‘Mad Fisherman’ Moore stil thinks big

Interviewing fishing enthusiast Charlie Moore is like shooting off fireworks. You just light the fuse (ask a question) and get away (let him talk).

The energetic host of New England Sports Network’s Charlie Moore Outdoors show can talk about anything, from fishing and hunting to the inner workings of television shows to Nomar Garciaparra’s shortcomings.

The fourth episode of the fifth season of Charlie Moore Outdoors airs Sunday and Moore is already thinking about the sixth season. The 33-year-old Lynnfield, Mass., native has come a long way since he had to beg, plead and cajole his way into doing a three-minute fishing segment on NESN’s Front Row show nine years ago.

“This is where I envisioned it to be from day one,” said NESN’s “Mad Fisherman,” who, along with longtime producer and Auburn native Bob Sylvester, has turned the idea into a cottage industry. “And I don’t think it’s peaked yet. I think we’re just starting.”

This year’s season runs for 13 episodes and Moore is also branching into other networks. His Beat Charlie Moore show will start its second season and 13-episode run on ESPN2 in January or February. The second season of BCM will offer challengers a $5,000 cash prize if they can best Moore.

“I’m a big fisherman and back in the old Front Row days, I pushed the idea of a hunting and fishing show the same time Charlie was doing it, so I guess they decided to take care of two headaches with one segments and put us together,” said Sylvester, who has been a producer and editor with NESN since 1992.

With so many fishing and hunting shows coming and going, Moore’s show has managed to persevere.

“It’s simple, it’s entertainment,” Moore said. “The primary purpose of our show is not to teach people anything. There are no complex issues at work here, it’s just a fun show that makes people laugh.”

It’s that straightforward, self-deprecating approach which has both attracted many well-known athletes and celebrities to serve as guests on the show and endeared him to viewers as well. Moore has had guests ranging from Boston sports stars (Kevin Millar, Cam Neely, Barry Pederson, Drew Bledsoe, Matt Light) to celebrities like rocker Ted Nugent and TV Batman Adam West. Even politicians like Ted Kennedy have been on the show.

“It’s always been easy to get guests on the show. We get phone calls from people to come on,” Moore said. “And a lot of our viewers aren’t even outdoors people, but they’re watching because it’s fun.”

Perhaps Garciaparra, who is portrayed as aloof by many media accounts, could have minimized or even totally avoided his current problems with Red Sox fans and the team itself if he had been a guest on the show.

“Maybe he should have come on,” Moore said. “It’s kind of a status symbol, but in reverse. It makes you appear less stuffy and more approachable… More blue collar.”

Moore’s travels for the show have taken him to several Maine locations including Denmark for ice fishing – “Our only ice fishing show was that one” – as well as Lake Arrowhead in Limerick, where Moore’s family owns a cabin; Cobbosseecontee Lake; Big Lake, Casco Bay; and the Penobscot River.

“My two favorite places to go are Lake Winnipesaukee [New Hampshire] and Cobbosseecontee in Maine,” Moore said. “I like Winnipesaukee because it’s close to Boston, but I also enjoy Big Lake [near Princeton, Maine] because it’s so remote.”

Charlie Moore Outdoors airs each Sunday at 8 p.m. on NESN. First-run episodes of Beat Charlie Moore air Sundays at 5:30 a.m. on ESPN2.

NESN’s Sweet 16

New England Sports Network’s new 16 in 60 show will provide a look back at the 16 best Boston Red Sox games from the first half of the 2004 season. The series began Monday and concludes with two episodes Friday at 7 and 8 p.m. Each episode is hosted by former Portland sportscaster and Portland Pirates radio announcer Tom Caron.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net.