The Ultimate Fishing Show - Matt meets big fish in New York

What started as a crazy idea over a couple of beers and is still produced in a Northland shed is about to be seen by an audience of millions.

Matt Watson, a Takou Bay resident and self-proclaimed "stunt-fisherman", has signed a deal with Discovery and Animal Planet to show The Ultimate Fishing Show, which is set to screen in the American autumn, in about October this year.

Watson appeared on an episode of talk show The Late Show with David Letterman a week ago, discussing his production - which screens in New Zealand as The ITM Fishing Show - and some of his crazy fishing exploits.

Footage of Watson's "stunt-fishing" has won popularity and awards on video-sharing website YouTube, which is how Letterman learned of the spirited Northlander.

His stunts included jumping from a helicopter to tackle and tag a marlin underwater.
"It was pretty amazing," Watson said of his appearance on the popular talk-show in New York City. "It was a little bit different to Takou Bay - ok, they were polar opposites."

Despite having fished all over the world, Watson still thinks Northland game fishing is the best. "The great thing here is that we've got the two coasts."

Ideas for Watson's stunts seem to come out of nowhere, but at least he's got a good barometer on whether or not they're winners.

"Once I get an idea, I'm like a dog with a bone, I just can't let go of it. I bring up ideas when I'm sitting around with mates having a beer, and if it makes them spit their beer out, it's probably good enough."

When the Northern Advocate suggested Watson had introduced extreme fishing as Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond had introduced extreme stunts in cars on UK show Top Gear, he laughed.

"You know, you're not the first person to tell me that. But I've never actually even seen it. I'm not a big TV person, and I tried to watch it [Top Gear] once, but I've got a short attention-span and I watched two or three minutes and they were just doing stuff in a studio."

Just getting a cab ride in New York City was exciting enough for Watson - let alone appearing on a world-famous talk show.

During the episode, which screened in the USA two weeks ago, Watson sat casually in the famous chair opposite Letterman, wearing a T-shirt and shorts. When asked what town he was from, Watson said "a beautiful place" called the Bay of Islands.

He recounted the moment he decided fishing for a living was a better idea than being a roof tiler. It came after a nasty accident in which he landed either side of a gutter, and while stuffing bandages down his pants he got a call from mates who'd just landed a yellow-fin tuna.

"But doing my job, you need balls," he told Letterman.