Franc White of the Southern Sporsman TV Show

I think I was about 8 years old when I was watching Franc White, the Southern Sportsman TV Show early on Sunday mornings. My dad and I always watched the show and enjoyed Franc's humor, commentary, cooking and fishing tips. Many years later, many- we aired Jim Baugh Outdoors in many markets along side of the Southern Sportsman. In Richmond VA we aired as a block also along with Virginia Wildlife TV Magazine.

Franc made quite an impression on me, and of course his many fans. Do you remember these quotes?

"Swinus Americanus"
and "Do your self a favor, take a kid fishing"
Classic!
We have been producing Jim Baugh Outdoors TV for 20 years now, and each year I get e mails and calls asking me if I knew what ever happened to Franc White. I had searched the web many times, checked fishing boards, nothing, not a trace. Several people told me he had passed away.

Well, yesterday, I came across a two year old article by Brad Shrader at WRAL TV in Raleigh. I called Brad on the phone and ask him if it was true, and Brad said,
"Yes!!! Franc is alive and kicking at this home in NC"
Turns out Franc did retire and spend time in New Zealand, and then moved back to his home in NC.
Frank does not fly anymore due to health reasons, Franc is in his mid 80's now and still does write for some magazines, according to Brad, Franc also got remarried not to long ago. Congratulations!

Franc flew a zebra stripped airplane, fished and hunted, cooked, and had the most remarkable commentary you would ever hear.

Frank also had several Southern Sportsmans Restaurants, one was in my home town of Richmond Va. That was many years ago now.

I taped Franc's last show on VHS 13 years ago, unfortunately the entire body of work, all of his shows, were destroyed in a airplane hanger. Very sad.

I had met Franc several times over the years. You got to hand it to him, a TV producer and host, fantastic cook, sportsman, air plane pilot, writer, restaurateur, environmentalist, and one of the most entertaining commentators I have ever heard.

Hats off to you Franc, glad to hear your still with us!

For more info, check out the site that his daughters set up for him at http://www.francwhite.com/

Tight Lines,

Jim Baugh
JBO TV

No Sea Glass Today-Storms a commin!

Today we had ventured out to find some sea glass on a wonderful stretch of beach located in Hampton just above Grandview. On the way there, the radio sounded off a warning of a tornado, heavy winds, and to take cover. So needless to say, our sea glass hunt was cut very short.

We have had an entire week of awesome weather here in Hampton, low humidity, no rain, just fantastic weather. We have fished and filmed five out of the last seven days, so a rainy Sunday is a blessed thing, especially for our herb garden on the balcony!!

Once we have a chance to get back out to Grandview we will post pics of what we found here on the JBO BLOG. Tomorrow we are getting ready for the big Sheepshead hunt!

Tight Lines

Jim B

We fished all day- FOR ONLY TWO BUCKS!!

I wish all our fans could of seen the face on the gas station attendant at Bluewater Yachts when we pulled up to the dock and ask for $2 bucks of gas. He said "what??" I said, well, we checked our Suzuki fuel flow meter, and only burned less than a gallon of gas all day, so two bucks should be about right, and it was. I spent two dollars in gas and fished all day, cruised from Hampton to Newport News, fished the MM Tunnel and had a cooler full of fish. The Go Green Fishing Machine has got to be the most fuel efficient fishing boat I have ever seen, with the exception of my canoe.

I had fished this week with my buddy Joe and shot a great Croaker show and since the bite was still on, I grabbed Ruth, who had never been Croaker fishing before. We had a blast, and Ruth caught the biggest Croaker of the entire week, what a bute!! She said the same thing I always say, " Wow, this kind of fishing is awesome, you actually catch fish constantly, and they taste great!" We have had several Croaker fish Frye's this week, and they really do taste fantastic. If you want to get on some awesome bottom fishing, the time is now to be fishing out of Hampton. Also the Sheepshead bite has turned on real well at the CBBT.

We had a real treat while we were fishing, the Poker Run was going on and we had some unreal offshore racing boats fly right past us. Some had helicopters chasing for photos. a lot going on the water yesterday. great fun!

SATURDAY NIGHT IN DOWNTOWN HAMPTON VIRGINIA

After our fishing trip on Saturday, it was time for the downtown Hampton block party. There was a fantastic Jazz band playing dockside at the new Crowne Plaza called AAO (against All Odds.) Now, I am a HUGE jazz fan and these guys were just terrific. Check out there web site at aaoband.com. Slapwater was playing on Queens Way. Slapwater is one of the areas most popular dance bands and the keyboard player is a good friend of mine, Brad Sindle. Here is a pic of Brad, Donna, and Ruth. Brad owns crows nest photography and does excellent photo work. The night really ended up great with a visit from JBO Cameraman Wayne Baker. Wayne was up from West Palm Beach FL and was doing some work on his sailboat. We caught up with Wayne downtown at Marker 20, http://www.marker20.com/we all enjoyed the music and entertainment. It does not get any better than Saturday Night in Downtown Hampton. Great fishing, boating, and lots of live music everywhere. Just fantastic.

Well, got to go, getting ready to get on our go green bikes and head to one of Hamptons awesome beaches and look for sea glass. We looked at Buckroe last weekend and found some, today we will try up above Salt Ponds. Hampton has some of the nicest beaches, from totally remote that can only be gotten to by water, to public beaches with all the amenities, including weekend concerts!

Next up this week is a fishing trip for Sheepshead, we will post pics and info here after the shoot.

Tight Lines!!

Jim Baugh

JBO TV

Hampton VA

http://www.hamptoncvb.com/go/visitors

Suzuki Marine

http://www.suzukimarine.com/sr_09/df90-80-70/

Carolina Skiff

http://www.carolinaskiff.com/

Tidewater Sensors

http://www.tidewatersensors.com/

Bluewater Yachts

http://www.bluewateryachtsales.com/main/marina.asp

Go Green Fishing Machine Break In Fishing Trip-CROAKER TIME!-Hampton VA

Hi Folks!The last three days we ventured out of Hampton with the new Go Green Fishing Machine to hook up with as many bottom fish as we could. A fish fry was on the agenda, and nothing taste better than fresh fried Croaker. It had been a few years since my buddy Joe Dudley and I have been Croaker fishing and we were surprised just how good the fishing was. We loaded up big time with consistant nice Croakers. We never found the citation, but had lots of decent size Croakers. Bait of choice was cut squid using a four ounce sinker on a bottom rig.

The location was the MM Tunnel, the west side, fishing across the channel in 50 feet of water. That was the magic water depth, the fish were very productive.

The boat did fantastic! We had the opportunity to get her in some rather choppy seas on Wed, some real rollers were coming threw the channel and the boat did great! Now here is one of the great things about the Go Green Fishing Machine!! Fish three full days-We only burned About $10 in fuel! Thats it! Thanks to Suzuki and Carolina Skiff, the Go Green Fishing Machine is one of the most fuel efficient cost effective boats you could ever run. The fishability of this boat is great as well, lots of room, comfortable to run and fish out of. Lower emissions and less fuel consumption is an earth friendly way to fish. Once we have the engine totally broken in, we will post performance data here on our web site at http://www.jimbaughoutdoors.com/.

One of the additional fuel saving features and performance enhancer to our Go Green Fishing Machine (JVX20 Carolina Skiff) is the implementation of Smart Tabs. Read about them below.http://www.carolinaskiff.com/smarttabs.html

I can tell you one thing about this boat and engine combo, the Suzuki 90HP is a mother load of power for this 20 foot boat. I can honestly say that I think that any of the new 70, 80, 90, hp from Suzuki would push this boat just fine. It is amazing how much power the 90hp has, and it runs on fumes. So far at cruising speed, it looks like we are only burning 1.8 gallons per hour, and we are cruising at a pretty good clip. Running back and fourth 3 days from Hampton to the MM Tunnel, we really did burn less than $10 bucks in gas. The cost of one pak of bloodworms-Amazing!! And, we ended up with three awesome coolers of fish. Hard to believe that the cooking oil and seafood breader mix cost as much as our fuel bill. Never thought I would see the day! here now for more info about these awesome engines

http://www.suzukimarine.com/sr_09/df90-80-70/

Well, got to go for now, the bite now is so good we are heading back out today and tomorrow.

Bring the kids and family to Hampton VA and get on this fantastic Croaker bite!!

See ya on the water!

Jim Baugh
Hampton VA

http://www.hamptoncvb.com/go/visitors

Suzuki Marine

http://www.suzukimarine.com/

Carolina Skiff

http://www.carolinaskiff.com/

Go Green Fishing Machine Has Been Splashed!!

Three weeks ago I ventured down to Waycross Georgia to pick up our new show boat, a JVX20 Carolina Skiff powered with a new Suzuki 90hp four stroke. Once the boat was back to Hampton, it was taken straight to Whalens Marine in Chesapeake where Mike set up the engine, checked gauges, and also installed a new gasoline measuring device from Tidewater sensors.

After Whalens was done we took the boat to Bluewater where she got a new coat of bottom paint, installed scuppers, and some marine electronics. The boat was also decaled out by Beach Signs right here in Hampton.

We finally got to first run the boat on Friday and have been breaking in the engine over the weekend. We have been following break in procedure carefully so we have yet to open her up. But at only 3800-4000rpm, this puppy is moving!! We will run the boat some more today and start filming the Go Green Fishing Machine later in the week.

Once the engine is fully broken in, we will have complete performance test up on our web site and also great detail about the boat and how it is rigged for maximum fuel efficiency.

Tight Lines!

Jim B

Carolina Skiff
http://www.carolinaskiff.com/

Suzuki Marine
http://www.suzukimarine.com/

Tidewater Sensors
http://www.tidewatersensors.com/

Beach Signs
757-723-7700

Bluewater Yachts
http://www.bluewateryachtsales.com/main/marina.asp

Whalens Marine
http://www.whalensmarine.com/php/marine/skin_4/index.php

New Show Boat, Monster Hampton Cobia, and Ruth's Big Birthday!

The Go Green Fishing Machine is finally here!!! I drove down to Waycross Georgia to the Carolina Skiff factory and picked up our new show boat. The trip was a success and would like to thank long time JBO Angler and friend Mike Wilburn for the use of his trailer. For years now we have had non- trailerable boats, and the last trailer I had was about six years ago. Also would like to thank Chris Leigh at Bluewater who brokered our deal on the Pursuit. Chris did a great job and put a lot of work into it. We are going to miss the Pursuit, she treated us very good for six years and we shot a lot of great shows with her. If you are in the need of a boat broker, give Chris a call. He is the best! The Go Green Fishing Machine is a JVX20 Carolina Skiff that is rigged for maximum fuel efficiency. The boat is powered with the NEW 90HP Suzuki Four Stroke engine. We will be doing complete performance test with the boat and will post numbers soon. At this moment the boat has left Whalens Marine (Suzuki Dealer) and is at Bluewater in Hampton VA for bottom paint and further rigging. We hope to splash the Go Green Fishing Machine later this week.

MONSTER COBIA!!!!!! The weekend was the big Cobia tourney held in Downtown Hampton. I was there for the weigh in and WOW was there some fantastic fish being caught. Reports are that Thimble Shoals to Bluefish Rock has been producing some nice fish and big Cobia have also been caught at Buckroe Pier. There was also some Cobia fin sightings around oceanview on Sunday.Never a better time to fish for Cobia out of Hampton VA then right now!!

BIG BIRTHDAY! Yes, Friday was Ruth's big birthday and I was scheduled to shoot events in Hampton most of the weekend, so we decided to stay in Hampton Friday night and do a tour of our home town, and what a blast it was. First up we went and checked into what has to be the best B&B I have ever stayed in, the Magnolia House. They have a suite called the Ellington Room named after Duke Ellington and the place is decorated to match the time and era. We have included some pics here but you really have to see this place in person. Joyce and Lankford were exceptional host and never have I enjoyed staying in a place as much. If you or guest are coming to Hampton, be sure to check the Magnolia House out, you will be glad you did! http://www.maghousehampton.com/

After we checked in, it was time to make our second stop, La Bodega wine and cheese shop. Here we met with a lot of friends and listened to our bud Chris play with his group some awesome Folk, Irish, and Country music. La Bodega also served up some fantastic Hampton Crab and Corn Chowder that was fantastic. For dinner we drove out to Salt Ponds to the new Waters Edge. It was excellent sea food and the view was wonderful! We had such a good time the next day we rode our go green bikes out to the Tiki Bar and pool and stayed most of the afternoon.

Contact info:

Hampton CVB

http://www.hamptoncvb.com/go/visitors

Carolina Skiff

http://www.carolinaskiff.com/

Suzuki Marine

http://www.suzukimarine.com/

Magnolia House B & B

http://www.maghousehampton.com/

La Bodega

http://www.labodegahampton.com/

Salt Ponds Marina

http://www.saltpondsmarinaresort.com/

Bluewater Yachts, Chris Leigh

804 815 2160

cleigh@bluewateryachts.com

Now, yall come get on these Cobia!!!! We will have recipes later this week!

Tight Lines

Jim Baugh

The New Buckroe Fishing Pier in Hampton is now open!!

What a fantastic way to spend the weekend. Over 700 feet of pure fishing bliss! This Saturday was the grand opening for the new Buckroe Pier located on Buckroe Beach in Hampton Virginia. The last pier was legendary and was unfortunately lost in hurricane Isabel. Now thanks to the city of Hampton, the new pier is completed and just in time for Cobia season! This weekend a 43 pound Cobia was caught, just a fantastic catch. Congrads John!!! First Cobia caught off the new Buckroe Pier, and a great one!

The new pier is probably one of the best I have ever seen, anywhere! Loads of room, excellent fish cleaning stations, snack bar, and a huge T (70 feet wide) at the end just waiting for the next Cobia haul.

There were some nice Croaker being caught and a lot of Spot as well. There was also some nice 16- 18 inch Flounder being caught right off the pier.

JBO TV is looking forward to filming this month on the pier and spending some quality time fishing the Chesapeake's newest and finest pier. We filmed the grand opening on Saturday, then rode our Go Green bikes over on Sunday just to walk the pier and take it all in. Ruth is ready to become a full time pier fisherman, the view off the pier of Buckroe Beach and the Bay is just awesome. Great way to spend the day, right on the Beach in Hampton. After our afternoon on the pier, we biked up to Salt Ponds on the Bay and checked out the new waterfront restaurant that is opening. Was great to see everyone at Salt Ponds, and enjoyed biking along the Bay, great fun!

Here is a GREAT tip for everyone, come fish the pier and stay right on the beach at the Sans Souci Motel, Beach Front. The rooms are very nice and they have a great pool right out in front. The motel is located only about a block from the pier and you have the best access to Buckroe Beach. Book your stay today. For other lodging info just check out Hampton CVB at http://www.hamptoncvb.com/go/visitors

Sans Souci Motel

757-851-9300

Buckroe Fishing Pier

330 S Resort Blvd

Hampton, VA 23664

757-851-9146

Admission fees for 24 hours are $8 for adults, $6 for people 62 and older and $6 for children 10 and under. Sightseers pay $1 for adults and 50 cents for children.

Freaky Kon-Tiki Hampton River Raft Race 2009

Well, I have always said that if you love the water, Hampton Virginia has it all, and it does. Yesterday we had a ball filming the second annual Freaky Kon-Tiki Hampton River Raft Race. Now this is a real fun event that starts at the new River Walk park just next to the Pembroke bridge. Various teams get together for a four hour boat building session before launch. That is right, all rafts have to be built on site prior to the start off. We have included some pictures below to give you an idea of some the creativity these folks have. At 2pm sharp the whistle blows and the race is on!! All rafts have to paddle to Mill Point Park where then the rafts take to land! The rafts are carried threw downtown Hampton on Queens Way and the finish line is Marker 20 restaurant. Marker 20 then has an awesome awards ceremony and a party on the deck afterwards. Then around 6pm, David Carter starts playing outside on the deck, always an entertaining musical treat.

JBO TV Filmed on location the raft race, as well as one unreal Dog show at the Convention Center. Ruth and I traveled everywhere doing photography on our go green bikes, and really enjoyed checking out the new fishing pier at Buckroe Beach. Buckroe is just a beautiful beach with new sand and a new pier!! The grand opening of the pier will be this coming Saturday.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Jim B

More info on Freaky Kon-Tiki Raft Race

http://www.freakykontiki.com/

WEEKEND FISHING REPORT FROM HAMPTON VA

We took the show boat out for some bottom bouncing and filming. We found a lot of decent Croaker just East of Fort Wool. We filled up a cooler of Croakers and then had a fish fry. We only caught one small Flounder.

OFFSHORE. Nice Dolphin are being caught now and it is only getting better. JBO Angler Mike Wilburn had some nice gaffer Dolphin but did not see any Tuna. JBO will be heading offshore in a couple weeks.

#####The Go Green Fishing Machine is ready and we will pic it up later this week. We will post pics and info here on the web site and facebook. Filming of the boat will start in Mid June.

JBO Veteran Cameraman Wayne Baker Happy Belated Birthday

Better late than never! Our long time friend, photographer, 3d animator and JBO Cameraman Wayne Baker has turned 60. I think I met Wayne back when he was around 43 years old when he first started shooting for us.

Wayne was with me most of the time during the filming of the programs we produced featuring Virginia Locations in association with Virginia Tourism. Wayne and I covered about every inch of the state over a two year period producing some 26 programs featuring Virginia. The road stories are endless, however we did manage to produce some excellent programs that covered a huge variety of topics. For the past several years, Wayne has taken a great job in West Palm Beach Florida. He is still in Photography and also does a lot of 3d animation work and doing very well. We work with Wayne when we head south for the Keys and for the Miami International Boat Show. Wayne still has a home here in Hampton on the Hampton river, so we get to see them when they come up. Hard to believe that time has flown by so fast! And it just keeps going faster.

It has been a pleasure working with Wayne Baker all these years and look forward to more shoots on the water with him. Have a great 60th!!

Below is a pic of Wayne "Buckaroo" at an early age playing the Banjo. Also is a pic of Ruth, Wayne's lovely wife Susan, and WB himself. Pic was taken on Wayne & Susans balcony during our most recent trip to West Palm Beach in Feb. 09.

Wayne is also on FACEBOOK, look him up and say hey!!

Tight Lines,

JB

Captain Earls Captains Choice BBQ

Captain Earl Williams has been a long time friend and guest of JBO TV for over 15 years. Many viewers will recognize Captain Earl from our show, where he regularly appears fishing with us out of Hampton Va. Earl loves Hampton and tries to get here to fish as much as possible. The Captain has mostly chartered out of Smith Mountain Lake, as well as Bonita Bay FL near Naples. For years, the good captain has always said he was going to open up a NC style BBQ stand, and well, he finally did it. People have been lining up since Christmas to sample what some say is the best BBQ in the state. He really does a great job, the BBQ is Hickory smoked for over 11 hours, chopped and served. I don't know where the Captain got all of his recipes for sauces, but he has about the best I have ever had. Captain Choice BBQ also serves up Hot Dogs with a home made bean sauce that sells out almost daily. Fantastic stuff! Captain Earl has been bugging me to get up there and visit his new BBQ stand, and this was the first chance I have gotten to roll out of town in a couple of months. So, I grabbed Ruth who loves BBQ and we headed to the mountains to find Captain Earl. Captain Choice BBQ is located right on 460 just east of Roanoke in a place called Montvale Virginia. You will recognize this place because it is where all the Gas Trucks pull in to refill. Maybe 15 minutes East of Roanoke Stop by and visit our old friend Captain Earl Williams at his new BBQ stand. We had a fantastic time visiting his new place. The Captain has a new gated area with bench seating outside with music and plenty of entertainment.

(You may be able to order his BBQ and have it shipped, for more info call 540-521-4904)

One of our new shows this year features Captain Earl fishing the Outer Banks with his latest surf fishing tips. The show will be available to stream soon on our streaming page of our web site.

Captain Earl will be back here in Hampton in June fishing on the new Go Green Fishing Machine for Flounder. Cant wait!!

Tight lines,

JB

Cruise with Jim Baugh Outdoors TV Feb. 2010 Bahamas \ Key West

Plan now to join Jim Baugh Outdoors TV on one fantastic trip down south one one awesome Cruise Ship, the Navigator! We will set sail for the Bahamas and Key West. While in Key West, we have a great fishing excursion planned on board the Tortuga! JBO TV Will put on fishing seminars while at sea as well as cooking demonstrations from our favorite show recipes from The Chesapeake Bay to Key West.

This is an all inclusive vacation that even includes all the houch you can drink, and a $200 per person on ship credit, thats $400 per room! And the rooms are awesome! Just check out the pics.

Make your plans now for one great vacation, cruise with Jim Baugh Outdoors TV in 2010, it will be one boat ride you wont soon forget!!

Click below for more details and booking info

Holiday Cruise and Travel

http://holidaycruiseandtravel.net/offerdetail.asp?priceid=1427968&sid=23035

Travel Virginia Magazine

http://hubpages.com/hub/A-One-of-a-Kind--FishingBoatingCooking-Cruise

Also look for full page ads in Travel Virginia Magazine, plus editorial info from the publisher.
Jim Baugh JBO TV