In 1953, Ensley decided to try something relatively new: a prime-time television show on fishing. The weekly half-hour program, called
The Sportsman's Friend, aired on KCMO in Kansas City, and included segments on fishing, hunting and other outdoor adventures. With sponsorship from the Ford Motor Company, the show was an immediate success
. "When we first tried this live show, I wondered if anyone would even tune in," Mr. Ensley said. "But after that first show, the switchboard at the station was filled up. There must be more fishermen out there than I thought."Initially in Black and White, Ensley said it was the second televised outdoors show at that time. Later it would be among the first of television shows in the Midwest to air in color. When Mr. Ensley started his show, fishing was prime-time material. He did live shows weekly for 21 years, opposite such popular series as
Peter Gunn and
Ben Casey. Yet,
The Sportsman's Friend jumped to the top of the ratings and fared very well throughout the years. He chose to continue using his radio show theme song, "Gone Fishin'" for his television program. At the end of each show, Harold Ensley would give his closing thoughts leading into "his fishing fever getting up", and then transitioning into his slightly varying tagline: "....and you know when Ensley's fishin' fever is high, if anybody asks where Ensley is, you tell 'em that the last you saw him, he had gone fishin'." He would then hang his "Gone Fishin'" sign over the mantle of his "hunting lodge set" fireplace and exit as his theme song started to play. His tagline/song combination was so effective that
The Sportsman's Friend also became known as "Gone Fishin' " by many viewers.