While the tendency is to focus on the controversial and awe-inspiring details of professional bass fishing here on Balog’s Bass War, occasionally I overlook a subtle occurrence. Last season, the major tours were filled with dramatic finishes, dangerous conditions and one man reaching the pinnacle on two platforms. We watched the rise of new tournaments, elbowing their way in to the marketplace. We saw the continuing struggle to clearly define the rules.

Whatever a fan needed, the professional fishing tours delivered.

All the while, amongst the drama and back and forth banter, FLW was doing its best to enter into the world of reality television with a YouTube series called Circuit Breaker.

The show followed the progress of Tour rookie Casey Martin. BassFans in the know will recognize Casey’s name as both a dominant co-angler of yesteryear and the winner of last season’s Chickamauga event, where he used a modified version of the controversial umbrella rig to dominate.

Circuit Breaker follows Casey on tour, and is in the passenger seat for his roller-coaster ride season. Veteran tournament fishermen will appreciate the way the programming shows much of the untold story of a career as a bass pro – complete with blown tires, living on someone else’s couch and sweating out meager checks. As we all know, tournament bass fishing is far from glitz and glamour.

However, it’s the other 99 percent of America that Circuit Breaker seems custom-made for.

Whether we like to admit it or not, hardcore bass fishermen are a unique group. And for the big tournament trails to appeal to the rest of the world, and therefore promote their sponsors, they need something loved by seemingly everyone. Enter reality TV.

As I’ve touched on before, it never ceases to amaze how much interest Americans put into other people’s business. Whether it’s a program that showcases an unheard-of singer (for the millionth time) or just watching people cook, it seems reality TV isn’t going anywhere.

FLW jumped in with both feet with Circuit Breaker, and the product ain’t half bad.

The producers of the show could have chosen a dominant veteran, a trendy-looking twenty-something from out West, or a good ol’ boy with a gift for gab, like we see so often. Instead they chose unassuming Casey, originally hailing form Canada, of all places. So much for the stereotype.

FLW also made a an ingenious move, in my mind, by resisting using one of its touring team fishermen. That would have been legendary FLW in-your-face marketing. Instead, there’s Casey, just doing his best in the sponsor world.

By truly striving to document this bizarre side of America, FLW just may have something here. I’ve always felt that, if the rest of the world could just really see this sport for what it is, it would be a huge hit. Not for the fishing – for the fishermen and the life they’ve chosen.

Look at it this way: the other day I was in a Bass Pro Shops and stopped a lady wearing a pink Duck Commander shirt featuring a portrait of Uncle Si. I asked her if she ever duck-hunted. Eyeing over my camouflage hat and jacket, she scornfully replied “Oh God, no!” while briskly walking away.

Understand where I’m going with this?

I’ve spoken with a few key players in bass fishing on Circuit Breaker in order to try to get a feel for where this is heading. One was Casey himself.

“It’s crazy, the number of people that contact me about this thing. When an episode is released, my Facebook lights up," he said.

I asked him if he saw an interest from fans outside of fishing. His reply was yes: distant relatives and friends, even people he never met. He purposely pointed out that he sees a response from anglers “who would never follow FLW. Like guys at a gas station filling up a johnboat.”

Interesting, don’t you think?

Bridget Grigsby is the VP of marketing for FLW and heads the Circuit Breaker program. She admits that FLW is learning as it goes with the project, just like all parties involved.

“At first, we were very tournament-heavy in the first few episodes,” Grigsby said. But she explained the trend was to have the show be “more reality as the season went on.”

Watching the show, I see exactly what she means. A great deal of airtime is focused on Casey’s lifestyle, specifically his housing conditions. We learn more about the bachelor-pad living of touring pros than we do about productive fishing patterns. I’m always amazed at how many of these guys are willing to cut corners on their housing. More glamour of big-money bass…

The episodes are complete with the “reality TV/shaky camera effect” that somehow gives realism. Episode host Brett Carlson does a good job of explaining this bizarre sport without “dumbing it down," as we’ve seen too often when the targeted audience is outside of the circle. But for some reason, he delivers his take with an annoying fixed stare away from the camera.

Regardless, through it all Casey produces a string of finishes that couldn’t be scripted better for Hollywood, complete with a year-end win and qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup.

The cameras followed Casey 24/7 at all the Tour stops. Surely that affected his fishing.

“It’s tough to coordinate everyone,” he told me, “especially getting to the launch in the morning, getting the microphones on, that kind of thing."

Although Casey mentioned there’s been numerous times the camera crew has literally trashed the bank he was fishing by following too close, it’s all in the cards for the rookie.

“It impacts my intuition at times, but I’d say it’s worth it,” he said.

During the event at Grand Lake, Casey’s camera crew assisted him when he broke down – something other anglers aren’t so fortunate to experience. A bent prop blade sent the Circuit Breaker camera boat racing to Casey’s truck to retrieve a spare.

Such was met with scrutiny by others on Tour. Bill Taylor, FLW tournament director, specifically outlined that the assistance was legal in the corresponding TV episode. But this could prove “sticky” in the future, as we all can see. To be considered fair, that camera crew better become a “ghost crew” in times like these. Favoritism is an ugly subject, and Circuit Breaker is an FLW product.

Either way, hardcore fans of bass fishing will appreciate the subtle subject matter in many of the episodes. Program after program, Casey’s focus is just making checks. You hear it in his defacing comments, where “two Canadian geese are my biggest fans” or “success would be a $10,000 check” and “a win would be getting 50th."

Compare that to a brief interview with confidence-bleeding Randall Tharp, saying, “Once you realize you’re better than 90 percent of them, you’ll beat 90 percent of them every time."

The outside viewer wonders if Casey really is in the 90-percent bracket.

The hardcore BassFan wonders if Casey will ever be able to convince himself that he is.

Grigsby admits that producing the show is a tremendous amount of work. Neither she nor Casey seemed over-enthused by the number of views the show is getting on YouTube – around 10,000. But neither is disappointed, either, and each is enthusiastic that the show's’following is building.

My immediate idea, and the one I think we’ll likely see, would be to continue to follow Casey, but add in another character, most likely a tournament big stick. It would be very interesting to see how Casey approaches a lake compared to a Dudley, Ehrler or Christie. The hardcore nuts like us would love to contrast the different psyche involved. The reality TV fan would simply enjoy the David vs. Goliath feel.

During my interviews, in each case I asked the subject if they’d ever seen the documentary BassMan Movie, detailing the 2001 seasons of Takahiro Omori and Rick Clunn. In my opinion, it’s one of the best fishing films of all time, and seems remarkably close to the structure of Circuit Breaker. I was surprised to learn that no parties had heard of the film. They ought to think about ordering a copy.

When I spoke to Casey, I was surprised to hear that he hadn’t received word on whether he would be featured next year. I hope he is. After watching seven straight Circuit Breakers, I’m starting to get attached to the kid.

In any case, I hope FLW is able to continue this project. It’s apparent some people outside of the fishing circle are doing a lot of the work, and, for once, that’s good. Last I checked, most of America resides outside of that circle as well, and we need to produce a product for them if we stand a chance to continue to elevate the sport.

Pro bass fishing is fascinating. What kinds of people subject themselves to this type of life to, often times, fail? If documented right, it’s certain to intrigue America. The question is whether Circuit Breaker is the next piece of the puzzle.

(Joe Balog is the often outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)