Television viewers from around the country on Saturday and Sunday will learn about bass fishing on China Lake and visit prominent landmarks in Waterville as the show “Fishing University” airs on Outdoor Channel.

A production crew filmed in central Maine over four days in September for the show, which features hosts Charlie Ingram and Ray Brazier as they team up with Ted Thibault, global sales manager for Tuf-Line, a fishing line company, and Carl Bois, a professional Maine fishing guide, to compete in the Tuf-Line Corporate Cup Championship.

Ingram partners with Thibault, and Brazier is Bois’ partner, as they take two boats out onto China Lake, testing the fishing line and competing to see which team catches the biggest five fish to win the championship.

The Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce hired “Fishing University,” based in Centerville, Tennesee, to come to central Maine to help tout all the amenities the area has to offer. Chamber President and CEO Kimberly Lindlof said the chamber paid $6,500 for the show to feature the area. The chamber also provided hotels for the week, breakfast one day and whoopie pies, for a total of about $10,000, Lindlof said.

“We just want to keep our region front of mind with fishermen when they think of bass fishing,” Lindlof said. “We want them to think of mid-Maine.”

The half-hour show will air at 4 p.m. Saturday and at 8 a.m. Sunday. The show also aired Tuesday.

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Darrell Wentworth, owner of Buckshot Power Sports, of China, and fisherman A.J. Glidden, owner of Bulldog Custom Rods, of Vassalboro, used their own boats to drive the cameramen around China Lake to film the fishing tournament.

Bruce Harrington, first vice chairman of the chamber, is featured on the show as well, pointing out places tourists might visit in Waterville, including the historic Two-Cent Bridge at Head of Falls, Post Office Square downtown, Common Street Arts, the Colby College Museum of Art on the college’s campus on Mayflower Hill, the Waterville Opera House and the Kennebec River, which flows by the city.

Harrington also touts attractions such as the annual Maine International Film Festival, which brings about 100 independent American and foreign-made films to Waterville for 10 days in July and draws thousands of film enthusiasts from around the world who interact with actors, writers, directors and producers.

Lindlof said the idea for the television exposure is that families coming to mid-Maine to fish also would take advantage of all the attractions that area communities have to offer.

Also in the show, the fishermen visit Winslow High School, where they talk to students about careers as well as about how large the fishing industry is.

Cory Vose, president of the Maine Man vs. Bass Trail fishing tourneys, also spoke with students from Mid-Maine Technical Center in Waterville. Vose coordinates a series of bass fishing tournaments held in the summer and sponsored by the chamber.

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Lindlof said “Fishing University” approached the chamber about doing a show in the area, after Major League Fishing filmed a professional bass fishing tournament in August 2014, on Messalonskee Lake in Oakland, Great Pond and Long Pond in Belgrade, and China Lake.

The chamber supported that event as well, and the show aired January through March last year, with the finale show airing on CBS in sports prime time, reaching about 1.2 million viewers, Lindlof said.

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17


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