Fishing show ‘Lunkerville’ films episode on North Fork
Add “Lunkerville” to the growing list of television shows that have shot on location on the North Fork.
The fishing show, which reaches about 88 million homes in the U.S. and Canada, went on a tour of the area this week, with host Mike de Avila, producer Shannon Goldman and one of their friends porgy fishing in Cutchogue and touring the fish passage in Riverhead.
Mr. Goldman, who moved to Cutchogue six months ago, spent time on the North Fork as a child at his parent’s summer home and said he is was happy to showcase the North Fork in an episode.
“I liked the North Fork so much I wanted to show it [to others] … that was kind of the theme of the show,” Mr. Goldman said. The trio used rowboats to fish off the Cutchogue beach and also chartered a shark fishing boat out of Montauk for the show.
“We had a ton of fish. Porgy and blowfish and kingfish… sea bass, we got everything,” he said.
Mr. Goldman was an independent filmmaker before he started the show, which won a CINE Golden Eagle in 2009 for documentary filmmaking and is in its seventh season. The show is edited and produced in Cutchogue.
The show heard about the Riverhead fish passage from town community development director Christine Kempner. The project, which allows alewives to migrate back up the Peconic River, was championed by Bob Conklin, a former Riverhead biology teacher.
Mr. Conklin died in December 2010, just three months before the passage was completed.
The story of the passage fit in well with the show, Mr. Goldman said.
“It was such a community effort to get it done,” he said. “That is kind of very much in sync with what Lunkerville is about: local people doing what they’re passionate about.”
The episode will air first on the World Fishing Network within about two months, and will later air on NBC Sports sometime in February.
