Battle Lines (Full Episode) | Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks

[Music] it's going to 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 [Applause] the most competitive tuna season yet has come to a close for the fishermen of gloucester so what do they do next but the games begin they chase the tuna to north carolina marciano tj and this year's wicked champion tyler no matter where we go the pinwheel is a threat take on the southern fishermen of the outer banks in their own backyard we gotta out fish the southern captains and it's a it's a battle royale and with the quota limited to just one bluefin a day the northern boys won't receive much southern hospitality's you don't mess with carolina and in one of the most dangerous unpredictable oh damn it and man fisheries in the world this place is like the wild west it helps to have home field advantage yes this is my turf i don't want these northern votes coming down and giving us a run for our money north south which will reign we'll either make it or we won't man overboard all right man i think we got everything you ready to go yes sir let's go all right let's go let's go see if we can catch on first day opening day ah i love this game first day fishing 2018 are you ready ready to get this thing started take us to the land of promise papa who's ready who's ready see if i remember how to do this yeah break on the left gas on the right there you go all right you boys don't call this baby i need a fish try to get out there and catch a tuna yeah we're talking about jacked up we're all jacked up go buddy we're gonna aim high it'd be nice to get the first fish in the fleet it sure would that's a little bit of bragging rights i'd like to have hopefully we can do it maybe we catch this one today hey good 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 hell yeah he's got his biggest one yet we surely want to win again this year but we're facing one of our toughest seasons yet all right let's go we lucked out last year let's see if we can't do as good this year we lost our crowd last year but we just let them borrow it we were the top boat three years in a row we got to find these fish quick you're a baby of course it sucks losing that's not happening again this year not if i can help that's pinwheel go on home pinwheel and i damn sure have no plans to lose to a northern boat this year this season quota is 39 metric tons that is a very very small quota that's around 300 fish be stressing out you know it's really gonna be harder for a man to make a living than we've had to face before southern votes are all leaving we better get after it too doc show these southern boys how these northern boys fish huh be nice together get a good start on a fleet first day of fishing yeah up north this summer was ted's duffy and i were at each other's throats and i nearly lost my finger fishing for the title right here oh my god he threw it with my finger i think my fingers came on but everything's patched up now and we're ready to get the win again down here i really want to get off to a good start try and get that first fish of the season let's do it buddy we get to go fishing [Music] i don't want to get beat by the pinwheel the northern boats seeing them here it sort of does get to me i don't go up there and fish for their tuna they shouldn't be here fishing for my tune i want to beat them northern boats we're in our backyard it's a slap in the face oh man he passed nick and he turned and looked the other way we're like what you doing what do 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 gotta make a living too we gotta try and figure out where these southern boys are going anybody here where the bite is this morning griff nick good our channel morning red boat dog house is seeing some fish down there in the 550. man i can't find this other channel they just give them 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 going to get any help from us looks like we all have the same thing in mind we're not going to let tyler get behind us today are we let's ditch him boys you came here on your own you're gonna fish on yet where'd those guys go damn we're just gambling going north he's gonna have a hard time finding fish on his own let's do it boys let's get out there and get the first fish that's you and ensure me and greg yeah i hope we all get to get a chance to have some fun here today more tunas are going to be in for us all we're looking for is one bite the right bite my name is britain shackleford and i'm captain of the doghouse everybody counts the baits this year that i have are kane live that has fished with me for a long time time is of the essence and we have a new man jack graham it's all about the flutter baby i've been fishing since i was a little kid but really 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 down there and get us a bite get us the bite get us the bite we're gonna get this one no problem brother honey i'm home if i see some birds around here 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 delight you ready this is how we get our big tuna watch this come on fishes on the outer banks we keep our boats moving trolling for these monster bluefins using our green stick the green stick is a 40-foot fiberglass pole that's attached to our main line with a breakaway we attach a device called the bird to the end of the line bombs away [Music] that's a bird the bird is designed to simulate the motion of predator fish chasing after our squids it also creates tension on the main line which elevates the bait enticing tuna below to bite when the fish bites the breakaway will snap and the main line is reeled in with the bandit reel that's how we do it and up we go our squids are dangling and we're fishing boys what was that steve i may have been tuning there what made that big swirl trying to hold look like a tuna i'm just giving this bait some more action to try to get a bite that little bit of a mark a couple of busted right here on the valve boston on the bow there right here they're busting on the valve come on we always want that first fish of the season and now's our chance to get it oh they are busting on my bow there's fish all through here where did we got to go if i go up the road 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 so if you don't have a good network to talk to you're not gonna know what's going on do we run north or south a few fish busting off the bow see if we don't guess a bite start it out let's get this money ready here they are bargain oh there's a pile up here 15 thousand 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 how about that a handful of them 15. that's the meat it's down there deep though i thought i was gonna get him coming up went down about 15. he came right back up we want to catch the first so everybody else is playing ketchup come on baby huh real good mark here good lord with a mark i'm talking about mega meat right there boy 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 it's 30 pounds bud but it is a meat come on baby pile on it right there i just seen a swirl fish busted all around us boys that's what i'm talking about come on there he is got a bite got him number two baby double header jay that's for you i got a tuna i got a turnip we got two oil over here where's that hot action tyler's calling nobody's going back to a good maybe nobody will talk to him 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 well low power they can't hear it so they're on their own you know pally's down here where are you guys is this radio working hey how about we not tell you huh how about you just go home and on your radio there huh what was that steve i think i saw tuna swimming down sea two of them pretty sure there he is griff what griff it's how to boil god yeah got him got him on there i gotcha i got you here's our chance to catch the first fish of the year and it generally brings good money we've got him on and just got to hold your breath and hope everything goes well they were after us bud got him one boys looks like a decent fish still oh rick got a bite 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 wind down here and we're not trying to lose the grip oh there's a mark about the fifth one i've seen this morning we just want to hear that oh [Music] wow catching your first fish on the first day is sought after you're a hero everybody's gunning for it dude i mean time to go pretty work baby we've got two fish on here now this is a dilemma this one's up top i see him flashing this one's got some weight okay with our small quote of 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 i'm closer just coming straight in 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 the game show the struggle is real all right ready once we get the fish out there to our breakaway we'll hook a volleyball onto it then we get away from the fish and we let the fish pull on the rig what that does is that wears them 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 just as well be us have it it's still on there yeah yeah he's on there coming in right fast failing yeah everything's coming up right here all right here he is big enough game now it's just a big elephant that terrible splash huh ended up being just a great big yellow fence but that ain't what we're looking for [Music] there he is he's right there see him down here all of us on the frenzy we're looking to reclaim what's ours we want to catch the first fish swing the rod just swing your rod don't even get him right here all right it's a little blue son of him small bluefin he's got to be 73 inches we can't keep them so turn them 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 still flying crank on that thing jay we've got to get this one pull him up here ready you know yeah i can't take it either see him flipping and dirt and rolling now i hate him here oh yeah so yeah yep headlining one up steve i'll try them if you want to cool enough oh boy first fish of the year baby steve we get this one to be right where we were last year on top watch yourself bud talk to me steve you're good you're good come on can you come off oh no [Music] cool enough oh boy first fish of the year baby steve again this will be right where we were last year on top watch yourself butt every single time a hook lost money on the lawn pressure it's just t catching him you never relax won't keep me safe you're good you're good come on grip you come off oh no he didn't be saved you're good gonna keep circling on them getting close please be the one we need we've got a bluefin on but so does grif 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 about to see him in a second another got to fish it with underside all right come back and see us again 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 let's try to get the first one steve pull on him buddy pull on him where's it we need to get this first one if we get this one that'll put us on our way all right get him yeah don't lose him buddy don't lose him get out quick all right got him good job steve way to go buddy [Music] boy does it feel good to catch the first fish of the season i'm a local boy released here in the outer banks i know we've got to jump on these northerners sure puts me in a good mood tuna fishing baby yeah griff sang his song he sang his song yeah you know yeah tuna fishing baby i hear that so much it haunts me in my dreams so we're gonna have to work our ass off to beat these guys lucky dog returning champ catches first fish grip got him i can't believe griff just got him it's brutal i don't like this that's how we roll baby gotta 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 you got a chance to make ten thousand dollars in a day that's what we fish for we fish for the good ones 83 hey baby how big is he 83. looks like griff picked up right where he ended up last year caught the first fish we got to get up 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 i love my job tuna fishing baby yeah 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 we got to be close we're the underdogs now coming from big win in the summer griff's getting cocky oh i know he's already dialed in now in a one-a-day fishery it's so hard to make up distance we 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 come on hurry up guys all right gang okay i'm dave marciado 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 hot 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 bend 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 uh see what we can come up with all right cool let's do it we're good you guys ready to go fishing or what 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 back and the obx just headed out of wanchi's harbor first trip of the season we've got dave on his new boat back there the falcon his name after one of his uh love affairs with star wars falcons a hyperdrive he hasn't made out yet issues so he's just gonna kind of tuck him behind us any time 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 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 oh my god we're gonna hit 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 you 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 construction equipment and barges and anchors and anchor balls this outer banks in the wintertime is as bad as it gets am i supposed to go between those balls like i would no way there's a pump going through they see cohen that's a pump i wouldn't go through that i'm just gonna go slow through here there's that one shallow spot up here where they change and on top of all that the sand here is constantly shifting so we're always at risk for running our ground see look right over there that's what i show how it shows up right a little room forever all right there's a sailboat approaching let me move over and give him some room we're ground tj he's called the ground welcome to the outer banks we're stuck and we're not going anywhere it's all black smoke over here the propellers are buried in the butt i hate this place we don't get out of here it's only gonna get worse the tide seems to be dropping so we gonna get off here and we gonna get off here now i'm dead i can't get off here tj this is a disaster right here i'll be right around all right so if i didn't bend the wheel or the shafts that's the thing with this place man you know every year everything 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 them off here we've run aground in the graveyard of the atlantic our season might be over before it even started try and throw it to him this is where it's the dangerous situation anytime you're in a towing situation especially when one boat's a ground 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 snapped while towing it hit the crew in the leg and broke the guy's leg in seven places just from the width of the line careful other way oh god jarrett you all right joe you're down back other way oh god jared jared you all right this guy was behind that one like he seemed to take my head off right now we're just very thankful jared didn't get hurt if that rope had hit jarrett in the leg or in the face he could have been seriously injured that could have been really bad gotta love the outer banks all right we'll try 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 far is it wide enough to fence both of the boats i hope so you know if he can't get us and we're really screwed when they start pulling this everybody get up inside hopefully this works if it doesn't we're gonna be called the coast guard everyone clear yeah we're spinning here we're moving right yeah yeah it looks like he's getting off he's definitely moving his d's off all right i think that's got it too bit all right yes back in action thanks again guys thank you you're returning the favor before you do it all set well tj just saved the day right here hopefully now we're able to go fishing all right thanks a million tj that was a big help happy we could help you man let's let's get out there and give it hell i'm gonna stay right up with your ass [Music] you don't like him you're out of it all right first trip with the outer bags she's like yeah welcome home boys take that [Music] we are looking good in the hood hopefully we'll get big bucks for this one and i can help someone less fortunate than people like me hey way to go griff first blood of 2018 charlie thanks man let's see what we got fish can range in price from five dollars to 30 a pound we're hoping this baby brings us big money right now all right dennis how much is that one 241 dress drift there you go thank you steve yeah awesome first one let's check it out 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 into mega bucks all right dennis what do you think man first fish of the season maybe a good one nice meat quality here nice sticky meat enough fat for this size and a nice clear core i think this is fish gonna light it up in tokyo this week good first fish of the year 20 a pound that's awesome great start great start man good job bro hey all right dennis hopefully we have one for you tomorrow man guys we've got to keep catching them just because we caught the first one we can't go to sleep now and 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 tuna fishing baby [Music] 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 were running with tj he pulled us right out of there with a little bit of difficulty but now we're out fishing and like a progress stop saying that i hate it maybe she'll like the other one all right let's make like a baby and head out he's got more you know i know i've heard them all they're still terrible we're off like a forest kid joe you can keep the chap oh my god all right we're up like a charitable hurdles well that one's at least new i'm proud of you you're learning new jokes in your old age oh yeah oh fish where are you at gotta get on the hunt gotta hunt these things down get the first one is a big obstacle to overcome the stakes really hot got three families on this boat come on fish 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 axes kind of died down there was a little flurry of bites griff caught one and you know fringy was marking them a couple other boats had marks we had some marks so now maybe the boats will thin out as it gets close to dark and they'll get brave again wait our turn go pop up again 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 frenzy there's nick's master teacher over there yeah taught nick everything he knew yeah the last thing i want to do is get out fished by nick my old first mate if we want to end up on top we've got to start catching now i think greg's got something to prove this year last year nick not being the first mate on the frenzy did hurt greg 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're going to come back up yeah yeah oh here they are seat 40 to 45 pounds all right marking them oh that's neat they're here where's that at hello anyone come in nothing they're not getting any radio up if they want to play dirty so be it we got to get our piece there's fish right around this slick big mark got to me 100 foot bunches of meat [Applause] that's a good bite man all right he's in the backing 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 i don't know if he's still here or not i feel it in my stomach because we don't want to fall behind i think he's there there all right yeah [Music] right here oh nick's got them all right here nick does a little more abandoning that thing than that bring him up here baby bring him up here bend that pole like i told you how to do it man 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 brandon take over that's over now i gotta teach him a lesson today about never underestimating your competition i don't want to get too far out there sir hey wake call call him off brandon our fish is stretched way over there we've got a fish on and it's stretched out way on the top and it's running towards this other boat who is that just that black there's a black hole boat by the commercial boat here how about your black boat little shell here we're stretched out in front of you if you would turn to your starboard there tell them to turn it's on your turn brandon hey bud you got to turn black boat black boat turned him to starboard there 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 your black boat turn off your starboard go away 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 you black boat back you got to turn to a stretch almost no way we can't raise 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 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 all right be careful because we might never live we're good we're good we got it me and cliff worked together and we got this fish away from the danger now we just have to close the deal fish he's a fighter well it's pretty tight crank crank there you go staff from brandon gotta get this baby in the boat we need him i got you brandon you ready i see the color right there there he is down there oh yeah hey he's coming up now all right brandon you gotta get ready i'm ready baby all right brandon all right here he is it's a great feeling to have a fish on board the first day of the season i'm super excited proud of my guys we got him way to go good for you we suck i'm one behind right now nick caught a fish lucky bastard he's on his way in so far we're in third place we're tied for last with the rest of them 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 take anything right now something something something [Music] less measurable 80 incher eddie incher yeah just listening on the radio there frenzy i hadn't caught one yet greg found out when he doesn't have nick he don't have me billy and greg we were sort of untouchable and now without me i can touch him [Music] welcome aboard the pinwheel where we just keep on taking pictures of southern boats catching fish the north is getting rim-wrapped we are getting crushed the southern boats are taking us to preschool marciano tj you guys seen anything yeah working cell west yeah that's all i am seeing nothing 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 i think ripple we're getting our butts kicked this isn't our home turf and it's killing us northern guys right now these fish aren't like the northern tush 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 gloss to do you know they don't have those giant schools of herring and mackerel and yeah they're coming out of the gate it's not exactly red hot i mean we're not even red hot we're not even lukewarm this year we gotta pray that we just land on the fish constantly this quote is gonna go very quickly and if we're not in position when they're biting we're going to be out to lunch and these guys are going to take advantage of it and just walk right past us i just know we need to get over that bar once we find these fish we're going to get just as many bites as anyone what a bummer the 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] feels a lot of work oh yeah hey boys graham what you doing first blood for the little shell 2018. yeah man you got a good one today 80-incher hey what about griffs fish chris was a nice little redfish he got the first one but we got to say one right on all right dennis let's get him dressed see what he weighs just take it right over here like this you want to see the fish in that ready let me get it bag here hey hey boys with all the families that we're supporting on this boat they come first and have a fish this early in the season it feels really good [Music] now we just need to get good money for this fish all right dennis what we got 219 dress nick looks like a nice fish let's check it out hey hey stop stop now just jump on there like a tire swing yep that went right down the sleeve oh good what are we looking at dennis nice red color let's see what the core yeah it looks like looks like just the tiny scratches of fat in the minor lobes it is rather lean fish but nice way to start the season yeah the u.s market's really hungry for red meat right now sending two fish caught today so what do you think he's worth beautiful fish for new york city all right 13 a pound all right that's pretty good good start yeah you got to start somewhere thank you thank you guys all right thank you i'm really happy with this fish almost three thousand dollars proud of my guys did a hell of a job first day we got one on the board dudes listen to me boys this is our second year as a team and this year's different little show's clicking we're hitting on all cylinders we're going to out fish the northern boats and run them right out of town and if we don't weather we'll [Laughter] let's just rig fresh in the morning this is what i can put in the box yeah they look good put them in a box well we didn't catch anything today and rather than turn around and run back in there and waste the fuel we're gonna spend the night out here so we're gonna 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 want to 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 catching fish before us it we'll probably drift through where the bites were this afternoon and um hopefully those fish will come in here you know a lot of times they're moving at night we get bites at night we're going to 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 you're here you gotta make it count if nothing else we'll be in position for first thing in the morning so we'll see what happens a lot of boats still out here that haven't had a bite greg's out here we got a hard merch a 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 come on fish so one of us we need to get a fish asap the drift game because that's all that's come down here we got to be working around the clock to try and make up time and hopefully we can get lucky and catch a fish so we just we got the fish finally gel right here that looks like what we want let's hope we can get him to bite and a little something at like 120 feet joe yeah it looks like the fish have finally showed up let's all try and get one on the board here i'm just coming around down rod do it 18 to the lead there's a mark bobby we got to make something happen you're in the zone this is our time this is the time for hop tuner to shine we need to get on that leaderboard crank them 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 let's do this oh frenzy we're coming for you got a bite jacked up baby what's up [Music] come on we need this one get him get him i see the fishing frenzy as the biggest threat in the southern boats the boat is built for down here they got a great team if we can land one before him that would be a great way to kick off our season get a talk ready guys all right guys we've got to get this fish [Music] he's going under the boat don't cost me this fish we got to get this fish he's going under the boat let's go ahead go go go i'm going don't cost me this there you go nice work keep it coming keep it coming good job bubby let's get this one pull forward i see the fishing frenzy as the biggest thread so if we can land one before him that would be a great way to kick off our season all right here comes your weight it won't be long now wait please be the one we need that's what he's acting like but you never know what's gonna be sometimes you can be surprised yeah i'm just out here trying to catch the blue fin and got all the season critters after us he's getting close guys right there on top threshing pressure russia yeah that's right well we know we can catch a thresher now critters man sharks this time of year a lot of times dripping at night you get a lot of shark action i don't like it it's just the way it is part of it thresher city we've had fish act weird before so what's that a big big thrasher holy careful with that tail whoa all right there he goes see you later that's why you don't want to fall in the water here well wasn't the blue fin we were looking for there's still a lot of time in the day we just need to get our lines back out and hopefully hook on charlie i got it thresher shark 150 pound or 200 pounds maybe oh well weather report says it's gonna start getting bad i know are you worried no i'm going to stick it out as long as i can let's make something happen for the northern guys we're going to try fishing our baits deeper i got you i hope that works out good but we're going to try and put this into our court get a little bit of an advantage put some bait out and drop them really deep until we do a poem and hopefully we can catch a fish that way i know bad weather is 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 gotta 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 you know we have a lot riding on coming down here it costs us a lot of money and we just want to make sure we try and catch as many fish we can let's do this the weather's gonna start to get nasty here so let's try and get one before it gets rough run over what throw the green squid right over the back throw it right over the back oh yeah so this green stick is a whole new technique compared to what we do back home and i'm kind of out of practice you're just making sure it's got no no nods in it and the kids are totally new at it so i've got to teach them after being a little bit rusty myself and now when they get up there joe then you shake it and all the squids will hang straight yeah yeah yeah 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 is it jail it just opens yeah that's a good sign maybe there are two guys right behind it yeah there's like five of them big clouds that they hear joe down in 600 feet yeah big balls there's a huge pot of dolphins over there yeah they're in front of us too joe there's more fishing down here is totally different from fishing back in gloucester back home we're ranking up we're staying still waiting for the fist to come by down here it's always a moving game stuff like this the boats are on the move you're always going to be paying attention and try and keep that boat on the fish what's this this looks interesting this might be real joe a real mach yeah down at 180 feet yeah i think that's the real deal yeah yeah it looks like we marked another one joe in about 120. come on baby oh watch it sprint all right we definitely had a boil on a squid oh yeah yeah yeah oh hooked up yeah he's dragging right what do i do get the rods and unhook that band tell me to get the other rod in yeah we can reel those in guys you got something on the line joe you can reel the other rod i'm working on it first fish on the green stick for me personally so i hope we land it it's definitely a lot of pressure to make things happen this year does it epic but it's something that's right down here with such a limited quota and two southern boats already putting the dead in it us northern boys have got to get on the ball here there you go joe run run the uh get used to running this yeah just guide it with your glove back and forth take out off no he's still on here all right stop stop you can wind it in slow blackfin yeah first fish in the hot marriage are you on a falcon 5. it's going to take a little time getting used to this bandit thing but then we had a practice fish it wasn't blooping my first time so i'll get the hang of it before the year's over we got enough to make tuna fish sandwiches team great job sweet we had to start somewhere and at least now we can say we started he's so small i could fit him in my [Music] pocket getting nasty out here so as a kid i used to go down with my dad in the afternoon so the docks organ and like wand cheese 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 kane 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 [Music] now here is the hazardous weather outlook for eastern north carolina south to southwest winds 20 to 30 knots see seven to 12 feet sounded like it's gonna get a little snowy tonight you on here dave heart merch yeah your head yeah i don't know if i'm gonna stay overnight i just listened to it it's saying 2025 tonight southwest becoming 15 to 25 in the morning we're going to split we gotta do it soon huh yeah 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 here to any blue fins at all yeah we're gonna call it we're calling it quits there's inherent risk risk of getting injured hurt we don't like to dwell on the risk 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 you guys staying out dave we're going to run in we're going to rent it with tj i already had my run-in with oregon italy i'm not doing it again in rough weather i mean if the fisherman in me wants to stay but you know the father in me has got two kids on the boat so i don't know this place always makes me nervous i got you all right well i think we're gonna stay tonight here anyway but you're gonna have some competition because we're staying out too good luck you guys be safe out here i'm not afraid to fish rough weather i fish rough weather up north and i fish it down here the weather's fishable i'm rolling come on 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 it's been a frustrating few days you've got big expectations you have a pretty good idea of what the game plan is going to be and it changes mid-stream when do you draw the line but 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 today is the kind of day where you have to remember rule number one of boating safety first hold on it's rough but there's fish to be caught and the quota's not going to wait for us so we got to get started whole different level when it's like this isn't it whoa hold on boys we got a short window it's already worse than we thought here today but we're here we're gonna give it three or four hours before it's time to go home my father comes home today after being at a week in hospital diagnosed with cancer and we're going we're going to bring them a fish i hope [Music] you know with dad having cancer it's a it's a huge weight on my back uh [Music] but you said good work and catch me some tunas and uh that's what i plan on doing [Music] give us a bite get us a bite kane ain't no problem brother what do they call the first one of the year the shakedown hold on boys hold on we're definitely shaking today outer banks of north carolina is northwest of the bermuda triangle it's been countless lives lost here it's tough to even stand out here right now with a southerly flowing labrador current a northerly flowing gulf stream current and that confluence of those two currents is is cold and hot cold and hot it's a weather maker i mean even for our big boat this is uh that's about all you want if it gets any worse we're gonna have to tuck her tail between her legs it's always better to fish another day than to not fish again you know get better from here right right supposed to get worse oh god don't tell me that oh bro well we got the mark here boy man that thing's up here from 10 to 25. good thing we stuck around yeah this is high stakes this year trying to get situated for my daughter's bills where she was sick kane'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 pull it down pull it down i can't see what i'm doing because of the swell oh hard for me to see what i'm doing as big as the swell is today coming anymore come on baby come on it's down there 25 them oh there he went holy broken damn stink bro look at it land on my head oh my god i heard the breakaway break i heard something else crack next thing i know the freaking green sticks laying beside us any other day on a calmer day i would have been exactly where that freaking green stick landed it would have been like a sledgehammer and a watermelon i'm lucky to be here on there i got you i got you i guess i got this one yeah hell yeah but he was i think he might have come off oh on there i guess i gotta go yeah hell yeah but he was i think he might have come off oh there he goes ah wait a minute i'm still on the line still here we're still in the game baby what do i need to do pull that in 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 kane'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 i mean it's shattered it's shattered we got the bite we got him on right now but in the midst of it our our green stick just shattered and broke right in half not good out there trying to make money and you got to buy a new green stick now pray we get this fish can we get ready with my dog yeah yeah well my son austin is always our dark man and that's going to be jack's spot it's going to be the dark man he's got to be johnny on the spot he's got to be quick he's right here we can see him come on baby please this is my test i'm going to have to throw this harpoon that i've never thrown before and don't miss wow you got to do better than that you got to throw that thing again you there you go there you go get your tail rope quick quick quick quick let's not lose it come on hustle hustle cruises and come help us put the rope around i got you right here got his ass welcome to bluefin great job the relief is indescribable my mates aren't hurt of all of the things that happen the stick is the least of my worries here he comes all right yeah he's a good one let's measure this bad boy got the fish on the boat it's our first fish of the season 85 whoa to say that we're excited isn't understated we are ecstatic thank god we got this fish before the storm hitters yeah let's get out of here [Music] oh man here they come whoo we paid for it but we got the first one of the season for you michael first fish of the season all right fish first trip what happened out there today look look up top live action boys with everything going on this year with my father letting this first fish of the season is an incredible feeling almost dying with a green stick smashing my melon this fish right here means a lot let's do it bring it on first fish you want that tail yes steve can i have that trophy 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 the 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 dress weight today you got 252 pounds good work guys your core table is awesome it's not cloudy there is some fat in here which is nice it's got a greasy feel to it all right micah you see it's been a rough day broke my stick brought you a nice-looking fish what can you do for us it's a rough day to be a tuna fisherman it's a rough day to be a tuna fisherman but i'm thinking eighteen dollars might help that eighteen yeah baby sign me up for some yeah that's great michael thank you one tomorrow so hope we bring you another one tomorrow let's score one more for the southern guys can we do that again couple more times yeah everything button to stick yeah everything about the stick i didn't like that oh but it's sick [Music] 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 that's bob vaughn ever since the first year he was here and i shot his bird off the back of his green stick i'll fix these damn yankees once and for all [Music] i'm gonna straddle someone [Music] 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 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 yeah 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 their favor cool i heard tyler was a top boat and gloucester and i'm pretty sure he's going to try to keep that momentum going but i got news this ain't gloucester oh man maybe get a bite this morning here that's what you want to see right there that's the right one oh my god looks pretty damn good buddy there's a meat right here jacket brandon that's the meat damn it come on baby come on baby come on got him on come on he's pulling he's pulling good he's doing good all right that's gonna be here boys hydra's going i can't see the line really we need him all right he's into the back and i'm gonna try i gotta crank on it all right come on brandon it's a lot different when it's rough everything's more dangerous you can 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 we're doing it that's gonna be him boys damn man a stick is harder to come in today let's get that thing in oh my the southern guys haven't been lending a hand on catching the fish so we 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 oh oh there he is he just missed it there he is this is not good bro the bird is a flotation device at the end of our main line that helps put resistance on a fish when a bluefin takes our bait the buoyancy of the bird helps keep tension on the main line but when the bird breaks off we lose control and it makes sure the fish can easily get away we want to do it bud i want to get this back watch yourself now yeah i need you to watch the rods with me in it with the hurriness brandon hurry hurry hurry buddy that's the real one yeah boy we'll get ourselves a chance now we got to make this count ain't got him yet we got us a bite huh good job good job come on god i can't let his dormers out fish us on our home turf put the bird in here put the boat in here leave everything on there i want to back up the bird in order to reconnect the fishing line you got to get the bird back in the boat so you can get to the main line and tie the two together we hooked up big bite on the stick parted him off and now we had to run around get the ball and the bird and he's got the bird under we're trying to reattach to him the only thing we got is definitely holding onto the volleyball this is your worst case scenario just tight you're just doing some crazy eyes in here fish act a little different when it's froze they're gonna act crazier you know it's like somebody just jostling in your bed while you're trying to sleep you know be pissed off see my head steam her head just get away from him he angry tight there he goes ain't got him yet holy crap hold on damn it we got him yet we got us a bite now he's just doing some crazy eyes in here fishing in rough weather is risky and dangerous on the outer bank but with such a small quota and three families to feed we got to push this boat and ourselves to the limits holy crap hold on holy oh man ain't very tight he's gone hold the hook all right sorry big boy damn it it's one of them things ain't nobody did just weren't his dead it sucks we were out here trying to scrape a day out of this rough day you know try to catch a fish and it it stinks at the damn a wave hit us and broke our fish off there's nothing we can do about now but it really hurt heartbreaking needed that from a boy you know damn it first fight of the season and it's already got to be our bird and our main line flew apart on the initial hookup in this rough weather i mean this is the scariest game what i have to do is take the line from the bird and 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 tie through tie through back through to this one tyler tight knots clear clear all right we got them back on the bandit let's try and work them up dog 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 onto this fish and it doesn't break free oh there he is i see him come on dolph what's going on tailgap tailgap [Applause] [Music] this is why we do it man they said it was gonna be too rough and we got out here we got kicked out of us but hey we got a fish hanging he's a keeper we finally got our icebreaker fin wheels 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 first one in the season maybe look at how nice this fish is nice and round we'll take them huh all day long way to go john grab that team measure 81. [Music] man you definitely got to work for every single bite down here oh my i can't believe we lost ours and tyler called his you don't get them all i mean i was a chance to move up in the standings send a message to the whole fleet you know that the little shells will fish their upstage they're gonna fish the calm days they're gonna fish every day they're still gonna get a message [Music] first one of the season baby yo yo hello boys we got ice fish for you we got to represent the north dude we're in this thing to win it well let's check her out 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 still got the tights looking at 233 pounds dressed out 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 oh man really really good fat and miners it's good fish guys let's see what we got inside of her core is pretty translucent what do you do for us i think seventeen dollars a pound awesome man thank you so much really appreciate it awesome bro pretty work good luck we'll see you again keep it up we're just glad it's the icebreaker those southern boats tried to shut us out but the north is on the board wheels of fortune's prize first catch of the season gives last year's champ the early lead while quality fish from dog house 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 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 it's good for the northern team but now we're gonna go out and do ash here tyler yesterday he went out got lucky and got a bite and we were sitting at the dock the last boat that i want to be behind this year is the pinwheel there's no way we're going to 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 i'm about sick to my stomach right now that puts us like in fourth position great great grand wonderful we knew it was going to be a battle pimple just caught his first one i'm all about the hung team tyler's gonna have a really tough time on his hands trying to top this southern fleet it just isn't gonna happen cause we won't let it 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 always come down here and beat us in our backyard that would suck especially tyler could you imagine if we had to listen to him set out shut out set out put your head down send them out let's do it 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're just going to keep the pressure on the rest of the boats it's blue season we're coming for you all right brother set it out looping season baby good grief [Music] you

Channel: National Geographic

Views: 507,478

Rating: 4.6788664 out of 5

Keywords: national geographic, nat geo, natgeo, animals, wildlife, science, explore, discover, survival, nature, culture, documentary, perpetual planet nat geo, Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks, Outer Banks, Wicked Tuna, Battle Lines, Battle Lines (Full Episode), Full Episode, Bluefin Season, Outer Banks of North Carolina, New England’s best fisherman, New England, best fisherman, catch a piece, low season quota, Southern hospitality, Southern fisherman, fisherman fight, first catch

Id: LAtH9WRISH8

Length: 70min 56sec (4256 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 25 2020