A local fishing supplies company is the title sponsor of “Fish Mavericks,” an NBC Sports Network reality fishing show that premieres tonight (Wednesday, Aug. 6) at 10 p.m.
Patrick and Tom Gill started TackleDirect in Ocean City 17 years ago, and the Egg Harbor Township-based company is now described as the world’s premier fishing outfitter.
TackleDirect gear and logos will be a prominent part of “Fish Mavericks,” which centers on the Fish Circus Fishing Team. The show features five anglers from different backgrounds working together to compete in high stakes fishing tournaments, often against bigger boats with much bigger budgets. The five reality show stars fish hard but also play hard.
“America is going to fall in love with these guys immediately,” said Patrick Gill, CEO of TackleDirect. “They are not only exceptional anglers, but hysterical individuals that you just can’t stop laughing with.”
Tonight’s premiere follows the popular “Shark Hunters” (9 p.m.) on NBC Sports Network, which can be found in the Comcast cable lineup at Channel 28 or on Channel 848 on Comcast HD.
TackleDirect is sponsoring a premiere party on The Deck at the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The public is invited to attend, and a drawing will determine 20 people who will move to a private venue inside for the premiere starting at 9:15 p.m.
Gill said the premiere party will include a lot of guests from Ocean City, along with the “Fish Mavericks” cast and crew, and because so many of TackleDirect’s customers fish from the same type of center-console boats, “a lot of people in Ocean City will relate to the guys in the show.”
The Fish Circus Fishing Team is made up of two hard-driving brothers from northern New Jersey (Robb and Chris Pami), two completely Southern “good old boys” from Virginia (Jerry and Jon “Big Fluffy” Harris), and a very loud, very accomplished tournament Captain that is the “Ringleader” of the Circus (Dave “Chunky” Schunke), also from Northern New Jersey and the brother-in-law of Robb Pami.
The “Fish Mavericks” are living their childhood dream: fishing competitively on fast boats, traveling to distant places, and doing what they love with close friends. Each of the six episodes in Season One takes place in a different location and includes a quest for a different type of fish. The premiere episode includes a run from South Florida to the Bahamas.
The show will air every Wednesday night at 10 p.m.
Gill said that Schunke had filmed product videos with TackleDirect, and he was part of a crew that approached the company earlier in 2014 about sponsorship.
“We almost fell off our chairs when the initial price tag came in,” Gill said. But after negotiations, the parties came to an agreement in May, and by June, the show’s boats were wrapped with the Tackle Direct logo.
The third show of the season was filmed in the TackleDirect store, and includes the outfitting of a wounded veteran named Robert Gill (no relation to the TackleDirect owners).
“Fishing was his way to reconnect back in society,” Patrick Gill said.
For more detail on “Fish Mavericks: http://www.tackledirect.com/fish-mavericks-tv-show.html
For more detail on TackleDirect: http://www.TackleDirect.com
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