Fishin Hole

In October of 1989 TV Host Jerry McKinnis visited with HRFA member Chas Stamm to film an episode of ESPN's the Fishin' Hole

Here, Chas and Jerry prepare for the opening shot as they set up in Hell Gate.

"We had to catch at least six fish to make a show. Without fish, it's just scenery. They go to some locations and go on to the forth and fifth day without any fish.

We had 12 fish in the first two hours of fishing. One Striper went almost 20 pounds." Chas

Month's earlier they had sent a sheriff to check out my stories of actual fish in the Hudson. The New York / New Jersey area was the show's largest market. Filming in the shadows of the skyscrapers definitely had their interest. They just didn't believe we would catch any fish!
I was proud to be a part of the series "Best Shows" of the 30 years of the Fishin' Hole. McKinnis was such a nice guy and had just a great attitude towards fishing and presenting his show, I fell right into his relaxed and informal format. Just have fun fishing and enjoy what you're doing. We had a great time for three days of filming.

"The Fishin Hole with Jerry McKinnis"
We started out in Hellgate. In this shot, we're getting the microphones set up. the wind and rain kicked up so bad we only had a two hour window to shoot. We got drenched. The camera lenses were fogging up.

We were doing the David Letterman Show that night and needed a bluefish to bring on the show.This was also the shakedown cruise for this boat. McKinnis had this brand new Ranger boat trucked in from Flippin Arkansas to use in the show.
New boat, new motor, raining like hell, Temperature drops 30 degrees and the camera crew and McKinnis and Charlie Hoover put up in a hotel in Teaneck, all depending on me to produce at least six fish to make a show.

I was a nervous wreck until we hooked into the first fish.