Off Fisching

June Casagrande

There are cooking shows, there are travel shows and there are fishing

shows. But one Newport Beach couple realized they were onto something

when they came up with an idea for a television program that includes

cooking, travel and fishing -- all aboard their 72-foot yacht, Go Fisch.

“We fish and we free dive, then we make a gourmet meal of whatever we

caught or shot, then we explore the local area,” said Chris Fischer, the

33-year-old co-creator and co-star of “Offshore Adventures,” a new show

on the Outdoor Life Network. “The gist of the show is exploring the world

offshore and trying to bring it into people’s homes.”

Melissa Fischer, 26, stars with her husband on the show that, for

many, would be a dream come true. Starting from Newport Beach, the

Fischers, Capt. Brett McBride and Chef David Traylor taped 13 episodes

all while yachting down the coast.

“It’s not a hard-core fishing show, not a hard-core diving show; it’s

about the lifestyle of traveling around in a yacht,” Chris Fischer

said.”And the great thing is,” he added, “we’re going to a lot of

pristine, remote areas you don’t see on a lot of other travel shows.”

The show, sponsored by Red Lobster Restaurants, premiered on the cable

channel on Jan. 5. Structured as a travelogue, the first two episodes

showed viewers the couple’s departure from Newport Beach and cruise down

the coast. Episodes to come include places like Mazatlan, Mexico, and

tiny islands off the Pacific Coast.

Later this year, the team will take off to tape the next two seasons

of the show in Sitka, Alaska, and, through the Panama canal, along the

Great Circle Route up the Atlantic Coast, through the Great Lakes area

and into the Gulf of Mexico.

“There’s no acting,” Melissa Fischer said. “We’re just out having a

good time and filming it.”

* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)

574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .