By Jeremy Fowler
Florida Today

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - In a white bikini with a pink sarong skirt wrapped around her waist, 28-year-old Michelle Baney's model look is deceiving.

"I was never a girly girl," says Baney, who helped reel in a hammerhead shark through constant swells offshore of the Cocoa Beach pier recently in Florida.

If Baney had it her way, the true fisherman would trade a makeup case for bragging rights on a hammerhead catch any day.

That's just her way of life, which will be displayed - along with the passions of five other cast members - on an ESPN reality fishing show, Totally Hooked, which makes its debut Sept. 8.

These six models, aspiring actors and business entrepreneurs, who range in age from 23 to 33, live together on a 78-foot yacht, eat together and, most importantly, fish together almost every day for hours on end.

The group shares experiences in 13 destinations, including Miami, Key West, Fla., and Nassau, Bahamas. Each port is like the ideal vacation, says Jeff Shapiro, the show's associate producer.

A 'different take' on fishing

The Hooked idea spawned from the progression of reality TV, and this specialized show catering to the outdoor sports shows how much the reality craze has altered the way people watch TV.

"This gives a totally different take on a memorable pastime," Shapiro says. "Any pastime ... is a great bonding experience, and we just want to capture that."

"I was brought up fishing, and that's what I love," says Sharon Spiro, an actress and web designer from Beverly Hills, Calif. "This is really us. What are they going to do, make up a fake show? They can really see on the tape that I'm out there with my rod, reeling in fish."

And that's the sole focus for a cast member. A far cry from MTV's The Real World or Fox's Joe Millionaire, cast members of Hooked are offshore from 7 a.m. to the late evening every day. If they're traveling to the next destination, they're on the water for days at a time.

Not much drama

The cast members have time to do whatever they wish when they're onshore -they like to either go out on the town or "veg out at home and drink a beer," Baney says -but most of that happens at night.

To male cast member Nik Paleologos, a Miami sales strategist, it's just like a 40-plus-hour work week -without the business suit. No love interests, no scandals and not much fighting with this group.

"We have a job to do," says the 27-year-old Paleologos, who grew up fishing and once caught a 600-plus-pound shark. "The passion levels are all the same for each of us."

With 14 crew members filming six cast members on a boat no bigger than an average-sized house, the cast doesn't get much privacy.

But the anglers didn't sign up for the show because of the luxurious living. They may not look like the folks you bump into at weekend fishing tournaments - one cast member (Tara Rain) appeared in the film Blue Crush, another (Danan Smith) models in Milan - but the six swear they take their fishing seriously.

Shapiro says having pretty women fishing in bikinis doesn't hurt the show's promotion, but the driving force behind the program is to show that women have a deep passion for the sport.

And just like real life, sometimes they come back with empty nets. The slow-paced sport will be a challenge to capture in 13 half-hour episodes, admits the guy who has to put it together.

They'll try their best. With the opportunity they have, every day is a big catch.

Meet the cast

The members of ESPN's new reality fishing show, Totally Hooked, which premieres Sept. 8:

• Tara Rain, 28, a former BMX biker who appeared in the movie Blue Crush. Grew up trout fishing with her father.

• Sharon Spiro, 33, an actor from Beverly Hills, Calif. Fished out of a tube in her hometown river as a child.

• Michelle Baney, 28, a former fashion model who appeared in the movie The Scorpion King. Learned how to fish from her father.

• Paula Prophet, 23. Grew up fishing in Alabama and now works in advertising sales at BASS.

• Danan Smith, 27. Works as fashion model when not surfing.

• Nik Paleologos, 27, a sales strategist in Miami. He could be the most skilled fisherman out of the group.