BYDANNEWMAN
Staff Writer

MATAWAN — From Atlantic Highlands to Atlantic City, there’s no denying New Jersey is a destination for people who enjoy fishing. Ask Ohio native John MacAdam though, and he’ll tell you that he would have never known it.

"I’m not a fisherman whatsoever, but back in Ohio I would see all these regional fishing shows on television," MacAdam said. "So, when I moved to New Jersey for a job opportunity, I definitely thought that there would be plenty of fishing on television there as well."

What MacAdam saw was quite the opposite — nothing in the way of programming along those lines — and it was something he thought needed to be corrected.

"I felt like fishing was something that a lot of people in the state were into, and so I thought that it’d be good to have a show that was devoted to it," MacAdam said.

Following lots of planning, the New Jersey Fishing Show debuted last year on July 6 with a 13-week run. The 2004 season gets under way on July 4 at 7 a.m. on Channel 8 for Comcast subscribers and Channel 64 for most Cablevision subscribers.

The aim of the show is not only for those who are experienced anglers, but to teach those who may be novices at it.

"We want to get people to learn about fishing, no matter what level they’re at," said Gary Cogland, the show’s director of sponsorship sales and marketing. "It’s an inspirational show as well, designed to teach people who may not know much about fishing."

One person who was a true novice at the sport initially is the show’s co-host, Tina Cervasio.

"John MacAdam [the show’s producer] pitched the idea to me for the show in October 2002, and I thought I’d give it a try even though I really did not know much about fishing," Cervasio said.

At first, she may not have been sure of her impact upon the show, but it did not take long for her to realize that she was making a difference.

"I think people can relate to me because they know I am not an expert, and so they seem to sympathize with me. I’m always eager to learn more when it comes to the show because it enables me to the people even more," Cervasio said.

MacAdam credits Cervasio with helping the show to gain popularity so quickly because her situation is unlike that of any other host of a fishing program.

"Our show is much different than anything you’ll see on ESPN or any of the other major networks," MacAdam explained. "On some of the bigger shows you’ll see an expert fisherman trying to be as much of a television personality as possible. With Tina, it’s the opposite — she is still learning the sport but she has such a good command of what she is talking about, and I think that’s a big reason why this show works."

In its initial season, the show was a regional success, and so, for an encore, the show will be seen throughout the state as well as in Philadelphia and Baltimore.

"I think, because the show was so popular last season, it caught on, and so now we have an opportunity to broaden our horizons a bit," MacAdam said.

While the program has been successful, those involved have struggled, on occasion, to get things done. Even though the finished product looks good, it takes time, and sometimes plenty of it, to accomplish the task of catching fish.

"We once got started at 2 p.m. and did not get back to the dock until 5 a.m.," MacAdam said. "There are days when the fish are just jumping out of the water, and that was not one of them. Things do not always go as smoothly as expected."

And then there was the time when the fish were active, which was fine, except that Cervasio al­most found herself swimming with them.

"I once had a blue shark on the line, and so I was trying to reel it in, and then, all of a sudden, it really pulled hard on the line and I almost ended up in the water because of it," Cervasio said. "I ended up slamming into the side of the boat as I held onto the line. I got a good bruise out of it, kind of like a battle scar I guess you could call it."

For all of the hardships that the crew endured, they were rewarded as a finalist for a 2003 Telly Award, which, according to the award’s Web site, "honors outstanding local, regional and cable television com­mercials and programs, and the finest video and film productions."

"Being a finalist for a Telly Award is something that we’re all obviously very proud of, especially because it was only our first year of production," Cogland said.

One of the highlights during the upcoming season will be an episode will special guest host Mike Ia­conelli, a southern New Jersey na­tive and 2004 Bass Masters Classic Champion.

"The episode with Mike Iaconelli was great because he was able to step back from being a top-level angler and show the viewers how he does things, and I think our viewers will be able to understand where he’s coming from," Cogland said.

While Cogland is appreciative for Iaconelli coming on the show, he feels that the episode may not be much different from any of the oth­ers.

"An episode like that one is typi­cal for us. We always try to show people how to improve their fishing and how to have a good time with it as well."