BassFans might want to note the 8:30 p.m. Eastern time slot on the Versus network tomorrow (Friday) – that's when Mike Iaconelli's new City Limits Fishing show makes its debut. The concept's pretty cool – Ike visits various urban centers and has 6 hours to catch a limit of fish. A lot of the waters he fishes have been written off, but he's there to show they hold fish. Below is a brief Q&A with him about the show.
BassFan: What was the genesis of the show? Did you take the idea to the producers, or were you approached?
Iaconelli: It was a combo – a little of both. I've always gone out to the places where people never imagined catching any fish, and exposing the fishery. I always had it in the back of my mind that it would be a great show. When the opportunity did come around, it was a big thing for me.
You must have had other offers through the years for TV shows, right?
Yes, I had opportunities in the past to do normal TV shows, where you go shoot for 3 or 4 days, take the best five fish, put it on TV, and it looks like you smoked them. That's how you do a normal fishing show.
To me, this show's unique for a couple of reasons. One is we get to go to cities across the U.S. and do urban fishing downtown. I love that. The other challenge is that, when we get to a place, we have a limited amount of time – just 6 hours to catch a limit of fish within the city limits. That really juiced me up too. It's almost like a mini-tournament.
And you'll be fishing a lot of the waters cold, right? Meaning, you'll just launch and start fishing?
I'd never been to some of the places before. When I launch the boat I go on the clock and start competing.
But there's a further element beside the fishing and the excitement of the fishing, and this is what makes it more than a traditional fishing show. We highlight the city too. Each show is a 2- to 3-day shoot. One day is the 6 hours of fishing. Then the next day we actually go and explore the city a little bit and highlight what makes Chicago Chicago, for instance.
We interview some people – we literally interview people on the street about what they think of fishing in Chicago. Undoubtedly, every time we got some pretty cool answers. We have all that on this show, so it's a chance to hopefully get to a different kind of person. Hardcore bass-heads will love the show, but maybe someone who doesn't fish will watch it and say, "Oh my gosh, I had no idea that was right in my backyard." So it's the kind of show where we reach outside the boundaries, and it's a pretty awesome opportunity."
