Astonishingly, it appears that Trout Unlimited (the other, less-famous TU) has chosen to launch Season 3 of their On The Rise television show - without renaming it The Trout Underground Show (or, The Tom Show).

I thought that - after last year's breakthrough episode featuring me not soiling myself on camera - TU would simply bow to the inevitable, ditch Smethurst, and offer me the starring role my mother says I so clearly deserve.

That it hasn't happened suggests a serious drug problem at Trout Unlimited, but because I'm not one to let movie stardom go to my head, I'm graciously still going to post the 2010 Season Preview here on the Trout Underground before I call my agent and make sure none of those bastards works in this town again.



Sorta new dad Frank Smethurst returns as host (I mean, he's left-handed for chrissakes), and apparently they spend not one, but two episodes in Bristol Bay, which ought to make Anglo American/Northern Dynasty (mining companies) pucker just a bit.

Interestingly, On The Rise has moved to The Sportsman Channel, and you'd have to blind, deaf and dumb to not realize why (Versus Outdoor Channel clearly wouldn't agree to broadcast the show without my presence).

Brave, brave Versus Outdoor Channel.

See you in front of the tube, Tom Chandler.