Tom Zimmerman is 62 years old - no spring chicken, but apparently that's no big deal to him.
While many people his age are beginning to consider Winnebagos and Arizona, Zimmerman is learning how to script, edit, produce and host a his own TV show, almost singlehandedly. He said "Sportfishing Northwest," which debuted March 26 on SCAN channel 77, Seattle's cable access station, is the culmination of a lifetime of fishing as well as a desire to initiate would-be anglers into the sport.
Contrary to popular belief, fishing involves more that a worm on a hook and a long cast. If you want to learn how to fish, but the words bait-spinner, plug, wrap and trude baffle you, then "Sportfishing Northwest" might just be the ticket.
"It's amazing how many people around Washington would love to know about the resources, but just don't have the wherewithal or the knowledge," Zimmerman said. "There's no programming anywhere in this state on any major TV stations that really focuses on sportsfishing alone and just that for half an hour, and I think it really needs that."
Zimmerman said he hasn't always been the go-to guy for all things fishing. In fact, he was once downright useless when it came to landing a steelhead. The first time he managed to catch one is so memorable, he still recalls it among the thousands of fish he's caught.
Some people might not think an experience like that is worth noting or, for that matter, remembering 15 years later. But listening to Zimmerman talk, you get the impression that hooking a steelhead is the hydro-equivalent of bagging a dodo bird - i.e., impossible.
But Zimmerman did it - and has done it, by his count, more than 300 times. Impressive, considering he knows people who have fished their entire lives in Washington and have yet to land one of these elusive denizens.
As Zimmerman tells the story, he'd been trying for two years to catch a steelhead. He was fishing along the Skykomish River, casting out and hoping, when an old man walked down to where he was standing. Helpful but gruff, and apparently fed up with watching the amateur make the same mistakes over and over, the old man showed Zimmerman the proper rig to use for steelhead. Zimmerman didn't catch one that day, but he went home and tied 15 flies of his own. One week later at the same spot, he hooked into a steelhead on his third cast of the day.
Zimmerman now refers to that older angler as an "angel." "I saw that guy a couple times after that; then I never saw him again," Zimmerman said. "I guess he lived up around there somewhere, and he was retired. He just took me under his wing - and that's what I want to do for other people."
"Sportfishing Northwest" is designed to show people the hows and how-nots of fishing, and there are plenty. Along with the layman's approach to the technical aspects of angling, Zim-merman plans on shooting in many different locations in order to help people understand the wealth of lakes, rivers and streams at their disposal.
Hosting and producing a TV program is no small feat. Zimmerman said the first half-hour show took him about six weeks to put together. It was done digitally, at home with software he'd hardly heard of months prior to shooting.
Zimmerman crashed his computer three times during the process of filming, but in the end he came up with 30 minutes of entertaining and educational programming. He said the initial process was more about learning the ropes; in the future he estimates he'll shave weeks off total production time.
Assisting Zimmerman is Mark Jaroslaw, whom he met last year through his day job as a master woodworker. Jaroslaw has quite a bit of experience in the production room, having spent several years in southern California working on an L.A. equivalent of Seattle's "Evening Magazine."
Several months ago, the two men got to talking, and Zimmerman mentioned his interest in putting together an outdoor program. They bounced ideas off each other, refined a lot of the rough-cut concepts, then went to work.
"I think the most important thing is to have continuity about the show," Jaroslaw said. "So we create an expectation that there is going to be a show and actually to get people who are interested...into a rhythm to know what to expect from Tom's show."
To that end, Zimmerman plans on doing at least five segments this year, roughly one every month and a half. He'll be filming at such locations as Lake Washington, the Columbia River (the annual salmon run) and Banks Lake in Eastern Washington. For the time being, Zimmerman will be broadcasting exclusively on Channel 77. However, within a year or two he hopes to be airing his show on all local access channels between Portland and Bellingham, essentially covering the whole Northwest corridor.
Some day in the not-so-distant future, Zimmerman said he envisions doing his show for profit as well as for the love of the sport. "Eventually, if everything works out, if I get the exposure I need, if I get the coverage I want, I'll be able to pick up sponsors and really go commercial," he said.
As for commercials, Zimmer-man said he isn't going to do any paid advertising the first year or so. Instead he's relying on what is perhaps a fisherman's best friend: the grapevine. Anglers telling stories, embellished or not, is virtually a guarantee, and Zimmerman hopes to cash in on word of mouth. His budget - about $300 per show - is tight enough as it is. But, success or not, he said he's having a ball, and doesn't see himself stopping any time soon.
"I'm living my dream," he said. "I've wanted this for about 25 years."
It's been said that if you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime. Zimmerman, with a little help from his friends, plans on doing just that.
For a listing of show times, visit Zimmerman's Web site at www. sportfishingnw.com.
Jamal Siddiqui is a freelance writer living in Seattle.
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