Stories from Joe’s Journeys
My name is Joe Weaver, Department of Awesomeness and Video Production Supervisor. I am also the producer, director, videographer, and editor of BrushPile Fishing, and Catfish Crazy. Both shows are produced by NKT Productions in New Knoxville, OH.
Inevitably, these productions make for some fun times and long days. In this time of viruses, murder hornets, comets, and mask debates, it is nice to get out on the water to do some work.
My last trip took me from my home base in Western Ohio to Arkansas, then to St. Louis, Missouri over the span of 5 days in July of 2020. The first few days were spent in Monticello, AR and Searcy, AR where I shot some social media clips for a few of our show sponsors. But like most trips, things don’t always go as planned. First let me say that the area of Arkansas I was in is beautiful. The southern half of the state is very mountainous and scenic.
On long trips like this one, with so many variables, it is hard to book hotel rooms in advance, so I have to wing it and book them on the fly. Fortunately, that part went smooth. But part of my trip was supposed to include the host of one of our shows picking up a new boat. The night before he called me to say that there was a delay in its production due to the corona virus slowing production. So, I just shot some factory tour type video for the company. No big deal, but something that I had to deal with.
The second stop took me to Searcy, Arkansas where I got to shoot some social media videos with a great guy that I met years ago during a TV show. That part of the trip actually went very smooth, so I was happy.
The next few days of my trip took me to St. Louis, Missouri where we filmed the first episode of season 2 of Catfish Crazy. The shoot spanned two days and were hot, hot, hot!! Heat indexes were right at 100 degrees. My only saving grace…the boat had a bimini top which offered some relief. This shoot was difficult. On the first day we launched right near the base of the St. Louis Arch and right away I started having interference in the guests wireless mic. We were shooting near downtown St. Louis and right next to some barges. I think the combination of those two caused the problems. I changed frequencies on the mic, but it did not help much. This will be a problem when I go to edit the episode. The guest and the host caught a couple good fish on the first day, but nothing really amazing. So we called it a day around 7pm.
Now after a day on the water shooting, there are several things I have to do as the only person working on the shoot. I have to go back to the hotel and dump the video I shot onto a hard drive, charge batteries, and get my gear ready for the next day. Once I’m off the water, I still have 3 hours of work to do, plus I have to eat, shower, and get to bed.
Day 2 started with me getting up at 4am and getting lost on my way to the ramp. The place I punched in on google maps was the wrong location of where I needed to be. So after texting the host and driving a half hour out of my way, I finally got to the ramp. Threw my stuff in the boat and we drove 10 miles down the Mississippi River to find the spot we needed to fish. So as I said, my day did not start off the best, but things kept heading south for me. We pull up to our spot to fish and I get the camera out of the bag only to find that the lens is fogged up. The first mistake? I did not allow the lens time to acclimate to the outside temperature. I kept the lens pointed towards what little sunlight was peeking through the trees, trying to get it to evaporate. In the meantime the guest started fishing, even though I told him I could not film. Well, he ties into a 38lb. Blue cat and the only thing I could do was sit and watch. I had a GoPro aimed at him, but no other shot to use. I was not thrilled. Right as he pulled it onto the deck of the boat, my lens cleared up, so we shot a segment on it explaining we had technical difficulties, but you know “here’s a big fish”. Not how I want the show to go. The rest of the day went smoother. Since we were fishing in a more remote area, I did not have interference in the mics, so that was a plus. They also finally got into some bigger fish and we were able to pull out a pretty good show. I was not in love with my camera angles, but we were using someone else’s boat, so, that can happen. Between having good drone shots, the stuff I shot with the Sony FS7, and the GoPro footage, no one will know we had a rough time, so no worries, I guess.
Back to the cool parts of the trip. Like I said, the first day we launched at the base of the St. Louis Arch, which I had gone to the top of back in the early 1980’s. Next, I got to see 3 separate bald eagles, which is always amazing. Saw some barge traffic, which is neat to see.
We tried to shoot a segment on the Chain of Rocks on the Mississippi River. Very turbulent water. Scared the hell out of me, but I survived, that’s why it falls into the cool portion of the trip. Finally, while I was getting my drone shot for the show, I had the opportunity to get off on a huge sand bar in the middle of the Mississippi River. That river is so huge and intimidating, but to get out in the middle of it is something I’ll always remember.
Check back in and I’ll share some more technical aspects of shooting the fishing show and other shows we produce. Always feel free to reach out to me with any and all questions you might have. Thanks for reading along. Be Well.
