Pea takes viewers on a deep-sea fishing trip out of Orange Beach, Alabama aboard a 36-foot Cape Horn boat. She's joined by Captain Bill, Captain Eigor (who she says looks like Bjorn Ironside from Vikings), first mate Rob, and 12-year-old Nicholas, the captain's son. The trip targets deep-water species at nearly 500 feet, and Pea battles seasickness along the way.
The boat and setup
- 36-foot Cape Horn with two 300-horsepower V8 engines — Captain Bill notes each engine is roughly twice as powerful as a typical car
- Deep V hull design, cruising speed around 25-30 mph (capable of 50 but too rough at that speed on open water)
- Trip departs at 4:00 a.m. — Pea notes she's a night owl and not normally up this early
- Using electric reels instead of manual ones because at the depths they're fishing (nearly 500 feet), hand-cranking a big fish to the surface would destroy your arms — Captain Bill says you'd get one fish and be done
Deep-drop fishing technique
- Fishing at 493 feet of water (169 meters on the reel) — complete darkness at that depth
- Rigs use 250 lb mainline, 150 lb fluorocarbon leaders, massive hooks (2, 3, or 5 hooks per rig), and a 5 lb lead weight to keep it straight up and down
- All gear uses glow-in-the-dark elements — glow squid sleeves, glow beads, and a green strobe light at the end
- Rob explains the bioluminescence strategy: at depth, living squid have phosphorescence and change colors, so the glow gear mimics a school of bait to attract predators
- Squid is the primary bait because it's the main diet for everything from scorpion fish to swordfish and tuna
Trolling for pelagic fish
- On the 2.5-hour trip back, they plan to troll big lines behind the boat for pelagic fish (tuna, swordfish)
- Captain Bill shares that tuna are warm-blooded, can swim 50 mph underwater, and are literally hot to the touch when caught — "if it was a cold day, you could warm yourself with them"
- They produce so much heat they melt ice in the cooler and require constant re-icing
- Trolling rods can cost up to $5,000 each
The catch
- Scorpion fish — in the same family as lionfish, poisonous spines, but delicious; lives in complete darkness yet has bright colors and huge eyes
- Red snapper — beautiful fish, must be 16 inches to keep, limit of two per person per year; red snapper season is open and it's a big part of the fishery
- Snowy grouper — named for the snowflake-like markings; when pulled up from depth, the pressure change causes its stomach to invert and push out of its body (air inside expands as it rises)
- Yellow edge grouper — named for the yellow edging on its features
- White snapper — Rob says these are prolific and hard to get away from; they're everywhere in these waters
- Rob notes that deep-water fish grow incredibly slowly — a fish "this big" could be 50 years old, but they're the best-tasting fish available
Fish cleaning
- First mate Rob demonstrates filleting technique: don't scale the fish, cut along a natural open area, take sides off, then remove the skin after, and do a final check for bones
- Rob says he learned speed-filleting as a deckhand, cleaning hundreds of pounds of fish per day and having fillet races with other deckhands
Seasickness strikes Pea
- Pea gets noticeably seasick as the trip progresses
- Captain Bill's advice on the best remedy: "Land." Then: "Basically, everybody gets used to it within 24 hours... but we're only going to be out here for about 10"
- Bill's seasickness humor: "The good news is you're not going to die. The bad news is you're not going to die."
- Bill torments her by describing greasy barbecue pork dripping off the bun — Pea is not amused
- The seasickness ultimately cuts the trip short
The crew
- Captain Bill — organized the trip, knowledgeable about the boat and gear
- Captain Eigor — the boat's captain, whom Pea compares to Bjorn Ironside from the TV show Vikings
- Nicholas (Captain Eigor's 12-year-old son) — been driving the boat since age 5-6, has a YouTube fishing channel called "Doc Boys" with his friends
- First mate Rob — handles the rigs, does the filleting, former charter deckhand
- The charter company is Orange Beach Addiction (orangebeachaddiction.com), under the umbrella company Orange Beach Water Sports
