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Chris Fischer and his
crew make Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn look like couch potatoes.
Fischer, his wife Melissa,
and the two-man crew of the 72-foot Elliott yachtfisherman Go Fisch
have spent the last few years finding out-of-the-way angling paradises
from Alaska to Central America. I’m sorry, did I forget to mention
it’s also their job? See, Fischer and crew do all of this for their
ESPN2 TV show Offshore Adventures—although after talking with Fischer,
I think this foursome would do it just for fun. I recently caught up with
Fischer to see how this angler and entrepreneur went from bagging bass
on the lakes of Kentucky to battling blue marlin off Panama’s Pacific
Coast and how Offshore Adventures has developed a following of more than
seven million viewers per quarter.
“I grew up in Louisville,
Kentucky, and was a crazed fisherman all my life,” Fischer tells
me during a phone interview from his new home in Park City, Utah, while
on hiatus from the show. (I knew he was serious when he told me he’d
been trout fishing during a heavy snowfall the day before our interview.)
“I started by fly-fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass with
two buddies almost every day after school,” he adds enthusiastically.
However, it wasn’t long before Fischer’s parents took the young
angler to Marco Island, Florida, where he discovered saltwater angling.
“Marco Island opened my eyes to the ocean. We had a 16-footer, and
we’d go down there and catch snook, snapper, and ladyfish.”
The saltwater bug bit
hard, but the responsibilities of adulthood eventually cut into Fischer’s
fun-fishing youth. He began working for his family’s beverage-equipment
company, and he soon moved to California to manage its Pacific Rim business
interests. Fischer’s frenetic commuting schedule between Asia and
the United States took a toll on his free time. But when fishing calls
once, it usually calls back, and this avid angler wouldn’t be denied
his passion.
Fischer’s family
sold the business in 1997, and soon he had the means and time to pursue
angling full time. One problem: He was in California and knew nothing
of the Pacific fishery. Another problem: He didn’t have a boat. By
this time the fisherman had also met his wife and co-angler, Melissa,
so he wasn’t about to leave the state. What was a fisherman to do?
Well, he picked up a 31 Bertram and befriended a California charter captain,
who allowed Fischer to work as a deckhand while teaching the enthusiastic
student about yellowfin, dorado (mahi-mahi), and other local game fish.
Like the proverbial fish to water, Fischer ate up all he could learn and
soon moved from the Bertram to a 48-foot Viking with the intent of exploring
and fishing what he terms the “in-between places.”
Once again, Fischer
turned to veterans. This time it was Brett McBride, who he met through
a mutual friend and who became Go Fisch’s captain, and David Traylor,
an expert freediver and Go Fisch’s first mate and chef. Soon
this four-person crew was exploring angling opportunities both above and
below the surface. Noticing the crew had chemistry and possessing an entrepreneurial
spirit, Fischer figured the foursome’s original angle might be worthy
of TV.
Next
page > Part
2: The foursome got some video equipment, hired a couple of cameramen, and
went fishing. > Page 1, 2
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