The whitecapping, wind driven waves were bad. When we hit the main body of the lake where the 25-mph wind was unrestricted, the waves were worse. Garry Mason has been a guide on this lake for decades, and I was glad he was behind the wheel. On the other hand, this was one of those time that I would have been glad to have been sitting on the beach watching the colorful yellow, green and black boats bounce off of the waves instead of being in one of them. Then, there was the fact that one of the boats that we were following into the watery wind tunnel was being driven by one of the most famous pro anglers in the country, Larry Nixon. Riding the waves in the same boat was another famous fisherman, Zell Rowland, and a cameraman from the Outdoor Channel. The second boat we were chasing was occupied by Outdoor Channel producer Jim Cramer, referee Mark Randolph, and Joe Thomas, host of Ultimate Match Fishing.
I had been invited to join the cast and crew of Ultimate Match Fishing for a couple of days on Kentucky Lake in neighboring Tennessee, so I held onto my video camera a little tighter while trying to keep it in my grip each time the bright yellow boat crashed into the wave directly in front of us. After a half-hour of teeth jarring wave jamming, Garry Mason shouted over the wind and waves "Tom Cat, you wanna drive?" "No way!" I replied, "You couldn't melt me and pour me under the steering wheel right now!"
I guess I don't understand pro angling, but on the other hand there was fifty thousand dollars on the line for the fisherman who could put the most fish in the boat while fishing against another pro angler in the same boat. I felt that somewhere in the twenty something miles that we had run up Kentucky Lake, there had to be some fish that were catchable without having to risk life and limb to get there. But then again, I am not a pro fisherman. One thing about that long run was the fact that the time to get there was not counted against Larry Nixon's fishing time, but however long it took Zell Rowland to reach his fishing destination would be counted against his fishing time. The trick in Ultimate Match Fishing is to keep yourself in the strike zone while keeping your opponent out of that zone at the same time, and the area that Nixon had chosen was one he felt would produce fish for him without giving Zell Rowland an opportunity to boat a fish. Nixon caught a fish in the first minute of sitting up on his spot, then caught another.
When the first quarter of action was over, it was Zell Rowland's time to fish and we went right back into the wind tunnel, but this time we were taking the strong wind head on. After what seemed like a long time being pounded by the wind and waves, the lead boat pulled up on a long, steep bank, which had riprap and docks. Our boat followed suit, but this time there was no cove to shelter us from the wind. We spent the next hour or so being tossed by the wind and waves while watching the two fishermen do what they do best. Boat handling skills were being put to the test in the wind as they were a major part of being able to keep the boat in the proper position, allowing the angler in control to stay in the strike zone while trying to keep the other out of position as much as possible. Both anglers were catching fish; some of them were big fish.
Then, the entourage of brightly colored bass boats again headed down the lake to another fishing spot that had been chosen by the angler in control of the boat at the time. I was impressed with Nixon and Rowland's ability to catch deep-water fish in the wind, then totally shift gears to employ other fishing techniques for shallow water fish.
After the competitive round of fishing was completed, our group headed to the Anna Belle Center at Buchannan Resort where a studio had been set up to tape the off-water part of the show. Today's taping was only one of thirteen episodes where twelve pro anglers are pitted against each other competing for big bucks on Ultimate Match Fishing with the overall winner taking home a check for fifty thousand dollars.
I can assure you that when you watch UMF, the fishing is real, the conditions depicted are real, the competition is real, and the pro anglers like Larry Nixon and Zell Rowland have gone head-to-head, giving their very best to win. Who will win this time? Well, you will just have to watch!
N O T E: from all indications, hunting and fishing programming is headed for this type of competitive reality shows. Is this what you want to see in outdoor programming?
reprinted by permission, Paxton Media Group
