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Lindners debut new fishing show
Program starts Jan. 4, emphasizes Midwest
December 26, 2002
BY ERIC SHARP, DETROIT FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
When brothers Al and Ron Lindner sold their In-Fisherman magazine and television and radio programs to Primedia in 1998, the deal included a non-compete clause. It prevented them from starting another show of their own until May 8, 2002.
"The next day at 8 a.m., we were out banging on doors, looking for sponsors" for a new show that will air across the Midwest starting Jan. 4, said Al Lindner, the good-natured guy wit dat distinctive Chicago accent whose personality was a big a factor in "In-Fisherman's" success.
"Da first question we asked wuz, duz dis country need another fishing show? And da answer was, 'Absolutely, as long as we are doin' it,' " Al Lindner said in a telephone interview from the brothers' longtime headquarters in Brainerd, Minn.
But this show will be a bit different by concentrating on fishing in the Midwest, "and we'll trow in some segments on the Dakotas just cuz we like to fish der and we figure it's part of da Midwest," he said.
With the Lindners in charge, "In-Fisherman" became one of the most popular television fishing shows in the country, largely because its format was educational and not "two bubbas in a boat," the description used for many other shows.
The Lindners and the other on-air talent didn't just show people catching fish, but offered detailed information about when, where and how to catch them, information strangely lacking on many fishing programs.
Preparing to launch the new show, the Lindners said they analyzed the 22 top-rated fishing shows nationally and found that five were about saltwater, two specialized in fly-fishing, eight were about bass fishing with a heavy Southern bias, and six were about fishing in exotic places hard to reach.
While the Midwest has 40 percent of the nation's anglers and boundless fishing opportunities for dozens of species, only one show featured fishing there. And so "Lindner's Angling Edge" was created for the Outdoor Life Network. It also will appear as "Lindner's Fishing Edge" on channels in some markets.
The show will air in Detroit on Fox Sports Net at 8:30 a.m. Saturdays. It will also air in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania and concentrate on fishing in the Great Lakes states and Ontario.
Al and Ron Lindner will produce the show, with Ron's sons, Danny and Jimmy, doing the camera and post-production work and appearing on the air with Uncle Al, 58.
Al Lindner said that after his agreement to host the "In-Fisherman" shows expired, his wife asked him what he planned to do.
"I like the electronic end of the business," he said. "To me, doing TV shows is fun, it isn't work. I don't know anything other than fishing. I fish 12 months a year. I don't hunt anymore. I don't play golf. I just fish.
"To some people, doing a fishing show is a job, not a lifestyle. I know guys in our industry like that, but I love it so much that if I'm not doing the show, I'm fishing for fun."
Lindner said "Lindner's Angling Edge" would follow the nuts-and-bolts basics that made "In-Fisherman" so popular, with relatively little emphasis on environment or outdoors politics.
He plans to do several shows in Michigan, intrigued by the famed muskellunge and smallmouth bass fishing in Lake St. Clair, the smallmouth bass in Lake Erie and the salmon on the Great Lakes and in rivers. But he also plans shows on less glamorous species like catfish, carp and suckers.
"Carp fishing is great," Lindner said. "Me and Jimmy are so into it. We took Gary Roach out for a day of carp fishing on our ways to do a walleye show."
Roach is one of the country's most famous walleye pros.
"He got so excited by it that after one day of catching walleyes, he wanted to can it and go back to the carp," Lindner said. "I don't know how many years it will take before American fishermen realize what great game fish that carp and some of these other species are. We have to keep the seed planted and make more people aware."
And what fishing shows does Al Lindner watch on TV?
" 'In-Fisherman,' of course," he said. "And I really like Bill Dance. He's still fishing for fun."
Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com. Order his new book, "Fishing Michigan," for $15.95 at www.freep.com/bookstore or by calling 800-245-5082.
Program starts Jan. 4, emphasizes Midwest
December 26, 2002
BY ERIC SHARP, DETROIT FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
When brothers Al and Ron Lindner sold their In-Fisherman magazine and television and radio programs to Primedia in 1998, the deal included a non-compete clause. It prevented them from starting another show of their own until May 8, 2002.
"The next day at 8 a.m., we were out banging on doors, looking for sponsors" for a new show that will air across the Midwest starting Jan. 4, said Al Lindner, the good-natured guy wit dat distinctive Chicago accent whose personality was a big a factor in "In-Fisherman's" success.
"Da first question we asked wuz, duz dis country need another fishing show? And da answer was, 'Absolutely, as long as we are doin' it,' " Al Lindner said in a telephone interview from the brothers' longtime headquarters in Brainerd, Minn.
But this show will be a bit different by concentrating on fishing in the Midwest, "and we'll trow in some segments on the Dakotas just cuz we like to fish der and we figure it's part of da Midwest," he said.
With the Lindners in charge, "In-Fisherman" became one of the most popular television fishing shows in the country, largely because its format was educational and not "two bubbas in a boat," the description used for many other shows.
The Lindners and the other on-air talent didn't just show people catching fish, but offered detailed information about when, where and how to catch them, information strangely lacking on many fishing programs.
Preparing to launch the new show, the Lindners said they analyzed the 22 top-rated fishing shows nationally and found that five were about saltwater, two specialized in fly-fishing, eight were about bass fishing with a heavy Southern bias, and six were about fishing in exotic places hard to reach.
While the Midwest has 40 percent of the nation's anglers and boundless fishing opportunities for dozens of species, only one show featured fishing there. And so "Lindner's Angling Edge" was created for the Outdoor Life Network. It also will appear as "Lindner's Fishing Edge" on channels in some markets.
The show will air in Detroit on Fox Sports Net at 8:30 a.m. Saturdays. It will also air in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania and concentrate on fishing in the Great Lakes states and Ontario.
Al and Ron Lindner will produce the show, with Ron's sons, Danny and Jimmy, doing the camera and post-production work and appearing on the air with Uncle Al, 58.
Al Lindner said that after his agreement to host the "In-Fisherman" shows expired, his wife asked him what he planned to do.
"I like the electronic end of the business," he said. "To me, doing TV shows is fun, it isn't work. I don't know anything other than fishing. I fish 12 months a year. I don't hunt anymore. I don't play golf. I just fish.
"To some people, doing a fishing show is a job, not a lifestyle. I know guys in our industry like that, but I love it so much that if I'm not doing the show, I'm fishing for fun."
Lindner said "Lindner's Angling Edge" would follow the nuts-and-bolts basics that made "In-Fisherman" so popular, with relatively little emphasis on environment or outdoors politics.
He plans to do several shows in Michigan, intrigued by the famed muskellunge and smallmouth bass fishing in Lake St. Clair, the smallmouth bass in Lake Erie and the salmon on the Great Lakes and in rivers. But he also plans shows on less glamorous species like catfish, carp and suckers.
"Carp fishing is great," Lindner said. "Me and Jimmy are so into it. We took Gary Roach out for a day of carp fishing on our ways to do a walleye show."
Roach is one of the country's most famous walleye pros.
"He got so excited by it that after one day of catching walleyes, he wanted to can it and go back to the carp," Lindner said. "I don't know how many years it will take before American fishermen realize what great game fish that carp and some of these other species are. We have to keep the seed planted and make more people aware."
And what fishing shows does Al Lindner watch on TV?
" 'In-Fisherman,' of course," he said. "And I really like Bill Dance. He's still fishing for fun."
Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com. Order his new book, "Fishing Michigan," for $15.95 at www.freep.com/bookstore or by calling 800-245-5082.
