Talks of the possibility of a western province fishing show featuring western province locations and fish species began during the summer of 2014. Mike Mitchell, co-owner of Mountain View Productions, which also produces BC Sport Fishing and Sportfishing Adventures outdoor TV shows, contacted me about hosting and co-producing a western province fishing show. I had been approached about hosting a fishing show in the past but I jumped at the chance to work with Mike and Mountain View Productions because of his first question. “Wes, what do you believe western anglers and northern US state anglers are looking for in a fishing show”? I took the question and polled as many anglers as I could for the next three months and came up with a foundation for the show.
The term “Western Anglers” includes the Canadian western provinces and Territories, as well as the northern US states. The feedback from western anglers was they have seen enough bass fishing. The bulk of the fishing shows on TV are related to largemouth and smallmouth bass, a fish species western Canada has very little of. Anglers want to see more of the western Canadian and northern US fish species such as the numerous trout species, and anglers are starving for walleye, pike, and perch related shows. One angler even told me he recorded every walleye episode on Wild TV and the World Fishing Network and only had nine 30 minute episodes recorded for the year (at the time of this writing, Fishing the Wild West has already recorded two walleye episodes and has four more scheduled).
Not only did western anglers want to see their fish species, they wanted to be educated on the techniques, locations, and gear used to catch their favourite species. Fishing the Wild West TV show reveals every location we fish and the people, culture, and history in the areas we shoot. Fishing the Wild West TV show will not be another angler standing at the bow of the boat casting for fish that 80 percent of the viewers can’t get to. We will only be shooting four fly-ins or what we call 'Trips of a Lifetime' and the rest of the episodes (13 in all) will be to drive-to locations across the western provinces and a few northern US states. Wherever we go you can go. Whatever we do you can do. We will also be promoting youth and new anglers and a feature I added is the Conservation Corner. The Conservation Corner will feature conservation efforts in each area we shoot focusing on fisheries, hunting, wildlife, land, or waterbodies. However, what each Conservation Corner will show is that outdoorsmen and women are some of your hardest working conservation-minded individuals there are. It will educate the general public on how much time, effort, and money hunters and anglers put back into the outdoors and conservation so that the outdoor pleasures we enjoy today are there tomorrow.