Is this job work? No, not when it's fishing

The part where Blair Wiggins looks like He's having fun? It's real.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
MIAMI -- The way you can tell a fishing celebrity from a true fisherman is that the true fisherman spends his day off ... fishing.
Between taping a Biscayne Bay bonefish show and a Flamingo rockpile episode, captain Blair Wiggins, MOGAN maniac, star of cable television's popular "Addictive Fishing" -- ("rod-bendin", drag screamin' action!" say the promos) -- spent Memorial Day on the Key Largo flats.
No TV cameras followed Wiggins and captain Tadd VanDemark as they poled the no-motor zone off Port Largo hunting tarpon and bonefish with a fly rod. The only signs of Wiggins' celebrity status were the garish logos and fish images covering the 17-foot Ranger Banshee Extreme.
It wasn't long before Wiggins' sun-bleached, surfer-dude good looks -- familiar to millions of viewers -- attracted the attention of a passing kayaker.
"Is that Blair?" the paddler asked, coming closer.
Seeing that it was, the man continued, "We had a school of bonefish crashing into the kayak."
As Wiggins thanked the kayaker for the helpful tip, VanDemark chuckled from the poling platform.
"This is better than being a movie star," VanDemark said. "Because it's fishing."
A good time
I told Wiggins I had watched one of the first episodes of "Addictive Fishing," now entering its eighth year, and was amused at how much fun he seemed to be having catching barracudas on the flats in Key West.
Wiggins and the guide were yelling, high-fiving and using the show's signature "MOGAN," very liberally in describing a species many South Florida flats fishers consider a trash fish. (For non-anglers, "MOGAN" is a combination of monster and 'big 'un.')
Wiggins smiled and said they were carrying on like that because it was "fun as hell."
'People ask me my favorite fish to catch, and I say, 'the one on the other end of the pole,'" he said. "The biggest comment I get is, 'You fish like I do -- you get all excited.'"
Not like the others
Wiggins says what sets his show apart from the others is its in-your-face approach.
"It's not your typical two bubbas out fishing," he said. "The camera is not a fly on the wall. I engage the camera as much as the guide, so I don't leave the audience out. They feel like they know me. I wouldn't want to be doing anything else."
The Cocoa Beach native served in the Air Force for four years, obtained a bachelor's degree in aeronautics and worked on the space shuttle in his hometown before launching his "Addictive Fishing" guide service 15 years ago. He teamed with a childhood friend, Kevin McCabe, to create the TV show, which airs on Florida's Sun Sports Network.
"I went through every bit of savings to put together this show," he said.
"Ain't been too much left at the end of the year. [TV host] Mark Sosin told me once if you want to make a million dollars on a fishing show, start with two or three."
A bigger audience
Wiggins hopes to improve on his Florida viewership by switching to the national Fox Sports Network in July, where "Addictive Fishing" will air at noon Sundays.
Meanwhile, when he's not producing shows or competing on the redfish tournament circuit, he is lecturing and signing autographs at fishing expos and boat shows or fishing in charity events.
The celebrity whirlwind doesn't leave much time at home with his wife and 14-year-old son.