MARCIANO: It's gonna be tough.
There's no doubt about it.
Bottom line is these fish
are worth money, big money.
That's why we're here.
That's why we play this game.
TYLER: Yeah! Whoo.
NARRATOR: The most competitive
tuna season yet
has come to a close for
the fishermen of Gloucester.
TYLER: Hey!
NARRATOR:
So, what do they do next?
MARCIANO: Let the games begin!
NARRATOR: They chase the tuna
to North Carolina.
Marciano, TJ, and this year's
Wicked Champion, Tyler...
TYLER: No matter where we go,
the Pinwheel's a threat.
NARRATOR: ...take on
the Southern fishermen
of the Outer Banks...
MAN: Oregon Inlet, baby!
Whoo! Whoo, baby!
NARRATOR:
...in their own backyard.
TYLER: We got to outfish
the Southern captains.
It's a, it's a battle royale.
[rod whipping]
MAN: Got 'em on! Whoo!
NARRATOR:
And with the quota limited
to just one bluefin a day...
JOE: We're on!
Got to think smart here.
NARRATOR:
The Northern boys won't receive
much Southern hospitality.
MAN: I'm gonna whoop
that Yankee's a*s.
MARCIANO: Aah!
MAN: You don't mess
with Carolina.
NARRATOR: And in one
of the most dangerous...
MAN: Whoo!
MAN: Uh!
NARRATOR: ...unpredictable...
MAN: Oh, dammit, man!
MAN: Put the [bleep]
camera down.
NARRATOR: ...and relentless
fisheries in the world...
MAN: Oh, no!
MAN: This place is like
the Wild West.
MAN: Whoo-hoo!
NARRATOR: ...it helps to have
home field advantage.
MAN: Yes!
MAN: This is my turf.
I don't want these
Northern boats coming down
and giving us
a run for our money.
NARRATOR: North...
South...
Which will reign?
MAN: We'll either make it,
or we won't.
Man overboard!
MAN: Aah!
MAN: Yeah!
MAN: Whoo!
NARRATOR:
In Wicked Tuna Outer Banks.
MAN: You shall not pass!
GRIFF: All right, man.
I think we got everything.
You ready to go?
STEVE: Yes, sir. Let's go.
GRIFF: All right, let's go.
Let's go see
if we can catch one.
First day. Opening day.
Ha! I love this game.
BILLON: 2018, are you ready?
GREG: Ready to get
this thing started.
BILLON: Take us
to the land of promise, papa.
Who's ready? Who's ready?
GREG: See if I remember
how to do this.
DIRTY: Yeah. Brake on the left,
gas on the right.
GREG: There you go.
NICK: All right, you boys.
Untie this, baby.
We need a fish!
Try to get out there
and catch a tuna.
Yeah, that's
what I'm talking about.
Jacked up.
CLIFF: We're all jacked up.
Let's go, buddy.
NICK: We're gonna aim high.
CLIFF: It'd be nice to get
the first fish of the fleet.
It sure would.
That's a little bit of bragging
rights I'd like to have.
Hopefully, we can do it.
Whoo!
GRIFF:
Maybe we can catch us one today.
Daggum.
Let's try to land
the first one, Steve.
We don't brag, you know,
but I'm telling you,
last year, the Reels of Fortune
surprised everybody.
We became the number-one boat
in the fleet.
STEVE: Hell, yeah!
GRIFF: Good God,
he's the biggest one yet.
STEVE: Ugh!
GRIFF:
We beat all them Yankee boys.
The little boat won!
You the man!
We surely wanna win
again this year,
but we're facing
one of our toughest seasons yet.
STEVE: All right. Let's go.
GRIFF: We lucked out last year.
Let's see if we can't
do as good this year.
GREG: We were the top boat
three years in a row.
We got to find these fish,
quick.
BILLON: Yeah, baby.
GREG: Of course
it sucks losing.
That's not happening
again this year,
not if I can help it.
STEVE: That's Pinwheel.
GREG: Go on home, Pinwheel!
And I damn sure have no plans
to lose to a Northern boat
this year.
NICK: This season's quota
is 39 metric tons.
That is a very,
very small quota.
That's around 300 fish.
GRIFF:
He's stressing out, you know.
It's really gonna be harder
for a man to make a living
than we've had to face before.
TYLER:
Southern boats are all leaving.
We better
get after it too, Duff.
DUFFY: Show these Southern boys
how these Northern boys
fish, huh?
TYLER: Be nice to go out there
and get a good start on
the fleet, first day of fishing.
DUFFY: Yup.
TYLER: Up north
this summer was tense.
Duffy and I were
at each other's throats.
DUFFY: Stop!
SAVANNAH: No, no, no, no, no!
TYLER: And I nearly lost
my finger fishing for the title.
But everything's patched up now,
and we're ready
to get the win again down here.
We really wanna get off
to a good start,
try and get that first fish
of the season.
DUFFY: Let's do it, buddy.
We get to go fishing!
NICK: The Northern boats,
seeing them here,
it sure does get to me.
I don't go out there
and fish for their tuna.
They shouldn't be here
fishing for my tuna.
NICK: It's a slap in the face.
We're like, what'd you do,
what'd we do to you, man?
We're just trying
to catch some fish.
We're the only Northern boat
fishing this morning.
TJ and Marciano are playing it
safe and waiting for daylight.
I know that these guys
don't want us here,
but we got
to make a living, too.
We got to try and figure out
where these Southern boys
are going.
Anybody hear where the bite is
this morning?
GREG: Griff, Nick,
go to our channel.
NICK: Morning, Red Boat.
GREG: Doghouse is seeing
some fish down there on the 550.
TYLER: Man, I can't find
this other channel.
GREG: Local knowledge rules.
Tyler, don't even plan on
getting any information from us,
and information's key--
where the fish are,
where they're moving to,
what they're biting on.
That's the information
we share among ourselves.
He's not gonna get
any help from us.
Looks like we all have
the same thing in mind.
We're not gonna let Tyler
get behind us today, are we?
NICK: Let's ditch him, boys.
You came here on your own,
you're gonna fish on your own.
[laughs]
TYLER: Where did those guys go?
NICK: He's gonna have a hard
time finding fish on his own.
[laughs]
CLIFF: Let's do it up!
NICK: New bluefin season, boys!
Let's get out there and get
the first fish of the season.
[laughter]
BRITTON:
Is that you inshore, Greg?
GREG: Yeah, I hope we all get,
get a chance
to have some fun here today.
BRITTON: All we're looking for
is one bite, the right bite.
My name is Britton Shackelford,
and I'm the captain
of the Doghouse.
Every bite counts.
The mates this year
that I have are Caine Livesay,
who's fished with me
for a long time.
CAINE: Time is of the essence.
BRITTON: And we have a new man,
Jack Graham.
JACK: It's all
about the floater, baby.
I've been fishing
since I was a little kid,
but really I'm,
I'm new to the game
of actually fishing
for these giant bluefins.
But I'm fired up.
I know I can do anything
when it comes to fishing.
I just say here comes my chance,
and I just hope I don't blow it.
Drop one of these guys out there
and get us a bite.
BRITTON: Get us a bite.
Get us a bite.
CAINE: We're gonna get us one.
No problem, brother.
GRIFF: Honey, I'm home!
[birds squawking]
Yep, I see some birds
around here.
It looks all right.
We look for warm water, birds,
slicks, mammals,
you know, like whales,
porpoise, and stuff like that,
anything at all
that looks like life.
You ready?
Watch this.
Come on, fishes! Ha ha!
In the Outer Banks,
we keep our boats moving,
trolling for these monster
bluefins using our greenstick.
A greenstick is
a 40-foot fiberglass pole
that's attached to our mainline
with a breakaway.
We attach a device called
the bird to the end of the line.
BRANDAN: Bombs away!
GRIFF: Whoo!
BILLON: That's the bird.
GRIFF: The bird is designed
to simulate the motion
of a predator fish,
chasing after our squids.
It also creates tension
on the mainline,
which elevates the baits,
enticing tuna below to bite.
When the fish bites,
the breakaway will snap.
[snap]
And the mainline is reeled in
with the bandit reel.
That's how we do it.
BILLON: And up we go.
JACK: Our squids are dangling,
and we're fishing, boys.
GRIFF: What was that, Steve?
STEVE:
That may have been tuna there.
GRIFF:
What made that big swirl?
STEVE: Got a boil.
GRIFF: Looks like tuna.
STEVE: I'm just
giving the baits more action
to try to get a bite.
GRIFF:
That had a little bit of a mark.
GREG: Couple of them busting
right here on the bow.
BILLON: Busting on the bow.
GREG: Here, right here.
BILLON:
They're busting on the bow.
GREG: We always want
that first fish of the season,
and now's our chance to get 'em.
They are busting on my bow.
NICK: There's fish
all through here.
TYLER: Where do we got to go?
[bleep]
If I got up the road, it,
it could put us
really out of position, man.
Marciano and TJ are taking
their time getting out here,
so we got no friends out here.
Where these fish are is
different from where they were
a couple hours ago,
so you have to constantly
move with them.
If you don't have a good network
to talk to,
you're not gonna know
what's going on.
[bleep bleep bleep bleep]
Do we run north or south?
DIRTY: Two fish
busting off the bow.
See if we don't get us a bite
to start it out.
Let's get this money.
BILLON: Ready.
GREG: Here they are.
BILLON: Marking them?
GREG: Oh, there's a pile of 'em
here. 15 fathoms.
Your fish finder, it's a sonar
that's looking straight down
under the boat,
and anything that's in that path
will show as an echo
on the machine.
There they are!
We're in the meat!
Every boat's gunning
for that first fish.
[beeping]
NICK: That's the meat.
It's down there deep!
NICK: We wanna catch the first
so everybody else
is playing catch up.
STEVE: Come on, baby. Hop.
NICK: Real good mark there.
[beeping]
BRITTON: Good Lord, what a mark.
I'm talking about mega meat,
right there, boy.
JACK: They're talking
about marks.
You can just feel the energy.
It just makes your blood pump.
You just know
that that bite's coming.
You can feel those fish
starting to come up.
BRITTON: Whoo!
It's 30 fathoms, bud.
But it is the meat!
NICK: Come on, baby!
Pile of 'em right here.
STEVE: I just seen a swirl.
CAINE: Fish busting
all around us, boys.
That's what I'm talking about!
GREG: Come on, long rigger.
[reel unspooling]
BILLON: There he is! Got a bite.
GREG: Got 'em on!
DIRTY: Got 'em on!
GREG: Number two, baby.
Doubleheader.
Jay, that's for you.
BILLON:
I got a tuna. I got a tuna.
I got a tuna.
We got two on over here.
TYLER: Where's that hot action?
GREG: My job is
to put fish on deck,
and I'm putting fish
on deck for my crew.
It's not my job to help out
the Northern boats.
TYLER: We're on low power.
They can't hear us, so.
GREG: They're on their own.
BILLON:
Ain't no pallies down here.
TYLER: Where are you, guys?
Is this radio working?
GRIFF: Hey, how about
we not tell ya, huh?
How about you just go home and
talk on your radio there, huh?
[laughs]
What was that, Steve?
STEVE: I think I saw a tuna
swimming down sea.
Two of 'em, pretty sure.
There he is, Griff.
GRIFF: What?
STEVE: Griff!
It's at a boil.
GRIFF: God dang,
that's bluefins, buddy.
STEVE: Yeah. Got 'em.
Got 'em on there.
I got you. I got you.
GRIFF: Here's our chance
to catch the first fish
of the year.
And it generally
brings good money.
And we got him on
and just got to hold your breath
and hope everything goes well.
Got 'em on, boys.
Looks like a decent fish, too.
TYLER: Ugh! Griff got a bite.
[bleep]
We're down here
to win this thing.
It's the one thing
that's eluded us.
We haven't been able
to get the win down here,
and we're not trying
to lose to Griff.
BRITTON: Ooh, there's a mark.
About the fifth one
I've seen this morning.
We just want to hear
the 'pa-choo.'
[beeping]
CAINE: Oh! There he goes.
BRITTON: There he is! Whoo!
CAINE: Whoo, baby!
JACK: Hey! Got 'em on! Whoo!
BRITTON: You see that?
Ka-pow goes the breakaway.
CAINE: Ka-pow!
Catching your first fish on
the first day is sought-after.
You're a hero.
Whoo!
Everybody's gunning for it,
dude.
I mean, time to go.
Pretty work, baby!
GREG: We got two fish on here.
Now this is a dilemma.
BILLON: This one's up top.
I see it flashing.
GREG: This one's
got some weight.
BILLON: Okay.
GREG: With our small quota
this season,
we're only allowed to catch
one fish a day.
In the past, we've hooked
multiple fish plenty of times--
doubles, triples.
This one's
acting a little bigger.
When it was three a day,
you get one bite,
it's three fish,
you got a hell of a paycheck.
Now, one fish a day
means one fish a day,
and if you hook a double,
you've got to make a decision.
All right,
let's talk about strategy.
Where are you, Dirty?
DIRTY: I'm closer,
just coming straight in.
GREG: Let's get that first fish
up and see what he looks like.
Is this one bigger than that one
that's back there?
If I cut this one loose,
am I gonna catch that one there?
It's like a game show.
DIRTY: The struggle is real.
GRIFF: All right, ready?
Once we get the fish up there
to a breakaway,
we hook a polyball onto it.
Then we get away from the fish,
and we let the fish
pull on the rig.
What that does
is that wears him down,
and hopefully, it doesn't
stress him quite as bad,
and then we'll, we'll ease him
up there and take a look.
You know, hopefully
he'll be big enough,
and like I said, somebody's
got to catch the first one,
it just as well be us,
hadn't it?
BRITTON: He's still on there?
CAINE: Yeah, yeah, he's
on there. Coming in right fast.
BRITTON: Feel him?
CAINE: Yeah,
he's coming up right here.
Uh, here he is.
BRITTON: He's big enough, Caine?
CAINE: No, just a big yellowfin.
A terrible splash, though.
BRITTON: Ended up being
just a great big yellowfin,
but that ain't
what we're looking for.
Bummer.
GREG: Uh, here he is.
He's right there.
See him down there?
BILLON: All us on the Frenzy,
we're looking
to reclaim what's ours.
We want to catch the first fish.
GREG: Right there.
Son of a [bleep]!
Small bluefin.
He's gotta be 73 inches.
We can't keep him,
so turn him loose.
This helps keep the bluefin
population sustainable.
Goodbye. Come back and see us
when you get bigger.
We still got a fish on, boys.
GREG: Crank on that thing, Jay.
We gotta get this one.
STEVE: Let's pull him up here.
You ready?
GRIFF: You ready?
I can't take it, either.
STEVE: See him flipping the dart
and rolling now.
I hate it when they do that.
Oh, yeah.
GRIFF: See it?
STEVE: Yup.
GRIFF:
Handline him on up, Steve.
STEVE: I'll try if you want to.
Pulling, though.
GRIFF: Oh, boy.
First fish of the year, baby!
Steve, we get this one,
we'll be right where we were
last year, on top.
Watch yourself, bud.
Talk to me, Steve.
STEVE: You're good. You're good.
Come off, Griff.
GRIFF: Huh?
STEVE: He come off.
GRIFF: Oh, no!
[music]
[music]
STEVE: Pulling, though.
GRIFF: Oh, boy.
First fish of the year, baby!
Steve, we get this one,
we'll be right where we were
last year, on top.
Watch yourself, bud.
Every single time I hook one,
that's money on the line,
pressure, it's just until you
catch him, you never relax.
Talk to me, Steve.
STEVE: You're good. You're good.
GRIFF: Huh?
GRIFF: Oh, no!
No, he didn't.
Talk to me, Steve.
STEVE: He's good.
Keep circling on him.
BILLON: Getting close.
GREG: Please,
be the one we need.
We've got a bluefin on,
but so does Griff.
The first fish of the season
is a message
to the rest of the fleet
that that boat means business,
so I'm praying
that the Frenzy's the boat
to pull the first one on board.
BILLON:
'Bout to see him in a second.
GREG: Another short? Damn.
I got a fish
that was undersized.
All right,
come back and see us again.
DIRTY: Got to be 73.
He was probably
in the 40-inch range.
Happy to have a bite,
but just looking for one
about four times as big.
GRIFF: Let's try
to get the first one, Steve.
Pull on him, buddy!
Pull on him!
Where's he at?
We need to get this first one.
If we get this one,
that'll put us on our way.
STEVE: All right, get him!
[bleep]
GRIFF: Steve, come here. Uh.
Don't lose him, buddy!
Don't lose him!
Get the gaff, quick!
STEVE: All right.
GRIFF: All right.
[bleep] dude.
STEVE: Got him.
GRIFF: Good job, Steve.
Way to go, buddy!
[bleep]
Boy, does it feel good to catch
the first fish of the season.
I'm a local boy raised here
at the Outer Banks.
And knowing we've got a jump
on these Northerners
sure puts me in a good mood.
[singing]
Tuna fishing, baby, yeah!
NICK: Griff sang his song.
BRANDAN: He sang his song?
NICK: Yeah, you know...
[singing]
Tuna fishing, baby, yeah
Tuna fishing, baby
I hear that so much,
it haunts me in my dreams.
So, we're gonna have to work
our a*s off to beat these guys.
CLIFF: Lucky dog.
BRANDAN: Returning champ
catches first fish.
TYLER: Griff got him.
I can't believe Griff
just got him.
It's brutal.
I don't like this.
GRIFF: That's how we roll, baby!
Got to be lucky.
We've got the first fish, and
there's no fish on the market,
so we've got something
nobody else has right now,
and hopefully
we'll be rewarded for it.
Ugh!
You got a chance
to make $10,000 in a day.
That's what we fish for.
We fish for the good ones.
Hey, baby!
[laughs]
GREG: How big is he?
GRIFF: 83.
GREG: Looks like Griff picked up
right where he ended up
last year.
Caught the first fish.
We got to get out there
and get one.
I'm sure Griff is trying
to regain his title.
He's trying to catch
a lot of fish this year,
but we're gonna do what we can
to catch one more.
GRIFF: I love my job!
[singing]
Tuna fishing, baby, yeah
TYLER: I guess Griff's just hot.
I haven't seen a thing.
No marks, nothing.
I don't even know
if we're in the right zone.
I mean, we can hear the people,
so they got to be close.
DUFFY: We're the underdogs now
coming from the big win on,
in summer.
Griff's getting c*ck.
TYLER: Oh, I know.
He's already dialed in now.
You know, one-a-day fishery,
it's so hard
to make up distance.
Got to get ours.
When are TJ and Marciano
gonna get out here?
We're at a major disadvantage
right now.
The Southern guys
know these waters,
and they know
where the fish are.
And without a network of guys
to talk to, we're struggling.
[music]
[music]
Come on. Hurry up, guys.
[music]
MARCIANO: All right, g*ng.
ANGELICA: Okay.
MARCIANO: I'm Dave Marciano,
and I'm the owner and skipper
of the fishing vessel Falcon.
That's the first time
I've been able to say that.
We got a new boat
to come down here
and compete in the Outer Banks.
She's about 12 feet longer
than the Hard Merchandise,
and she's almost
three times as fast.
This year, we've got
the speed and the power
to navigate the inlet properly.
To rig, you take your loop end.
Put it through there
and on the cleat.
As far as crew,
I got my son, Joseph,
and my daughter, Angelica.
They've never fished
in the Outer Banks fishery,
so we're gonna have
a little bit of a challenge
as we bring the crew
up to speed.
We're gonna buddy up with TJ
on the Hot Tuna for this trip
and see
what we can come up with.
TJ: All right, cool.
Let's do it.
We're good.
JARRETT: You guys ready
to go fishing, or what?
TJ: The Reels of Fortune got
the first fish of the season,
so we're already behind
these Southern boats.
We need to get a fish ASAP.
MIKE: Back in the OBX.
TJ: Just headed out
of Wanchese Harbor,
first trip of the season.
We've got Dave on his new boat
back there, the Falcon.
It's named after one of his
love affairs with Star Wars.
JARRETT: The Falcon.
MARCIANO:
Engaging to hyperdrive.
[laughter]
TJ: He hasn't been out
yet this year,
so he's just gonna kind of
tuck in behind us.
Anytime you're traveling
these Outer Banks waters,
it's always good to buddy up
with someone,
especially since Dave and I
aren't from here.
MARCIANO: Look, this inlet
is a treacherous place.
It's notorious
for taking boats down.
The past two seasons
I came down here and fished,
we hit the bridge.
[bleep]
My God, we're gonna hit!
[crash]
[bleep]
MARCIANO: Man!
[bleep]
And on top of all that,
we didn't catch
any keeper bluefin tuna.
Now, I can't afford to let
that happen with this new boat.
They got all kinds
of construction going
because of the bridge.
More obstacles
for the obstacle course.
In this season,
getting through the bridge
is as bad as it's ever been.
You've got the old bridge that's
always been there.
You've got the new bridge
and the construction equipment
and barges and anchors
and anchor ba*ls.
[bleep]
TJ: This Outer Banks in the
wintertime is as bad as it gets.
Am I supposed to go
between those ba*ls, like?
MIKE: I wouldn't. No way.
There's a pump
going through there.
You see it going?
That's a pump.
I wouldn't go through that.
TJ: I'm just gonna
go slow through here.
There's that one shallow spot
up here where they change.
MARCIANO:
And on top of all that,
the sand here
is constantly shifting,
so we're always at risk
for running aground.
JOE: See, Gel,
look around over there,
that's where the shoal,
how it shoals up, right?
Little room for error.
MARCIANO: All right.
There's a sailboat approaching.
Let me move over
and give him some room.
[crash]
Oh, [bleep].
We're aground, TJ.
[bleep]
[bleep]
MARCIANO: We're stuck,
and we're not going anywhere.
ANGELICA: It's all black smoke
over here, Papa.
MARCIANO: The propellers
are buried in the mud.
I [bleep] hate this place.
If we don't get out of here,
it's only gonna get worse.
The tide seems to be dropping,
so we got to get off here.
[bleep]
And we got to get off here now.
I'm dead.
I can't get off here, TJ.
TJ: This is a disaster.
I'll be right around, all right?
[bleep]
MARCIANO: Let's hope I didn't
bend the wheel or the shafts.
TJ: That's the thing
with this place, man.
You know, every year
it shifts and moves,
and this is a perfect example.
This place can ruin you quick.
You don't mess around
with this place.
So, let's see
if we can't get him off here.
ANGELICA: We've run aground in
the graveyard of the Atlantic.
Our season might be over
before it even started.
TJ: Try and throw it to him.
MARCIANO: This is where
it's a dangerous situation.
Anytime you're
in a towing situation,
especially
when one boat's aground
and the other boat
is trying to pull you off,
the lines
are gonna get very tight.
Just tie it off, Joe.
Tie it off.
I've seen lines snap
while towing
and hit the crew in the leg.
It broke the guy's leg
in seven places...
[motor rumbling]
...just from
the whip of the line.
[rope stretching]
TJ: He's moving.
JARRETT:
Come on, buddy! Come on!
MARCIANO: Close.
MARCIANO:
Joe, watch it down back.
Other way!
[rope snaps]
ANGELICA: Oh, gosh!
[bleep]
TJ: Jarrett, Jarrett!
You all right?
MARCIANO:
Joe, watch it down back.
Other way!
[rope snaps]
ANGELICA: Oh, gosh!
[bleep]
TJ: Jarrett, Jarrett!
You all right?
JARRETT: Whoo!
Thank God
I wasn't behind that one.
Lucky that thing
didn't take my head off.
Holy [bleep].
TJ: Right now,
we're just very thankful
Jarrett didn't get hurt.
If that rope had hit Jarrett
in the leg or in the face,
he could have been
seriously injured.
JARRETT:
That could have been really bad.
Got to love the Outer Banks.
TJ: All right,
we'll try it from the back now.
I'm gonna try one more approach
with the transom,
with a little bit heavier rope
and hope I can pull Dave
off this bar.
ANGELICA: Is it wide enough
to fit both of the boats?
MARCIANO: I hope so.
When they start pulling this,
everybody get up inside.
TJ: Hopefully this works.
If it doesn't, we're gonna be
calling the Coast Guard.
[bleep]
TJ: Everyone clear?
JARRETT: Yup. Clear.
ANGELICA: We're spinning.
MARCIANO: There you go.
We're moving, right?
JOE: Yeah. Yeah.
JARRETT:
It looks like he's getting off.
He's definitely moving.
He's, he's off.
MARCIANO: All right,
I think that's done it, TJ.
TJ: All right.
JARRETT: Yes! Back in action.
MARCIANO: Thanks again, guys!
Thank you!
JARRETT: You'll be returning
the favor before you know it.
JOE: All set!
Well, TJ just saved the day
right here.
Hopefully, now we're able
to go fishing.
MARCIANO:
All right, thanks a million, TJ.
That was a big help.
TJ: Happy we could
help you, man.
Let's, let's get out there
and give it hell.
MARCIANO: I'm gonna stay
right up on your a*s.
We got lucky.
We're out of it all right.
First trip in the Outer Banks.
She's like, 'Yeah,
welcome home, boys. Take that.'
GRIFF:
We are looking good in the hood.
Hey!
DENNIS: Way to go, Griff.
First blood of 2018, Charlie.
GRIFF: Thanks, man.
Let's see what we got.
Fish can range in price
from $5 to $30 a pound.
We're hoping this baby brings us
big money right now.
All right, Dennis.
How much is that one?
DENNIS: 241 dressed, Griff.
GRIFF: There you go.
There you go, Steve.
STEVE: Good job, Griff.
GRIFF:
Yeah, that's the first one.
DENNIS: Let's check it out.
GRIFF: All right,
let's see what we got.
The buyer is looking
for good translucent red color
and lots of fat.
Those are the fish that bring in
the mega bucks.
All right, Dennis.
What do you think, man?
First fish of the season,
maybe a good one?
DENNIS: Nice meat quality here.
Nice sticky meat.
Enough fat for this size
and a nice clear core.
I think this fish is gonna
light it up in Tokyo this week.
GRIFF: Good.
DENNIS: First fish of the year,
$20 a pound.
GRIFF: That's awesome.
Great start.
STEVE: Thanks, Dennis.
GRIFF: Great start, man.
STEVE: Good job, Griff.
GRIFF: Hey.
All right, Dennis, hopefully we
can one for you tomorrow, man.
DENNIS: Catch 'em up, guys.
GRIFF: Thanks, man.
We've got to keep catching 'em.
Just because we caught the first
one, we can't go to sleep now.
At only one fish a day,
we've got to try to land one
good quality bluefin every day
so we can stay in the lead.
[singing]
Tuna fishing, baby, ha
[music]
MARCIANO: I'll never
get used to driving down here.
We had a little bit of trouble
getting out this time.
We got stuck for a minute,
but good thing
we're running with TJ.
He pulled us right out of there
with a little bit of difficulty,
but now we're out fishing.
ANGELICA: Yeah.
MARCIANO:
And we're off like a prom dress.
ANGELICA: Stop saying that.
I hate it when you say that.
JOE: Maybe she'll like
the other one.
MARCIANO: What?
Let's make like a baby
and head out.
JOE: He's got more, you know.
ANGELICA: I know.
I've heard them all.
MARCIANO:
We're off like a foreskin.
Joe, you can keep the tip.
MARCIANO: All right, we're off
like a turd of hurdles.
ANGELICA: What?
MARCIANO: Herd of turtles.
ANGELICA:
Well, that one's at least new.
I'm proud of you.
You're learning new jokes
in your old age.
MARCIANO: Oh, yeah.
[laughter]
CLIFF:
Come on, fish, where you at?
NICK: I got to get on the hunt.
Got to hunt these things down.
Getting the first one
is a big obstacle to overcome.
The stakes are really high.
We got three families
on this boat.
DIRTY: Come on, fish.
NICK: And with 39 metric tons,
very small quota,
you can't afford to have
many days on the water
where you don't produce.
The action's kind of died down.
There was
a little flurry of bites.
Griff caught one. You know,
Frenzy was marking 'em.
A couple other boats had marks.
We had some marks.
So, now maybe the boats
will thin out
as it gets closer to dark,
and they'll get brave again.
BILLON: Wait our turn.
DIRTY: They'll pop up again.
GREG:
Griff on the Reels of Fortune
has already caught
the first fish of the season.
I wanted to have that first
fish, but it's not gonna happen.
Now I'm playing catch-up.
NICK: The Frenzy.
CLIFF: There's Nick's
master teacher over there.
NICK: Yeah!
CLIFF:
Taught Nick everything he knew.
NICK: Yeah.
GREG: The last thing I want
to do is get outfished by Nick,
my old first mate.
If we want to end up on top,
we've got to start catching now.
CLIFF: I think Greg's got
something to prove this year.
Last year, Nick not being
the first mate on the Frenzy
did hurt Greg.
CLIFF: Nick brings
some stuff to the table.
He's fished for these things
a long time.
He knows Greg's strategies,
and the Little Shell's
coming for him.
They are going to come back up.
NICK: Oh, yeah.
GREG: Oh, here they are.
Deep. 40, 45 fathoms.
BILLON:
All right, marking 'em.
[beeping]
GREG: Oh, that's the meat.
They're here.
TYLER: Where's that at?
Hello?
Anyone, come in, come in.
Nothing.
Not getting any radio love.
If they want to play dirty,
so be it.
We got to get our piece.
NICK: Hey, there's fish
right around this slick.
Big mark!
That's the meat, 100 foot.
Bunches of meat.
[beeping]
[beeping]
[reel unspooling]
There you go.
CLIFF: Yes!
Whoo!
NICK: Big mark!
CLIFF: That's a good bite, man.
All right, he's in the back end.
We've hooked
our first fish of the season.
There's a lot, a lot of pressure
to get that thing in the boat.
We're still a new team.
This is our second season.
NICK: I don't know
if he's still there or not.
CLIFF: I feel it in my stomach
because
we don't wanna fall behind.
I think he's there.
NICK: Yeah.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're tight right here.
GREG: Oh, Nick's got 'em on
right here.
DIRTY: Nick does?
GREG: Put a little more bend
in that thing than that.
BRANDAN:
Bring him up here, baby.
Bring him up here.
NICK: Greg likes to tell people
that he taught me
everything I know.
He thinks
he can get under my skin
because I used to be his mate.
All right, Brandan, take over.
That's over now.
I got to teach him
a lesson today
about never underestimating
your competition.
NICK: Crank fast.
I don't want to get
too far out there,
so, hey, wait,
call him off, Brandan.
Our fish is stretched
way over there.
We got a fish on, and it's
stretched out way on the top,
and it's running
towards this other boat.
BRANDAN: Who is that?
CLIFF: Just that black boat.
NICK: That burned-up
black hull boat
by the commercial boat here.
BRANDAN:
How about you, black boat?
Little Shell here, we're
stretched out in front of you.
If you would,
turn to your starboard there.
NICK: Tell him to turn.
CLIFF:
Tell him to turn, Brandan.
BRANDAN: Hey, bud.
You got to turn, black boat.
Black boat, turn to your,
to your starboard there.
NICK: We've been trying to
holler at this guy on the radio,
and it's just not happening.
He's not listening.
The radio's not on or something.
BRANDAN: Black boat,
turn off to your starboard.
[cranking]
NICK: Go away, dumbass!
Anything can happen.
We got a big paycheck
on a little piece of line.
This fish is in real danger
of getting cut off any moment
by this other boat.
Oh, come on!
Turn around, you...
[bleep]
NICK: Oh, come on!
BRANDAN:
Black boat, black boat.
You got to turn!
We're stretched out
in front of you.
NICK: Go away, dumbass!
Turn around, you.
CLIFF: We can't reach
the guy on the radio.
He's not responding to us,
so right now
we have to try to get this fish
to change directions.
Nick's gonna work that rod and
put more pressure on the fish
to try to turn his head.
I'm up there at the helm.
I'm trying to maneuver the boat
in such a way
that we can get him to turn,
anything I can to get that fish
away from that guy.
[cranking]
NICK: All right, be careful,
because we're,
we might go over the lines.
[cranking]
There you go, Cliff.
He's coming up here now.
CLIFF: We're good! We're good!
We got it.
NICK: Me and Cliff
have worked together,
and we got this fish
away from the danger.
Now we just have to
close the deal.
CLIFF: Come on, fish!
BRANDAN: He's a fighter!
NICK: Well, he's pretty tight.
Crank, crank.
[music]
There you go.
Stay after him, Brandan.
CLIFF: Try to get this baby
in the boat. We need him.
NICK: I got you, Brandan.
BRANDAN: You ready?
[cranking]
CLIFF: I see the color
right there, Brandan.
BRANDAN: Deep color.
CLIFF: There he is
down there, see him?
NICK: Oh, yeah.
CLIFF: Oh, he's coming up now.
NICK: All right, Brandan.
Get ready.
BRANDAN: I'm ready, baby.
CLIFF: All right, Brandan.
NICK: Here he is, Brandan.
Here he is!
Left side of me.
Left side of me.
Get him!
Nice! Get a tail gaff.
Tail gaff, long gaff!
Just come right to my right
and get a tail rope on him.
Okay.
Whoo!
[bleep]
CLIFF: One, two, three. Ugh.
NICK: It's a great feeling
to have a fish on board
the first day of the season,
and I'm super excited,
proud of my guys.
BRANDAN:
It was a battle. Whoo!
CLIFF: It was a battle.
NICK: We got him! Whoo!
BRITTON: Way to go!
Good for ya!
GREG: We suck.
I'm one behind right now.
BILLON: Nick caught a fish,
lucky b*stard.
GREG: He's on his way in.
So far, we're in third place.
We're tied for last
with the rest of 'em.
Year after year,
the local boats are generally
always doing better
than the Yankee boats.
We're not in that pack.
We've got to get on a roll.
BILLON:
We'll take anything right now.
Something, something, something.
NICK: Oh!
Let's measure him.
CLIFF: 80-incher. Yeah! Whoo!
NICK: Just listening
on the radio there,
Frenzy hasn't caught one yet.
Greg found out,
when he doesn't have Nick,
he don't have [bleep].
Me, Billon, and Greg,
we were sort of untouchable,
and now without me,
I can touch him.
CLIFF: Going home!
NICK: Feels good.
Steaming home.
BRANDAN:
God, that feels good, man!
CLIFF: Give 'em hell,
Little Shell!
BRANDAN:
Give 'em hell, Little Shell!
TYLER:
Welcome aboard the Pinwheel,
where we just
keep on taking pictures
of Southern boats catching fish.
The North is getting rimracked.
We're getting crushed.
The Southern boats
are taking us to preschool.
Marciano, TJ,
you guys seeing anything?
MARCIANO: Yeah, working
southwest here, that's all.
I am seeing nothing.
TJ: No quality marks at all.
I ain't hearing much.
Me and Tyler have certainly had
our differences over the years,
but when the going gets tough,
the Northern boats,
we have to stick together.
JARRETT:
What do you think, Ripple?
We're getting our butts kicked.
TYLER: This isn't our home turf,
and it's k*lling
us Northern guys right now.
TJ: These fish aren't
like the Northern tuna.
These fish are very aggressive,
they're hungry,
they're, you know, they
don't have the food sources
that the fish we have
in Gloucester do.
You know, they don't have
these giant schools
of herring and mackerel.
And, you know,
to come out of the gate
not exactly red-hot.
I mean, we're not even red-hot.
We're not even lukewarm.
This year we got to pray
that we just land on the fish
constantly.
This quota's gonna
go very quickly,
and if we're not in position
when they're biting,
we're gonna be out to lunch,
and these guys are gonna
take advantage of it
and just walk right past us.
I just know we need
to get over that mark.
Once we find these fish,
we're gonna get
just as many bites as anyone.
TYLER: What a bummer, man.
These Southern boys
aren't sharing information.
They're being really secretive.
Everything's a big secret.
I mean, the game is on.
The Southern boys have come
to play this year,
but we're here to win,
and that's what we're gonna do.
[music]
BRANDAN: That was a lot of work.
CLIFF: Hell, yeah.
NICK: Hi, boys.
Graham, what you doing?
DENNIS: First blood
for the Little Shell, 2018.
You got a good one today?
NICK: 80-incher.
CLIFF:
Hey, what about Griff's fish?
DENNIS: Griff's was
a nice little red fish.
NICK: He got the first one,
but we got the second one.
DENNIS: Right on.
NICK: All right, Dennis.
Let's get him dressed,
see what he weighs.
Let's take it right over here,
like this.
CLIFF: Y'all wanna see
the fish in that bag?
BRANDAN: There you go.
CLIFF: Whoa!
NICK:
Ready? Let me get it right here.
CLIFF: Hey, hey, boys.
BRANDAN: How we doing?
NICK: With all the families that
we're supporting on this boat,
they come first.
And to have a fish
this early in the season,
it feels really good.
Now we just need to get
good money for this fish.
All right, Dennis.
What we got?
DENNIS: 219 dressed, Nick.
Looks like a nice fish.
Let's check it out.
NICK: Hey, hey, stop, stop that.
WOMAN: Just jump on there
like a tire swing.
NICK: Yup, that went
right down the sleeve.
All good.
What we looking at, Dennis?
DENNIS: Nice red color.
Let's see
what the core looks like.
Looks like just tiny scratches
of fat in the minor lobes.
It is rather lean fish, but nice
way to start the season, guys.
The U.S. market's really hungry
for red meat right now.
NICK: There's only two fish
caught today,
so what do you think he's worth?
DENNIS: Beautiful fish
for New York City.
NICK: All right.
DENNIS: $13 a pound.
NICK:
All right, that's pretty good.
CLIFF: Good start.
NICK: Yeah,
you got to start somewhere.
NICK: Thank you.
DENNIS: Thank you, guys.
CLIFF: All right, thank you.
NICK: I'm really happy
with this fish.
Almost $3,000, proud of my guys.
Did a hell of a job.
First day,
we got one on the board.
BRANDAN: Later, dudes.
CLIFF: Listen to your momma.
NICK: This is our second year
as a team,
and this year's different.
Little Shell's clicking, and
we're hitting on all cylinders.
We're gonna outfish
the Northern boats
and run them
right out of town,
and if we don't,
the weather will.
[laughter]
GREG: Let's just
rig fresh in the morning.
GREG: Yeah, if they look good,
put 'em in the box.
Well, we didn't
catch anything today.
And rather than turn around and
run back in there, wasting fuel,
we're gonna
spend the night out here,
so we can get in position.
Reels of Fortune
and Little Shell
have both brought fish
to the dock,
and we're sitting here
with an empty deck.
If we wanna be the top boat in
the Outer Banks again this year,
we've got to start catching.
It would really hurt my pride
to see one of these Northern
boats catch a fish before us.
Yeah, we'll probably
drift through
where the bites were
this afternoon,
and, um, hopefully
the fish will come in here.
You know, a lot of times
they're moving at night,
and we get bites at night.
We're gonna stay in here
and hopefully find us a bluefin.
I'd much prefer to be in my bed,
but this is part of the game.
If you're here,
you got to make it count.
If nothing else,
we'll be in position
for first thing
in the morning.
So, we'll see what happens.
TJ: A lot of boats
still out here
that haven't had a bite.
Greg's out here.
We got Hard Merch,
the Pinwheel.
I really expect someone
to get tight here.
I think Greg's coming back
with a vengeance.
I think he's gonna do everything
in his power to win,
and they've said right along
that they're gunning
for that top spot,
and they want it
more than anyone.
No one would like to see Captain
Turtleneck back in the top spot.
JARRETT: Come on, fish!
TJ: So one of us,
we need to get a fish ASAP.
TYLER: The drift game.
Because that's all
it's come down to,
we got to be working
around the clock
to try and make up time.
And hopefully we can get lucky
and catch a fish.
[beeping]
ANGELICA: Yeah.
[beeping]
MARCIANO: Little something
at, like, 120 feet, Joe.
JOE: Yeah.
[beeping]
MARCIANO: It looks like the fish
have finally showed up.
Let's all try
and get one on the board here.
TYLER: He's coming around.
Down rod due at 18 in the lead.
[beeping]
TJ: There's a mark, Bubby.
We got make
something happen here.
[beeping]
TJ: Yes, I like this.
JARRETT: TJ, we're on!
We're on! We're on!
[dog barking]
[reel unspooling]
TJ: Got 'em on, baby.
Got 'em on.
MIKE:
That looks like a good one.
This is our time.
This is the time
for Hot Tuna to shine.
We need to get
on that leaderboard.
TJ: Crank 'em up.
Our main goal this season is to
make as much money as possible
and catch as many fish
as possible.
However, we also have to prove
that we can catch
just as many fish
as anyone down here.
Lay some heat on him.
Let's do this.
Oh, Frenzy,
we're coming for you.
[reel ticking]
[reel unspooling]
GREG: Got a bite.
BILLON: Jacked up, baby.
GREG: Hooked up.
[cranking]
TJ: Come on, we need this one.
Get him, get him!
MIKE: I see the Fishin' Frenzy
as the biggest threat
in the Southern boats.
That boat is built
for down here.
They got a great team.
If we can land one before them,
that would be a great way
to kick off our season.
GREG: Get a dart ready, guys.
BILLON: I got it.
GREG: We got to get this fish.
BILLON:
He's going under the boat.
[reel unspooling]
GREG: Yeah, go ahead.
Go ahead.
Go, go, go!
BILLON: I'm going.
GREG: Don't cost me this fish.
GREG: We got to get this fish.
BILLON:
He's going under the boat.
[reel unspooling]
GREG: Yeah, go ahead.
Go ahead.
Go, go, go!
GREG: Don't cost me this fish.
There you go!
Nice work.
TJ: Keep it coming.
Keep it coming.
Good job, Bubby.
Let's get this one.
MIKE: Pull forward.
MIKE: I see the Fishin' Frenzy
as the biggest threat.
So, if we can land one
before them,
that would be a great way
to kick off our season.
[cranking]
TJ: Here comes your weight.
It won't be long now.
[cranking]
GREG: Weight.
Please, be the one we need!
DIRTY: Sharky.
GREG:
That's what he's acting like,
but you never know
what's it gonna be.
Sometimes you can be surprised.
DIRTY: Yeah, I'm just out here
trying to catch a bluefin
and got all the toothy critters
after us.
GREG: He's getting close, guys.
Right there on top.
Thresher.
DIRTY: Thresher.
GREG: Thresher.
BILLON: Thresher?
GREG: Yep.
[snap]
Whew!
BILLON: Critters, man.
[music]
Sharks.
This time of year a lot of times
drifting at night,
you get a lot of shark action.
GREG: I don't like it.
BILLON:
It's just the way it is.
It's part of it.
GREG: Thresher city.
TJ: Swing it around.
[cranking]
MIKE: I got leader.
[cranking]
Shark.
TJ: Really?
[cranking]
We've had fish
act weird before, so.
[cranking]
MIKE: What's that?
A big thresher.
TJ: Holy [bleep].
Careful with that tail.
Whoa!
All right, there he goes.
MIKE: See ya later.
TJ: Well, it wasn't the bluefin
we were looking for.
MIKE: There's still
a lot of time in the day.
We just need to get
our lines back out
and hopefully hook on Charlie.
TJ: I got a thresher shark,
Oh, well.
TYLER: Weather report said
it's gonna start getting bad.
TJ: I know.
Are you worried?
TYLER: No, I'm gonna
stick it out as long as I can.
Let's make something happen
for the Northern guys.
We're gonna try fishing
our baits deeper.
TJ: Gotcha.
MARCIANO: I hope that works out
good for you, then.
TYLER: We're gonna try
and put this into our court,
get a little bit
of an advantage.
Put some bait out,
drop 'em really deep.
That's what we do up home.
Hopefully,
we can catch a fish that way.
I know bad weather's coming.
Just, we got to do
what we got to do to catch fish
because there's not much fish
to go around.
Everyone's under more pressure
than ever to produce.
Because with a smaller amount
of quota
and it being one fish a day
and bad weather all the time
in the Outer Banks,
you got to make each
and every day you get out count.
Whoever can get hot
is gonna probably
end up winning this thing
and make the most money.
That's the goal.
We've a lot riding
on coming down here.
It costs us a lot of money.
We just wanna make sure
we try and catch
as many fish as we can.
DUFFY: Let's do this, T.
MARCIANO: The weather's gonna
start to get nasty here,
so let's try and get one
before it gets rough.
Come on over.
ANGELICA: What?
MARCIANO: Throw the green squid
right over the back.
Throw it right over the back.
ANGELICA: Oh, yeah.
MARCIANO: Now this greenstick
is a whole new technique,
compared to what we do
back home,
and I'm kind of out of practice.
Yeah, just making sure
it's got no, no knots in it.
And the kids
are totally new at it,
so I'm gonna teach them
after being
a little bit rusty myself.
And now when they get
up here, Joe,
then you shake it and all
the squids will hang straight.
JOE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
MARCIANO: Let me just get us
on course here.
We definitely
got our work cut out for us
to get this whole thing
dialed in
so we can start
to get fish on this boat.
JOE: What is it, Gel?
ANGELICA: There's a dolphin.
JOE: Yeah, that's a good sign.
Maybe there's tuna's
right behind it.
ANGELICA:
Yeah, there's like five of them.
MARCIANO: Big clouds of bait
here, Joe, down at 600 feet.
JOE: Bait?
MARCIANO: Yeah, big ba*ls.
ANGELICA: There's a huge pod
of dolphins over there.
MARCIANO: Yeah, they're
in front of us too, Gel.
ANGELICA: There's more?
MARCIANO: Fishing down here
is totally different
from fishing
back in Gloucester.
Back home, we're anchored up,
we're staying still,
waiting for the fish to come by.
Down here,
it's always a moving game.
ANGELICA: Good sign.
MARCIANO:
The boats are on the move.
You always got to be
paying attention,
and try and keep that boat
on the fish.
[beeping]
Ooh, what's this?
This looks interesting.
This might be real, Joe.
A real mark.
JOE: Yeah?
MARCIANO: Down at 180 feet.
Yeah, I think
that's the real deal.
JOE: Yeah!
MARCIANO: It looks like
we marked another one, Joe,
at about 120.
[beeping]
JOE: Come on, baby!
Oh!
Watch this squid.
MARCIANO: What?
JOE: We definitely had a boil
on a squid.
[breakaway snaps]
MARCIANO: Oh, we're on!
JOE: We're on!
MARCIANO: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
We're hooked up.
JOE: Yeah,
he's dragging, right?
What do I do?
MARCIANO: Get the rods in.
Unhook that band.
ANGELICA: Do you want me
to get the other rod in?
MARCIANO: Yeah.
You can reel those in, guys.
JOE: We got something
on the line.
MARCIANO:
Gel, you can reel the other rod.
ANGELICA: I'm working on it.
JOE: First fish on the
greenstick for me, personally,
so I hope we land it.
MARCIANO: It's definitely
a lot of pressure
to make things happen this year.
Nothing epic.
ANGELICA: But it's something.
MARCIANO: That's right.
Down here,
with such a limited quota
and two Southern boats
already putting a dent in it,
us Northern boys have got
to get on the ball here.
There you go, Joe.
Right, right on the eye.
Get used to running this.
Just guide it with your glove
back and forth.
JOE: Could have got off.
MARCIANO:
No, he's still on there.
Oh, stop, stop.
You can wind it in slow.
[music]
Blackfin.
JOE: Yeah!
MARCIANO:
First fish on the Hard Merch,
uh, I mean on the Falcon.
High five.
JOE: Yeah, we broke the ice.
It's gonna take a little time
getting used to
this bandit thing,
but good thing
we had a practice fish.
It wasn't bluefin my first time,
so I'll get the hang of it
before the year's over.
MARCIANO: We got enough to make
tuna fish sandwiches, team.
Great job!
JOE: Sweet!
MARCIANO:
We had to start somewhere.
At least now
we can say we started.
ANGELICA: He's so small.
I could fit him in my pocket.
[wind blowing]
JACK: Whoo!
It's getting nasty out here.
So, as a kid, I used to go down
with my dad in the afternoon
to the docks,
Oregon Inlet, Wanchese
and see all
the big fish come in,
and I always wanted to be the
guy that caught these big fish.
You know, I thought those,
these were, guys like Caine
were the coolest guys
in the world,
so here I am.
But every day out here
is a gamble.
You only get one fish a day.
If you don't get a fish
every day now,
you're not gonna make it.
MAN ON RADIO: Now here is
the hazardous weather outlook
for eastern North Carolina.
South to southwest winds
Sea at 7 to 12 feet.
MIKE: Sounding like it's gonna
get a little snarly tonight.
TJ: You on here,
Dave, Hard Merch?
MARCIANO: Yeah, go ahead.
TJ: Yeah, I don't know
if I'm gonna stay overnight.
I just listened to it saying 20,
becoming 15 to 25
in the morning.
MARCIANO: If we're gonna split,
we got to do it soon, huh?
TJ: Yeah.
GRIFF: A lot of guys are talking
about getting out of here.
I got a feeling that's gonna be
the whole crowd of us,
because it's gonna get
progressively rougher.
I'm not hearing
of any bluefins at all.
Yeah, we're gonna call it.
We're calling it quits.
Fishing down here,
you're dealing with
much more adverse conditions.
And then trying to figure out
when to go,
when to call it quits, when not,
when to stay.
It's a big chess game
is what it is.
TYLER:
You guys staying out, Dave?
MARCIANO: We're gonna run in.
We're gonna run in with TJ.
I already had my run-in
with Oregon Inlet.
I'm not doing it again
in rough weather.
I mean, the fisherman in me
wants to stay,
but the father in me has got
two kids on the boat, so,
I don't know, this place
always makes me nervous.
NICK: I gotcha.
All right, well,
I bet we're gonna
stay the night here, anyway.
TYLER: Well, you're gonna
have some competition
because we're staying out, too.
MARCIANO:
Good luck to you, guys.
Be safe out here.
TYLER: I'm not afraid
to fish rough weather.
I fish rough weather up north,
and I'll fish it down here.
The weather's fishable,
I'm rolling.
I'm not down here in North
Carolina to sit at the dock.
I'm here to fish.
We're already behind two boats.
We're grinding it out
until we get a fish.
Get 'em, Duffy, get 'em!
GREG: It's been
a frustrating few days.
You got big expectations.
You have a pretty good idea of
what the game plan's gonna be,
and it changes midstream.
When do you draw the line?
As I get older,
I can see a lot of risks
that I took unnecessarily before
and I don't plan
on taking again.
Sometimes it's just not safe
to be here.
It's not worth the risk.
Yeah, we're getting out of here.
[music]
JACK: Today is the kind of day
where you have to remember
rule number one of boating.
CAINE: Safety first.
JACK: Hold on.
It's rough,
but there's fish to be caught,
and the quota's
not gonna wait for us,
so we got to get started.
Whole different level
when it's like this, isn't it?
Whoa!
CAINE: Hold on, boys.
We got a short window.
It's already worse
than we thought here today.
But we're here, and we're gonna
give it three or four hours
before it's time to go home.
My father comes home today
after being
in a week in the hospital
diagnosed with cancer,
and we're gonna, we're gonna
bring him a fish, I hope.
You know, with Dad
having cancer, it's, uh,
it's a huge weight
on my back, uh.
And, um, that's what
I'm planning on doing.
[bleep]
BRITTON: Get us a bite.
Get us a bite, Caine!
CAINE:
Ain't no problem, brother.
JACK: Don't they call
the first one of the year
a, the shakedown?
CAINE: Hold on, boys.
Hold on!
JACK:
We're definitely shaking today!
BRITTON: The Outer Banks
of North Carolina
is northwest
of the Bermuda Triangle.
There's been countless lives
lost here.
JACK: It's tough to even stand
out here right now.
BRITTON: With a southerly
flowing Labrador Current,
a northerly flowing
Gulf Stream Current,
and the confluence
of those two currents
is, is cold and hot,
cold and hot.
It's a weather maker.
CAINE: I mean,
even for our big boat,
this is, uh,
this is about all you want.
If it gets any worse,
we're gonna have to tuck
our tail between our legs,
and it, it's always better
to fish another day
than to not fish again.
JACK: It can only get better
from here, right?
CAINE:
It's supposed to get worse.
JACK: Oh, God.
Don't tell me that.
[beeping]
BRITTON: Oh, bud!
Bud, we got the mark here, boy.
Hey! That thing's up there
from 10 to 25.
JACK:
Good thing we stuck around.
BRITTON: Yeah,
this is high stakes this year,
trying to get situated
for my daughter's bills
where she was sick,
Caine's family responsibilities,
the bills have not only
continued to come,
but they have really
stacked up very quickly.
Come on, baby! Come on, baby!
You can't get away from that.
You can't get away
from that, that pressure of
'I have got to make some money.'
Come on, honey! Come on!
JACK: We don't want you,
we need you!
BRITTON: Oh, there he is!
There you go!
Pull it down! Pull it down!
CAINE: I can't see what
I'm doing because of the swell!
BRITTON: Ugh!
CAINE: Hard for me to see
what I'm doing,
as big as the swell is today.
[beeping]
BRITTON: Coming in the mark!
[beeping]
JACK: Oh, wow.
CAINE: Come on, baby!
Come on!
BRITTON:
It's down there at 20 fathoms.
CAINE: Oh, there he went!
[clank]
[bleep]
Holy [bleep].
Broke the damn stick!
JACK: Broke?
Lucky it didn't land on my head.
CAINE: Oh, my God!
I heard the breakaway break,
and I heard
something else crack.
Next thing I knew, the freaking
greenstick's laying beside us.
Any other day on a calmer day,
I would have been exactly where
that freaking greenstick landed.
It would have been like
a sledgehammer and a watermelon.
I'm lucky to be here.
BRITTON: Is the fish on there?
CAINE: I gotcha. I gotcha.
JACK:
I guess there's a fish on there.
CAINE: Yeah, hell, yeah.
He was.
I think he might have come off.
BRITTON: Ugh!
BRITTON: 20 fathoms.
CAINE: Oh, there he went!
[clank]
[bleep]
Holy [bleep].
Broke the damn stick!
JACK: Broke?
Lucky it didn't land on my head.
BRITTON: Is the fish on there?
JACK: I guess there's
a fish on there.
CAINE: Hell, yeah. He was.
I think he might have come off.
Oh, there he goes.
BRITTON: God.
CAINE: Wait a minute.
He's still on the line.
Still here.
We're still in the game, baby.
JACK: What do I need to do?
CAINE: Pull that in.
BRITTON: The fish is trying
to take the stick overboard.
Jack is down there trying
to hold on to the stick,
I'm trying to get
the safety line undone,
Caine's trying
to fight the fish,
and there's a huge sea.
It's mayhem.
And we've got our first fish.
We still have our fish
on the line.
It's a dramatic bite.
JACK: I mean, it shattered.
It shattered.
[bleep]
We got the bite.
We got him on right now,
but in the midst of it, our,
our greenstick just shattered
and broke right in half.
Not good.
Out here trying to make money,
and you got to buy
a new greenstick now.
Pray we get this fish.
Want me to get ready
with my dart?
CAINE: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
BRITTON: Well, my son Austin
is always our dart man,
and that's gonna be Jack's spot.
He's gonna be the dart man.
He's got to be
Johnny-on-the-spot.
He's got to be quick.
JACK: He's right here.
We can see him.
CAINE: Come on, baby.
Please!
JACK: This is my test.
I'm gonna have to
throw this harpoon
that I've never thrown before
and don't miss.
CAINE: Ah, you got to do
better than that.
BRITTON:
You got to throw that thing.
JACK: What do you want me to do?
CAINE: You get the other stick.
Don't lose him, cuz.
JACK: You want me
to stick him again?
CAINE: Yeah, in his gills.
In his gills.
There you go.
There you go.
Get your tail rope.
Quick, quick, quick, quick.
BRITTON: Let's not lose it.
Come on, Jack!
Hustle, hustle, hustle, bud!
CAINE: Cruise and come help us.
Put the rope around him.
I got you right here.
Got his a*s! Yee-haw!
BRITTON: Welcome to bluefin.
CAINE: Great job.
BRITTON:
The relief is indescribable.
My mates aren't hurt.
Of all of the things
that happened,
the stick is the least
of my worries.
JACK: Here he comes.
All right!
CAINE:
Yeah, he's a good one.
Let's measure this bad boy.
BRITTON:
Got the fish on the boat.
It's our first fish
of the season.
CAINE: 85. Whoo!
BRITTON: To say that we're
excited is an understatement.
We are ecstatic.
CAINE: Thank God we got this
fish before the storm hit us.
BRITTON:
Yeah, let's get out of here.
[music]
[music]
MICAH: Oh, man, here they come.
BRITTON: Whoo! We paid for it,
but we got the first one
of the season for you, Micah.
MICAH: First fish of the season,
all right!
CAINE: First fish, first trip!
MICAH:
What happened out there today?
CAINE: Look, look up top.
Live action, boys!
MICAH: Ooh.
CAINE: With everything going on
this year with my father,
landing this first fish of the
season is an incredible feeling.
Almost dying with the greenstick
smashing my melon.
This fish right here
means a lot.
MICAH: Let's do it.
Bring her on up.
[sawing]
STEVE: First fish.
You want that tail?
JACK: Yeah, Steve.
Can I have that?
CAINE: Trophy.
BRITTON:
Like a, like a horseshoe.
At one fish per day,
it's imperative that you have
a good quality fish.
You don't have the chance to
make it up on a second or third,
so we're hoping that the fish
is gonna have all the qualities
to be a top-dollar fish.
What's your dressed weight?
MICAH: Today you got 252 pounds.
Good work, guys.
Your core sample's awesome.
It's not cloudy.
There is some fat in here,
which is nice.
It's got a greasy feel to it.
BRITTON: All right, Micah.
You can see
it's been a rough day.
Broke my stick,
brought you a nice-looking fish.
What can you do for us?
MICAH: It's a rough day
to be a tuna fisherman.
BRITTON: It's a rough day to be
a tuna fisherman.
MICAH: But I'm thinking...
...$18 might help that out.
BRITTON: 18? Whoo-hoo!
JACK: Yeah, baby!
BRITTON: All right, here we go!
JACK: Sign me up
for some more of that.
BRITTON: That's great, Micah.
Thank you very much.
MICAH: Nice job, guys. I hope
you get another one tomorrow.
BRITTON: I hope we bring you
another one tomorrow.
JACK: Let's score one more
for the Southern guys.
Can we do that again,
a couple more times?
BRITTON: Yeah.
CAINE:
Everything but the stick.
JACK: Yeah, everything
but the stick.
I didn't like that.
BRITTON: All but the stick.
[music]
[music]
NICK: That's him.
That's Pinwheel.
He stayed out here last night.
I don't know how everybody else
feels about Tyler.
I don't like him.
That's the bottom line.
Um, ever since the first year
he was here and I shot his bird
off the back of his greenstick.
I'll fix these damn Yankees
once and for all.
[c*ck g*n]
[g*nsh*t]
[bleep bleep bleep]
I'm gonna [bleep]
throttle someone.
NICK: We've sort of
not got along.
I can't let him
be out here fishing
if I'm not out here fishing,
you know.
This is my backyard.
TYLER: Whoever can get hot
and get their hands
on the most piece of the pie
is gonna be in good shape.
Nick doesn't like me,
and I don't like him.
I see how it's hard to fish
with these Southern guys,
but when it comes down to it
down here,
Duffy and I got what it takes
to show these Southern guys
how it's done.
Hope it goes in our favor.
NICK: Cool.
I heard Tyler was the top boat
in Gloucester,
and I'm pretty sure he's gonna
try to keep that momentum going,
but I got news--
this ain't Gloucester.
TYLER: Oh, man.
Maybe we'll get a bite
this morning here.
[beeping]
That's what you wanna see,
right there.
That's the right one.
DUFFY: Oh, my God.
[beeping]
NICK:
Looks pretty damn good, buddy.
There's some meat right here.
Jig it, Brandan,
that's the meat!
Dammit, come on, baby!
Come on, baby!
[beeping]
[reel unspooling]
Got him on!
Got him on!
BRANDAN:
There it is, got 'em on!
CLIFF: Bring it tight.
He's pulling.
He's pulling good.
He's pulling good.
NICK: Uh, oh, yeah,
that's gonna be him, boys.
High drag's on.
I can't see the line, really.
I need to, all right,
he's in the backing.
I got him.
CLIFF: All right, come on!
Brandan.
NICK: It's a lot different
when it's rough.
Everything's more dangerous.
You could get pitched out
of the boat, you know,
a big wave comes,
the boat surges up,
that puts a lot more pressure
on the line
right at the critical moment.
It definitely
makes it a lot easier
to lose a fish when it's rough.
It makes everything harder.
CLIFF: We're doing it.
NICK: That's gonna be him, boys.
CLIFF: Damn, man, this stick is
harder than [bleep] today.
NICK: Just get that thing in.
[beeping]
TYLER: Oh, my.
The Southern guys haven't been
lending a hand
in catching the fish, so we've
got to make something happen
for the Northern guys.
That's how you can tell it's
bluefin season right there, bro.
Oh, come on.
[beeping]
Oh, oh, there he is!
You just missed it.
There he is! Boom! Come on!
Keep jigging!
Whoa, there he is! Whoo!
DUFFY: What the [bleep]?
[bleep]
[cranking]
We parted off the bird.
I think there's a tuna fish
on this right here.
We're [bleep].
This is not good, bro.
The bird is a flotation device
at the end of our mainline
that helps puts resistance
on a fish.
When a bluefin takes our bait,
the buoyancy of the bird helps
keep tension on the mainline.
But when the bird breaks off,
we lose control
and it makes it so the fish
can easily get away.
[bleep]
DUFFY: What do you
want me to do, bud?
TYLER: I wanna get this back.
[reel unspooling]
NICK: Watch yourself now.
CLIFF: Yeah.
I need you to watch the rods
with me, watch it.
NICK: Dammit it with
the hurriness, Brandan.
Hurry, hurry, hurry, buddy!
That's a real one.
BRANDAN: Yee-haw!
NICK: Boys, let's give ourselves
a chance now.
We got to make this count.
We ain't got him yet.
We got us a bite, though.
Good job! Good job!
Come on, guys.
We can't let these Northerners
outfish us on our home turf.
Put the boat in gear.
Put the boat in gear.
TYLER:
Leave everything on there.
I wanna back up to the bird.
In order to reconnect
the fishing line,
we got to get the bird
back in the boat
so you can get to the mainline
and tie the two together.
We hooked up,
big bite on the stick,
parted him off,
and now we had to run around
and get the ball on the bird,
and he's got the bird under.
We're trying to reattach to him.
The only thing we got is Duffy
holding onto the polyball.
This is
your worst-case scenario.
[reel unspooling]
NICK: Coming in tight.
He's just doing
some Crazy Ivan here.
BRANDAN: Fish act a little
different when it's rough.
They're gonna act crazier,
you know.
It's like somebody
just jostling your bed
while you're trying
to sleep, you know.
You'd be pissed off.
NICK: Steam her ahead.
Steam her ahead!
And just get away from him.
He ain't really tight.
There he goes.
[reel unspooling]
CLIFF: Holy crap, son.
Whoo!
BRANDAN: Ugh, dammit! Uh!
NICK: Ain't got him yet.
We got us a bite, though.
He's just doing
some Crazy Ivan here.
Fishing in rough weather
is risky and dangerous
on the Outer Banks,
but with such a small quota
and three families to feed,
we've got to push this boat
and ourselves to the limits.
CLIFF: Holy crap, son.
Damn! Whoo!
CLIFF: Holy [bleep].
[cranking]
He's gone.
Pulled the hook.
CLIFF: All right.
Dammit!
[cranking]
It's one of them things.
Ain't nothing nobody did.
It wasn't his day.
NICK: It sucks.
We're out here trying to scrape
a day out of this rough day,
you know, trying to catch a fish
and it, it stinks
that the damn wave hit us
and broke our fish off.
There's nothing
we can do about it now,
but it, it's really
heart, heartbreaking.
Dammit.
TYLER: First bite of the season,
and it's already got to be
[bleep].
Our bird on our mainline
blew apart on the initial hookup
in this rough weather.
I mean,
this is as scary as it gets.
DUFFY: Ty.
What I have to do is take
the line from the bird,
reattach it to the line
on the bandit reel
with a knot
that's strong enough to hold.
Big weather, big fish.
A lot going on here.
In this type of weather,
this is no easy task.
We could lose this fish
at any moment.
DUFFY: Tie it through.
Tie it through,
back through to this one.
TYLER: Oh, [bleep].
Tired of tying knots.
DUFFY: Clear?
TYLER: Clear.
We got him back on the bandit.
Let's try to work him up, Duff.
Here we go.
And it's getting rougher
and rougher out here,
and our gear is compromised.
I just hope it's strong enough
for us to hold on to this fish
and it doesn't break free.
Oh! Whoa!
There he is!
DUFFY: I see him.
TYLER: Come on, Duff.
Let's score one for the North.
DUFFY: Got it. Nice shot!
TYLER: Tail gaff. Tail gaff.
Yeah, baby!
Nice! Whoo!
First one, baby!
DUFFY: Yeah, brother. Whoo!
TYLER:
This is why we do it, man.
They said it was gonna be
too rough, and we got out here,
we got the [bleep]
kicked out of us,
but we got a fish hanging.
He's a keeper.
Finally got our icebreaker.
Pinwheel's on the board.
We're in this game.
What a test for me and Duffy
right off the bat.
After a long
and hard-fought battle,
I'm so happy that everything
went in our favor
and we're pulling
a nice fish on deck.
That's one for the North.
The Southern guys
already have three,
so we're just happy
to be on the board.
All right. Whoo!
DUFFY: Whoo!
TYLER: First one of the season.
DUFFY: Bluefin, baby!
TYLER:
Look at how nice this fish is.
This is a little--
DUFFY: Nice and round.
We'll take him all day, baby!
All day.
TYLER: Way to go, Duff.
DUFFY: You too, bud.
TYLER: Grab that tape measure.
DUFFY: Whoo! Yeah, brother!
Way to start it off, man.
TYLER: Man, and you
definitely got to work
for every single bite down here.
Whoo! Oh, my.
NICK: I can't believe we lost
ours and Tyler caught his.
You don't get 'em all.
I mean, that was our chance
to move up in the standings,
send a message
to the whole fleet, you know,
that the Little Shell's
gonna fish the rough days.
They're gonna fish
the calm days.
They're gonna fish every day.
They're still gonna
get a message.
TYLER: First one of the season.
DUFFY: Bluefin, baby!
TYLER: Yo, yo.
BUYER: Hello, boys.
TYLER:
We got a nice fish for you.
We got to represent the North,
dude.
We're in this thing to win it.
BUYER:
Well, let's check her out.
TYLER: We're the only Northern
boat to get a fish on the deck,
and we're stoked.
Look at that,
beautiful Carolina bluefin.
We won up north, and we're
gonna prove once and for all
that we can win
in the Outer Banks.
DUFFY: Still got the touch.
BUYER: Looking at 233 pounds
dressed out.
TYLER: Way to go.
Beautiful Carolina bluefin.
Three Southern boats
have already brought in fish,
and the prices have ranged
from 13 bucks to $20 a pound.
Right now
we're crossing our fingers
that we got
enough quality here
to stop the Southern boats from
steamrolling the Northern fleet.
BUYER: Oh, man.
Really, really good fat
in the minors.
It's good fish, guys.
See what we got inside of her.
The core is pretty translucent.
TYLER: What do you think
you can do for us?
BUYER: I think $17 a pound.
TYLER: Awesome, man. Whoo!
DUFFY: Start the way off
like that, brother.
TYLER: Thank you so much.
Really appreciate it. Awesome.
Pretty work.
Good luck, we'll see you again.
BUYER: There you go.
Keep it up.
TYLER: We're just glad
it's the icebreaker.
Those Southern boats
tried to shut us out,
but the North is on the board.
Whoo-hoo, Pinwheel, baby!
DUFFY: All right!
NARRATOR: Reels of Fortune's
prized first catch of the
season gives last year's champ
the early lead, while
quality fish from Doghouse
and Little Shell
help the Southern boats
round out the top spots,
And Pinwheel's hard-fought
bluefin pushes the Northern
boat into third place
and gets the North
on the board.
MARCIANO:
Tyler snuck out yesterday.
The kid's a go-getter,
there's no doubt,
but it must have been
horrendous out there.
Good for Tyler, he got one.
The good news is, is
it's good for the Northern team,
but now we got to go out
and do our share.
GREG: Tyler yesterday, he went
out, got lucky, and got a bite,
and we were sitting
at the dock.
The last boat
that I wanna be behind this year
is the Pinwheel.
There's no way
we're gonna sit around
and let a punk
from New England
make a fool of us
in our own backyard.
We're one down on Tyler.
He's got a day ahead of us now.
NICK: I'm sick
to my stomach right now.
CLIFF: That puts us, like,
in fourth position.
BRANDAN: Great.
Great, grand, wonderful!
CLIFF: We knew
it was gonna be a battle.
BRITTON: Pinwheel just caught
his first one.
I'm all about the home team.
Tyler's gonna have
a really tough time on his hands
trying to top
this Southern fleet.
It just isn't gonna happen
because we won't let it.
GRIFF:
These guys are scrambling.
I would like to see the Southern
boys keep this thing going,
you know what I mean?
We can't let them boys
come down here
and beat us
in our backyard.
That would suck,
especially Tyler.
Could you imagine
if we had to listen to him?
TYLER:
Set out, set out, set out!
Get your head right.
DUFFY: Setting 'em out.
Let's do it.
TYLER: These guys have been
sneaking around
behind our backs,
not sharing the info.
And now we're in this thing.
We're in the game.
We just got to keep the pressure
on the rest of the boats.
It's bluefin season.
We're coming for you, Griff.
All right, brother, set it out.
DUFFY: Bluefin season, baby.
GRIFF: Good grief.
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05x01 - Battle Lines
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American reality television series about commercial tuna fishermen based in the Outer Banks who fish for the lucrative Atlantic bluefin tuna off the coast of North Carolina.
American reality television series about commercial tuna fishermen based in the Outer Banks who fish for the lucrative Atlantic bluefin tuna off the coast of North Carolina.