Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks Showdown

It’s winter in the Outer Banks where only the strong survive. This season the bluefin are bigger, more profitable, and harder to catch. Northern champions Hot Tuna, Dot Com, and Pinwheel return to face their Southern rivals, Fishing Frenzy, Little Shell, and Reel E’ Bugging, to prove who is the best of the best. Who will end their quest as the ultimate champion of champions of Wicked Tuna?

With the Battle of Champions underway, the Reel E. Bugging takes a huge gamble to get ahead, when they try to cross the bar in horrible conditions. Meanwhile, the Northern fleet attempts to bounce back from their slow start using every tactic they can think of to close the gap with the Southern boats.

Weeks into the Bluefin season on the Outer Banks, captains are desperate to catch. For Reel E’ Bugging, their drive isn’t just about the profit, it’s about respect. While for Pinwheel, they haven’t caught a fish and profit is everything. So, when bad weather forces the fleet to stay at the dock, they risk their lives hoping to catch one more than everybody else. Will they succeed or will they sink?

This season, Captains have faced some brutal weather, but now with a few nice days to fish before a storm arrives, the fishermen hope to capitalize before they are docked once again. Meanwhile, Captain Robert Earl takes his first fishing trip since his rocky trip leading Pinwheel across the bar and damaging Captain Tyler McLaughlin’s boat.

With Northern captains TJ Ott of Hot Tuna and Dave Carraro of FV-Tuna Dot Com afraid to cross the bar, the Southern fleet tries to gain an insurmountable lead. Meanwhile, Pinwheel’s Tyler McLaughlin, the only Northern captain to ever win in the Outer Banks, contends with a potentially season-ending electrical malfunction.

With bad weather behind them, every crew is eager to find the scattered schools of Bluefin and be in position for the right bite – the BIG bite. But no one’s more focused on catching this trip than the bottom boats. As Dotcom and Pinwheel fight to get into a groove, like fellow Northerner Hot Tuna, the Southern captains fish hard to defend their firm grip on the top spots and fish counts.