Fishing Behind the Lines

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to get a behind-the-scenes look at a fishing show filmed on the Salmon River. The show is called, "Fishing Behind the Lines" and it's set to air on WPBS in the fall.

According to the WPBS website, the show "is a 13-part, 30-minute series designed to be a fishing and destinations show concentrating on the perspective of a soldier of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, NY." Four segments of the show will be filmed at fishing locations in Oswego County.

On an extremely warm spring day, I met up with local river guides Andy Bliss of Chasin' Tail Adventures Tom Burke of Cold SteelSportfishing. They were generous enough to donate their time and equipment to accommodate Specialist Rodney Tiner, a combat medic with 3-6 Field Artillery in 1st Brigade Combat Team, and the star of this episode!

Cameraman and producer, George Haley, and Host, Don Meissner, also joined us. I started off in a drift boat with Andy and George. Don and SPC Tiner started their trip off with Tom.

During the beginning of our trip, George filled me in on some show details. He said their overall goal was to educate civilians about soldiers, their life and their story. He explained that along with filming the fishing trip, he also films and interviews the solider and his family. Of course, not to forget about the great tourism aspect of the show, they will also be featuring a five-minute segment each week showcasing the area’s attractions.

What an awesome idea for a show, and what an even better opportunity for some of our local heroes! I was so thrilled to take part in this!!

The morning started off slow, as Capt. Tom and Capt. Andy took turns with Don and SPC Tiner while trying out a few different techniques. I'm not even going to begin trying to explain what they were. They all have a technical term such as "plugging" or "floating," but as far as I'm concerned, the techniques should be called "leaving the rod in the boat and drifting down the river" or "anchoring the boat and fishing from one location.".I'm sure some of you out there will agree with me.

Because of the lack of fish-catching that morning, I asked George what would happen if no one caught anything that day, and his response was "we pick another day and film again." I was hoping this wouldn't happen because it would have been such a waste of a gorgeous day of filming! Then I joked that "when you aren't paying attention or you are changing out your battery, I'm sure someone will land a fish".

Sure enough...

George was changing his battery when Don got a fish on! Don fought and landed the first steelhead of the day! It looked like our luck was about to change.

And it did! Throughout the next few hours, SPC Tiner and Don caught more than enough steelies and browns for the show! George was afraid he wouldn't even be able to show every catch because of time! That is definitely a successful fishing trip which makes for a successful fishing show!

The best part was, SPC Tiner had a blast. Every time he fought a fish he was grinning from ear to ear, and even more so when he landed one!

Unfortunately, as viewers, you won't be able to see all of the action that went on that day, you'll just have to take my word for it! Luckily, you will get to learn more about SPC Tiner and all he has done for our country. You'll also get to see what else you can do right here in Oswego County!

I took a bunch of photos so hopefully that will give you an idea of how our day went. If you have never fished the Salmon River before then you're missing out on the greatest fishing trip you'll probably ever take!

*On a side note - this is my last blog post for Oswego County. I am leaving my position to stay at home with my daughter and future daughter, who is due in August. I will continue to be an avid outdoorswomen when time allows, and I will be involved with events along the Salmon River as I continue to fill my volunteer position on the Salmon River Sport Fishing Museum board. I loved all of the opportunities I was blessed with during my 6 years with Oswego County. I enjoyed writing this blog and learning more about the great outdoors. Please continue to follow the two other Oswego County blogs by professional sportswriter, Spider Rybaak, and nature and arts guru, Kelly Jordal.