Wicked Tuna

On the season premiere of Wicked Tuna...

Ahh!

Oh, my God, I got him, I got him.

This year, every captain has something to prove.

What we accomplished last season wasn't a fluke.

A lot of the fleet have questioned

my ability as a captain,

but this season, that all changes.

My driving force is to prove

that we can be the number one boat in the fleet again.

We've been an average boat for the last few seasons,

and we don't want to be just the average boat anymore.

Woo-hoo-hoo, wow.

But to land the ocean's most prized catch,

giant bluefin tuna...

How do you like that, baby?

Woo!

Oh, my God!

Yes!

Gloucester's best fishermen

will have to fight the elements.

Whoa!

Get back, you better get down here!

And each other.

No one likes you, bro!

Woo, shots fired!

Every trip is a gamble.

Damn it!

Oh, ah!

But the rewards can be huge.

Yeah!

If they can catch Wicked Tuna.

Last season, family operation Hard Merchandise

was the top-earning boat in the fleet,

followed closely by Pinwheel.

and Hot Tuna languished behind.

But on opening day of the new season,

it's a clean slate for all the boats.

My name is Dave Marciano,

and I'm the captain of the Hard Merchandise.

My entire life I've been fishing

out of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

It's America's oldest seaport, and for almost 400 years,

fishing has been the lifeblood of this town.

Are you ready for the first trip of the season?

The opening day of the bluefin tuna season

is something we always look forward to.

It's official, the turtle has entered the race.

Everyone wants to be first

to land one of these big money fish.

Grab that fin, come on!

They're the most prized fish in the world.

Yeah! Woo!

Those first fish can get as much as $20,000.

Oh!

Wow!

But first, you've got to find 'em.

You get tips from other fishermen,

from fish buyers, anywhere you can find 'em.

This week, they've been spotted in the cold waters

up off of Maine, so that's where we're heading.

But once we're there, we still have to lure them in.

We might have them in the chum.

One shot up above 10, coming up right on the bow rod.

Come on.

Stick with me, baby.

Got three of them, four of them!

Come on, bite me.

Damn!

We're getting a bite; we're getting a bite!

Alright, we're on!

We're on!

Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming.

There's nothing like the feeling when the line goes off.

He's a screamer!

You can feel the adrenaline rush.

First fish of the season, Joe!

First fish of the season, it's a great start.

Seems like a good one.

Oh, yeah, he's taking some line.

There's just one goal, land this fish.

Color! We got color!

First fish of the season, boys!

The pressure is intense.

Come on, fish!

In the boat!

We lost him.

And that's fishing for ya.

But you keep your chin up and you keep it going.

At least we know there's fish up here in Maine.

Let's get back there and see if we can get a keeper.

Fishing is not an easy way to make a living,

but this is what I do, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This is it, boys. Let's make it happen.

It's the first day of the season,

and I could not be more excited.

Nothing's stopping us this year, and we are going on a warpath.

We're going to Maine, and we got to get it done.

Maine is where all the bait is,

and that's why these bluefin tuna go there:

to feed and to fatten up.

From Gloucester, it's an 80-mile trip to Maine waters.

It's a big gamble, we're gonna burn some fuel,

but no risk, no reward.

You got to be in the right place at the right time,

and that's not luck.

Last year we were not on top,

It's definitely the best tuna boat out there right now.

I got to catch fish in order for me to keep this boat,

otherwise I can go belly up.

Rock and roll. Let's do this.

Sandro's gonna be my guy,

and then I'm gonna have Geordie as my deckhand.

We're here to prove that we can be

the number one boat in the fleet, period.

Put our head down on the grindstone.

Stay dialed in, stay out, get it done.

Season's on. Let's get it done.

This boat will be on top again this year.

You can count on that.

Alright, bluefin, here we come, baby.

It's gonna be extremely competitive this year.

We want to win this thing,

there's no sitting at the dock, there's no playing games.

We've been kind of middle-of-the-pack guys,

and we don't want to finish in the middle of the fleet anymore.

We're just gonna have to grind, grind, grind, grind, grind.

This year, more than any other year,

I really feel like I need to prove

that we're still one of the best boats in this Gloucester fleet.

What do you think? Huh? You ready, Ripple?

We got to stick to our game, and at the end of the season,

I know it's gonna put us at the top.

There's a lot at stake for us.

The guys need to make money, I need to make money.

We're going for first this season.

Drop the anchor.

We are ready.

It's tuna time, baby.

We got a lot riding on this season.

Last year, we had a really good year,

caught a lot of fish, made a lot of money,

Marciano beat us out there at the end.

I'm really hungry and I want to be the winner.

And I want to be the number one boat in Gloucester,

that's what it's all about.

The last two seasons, I haven't been able

to keep a consistent crew from one year to the next,

and a lot of the fleet has criticized my leadership

because of it.

But this season, I finally have a salty mate on board.

Take the stick and cleat it off to the wheelhouse or whatever.

I got a lot of work to do,

and I'm really counting on Drake to help me get to the top.

I'm 19 years old,

but I've been fishing for bluefin since I was 12.

Tyler reached out to me to come fishing this year,

and I think he did that because he knows I can get the job done.

He knows what I expect from a mate this season,

and he can deliver.

So I'm confident that we're gonna be a force

to be reckoned with.

Let it go!

Look at this, look at all the life here.

It's unbelievable.

There's got to be tunas in here.

Couple feeds going on in front of us.

Doesn't get much more better-looking than this.

We stopped here 'cause we noticed some whales were diving,

like they were actively feeding.

You know, they were pretty aggressive,

so, see what we mark.

I hope we get one to bend the rod.

Whoa, coming up!

Whoa.

There's two there.

Yeah, a pair.

Watch that one.

There's three of them now.

Look at it, it came all the way up to 80.

There they are, 100 feet.

Oh, God, watch the down rods.

Oh, baby.

That's him right there, dude, at 22 fathoms.

Alright, let's get serious.

Yeah, it's him.

That's a nice mark right there.

Getting up on that bait. That's a good mark.

On the down, on the down, on the down.

He's up above it now.

This is the moment that we've been waiting for

since the end of last season.

It's game time.

Still coming, 90 feet.

Still coming.