figured in. Just have to put that off to the side and focus on the tactic and technique less the particular brand of bait thrown.

[RoLo]

Love the Major League format.  No info, no idea, here's the lake, take 15 minutes then time starts.  Go get um.  Gotta agree with Tom, it's entertaining.  Also like Ultimate Match Fishing.  See how the pro in the back goes about figuring out how to catch fish missed by the guy in the front.  But there are still penty of fishing shows on.  All are going to have sponsors and baits figured in. Just have to put that off to the side and focus on the tactic and technique less the particular brand of bait thrown.

 

The fish can't touch the deck, it cannot be 'tossed' into the lake, and all the while

you're getting a running update to-the-ounce of the top competitors on the lake.  Stress City! 

 

Roger

[gulfcaptain]

The fish can't touch the deck, it cannot be 'tossed' into the lake, and all the while

you're getting a running update to-the-ounce of the top competitors on the lake.  Stress City! 

 

Roger

Yes, the dreaded 2 minute penalty.  Sit still, don't do anything and think about everything going on. " No, you can't pull that spine out of your foot.  You have to wait".  The best are the small fish that fall off in the boat then they pick up and toss over the side......4 minutes for ruffing and mishandling.  And it didn't even count.  I think the first season Jeff Kriet was the funnest to watch especially when he needed about 2oz to go out and had to fish the final period and asked the ref how he thought about all those @#$%ing penalties now.

[masterbass]

WFN on fios and the outdoor channel during the some times of the year.

[FinCulture]

I mostly watch fishing on Youtube, whether it's uploads of TV shows or just channels made by people who bass fish. Facts of Fishing with Dave Mercer is one of my favorites, and full episodes of the show are on the official Youtube channel.