Meet Mercer’s Moose

Dave Mercer shows off the first Golden Moose award won by his show Facts of Fishing.

Dave Mercer and his Facts of Fishing team found winning a Golden Moose award deeply satisfying.

Mercer’s show, which has been nominated each year it’s been on Outdoor Channel, won in the category the team focused on from the get-go this year – Best Videography.

“The coolest part about it is we’re the only fishing show to ever win in videography,” said Mercer, who’s going into his eighth years as Bassmaster emcee. “This was our target at the beginning of the season because it’s their most contested award.

“You’ve got to beat everybody. It’s not Best Fishing show, not Best Hunting. You’re the best visual show. And you’ve got to beat everybody on the network.”

Mercer accepted his Golden Moose during the 17th annual Outdoor Sportsman Awards at Las Vegas’ Venetian Theater. Facts of Fishing topped nine other nominees, including two big-name hunting shows, and was also nominated in the Best Overall and Best Fishing categories.

“I consider myself very lucky to work with an incredibly talented crew. I want to publicly thank every one of them for their nonstop work ethic,” he said. “Our guys are always chasing the next big shot. Our camera guys are almost competing against each other.”

While most fishing shows simply follow the angler and record his day fishing, Mercer said Nick Pujic and his Vantage Point Media House team call the shots to get the best shots. That’s not always conducive to the best fishing.

“A lot of times they tell me where I’m going to fish,” Mercer said. “We use the first three hours of every single shoot in the prime fishing time, getting all the sexy shots of backlit casts and all that. It’s not always about the fish. Sometimes it’s just what direction I need to fish this bank for it to look best.”

Pujic said winning in videography was rather humbling, and he was proud of each team member.

“This award is the ‘Oscar’ of our line of business,” he said. “From Dave Mercer’s hosting skills, to every one of our producers who touches each episode, everyone shared the vision and kept pushing to raise the bar, redefining what a fishing show can be and should be.”

Mercer found it kind of ironic that he collected the Golden Moose – from TV star Joe Mantegna – for a category he actually contributed little. But with Moose in hand, Mercer and wife, Sarah, took it on a tour of Vegas.

See photos of Mercer’s “Moose on the Loose.