OK, starting in October, Friday the 12th to be exact, my new TV show will debut on Nat Geo WILD. It’s called FISH MY CITY WITH MIKE IACONELLI. And, as its name implies it’ll be all about fishing cities around the country and the world.
I’m super excited about it for a couple of reasons. Nat Geo WILD does an extraordinary job putting together TV shows so you know it’ll be a first-class operation all the way. The other reason is that it lets me pursue my passion for fishing in metropolitan areas where the fishing is almost always much better than anyone thinks or believes.
All my life I’ve fished cities. I grew up in Philadelphia. All I ever knew as a kid was fishing the rivers and streams around my house. I caught a lot of fish, too. My days and nights were spent catching different species and learning about them — how they live, what they do and, of course, how to catch them on rod and reel. Those experiences made me the professional bass angler that I am today. I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.
During our show I’ll visit some of the biggest cities in the world and try to catch three different species that are on my bucket list and that are living in the immediate area. I’ll use my skills with the help of local experts. Some will be professional guides but a lot of others will just be darn good anglers.
We’ll uncover some species that I’ll bet you’ve never heard about and certainly never seen. We’ll learn about them and, in the process, we’ll check out a few urban legends, too.
The thing I’ve always said about fishing is that it’s fishing. I’ve been all over the world and I wouldn’t even hazard a guess about how many different species of fish that I’ve caught. But, at the end of the day it’s all fishing.
You have a rod, a reel and a hook attached to everything with line. At the end of the line you either have a lure or some kind of bait. No matter, you wait until the fish grabs your offering and then you set the hook. After that, it’s you against a prehistoric creature. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you don’t.
What makes the experience so special is that it’s all the same. The guys and gals who do it all have the same hopes, desires and dreams as well as the same emotions. You can see it unfold in their faces and in their actions even if you can’t understand a word they’re saying.
Now that I’ve said all of that let’s take a quick look at the places we’ll be visiting.
- New York City – I’ll be fishing the East River, the Hudson River and Jamaica Bay and I’ll do my best to catch a striped bass, a fluke and a bluefish. This city is one of the great unknown fishing destinations in the world.
- New Orleans, Louisiana – When I fish New Orleans I’ll be dealing with tough weather and a challenging water control system. You’ll find it interesting. While we’re there we’ll visit the site of my Bassmaster Classic win in 2003.
- London, England – We’ll be looking for one of the fiercest predators that swims, a fish that’s considered royalty and a representative of a species that’s survived a horrible disease.
- Miami, Florida – I’ll be chasing six species here — three freshwater and three saltwater. My targets include one of the fastest fish ever and one of the oldest ever.
- Taipei, Taiwan – Three of the most unusual fish on the planet live or visit in Taiwan. I’ll make a go at catching one of each and showing you why you don’t want to run into one of them after dark.
- Austin, Texas – In Texas I’ll chase a species that grows really — I mean really big — and another one that’s not found anywhere else on the earth that I know about. The trip to Austin will show you some things you didn’t know existed in the United States.
I’m telling you, FISH MY CITY WITH MIKE IACONELLI is one of the neatest things I’ve ever done in my whole life. I’d love it if every one of you would watch it, and you’d love it too.
The show’s great entertainment but it’s also educational. It destroys the myth that you have to go way out in rural America to catch fish, or drive forever to catch one. There’s plenty of good fishing everywhere even if you live downtown.
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