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Jim Moore Fishing Tales

Series: Fishing Tales
From: Edward May
Length: 00:06:30

Jim Moore tells a remarkable story of how a cow fell out of the sky and sunk a Japanese trawler and what he likes about being a commercial fisherman. Read the full description.
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Piece Description

Jim Moore was a 22 year old art student living in Oakland California. He was living in a shabby rundown apartment and was working at an art supply store when a friend who was living in Sitka Alaska called him and suggested he move up there. Jim was lonely and disillusioned and philosophically wondering what the next move in life would be, so he decided to move. He arrived in Sitka with a steamer trunk filled with art supplies, a couple of fiddles and a dollar. Jim secured a job as a deck hand on a commercial fishing boat. He didn't know anything about commercial fishing but fishing had been a passion of his since he was a child. He's been a commercial fisherman, now, for 34 years.

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Review of Jim Moore Fishing Tales

Fisherman Jim Moore delivers some good true lines here, like "Some people, they all look alike. But each fish is different."

But "Jim Moore Fishing Tales" is audio research notes really, a first draft. There might be two or three minutes of worthwhile feature material, but like gold in the ground, it needs to be mined to have value.

Edward May's read of the intro sounds surprised, as if the text came from an alien source, and it's largely off the topics Moore speaks to. And Jim Moore's monolog itself originates almost underwater with the fish, muddy and echo-y like an ill-tuned sonar.

Too bad. Moore has a terrific smile in his voice and a contagious love of Alaska commercial fishing – it seems he's speaking in a lecture hall with an audience responding to him, but it doesn't translate to radio. Moore gives a good gloss of some unusual deep-sea creatures and a great explication of trolling. But technical references like "since the IFQ program" – a sea-change in Alaska fisheries in the mid-90s – are left undefined, though they have dramatically transformed coastal communities in the last decade.

Then a propos of nothing, Moore recites the old story of a trawler sunk by a cow dropped out of an airplane. That tale might have provided a good example of Haines bar room b.s., but it's an avi-maritime legend that's long since been debunked and which lends nothing to Moore's first-hand experiences.

Jim Moore can move from specific to universal: "What's so wonderful about [fishing] is that your success depends on how well you can intuitively connect with what's really going on under the surface." But the segment itself fails to achieve that.

The Fishing Tales series is rich with a love of Alaska. But it takes more than lines to catch a listener – you've got to intuitively connect. It takes more than just throwing it out there, fishing or producing, to hook 'em.

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Review of Jim Moore Fishing Tales

It's always fun to listen to someone talk about a profession he loves, and Jim Moore obviously loves commercial fishing. He talks about how the tugging of the line is mystical; the revelation of what is on the other end of the line; and the thrill of actually catching the fish. Sounds like love to me. It is clear that Moore is in tune with the ocean and the creatures that live beneath it. The first of the piece mentions that he went to Alaska with art supplies. His descriptions of individual fish made me wonder if he had kept up with his art. The presentation could be a little smoother - maybe all the technical aspects of the job in one place, followed by the cow story, (which is a great visual - I can see a Holstein plummeting through the bright blue sky), and then the great conclusion where Jim talks about success. Good summertime piece.

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Review of Jim Moore Fishing Tales

The introduction is slightly long and could be a bit more concise. I found myself getting bored during the explanation of fishing techniques and types but it picked up when he started telling stories. The stories that were told were funny but the idea seems a little erratic as the story moves from airstrips in Siberia to what a trawling boat is, it could flow better. I like the idea of chronicling his job but the explanations are not that funny, while the stories are, making the story conflicting. The piece was still good for those who would like to learn more about fishing or those that are interested in the lifestyle of a commercial fisherman.

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Related Website

http://www.alaskanlifeportraits.com