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NARRATOR: GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.
HOME TO THE OCEAN'S MOST VALUABLE CATCH.
THE BLUEFIN TUNA.
A SINGLE TUNA COULD BE WORTH OVER TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.
DAVE: We're on!
PAUL: We're on, we're on, we're on, we're on!
HOLLYWOOD: Let's get this one.
NARRATOR: IF YOU CAN CATCH THEM...
FISHERMAN Reel, reel, reel!
NARRATOR: YOU HAVE TO TAKE RISKS...
TYLER: I'm on! I'm on! I'm on! Help me! Help me! Help me! Help!
NARRATOR: AND YOU GOTTA BE TOUGH...
FISHERMAN: Hold him.
Okay, get in there, get in there. On my right, Ryan.
FISHERMAN 2: Man overboard!
NARRATOR: BECAUSE THESE FISHERMEN BATTLE THE ELEMENTS.
PAUL: Holy crap.
NARRATOR: AND FIGHT EACH OTHER.
DAVE: Nobody likes you.
NARRATOR: TO EARN AN ENTIRE YEAR'S SALARY IN JUST WEEKS.
PAUL: It's a five thousand dollar fish right here.
DAVE: No risk, no reward.
MARCIANO: Hit him!
NARRATOR: CATCHING WICKED TUNA.
DAVE: 70 feet right now going down. 70 feet.
GARON: No way.
DAVE: Yep. They are here. Coming back up. He's up to 50 now.
50 feet right now going down.
My name is Dave Carraro.
I'm the owner-operator of the fishing vessel, Tuna.com.
Tuna fishing, when you start marking,
you get that adrenaline rush.
And your heart rate goes from one beat per second to ten beats
per second.
That's why we do it. That's the excitement.
He's coming back up. 80. 70.
GARON: 'Kay, get that one.
SANDRO: This one's ready to go. GARON: She's going out.
TYLER: Just throw in the chum.
See if we can't get the fish in a frenzy,
and hopefully they'll eat one of our baits.
Any minute we can get a bite here.
My name's Tyler McLaughlin, and I'm the captain
of the Pin Wheel.
I smoked the fleet last season, I caught a lot of fish,
made a lot of money, put Dot Com in his place,
but he's definitely the one who's gonna be knocking
on my door if there's going to be a boat that's gonna keep up
with me this year.
We got Dot Com anchored up right next to us.
I wanna get the first bite before him.
DAVE: 100 feet.
First fish is about not only money,
but it's about bragging rights.
Tyler barely beat us last year by a very small margin.
He's been talking smack all winter,
and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to smoke him this year.
GARON: Come on, baby. Come on.
SANDRO: Come on, eat. GARON: Come on, baby.
DAVE: Down to 90.
TYLER: I don't want to see Dave getting a bite before me.
GARON: Coming up. DAVE: Come on, come on.
He's right on it. He's all over it. He's all over it.
TYLER: Dude, come on!
GARON: Woo hoo hoo!
DAVE: There we go, baby. Here we go.
SANDRO: Yeah! Big boy.
DAVE: Stick it to ya, Tyler! He's going up.
GARON: Oh, man.
You know Tyler's losing his (BLEEP) right now.
Oh my God.
DAVE: Right in front of the Pin Wheel!
SANDRO: Yeah.
TYLER: Oh! God, dude, come on.
DAVE: He's going. He's going.
He's going right with us.
SANDRO: This is how we do it.
GARON: Harpoon's ready, Dave.
DAVE: All right. Neutral, neutral!
TYLER: I can't believe this.
DAVE: Coming around. He's coming around. He's coming around.
SANDRO: Better?
GARON: You're good! You're good! You're good!
DAVE: Good job, Sandro.
Sandro and Garon are my two crew members.
Sandro is the first mate. He gets it.
Either you get it or you don't.
Either you're fishy or you're not.
Sandro is fishy.
And Garon is the deckhand.
He has that energy level.
GARON: Yeah, Tyler, got one! Woo!
DAVE: We all get along so well, and that is just so good
for catching fish.
GARON: Yeah, buddy!
Yeah, Sandro! Yeah!
DAVE: Unbelievable.
GARON: We gotta get this fish.
DAVE: We can't lose him.
Keep going. Keep coming.
Forward.
Dude I got a lot of pressure on him
Not too much! Not too much!
Not the...
Oh no! (BLEEP)! (BLEEP)!
SANDRO: Are you serious? DAVE: Oh, man!
SANDRO: What the (BLEEP)?
TYLER: Karma, baby, karma.
That's what you get for coming to my numbers to try to fish
my spot is you get karma.
DAVE: That's it. Hook came out.
Just, uh, we have another 100 feet to go and the fish is never
yours until you got the tail rope on it.
And then even sometimes it's still not yours.
So that's it. Let's move on.
SANDRO: Damn it.
TYLER: Come in, Dave.
Why you fishing my numbers?
I kicked your *** last season, and now you start following me
around?
What are you picking the corn out of my (BLEEP)?
DAVE: Your numbers are in Gloucester?
I didn't know that.
TYLER: These are where I caught all my fish last year, dude.
DAVE: What happened to your crew?
Looks like you're solo.
TYLER: I got rid of them, dude.
They didn't show up for the boat. I don't know.
I was pretty sick of it, you know?
They don't wanna throw chum. They don't wanna fish at all.
So I said, "Get off the boat."
DAVE: All right, man. Let's go. Head-to-head.
You better be ready. This year's gonna be a little tougher.
Guarantee you that.
TYLER: Good luck to ya.
Dude, I don't care if I'm solo fishing or if I got 15 mates,
I'm still gonna kick Dot Com's ***.
MARCIANO: We gotta get out there to Jeffreys.
I think Pin Wheel and Dave are out there duking it out already.
We really gotta make this first trip count.
JASON: Definitely.
MARCIANO: I'm Dave Marciano, I'm the owner and captain
of the fishing vessel Hard Merchandise. Jay?
He's my nephew.
And as far as deckhand's go, he's top notch.
Not only does he show up when fishing's good,
he sticks in there when things get tough.
Clear us an area, you can put that rod together, and uh,
I'll get the other rods out.
The end of last season, the boat sank at the dock.
What a nightmare. What a mess.
JASON: It was definitely tough seeing Dave in a slump,
'cause you knew the boat was ruined, basically.
All his blood, sweat and tears into that boat, just gone.
But after the boat sank, we had a lot of people
in this community that came to us and helped us get back
in the water.
MARCIANO: When I needed equipment or gear or something
done, everybody was willing to help.
It was a great feeling to know that when I was down,
Gloucester had my back.
The blessing is it's like a brand new boat now.
Everything's new.
New engine. New wiring.
All new electronics.
All right, Jay. JASON: Yep.
MARCIANO: It's the first trip of the season.
I wanna be the first boat back to the dock with a fish.
Let's get out of here. JASON: Let's get out of here.
MARCIANO: And we're off like a prom dress.
Jay, these fish never stay in the same place long.
We gotta get out there before these fish move on
'cause we know they're always migrating.
First day of the season here, everybody and his brother
with a boat knows these fish are up on Jeffreys.
Jeffreys Ledge is a shallow bank that runs north and south
for 33 miles.
And that place has always been good to me in the past.
Let's hope they're not gone before we get there.
TYLER: Jeffreys Ledge is one of the areas where, you know,
a lot of the nutrients in the ocean gather and they all get
stirred up around here.
And it creates a feeding frenzy for bluefin tuna.
That's why, you know, early season,
there's a lot of tunas here.
And I look forward to capitalizing on that feeding
frenzy by putting a couple fish in the boat.
DAVE: This is one of my favorite honey holes.
And he knows that. That's why he's here.
He knows that I fish here the beginning of every year.
We've done well here in the past and we'll do well here again.
GARON: Tuna Dot Com, baby.
DAVE: Oh, man. That's TJ.
No doubt about it on the Hot Tuna.
I've known TJ for about 15 years.
If there's anybody that I'm worried about beating us is TJ.
TJ's the guy you gotta watch out for.
TJ was Tyler's mentor as a kid.
That guy taught Tyler everything.
That's why Tyler catches a few fish.
TJ: All right, guys, let her fly.
TYLER: Oh, my God, dude.
I can't believe this guy's in town, man.
DAVE: TJ, is that you? Come in.
You on here?
TJ: Yeah, go ahead, Dave.
DAVE: What's going on? Where have you been?
What are you doing up here?
TJ: Well, I heard all the damage Pin Head was doing,
I figured I had to get in on it.
DAVE: Tyler, he caught a few last year,
but gonna knock him out this year.
TJ: Oh yeah. That's why we're back.
DAVE: Yeah, you guys got a little history
if I'm not mistaken, right? Didn't he scrub buckets for you?
TJ: Excellent bucket scrubber, no doubt.
TYLER: Whoa, you're talking to the champ there, pal.
I don't know about scrubbing buckets.
I just remember s- putting fish in the boat for ya.
TJ: Yeah, I remember you putting 'em in the boat too.
Putting 'em in the ice hold.
Shoveling the ice.
Cutting the bait.
Everything a good mate's supposed to do.
TYLER: You forgot one thing.
Reeling 'em in and killing 'em while you were doing
jack (BLEEP).
TJ: Is that any way to talk to your teacher, dude?
TYLER: Yeah, well you may have gave me the education
but I'm going to take your (BLEEP) *** to school.
TJ being back in Gloucester doesn't bother me one bit.
I worked for him exclusively probably for about four years.
He used to be one of my best friends and then when I got
my own boat and went off to do my own thing, we became enemies.
When your mate's good and he goes off to do his own thing,
I guess the captain gets mad.
TJ: Tyler went to tuna school on the Hot Tuna.
I taught him a lot. I showed him a lot.
Then, he stole my numbers while fishing on my boat and started
his own operation.
We are coming back to Gloucester this year to put him
in his place and to show him you might think you're the teacher,
but you are still the student and you're not even close
to the final exam yet.
I'm here to put you in your place, kid.
You better get ready.
TYLER: Whatever dude. I'm out of here.
I'm gonna take your (BLEEP) *** to school.
TJ: Ain't gonna happen.
TYLER: Jeffreys only gives you a short window of opportunity
to catch these fish before they move on to the next spot.
So it's very important I strike fast and put three on the deck
because the fish will be gone and moving on to the next spot.
So I'm gonna get away from these guys and head to North Jeffreys.
TJ: Hey, Dot Com? How 'bout it, Dave?
DAVE: Yes, sir.
TJ: You must've had an off year last year, dude.
You let this kid beat ya.
DAVE: Eh. He had a run to Georges. We did it right here.
We did fine.
Did fine right here, TJ.
TJ: I'd be lying if I told ya I didn't wanna get you too, man.
I know you're a good fisherman.
My main agenda is to take the Pin Head out.
Put him in a straightjacket but we're coming for you after that.
DAVE: (Laughs) Wow...
Look at that.
SANDRO: Damn, right there. Let's go get some rods in the water.
DAVE: Hey, we're marking right now.
Garon, they're under the boat right now.
Throw a couple pieces of chum.
Might have one on the outside at a hundred.
TJ: Holy (BLEEP). We're marking.
It's got one at 150.
That's a tuna, dude.
That's one hundred percent a tuna.
Come on, you (BLEEP) ***.
Streaking. Get ready.
Come on, baby.
RYAN: We're on, we're on, we're on. We're on, we're on!
TJ: Rod! Jarrett, we're on.
Jarrett, we're on. We're on, we're on!
You watching this over here, Dave?
Just like that, we're hooked up.
The best part is we're hooked up right in front of Dave
on the Tuna.com.
DAVE: Oh yeah, he's tight.
GARON: They're running around.
DAVE: They're on. No doubt about it.
GARON: Let's put lines out. Ready for a bait, Sandro?
DAVE: All right, start throwing, Garon.
GARON: Yeah!
TJ: Oh, (BLEEP). Oh (BLEEP) cold (UNCLEAR).
RYAN: Good one. It's a nice one.
TJ: It's rough.
The fish is all over the place.
Hopefully we can keep this one attached to the end of the line.
DAVE: TJ is a threat up here.
He can put 'em on the boats just as good as anybody else.
TJ: Come on, Jarrett. Reel, reel, reel!
JARRETT: (UNCLEAR)
RYAN: He's up on top again. He's running again.
TJ: Let him go. Let him go. RYAN: Give him a little.
TJ: No, he's going back out that way like I said.
RYAN: Right now he's in a counterclockwise circle.
We got him going the way we want him.
Hopefully we can stay on him. Break his will.
JARRETT: He's not no 95 incher. TJ: Watch this wave.
RYAN: He ain't no little guy.
TJ: He's using the waves and the wind to get away from us.
He ain't making it easy.
We just have him in a good pattern.
Now he's out again.
It's so unpredictable, man.
DAVE: Come on, man. We gotta get 'em. Oh, man.
GARON: Oh, there he is. Hey, streaker! At 80 feet.
Coming up to 80 feet right now.
He wants the down. DAVE: All right, all right...
GARON: Following the down. DAVE: I got this one right
GARON: Okay, here he is.
He's coming up again, coming up again.
60 feet.
He's at 60 feet, Dave. DAVE: Gotta keep going.
GARON: He's all over it.
DAVE: There he is, there he is, there he is, there he is!
Oh yeah, on, 'kay, we're on, we're on, we're on!
GARON: Yes! DAVE: Go, go, go. Start it up,
start it up, start.
GARON: Woo hoo hoo hoo! DAVE: Yeah, yeah!
GARON: Oh yeah!
DAVE: That's what I'm talking about.
GARON: That's what I'm talking about!
TJ's not the only one that can hook up.
SANDRO: Woo! Hooked up!
DAVE: Give me a glove. GARON: Glove? Got ya.
DAVE: This is a five thousand dollar fish, baby.
GARON: TJ can watch us show him how it's done now.
DAVE: Yeah!
GARON: Yeah, baby!
DAVE: He's dumping it.
GARON: Nice fatty.
DAVE: You watching TJ?
RYAN: Big wave. Get him on the down.
TJ: You got him right where you want him, dude.
Let him settle in.
We need this one, baby.
We need this one.
We are not losing this fish in front of Dave.
You know, I don't care what it takes.
No matter what we have to do, this fish will be ours.
This is huge.
This is the knockout punch that we need to set the tone
for the season and to let these guys know we mean business.
Grab the harpoon. RYAN: Yep.
JARRETT: He's coming up. He's coming up.
TJ: Hang on, hey hey.
JARRETT: To my left side. Right, left side right here.
RYAN: Get out of the way. Get out of the way.
Get out of the way.
TJ: You're okay. You're okay.
(BLEEP), I missed him! Oh.
(UNCLEAR) turn him out.
DAVE: All right, Garon, you ready to get on?
GARON: I'm ready. Go.
Oh yeah, good color.
DAVE: Back up just about 2 feet, Sandro.
Color, Sandro!
DAVE: Forward, forward. GARON: Leader.
There he is, Dave.
DAVE: Here we go. Here we go. GARON: Smoke him, baby.
DAVE: Here we go. GARON: Smoke him!
DAVE: We got him! GARON: Oh yeah!
Nice one! Nice one! DAVE: Forward, forward, forward.
GARON: Yeah, how do you like that, TJ? Yeah!
SANDRO: That tail rope.
We got him. We got him. GARON: Yes.
DAVE: Got one!
GARON: Yes! SANDRO: Yeah!
GARON: Yeah, Sandro! SANDRO: Yeah.
GARON: Yes!
SANDRO: (BLEEP). GARON: Yes!
TJ: Told you he's gonna keep coming.
(BLEEP) Keep reeling, keep reeling, keep reeling, reel...
Got him!
Get a gaff. Get a gaff.
Get a gaff. Right here, right here on my left.
Oh. Hurry up.
We need a tail wrap on him.
Get him, get him, get him, get him, come on.
Come on. Dude.
Lift him up.
RYAN: I got him. I got him. I got him. I'm got him.
TJ: All right, hit him. JARRETT: Yeah!
TJ: Hey now! RYAN: Woo! Yeah! Yeah!
TJ: Good job, dude.
RYAN: Ah! JARRETT: Yeah!
RYAN: We got you! CREW: Woo! Yeah! Yeah!
JARRETT: You know, it's the first one of the year.
That's all we needed more than anything, man.
That first one of the year is the most important one.
Everybody's morale is way more up.
TJ: Wow!
JARRETT: Couldn't ask for anything better today, man.
RYAN: First one of the season!
JARRETT That's the first one of the year, buddy!
RYAN: Oh, man.
JARRETT: Get some blood on the deck.
TJ Way to go, guys.
JARRETT: Yeah!
RYAN: Woo hoo hoo! Wooie!
(BLEEP) Buddy, I missed you.
TJ: I really missed fishing out of Gloucester.
The Hot Tuna's been fishing more out of Key West.
I'm in Key West basically all winter and it's how I met Ryan.
Ryan's a great guy.
We've killed a lot of big, big fish together.
Ryan will be there to perform when I need him.
That being said Ryan isn't exactly what Jarrett is.
Jarrett is just phenomenal.
He's the salt of the earth.
He's my ace.
I couldn't ask for a better guy.
RYAN: Yeah! Woo!
TJ: Having experienced crew on your boat is what makes you
a more successful tuna boat.
JARRETT: Beautiful tuna.
TJ: 95 right on the button.
RYAN: What's up? JARRETT: Good job, buddy.
TJ: Jeffreys Ledge is still red hot.
There's at least six, seven fish here.
Now that, there's no denying, beautiful marks.
So we're going for a second fish.
We're gonna stay.
We're gonna grind it out.
Because two fish is better than one.
RYAN: Yeah! Hoo hoo hoo hoo! We got one!
SANDRO: What a monster! DAVE: Nice job.
SANDRO: Wow, he's huge. Woo! GARON: Yeah, baby! Yes!
DAVE: First fish, baby. SANDRO: Nice.
GARON: Oh man, unbelievable. First of many.
Look at that belly, man.
DAVE: The size of the fish is good.
And he definitely does have some shape to him.
There's still a lot of fish here at Jeffreys,
but having the first fish of the year, that's a big payday.
83.
SANDRO: 83.
DAVE: So we're going in hoping the Jeffreys' bite is still on
when we get back out.
Let's go. Get out of here.
If somebody else catches a fish today and we stay out,
we're not gonna have the first fish on the market.
The quicker we get him in, the more money we're gonna get.
JARED: 226 pounds dressed, Dave.
Nice.
SANDRO: I'll take that. DAVE: Okay. Right? Good job.
If the quality's good, we'll get a good price per pound
and we'll get a good fat paycheck.
JARED: Take a core sample, tail cut.
DAVE: See what you think.
When a buyer looks at a fish, they're looking for a nice
pinkish color.
In addition to the color, we're looking at the fat content.
Also we're looking at the oil content.
JARED: It's, it's got some oil in it, you know.
Let's, uh, let's take a core sample of it.
DAVE: Yep. So if you have all those ingredients,
you're gonna get top dollar for the fish.
JARED: It's got real good inside color, Dave.
DAVE: What do you think? How much overall?
JARED: Uh, Dave, I mean looking at the quality of this fish,
it's got great color, good, decent fat for this time of year
It's got a great shape. Overall it's a good fish.
DAVE: Yeah.
JARED: I'm gonna have to say
twenty-three dollars a pound. DAVE: All right. Thanks, man.
That's good. Done deal. Thanks, Jared.
JARED: No problem, Dave.
DAVE: Hey guys. Twenty-three dollars a pound.
GARON: Nice! SANDRO: There you go. Solid.
DAVE: Yeah. There you go, TJ.
GARON: That's awesome.
DAVE: It was a good start. I mean we went out. We nailed one.
And we're gonna make just over five thousand dollars
for the first day out.
We caught our first fish at Jeffreys Ledge.
We dropped it off to the buyer.
And because we brought it right in, it was a fresh fish,
which is why we got such a high price per pound.
So we're going right back out, and we're gonna go
to that same spot. You guys ready?
GARON: Yep.
DAVE: You need to shower? GARON-SANDRO: Nope... No.
DAVE: Good. Let's go.
TJ's got one. We gotta get another.
MARCIANO: So TJ's got one. JASON: Yep.
MARCIANO: Tricky Dave on the Tuna.com's got one.
JASON: Yep.
MARCIANO: We gotta freaking keep up with the pack here, Jay.
You're gonna get some fish in that chum slick.
JASON: I'm not gonna do it standing right here, am I?
MARCIANO: No, you're not. JASON: I'm not.
MARCIANO: It's crucial we get a fish.
I got two kids in college now and we have all the usual bills.
Plus we had that extra expense of rebuilding the boat.
I got a lot on the line this season.
Time's running out as far as this bite on Jeffreys Ledge.
Everybody and his brother knows about it,
and it's definitely a race to get in on some of these fish
before they're gone.
All we gotta do is wait.
For hell to freeze over.
Might be a fish. That's a fish, that's a fish, that's a fish.
JASON: So any minute now.
MARCIANO: Little excitement here.
JASON: Well, if we can make him stick around a little.
MARCIANO: There he is right there.
See all nothing, then a fish, then nothing.
And uh, we're just waiting for him to come up to twenty fathoms
or so and gobble one of them baits.
And we'll be in the game for this year.
JASON: Oh, we're on something, we're on!
MARCIANO: Yeah. JASON: We're on!
That's a fish, maybe!
MARCIANO: Oh yeah! That's a fish! (BLEEP)
yeah, I was just about to say we're marking one!
JASON: Chewing on a line!
MARCIANO: I got the wheel. Get, get more line on the rod!
JASON: I am!
MARCIANO: That a boy. You did good, Jay.
Chummed this one right up for us!
'Kay, there's like twenty other boats here, right?
And they're all busy whining that nothing's going on,
it's dead, blah, blah, blah.
We throw the rigs out and boom, second hook in the water,
we get a bite.
JASON: He's gonna make a run. He's making a run.
MARCIANO: Jay, we really need this fish.
You want a break?
JASON: Yeah, please. Okay?
MARCIANO: Yeah. Better get harpoons and tail straps.
Now, we really need to land this fish.
It's definitely a big fish. The mark I saw was a big mark.
It's gonna be worth six grand, easy.
That pays our expenses and puts us four grand ahead of the game.
JASON: Come on, fish, we need this one bad!
MARCIANO: We know how to do this,
we just gotta stay focused. Keep our wits about us.
And we'll get this fish in the boat.
Boom. JASON: Oh! We lost him, Dave!
Pulled the hook.
MARCIANO: We were hoping to come right out of the starting gate
with a big score, but that didn't happen.
This is a wicked bummer.
All this effort we put into catching it means nothing now.
We've gotta start all over again.
Now we just spend a little more money, put some new gear,
some new leaders on there, take another thirty,
forty bucks and throw it over the side.
TYLER: Pretty good bite today on Northern Jeffreys.
Pretty excited to see that on the screen,
just wanna make it happen here.
I wanna hook up really bad right now.
Both TJ and Dot Com caught a fish yesterday,
the pressure's really on for me to catch a fish now.
Take the bait.
I'm on, I'm on! I'm on!
Woo! Nothing you can do when he's taking line.
Just let him go.
We're reeling in a 300 pounder here.
It's a good size fish.
There's only one thing marks like that and his name
is Charlie and he's a tuna.
Definitely got a fight to it.
When you're by yourself it's hectic,
because you gotta keep the boat in gear and manage to drive it
while you're continuing to reel and stay tight on the tuna.
It takes a lot of work in order to get it done.
If he wants to go, you ain't gonna stop him.
Definitely in a battle right now.
He won't give us an inch.
It's take a little, give a little.
The fish is fighting for it here.
There's a boat.
There's a boat coming.
I get concerned when I hear the foghorns because that means
there's a boat very close to me.
I'm not sure where he is, if he's behind me,
or in front of me or to the side of me and I don't know
if he knows I have a fish on the line.
And the last thing I want is for him to run over my catch
and costing me my paycheck.
I don't like this in the fog.
Definitely adds a bigger risk to it because I can't see oncoming
boats 'cause I'm so focused on what's going on here.
Because I gotta man the rod, I can't reposition the boat like
I'd like to. I don't like this.
I don't like this at all.
Come in. Come in.
You need to get out of the way now.
TYLER: I'm just by myself.
Hopefully I can walk him right by ya.
There's a boat coming, and I got a fish on the line.
I'm freaking out.
I'm worried about this boat cutting off my catch
and costing me my paycheck.
Okay, we're out of his way. I think we're good.
This is where the battle begins, baby.
What a (BLEEP) battle, dude.
What a battle.
This fish does not wanna give up.
He can't be more than a hundred feet down.
We're a hundred feet away from a paycheck.
Dude, all this is, is a well-articulated dance.
Each move is planned.
The only thing is I can't figure out what his next move is.
And he's the one making all the plans.
I wanna get this fish.
We got a tuna right here.
Twenty-five feet away from the boat.
Here it comes.
Aw, I missed. Uuuugggghhhh.
I can't believe I did that.
When you have the opportunity, you need to make it count.
If I don't recover quick, I'm gonna lose this fish.
This fish has definitely been hooked before.
He knows what he's doing.
He's not letting us get the easy line.
He's staying away from the boat, making high circles.
Twenty-five feet away from the boat.
Fighting for his life.
We're fighting harder.
Here it comes.
Deep color, deep color, deep color.
Got him. Whooo!
Look at the size of the butterball.
Tail wrapping him.
That's why we do it. Ah come on!
Got him. That's a big tuna, man.
That's how we do it.
Beautiful.
I think he's four hundred dressed.
Nice fish today.
This will definitely pay the bills and take care of
the paychecks.
Except they're all assigned to me.
To defeat a fish this big, when he had so many different ways
to get away is unbelievable.
Eighty-eight incher. Whoo!
I got him. (Laughing)
MARCIANO: Simply put I can't catch what's not here.
There just isn't a lot of fish around.
It's been slow for this boat, as well as all the other boats.
At this point we're just throwing away fuel money.
All right, let's wrap this up.
TJ: Ooh, it's there, something was there, it's there.
Go, go, go.
JARRETT: Oh, look at that.
TJ: It's the wrong kind. (LAUGHS)
Conditions here are what we want.
We have the feed. We had the whales.
And we have an occasional mark.
We're not marking as much as I'd like to but we're definitely
marking some fish.
We just haven't gotten the right ones under the boat.
We will.
It's just a matter of time. We just gotta wait 'em out.
I know we will.
DAVE: We didn't see one fish today.
That's pretty...pretty bad. Yep, we're gonna wrap it up.
We're going to go in. We're out of ice. And uh, that's it.
Uh... stay on, look, hey, fish right on it!
SANDRO: I got him, he's, he's on the screen.
DAVE: He, he might have just hit it.
I felt a thud and I looked up and there he was on the machine.
Look at that. He hit it.
He came right up.
That fish hit it with his tail. Can you believe that?
SANDRO: What a jerk. Wow.
DAVE: Just like that. It could happen any minute.
To go from nothing, being totally bored and what
are we doing out here and you could have a doubleheader.
And you could have two five hundred pounders on the deck.
GARON: They're here. Just got to get them to eat.
DAVE: Come on, man. We can't let TJ get up on us.
We'll have to go home with another fish.
Well, we caught our first fish on Jeffreys Ledge,
we came right back to the same spot.
For all I know right now, TJ or Tyler could have
their second fish.
You know with that said, you just gotta keep going
and that's what we're gonna keep doing.
GARON: Is that him right here?
SANDRO: Oh, oh, look at that. DAVE: Yeah.
SANDRO: This would be huge for us to catch that second fish.
One more fish than everybody else in the fleet
in the first week.
You know you, you can't ask for more.
DAVE: How high is he? SANDRO: High.
GARON: About seventy.
DAVE: Still there? Yeah, (BLEEP) him, dude.
There he is, there he is, there he is.
Go, go, go. Start, start. Listen, listen, start it up!
GARON: Yes! DAVE: We're on!
GARON: Work him, Sandro, yes!
DAVE: Tuna.com.
SANDRO: He's alive.
DAVE: See what staying out does?
SANDRO: Yeah, there we go.
Yeah, he did, felt small at first but, uh,
now he's showing his true colors here.
Definitely got some weight to him.
He's definitely a big boy so.
DAVE: Come on, baby.
SANDRO: Seems like he might be hooked in the gut right here
by how bad the rod tip's shaking.
Fight him too long, and we could chaff him right off.
DAVE: Chew through the line. He's...
SANDRO: Gotta be very careful with him.
DAVE: Instead of the hook being here or here and the line being
out, the hook is down here, and so it's back and forth across
his teeth.
The line's getting weaker by the second.
I'm gonna say he's four to six hundred just by looking at him
on the machine when he came through.
Lot of pressure on him right now.
Come on, Sandro.
Yeah, we got the fish going right up into the anchor.
Not good.
He's gonna get wrapped up and we're gonna lose him.
Line cuts line.
Garon, forward right, forward right.
Come on slam it.
SANDRO: Go, go, go, come on!
DAVE: Neutral! Neutral!
We're gonna lose him! SANDRO: Quick, reverse!
DAVE: Reverse, reverse. SANDRO: Reverse!
DAVE: Reverse, reverse, reverse, reverse! Come on.
Garon, just see if you could see where the anchor is.
Oh, I got it right there. Look, it's right there.
See it?
We're on this ginormous fish, Garon's on the wheel,
he turns the wrong way, he throttles the wrong way.
He's confused.
SANDRO: Spin it around.
DAVE: And eventually he turns the wheel the right way,
you know, just so we don't lose the fish.
Nice job, Garon.
GARON: Gotta think positive.
SANDRO: He's picking up on it pretty quickly and uh,
that's great, you know, that's what we need.
When all that money's on the line with that fish right there,
you can't make mistakes.
DAVE: Come on, Mailman. Gotta get him.
GARON: Boom.
DAVE: Might get a shot here. Might get a shot.
Sinker, sinker. Get on the controls, Garon!
SANDRO: Garon, get on those controls, quick!
Color, color. DAVE: Back, back, back.
SANDRO: Spin it around!
DAVE: Garon, forward right. Forward right.
Don't throttle unless we tell you, that's all.
GARON: Okay. DAVE: Aw.
SANDRO; (BLEEP)! DAVE: No way.
SANDRO: Big waste of time and energy right there.
DAVE: Junk, junk, junk, junk.
Eating into what little profit we have right now.
Should have one on ice, but he's swimming freely in the ocean.
The wheels came off the bus.
GARON: We just pulled the hook.
You know we lost him. It happens, man.
It sucks, but you just roll with the punches,
get back to the ball, and get back fishing.
DAVE: It's been slow. Let's go.
TYLER: How you doing, Patsy?
PAT: Very good. Fishing all alone, huh?
TYLER: All alone. Lot easier with mates but not nearly
as peaceful... PAT: (Laughing)
TYLER: With Dot Com and TJ fishing on my numbers,
it got to be too crowded.
So I took a gamble and went up to northern Jeffreys,
and it paid off with a slob. PAT: Nice fish, Tyler.
TYLER: Could be a good start to the season.
As long as the quality of this fish is good,
I'm gonna make some money.
PAT: 344 pounds.
TYLER: Perfect. Can't go wrong with that.
Now comes the real test. The price per pound.
That's all determined by the quality of the fish.
This is like the moment of truth right here.
PAT: Well, looking at the fish, the quality is fair.
You know, it's got a little fat. Nice color to the meat.
The shape is very good on the fish.
TYLER: what do you think I'm gonna get per pound
for this fish?
PAT: Sixteen dollars per pound is what I figure it will do.
TYLER: All right. That's great.
Dressed out at 344 pounds. Got 16 dollars a pound.
That's a little better than fifty-five hundred bucks.
A nice paycheck for the first week of the season.
Thank you, Patsy.
PAT: See ya later.
TYLER: I got a title to defend. Would've liked to have two fish
but just didn't come together for us, you know?
Caught what was there and that's all you can do.
TJ: Just getting a round of fresh baits out.
We have the one beautiful fish on ice.
Having him on the boat is a huge asset for me,
but we need to stay and catch a second fish.
We could possibly go back with just the one fish.
However, if we do catch a second fish, it could be huge.
So tight.
We're on! We're on! We're on!
RYAN: Yeah, dude! We on? Coming.
TJ: I don't know. RYAN: Yup, yup. Yo.
TJ: Reel, reel. Hey now!
Let him go, let him go, let go, let go!
It's a tuna. Let him go! RYAN: Yup.
TJ: That was a pleasant surprise, huh?
I just put it out.
I was- I was adjusting it to the cleat and I saw it pop
and he ha- he hit it and came towards the boat.
When the rod bends, especially when he starts to really go,
you know, that's a tuna, that's not a shark.
Hey, dude, it ran like a tuna.
It's bouncing its head like a tuna.
I think it's an eighty-five to ninety inch fish.
I think he's hooked a little awkward.
He's fighting a little strange like he's hurt.
Hopefully we get a shot at him here.
Don't get crazy with him. Don't hold him too much.
He'll come back towards you.
Swing the rod to your right, watch him come up. Get on him.
When he comes up.
RYAN: Deep color right there.
TJ: Jarrett, you be standing with the dart?
Swing him out, swing him out. Come on.
Gotta, I'm getting ready.
RYAN: Swivel.
TJ: Just take a time. You're doing good. Take your time.
Reel, reel. Reel, reel.
'Kay, gaff.
RYAN: ...give me the other one.
JARRETT: You stay on! You stay on the reel! Stay on the reel!
TJ: Yep, yep. Stay on the reel, Ryan. Oh, get him anywhere!
Anywhere. Anywhere.
Hold him. Okay, gaff.
Get him in there. Get it in there. Get in there.
Come with gaff. Right here on my right. On my right, Ryan.
On my right.
Come on, Ryan! Oh. Ryan! Ryan!
(BLEEP)!
Get another gaff.
Get another gaff.
Oh.
Stick it in him. Stick him.
Ryan!
RYAN: Ah.
TJ: Woo!
JARRETT: Yeah! Woohoohoohoo!
TJ: Let's get another rope, all right?
RYAN: Ahhh.
JARRETT: That's two! RYAN: Two!
TJ: Nice fish.
Woohoohoohoo! JARRETT: Woo!
TJ: Butterball.
The decision I made to stay out was the right call.
Now we've got substantial amount of weight,
and with the hot market, this could be the biggest first trip
the Hot Tuna's ever had in the history of the boat.
84.
JARRETT: Yeah, buddy. RYAN: Woohoo!
TJ: It's a beautiful looking fish.
JARRETT: Happy tuna dance! RYAN: Yeah!
JARRETT: Wahoo! RYAN: Yeah!
Two down!
TJ: A high quality fish can bring you 25 to 30 dollars
a pound. Those are the fish we're looking for.
We're hoping that these fish are one of those fish.
JARED: 266 dressed.
TJ: Hey now. Woo! RYAN & JARRETT: Woo! Yeah!
JARED: Take a look inside.
TJ: Take a cut? JARED: Yeah.
TJ: The buyer's diagnosis of this fish is critical into us
getting a high price.
JARED: It's got real good fat, great color.
I'll take a core sample, see what it looks like
on the inside.
TJ: The core is more important than the tail cut.
But if he doesn't see what he likes in that core,
if it's mushy, if it's brown, you're not gonna get a big
price.
JARED: Real nice core.
TJ: What do you think?
JARED: The color's great, the grease is great,
the quality of this fish is off the charts.
The way the market is...
TJ, this fish is gonna get you 20 dollars a pound.
TJ: Done.
JARRETT: 20 bucks a pound? RYAN: Sign it.
TJ: Pow. JARRETT: Yeah!
TJ: 266 dressed, 20 dollars a pound, that's over five grand,
it's not a giant fish but it's a real good quality fish.
Thank God that we got it.
Now it's time to see how we do with our second fish.
JARED: TJ, that's a nice looking fish, good shape on him there.
TJ: You like him? JARED: I like him.
373 dressed, TJ. RYAN: Nice.
TJ: Sounds good, bubba.
JARED: Let's take a look, TJ, see what we got here.
TJ: We're hoping that this fish is as good a quality
as the first one, if not better.
Good oil, good skin. JARED: Yep.
We'll see what it looks like on the inside.
TJ: All right, let's take it, man.
Ooh, hoohoohoohoo.
JARED: Very nice inside color.
TJ, it's got great fat, great color.
This fish is gonna get you 26 dollars a pound, TJ.
TJ: Woo! Pow!
Sounds good, bubba, woo!
Pow pow!
JARRETT: Did he say 26? TJ: 26, baby!
JARRETT: No way. RYAN: All right!
TJ: 373 dressed, 26 dollars a pound,
that's almost 10, 000 dollars.
You know, grand total's over 15,000 dollars,
I mean, it's huge.
This is a home run.
Thank you, pal. JARED: Thank you.
JARRETT: Thank you very much, man.
JARED: No problem. RYAN: All right.
TJ: It feels great to be out fishing Pin Wheel, honestly,
you know.
Dot Com's a great fisherman, he's right there,
he's on our tail, but I think if we keep doing what we're doing
we- he'll be in our rearview, so.
I'm not that worried.
NARRATOR: AT THE END OF THE OPENING WEEK,
A SECOND HIGH QUALITY CATCH FOR THE NEW BOAT HOT TUNA GIVES
CAPTAIN TJ OTT A COMMANDING LEAD OVER THE LOCAL GLOUCESTER FLEET.
TJ: How 'boutcha, Hard Merch?
Pin Wheel.
Dot Com.
It's the ol' Hot Tuna.
We just bagged our second fish of the trip.
TYLER: What?
TJ: Got about 800 pounds of meat in the hole,
and I guess we're not as rusty as everyone anticipated so...
I really missed fishing out of Gloucester.
That being said, I heard Tyler was catching quite a bit of fish
up here. You know, a little light went off in my head,
I said, you know what?
I might need to get back in the Gloucester program,
so it's good to be back.
We have to catch the most fish possible at the end of the year.
I know it's been a while, but we're back,
and there'll be many more to come.
DAVE: I told you he was gonna be tough.
You know, he's one up on us.
GARON: (BLEEP).
MARCIANO: Sounds a little, little cocky and arrogant
if you ask me.
TJ: I'll tell you, if they coming like- -this on the old HT
it's gonna be a good year.
I'd expect to see a lot more coming, so.
TYLER: I'm the returning champ.
The nerve of this guy to talk like that over the radio
over two fish?
This is a marathon, this ain't no sprint.
You gotta be there at the end.
I'm the best tuna fisherman around,
and we're gonna stack way more fish than this guy even seen.