It’s rare that Jason Barnucz would miss a Bassmaster show, and the Canadian fishery biologist has discovered a way to make even small fish look big.
As Hamilton Bassmasters president and conservative director of the Ontario B.A.S.S. Nation, Barnucz is more than just a fishing fan. Fishing is his life. Between work and fishing functions, he fishes Erie, Ontario and various inland lakes for everything from walleye, musky and pike to his favorite, bass.
So it was no surprise he hunkered down with his kids in their Dehli home to watch the 2015 GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by GoPro on Bassmaster.com. But instead of huddling around a tiny screen, the family was living large.
Barnucz had finally figured out a way to get the Internet video up on his big screen TV. He tweeted out his sweet setup, with the Classic weigh-in playing on the big screen, kids on the floor digging into their tackle boxes.
“I’ve been to the last couple of Classics,” Barnucz said, apologetic he couldn’t make to Lake Hartwell. “I had the TV hooked up, all ready to go.
“I’ve only been doing it the last couple of months with all the stuff on B.A.S.S. I tried a couple different setups before, but it kinda didn’t work out.”
Like many, he used to watch B.A.S.S. video, from weigh-ins to “The Livewell” to tips, on a small screen of an iPad. But a $69 Apple TV device helped him get the big picture.
“I run the live feed off my iPad,” he said. “I just upload the Bassmaster.com web site, click play on whatever video and hit AirPlay.”
It’s an easy process, he said, and more people are attempting it. With increasing online video content, people are forsaking cable TV and switching to the Internet for their entertainment. But for those who are tech challenged, getting a computer or handheld device to send video to a big-screen TV screen can be a bit confusing.
Enter Julius Morgan, the IT guru at JM Associates, the TV production arm of B.A.S.S., to offer the best options to mirror your computer content to a TV.
“There are a lot of different ways to catch a bass,” Morgan said. “There’s a myriad of different options, depending on the set up you have.”
Morgan offers a rundown of the most popular:
HDMI cable
Morgan said the simplest and cheapest method of mirroring Internet content is a cable. A high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) cable can be plugged in directly from computer to TV. Switch the TV to the correct input and you’re off.
The cables can run around $30 from a big box electronics store, but online shoppers can snag one for under $5. Sometimes you need to go into your settings and send the audio to the television, or you’ll only hear it from the laptop or tablet.
“If you don’t have a desktop or laptop, and you’re watching on your phone, Apple offers a Lightning (Digital AV Adapter) to HDMI cable to hook it up.”
Running a cable might be a trip hazard, and you might want to have your computer at hand to check out the leaderboard in another tab. One benefit with a cable is no lag time, which occurs with the following devices.
Chromecast
Chromecast is a thumb-sized media streaming device that plugs into the HDMI port on your TV. It can be used with an Android phone or tablet, iPhones, iPads and Mac or Windows laptops to cast any media to the big screen.
“I’m a techie, and I prefer using Chromecast,” Morgan said. “In order for it to work, you have to be on the Chrome browser. Call it up on the laptop or computer like you normally do, and then you would just hit a button and cast that tab to your TV. It will detect the video and go full screen.”
The device is $35.
Apple TV
This set-top box is the choice of the “i” generation, which includes Barnusz. Apple TV has more streaming options than Chromecast, and it can mirror a computer’s desktop and any browser. AirParrot, a $10 app, allows Windows users access to Apple TV.
Just plug the Apple TV unit into an outlet, run an HDMI cable from it to your HD TV. Hold your device with Bluetooth on next to the unit to sync the account settings and you’re ready. Then, as Barnucz described, just start a Bassmaster video and hit Airplay.
Morgan said there are several other external devices, and added that some gaming consoles, like Xbox 360, PlayStation3 and Nintendo Wii, can access the Internet, but you might need your 14-year-old to help set it up.
There are also some of the newer smart TVs capable of browsing the internet, which require no external devices or extra cables, but most don’t come with 14-year-olds either. You could refer to the owner’s manual.
Barnucz added that his cable provider doesn’t carry ESPN2 and Bassmasters TV, so all the online video content from B.A.S.S. is appreciated. With snow preventing him from doing much outdoors – he hasn’t seen his lawn in four months — he’s had time to catch up watching big fish on the big screen. Bassmaster LIVE, providing on the water action of events, is downright addictive, he said.
“Once the shows are uploaded to the web site, I can sit and watch them. I have to wait a little bit longer,” he said. “Being able to watch the events live is unlike anything. It kind of negates the reason to have cable or satellite now. There’s so much good content on line.
“As a fisheries biologist, I love seeing different lakes and rivers, When I’m watching them fish, I’m watching more than just the guys fishing.”
He said his son, Trevor, is also learning a lot. The 7-year-old watches with a tacklebox he won in a kids derby, searching it for lures similar to what he sees the pros using.
“It’s pretty addictive,” Barnucz said. “With my Apple TV, I can actually freeze frame it and go back and look at it again. Trevor likes (fellow Canadian and B.A.S.S. emcee) David Mercer saying stuff like Gi-gi-gi giant.
“This is a game-changer for us, me for sure.”
