• Menu
    • Food / Art
    • Featured Business
    • Fun to Read
    • Movie Times
    • Death Notices from Clatsop County, Oregon
    • Obituaries
  • Astoria
  • Warrenton and Hammond
    • City Government
      • City Community Channel
  • Seaside
  • Cannon Beach
  • Local Press Releases
  • Events
  • Community Channels
    • City, County and Government Information
      • City of Warrenton, Oregon
    • Media Partners
      • Community Media Partners
  • Latest Headline
  • Ship Traffic
  • Road Conditions
  • Tides
  • Coastal Web Cameras
Search
Thursday, March 23, 2023
  • About
    • Contact
    • Story
    • Team
  • Advertising and Marketing
    • Audience
    • How Our Advertising Works
    • Business Value Proposition
  • LOG IN
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Recover your password
ClatsopNews
  • Menu
    • Food / Art
    • Featured Business
    • Fun to Read
    • Movie Times
    • Death Notices from Clatsop County, Oregon
    • Obituaries
  • Astoria
  • Warrenton and Hammond
    • City Government
      • City Community Channel
  • Seaside
  • Cannon Beach
  • Local Press Releases
    • UNDER BUDGET AND ON TIME, WARRENTON’S NEW SCHOOL PROJECT IS PROGRESSING…

      Darlene Warren Insurance Agency Helps Local Families

      Miss Clatsop & North Coast Teen Contests Draws 15 to February…

      Astoria Warrenton Chamber Honors the “Do’ers” Of The Communities We Live…

      TJ’s Auto Repair in Warrenton Kicks off Their Annual Food Drive

  • Events
  • Community Channels
    • City, County and Government Information
      • City of Warrenton, Oregon
    • Media Partners
      • Community Media Partners
  • Latest Headline
  • Ship Traffic
  • Road Conditions
  • Tides
  • Coastal Web Cameras
Home a - Header Block Slider Battlefish Highlights Pacific Northwest Tuna

Battlefish Highlights Pacific Northwest Tuna

By Emily Townsend
Kyle Haggerty, the TNT’s cameraman, and Thomas Bell got to know each other well in the close confines of the ship. Photo credit: Thomas Bell
Facebook0Tweet0Pin0

If you like fishing, adventure or just enjoy a good reality binge, add Battlefish to your Netflix queue. Filmed out of Illwaco, the show follows four commercial fishing rigs during the 2017 tuna season. Each boat is featured with its own backstory and is followed by an individual cameraman for the duration of the season. The TNT, manned by captain Karl Travenshek and deckhands Thomas Bell and Thor Anderson, had a great season. “It’s a big producing boat,” explains Thomas of the schooner nicknamed ‘the blue canoe’ by its crew.

Thomas’s career didn’t start on the TNT tuna fishing. His greenhorn year was spent on the Lady Laura Dungeness Crab boat. “It started a little bit rocky until I got the hang of it.” He describes the season as crazy, runs would take the crew out for days or weeks at a time and deckhands had to be on point for 36-48 hours straight. Thomas fished the crab season for six more years and grew to enjoy the pressure. “I’m an adrenaline junkie plus its a decent pay day. You see how far you can push your body to the limit.”

Tuna, though, Thomas notes, is a different ballgame. As opposed to the rapid pace of Dungeness; albacore can take four or five hours of tacking to get a bite. Once it begins, however, the pace is brisk, throwing and unhooking fish with speed and precision. Both jobs are physically demanding and take a lot out of you, but,  the plus side of albacore, Thomas mentions is, “Tuna sleep at night.”

On any commercial fishing boat, bonds are formed between workers on the long hours spent aboard. “Even when you’re upset you can’t get away, it helps grow the relationship,” Thomas explains. His mates on the Lady Laura  and the TNT became like family over the years.

Thor and Thomas worked side-by-side from the deck of the TNT.
Photo credit: Thomas Bell
Photo credit: Thomas Bell

This clan of fishers have to have certain skills and traits, too. A strong work ethic, a positive attitude and a wisecracker are a good start. When Netflix came looking for boats to follow on their seasonal adventures, they were looking for a crew to portray these attributes, and to be their true selves on film. “But how much?” Thomas laughs, the crew were unsure as to how the station would take their straightforward, crass, take it or leave it attitude. “We cuss like crazy.”

Turns out, Netflix was on board, truly. The TNT was chosen from the boats who interviewed and a cameraman was added to the crew. Equipped with GoPros, sound equipment, a drone for overhead shots and a main camera, Kyle Haggerty was assigned to follow Karl, Thor and Thomas all day everyday. “He was very conscious of space, but we had to act like he wasn’t there, that was a challenge in itself,” Thomas recalls. After experience on Pilgrim Media Group’s show, Wicked Tuna, Kyle was used to the industry. His role was everything rolled into one. He did the interviews, shot scenes, worked the sound, lighting and decided on camera angles and views.

The show highlights the struggles and challenges of having your livelihood depend on the whims of nature. Some days the boats brought in over one hundred fish, anything in triple digits is the goal. Other days the boats failed to find any schools. Boats trail between eight and sixteen jigs behind, enticing the fish to bite. The captain chooses a tack to drive, following it back and forth repeatedly waiting for fish. These routes can range up to a mile and are chosen based on water charts, instinct and observation. If the team spots a flock of birds hovering and diving, they know fish aren’t far below. Once tuna start to bite, the pace is wild. Each boat has different methods for catching fish and storing them. The TNT stores the catch on board in a blast freezer. The temperature stays at -27 to -30 degrees in the hold, so the boat can remain on the water for about two weeks, or until the hold is full. On the other hand, the Oppor-tuna-Ty, another boat featured in Battlefish uses a different tactic. Each day the speedy vessel treks in and out of the docks and brings back fresh fish. The catch is then shipped to nearby stores and markets and sold at a higher price.

The 2017 season with the TNT was Thomas’s last on the water. In January of this year he and his wife Sara moved to Grass Valley, California. Of course he misses the adrenaline and the time with his friends and “nautical family”, but mostly he misses the ocean. “You fall in love with it,” he says. Fortunately, there are major benefits to being a landlubber. “We’re here everyday with each other,” he says of his wife. “And I sleep in my own bed every night.”

The three fishermen, Karl, Thor and Thomas respectively, ran the entire operation aboard the TNT.
Photo credit: Thomas Bell

When the show was released in September 2018, Thomas and Sara were excited to see it. Overall, Thomas says, it was an honest portrayal of the crew’s life on the TNT. “We just act kinda goofy, and it shows that.” Silly and serious, intense and laid-back, the show takes the highs and lows of the job and bundles them up for viewers. We get to experience the thrill of the catch from our living room.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Facebook0Tweet0Pin0
Previous articleSeaside Outlets Spread Holiday Cheer
Next articleThe Human Bean in Warrenton
Emily Townsend

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

ALL ABOARD !!!

JEFF NELSON…BIGGEST STAR TREK FAN…PASSES FROM EARTH TO THE STARS!

From Marching Band to Rock N Roll, The Audrey Aiken Band Popularity is Exploding

Local Community Sponsors
Upcoming Events
Mar
24
Fri
5:00 pm Community Skate Night @ The Astoria Armory
Community Skate Night @ The Astoria Armory
Mar 24 @ 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
All are welcome to join in this fun activity.
Mar
25
Sat
11:00 am Troll Radio Revue @ Fort George Brewery
Troll Radio Revue @ Fort George Brewery
Mar 25 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Gather the kids and head down to Fort George for Troll Radio Revue. Broadcasted live featuring the Beerman Creek String Band, the Troll, Stinky Toadwort, the Troll Radio Theater Troupe, plus special guests. Troll Radio Revue[...]
1:00 pm Wine Tasting @ The Cellar on 10th
Wine Tasting @ The Cellar on 10th
Mar 25 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
We’ll be pouring a sampling of the many wines they produce. Here’s your chance to try these exceptional wines.
Mar
26
Sun
8:00 pm Sunday Night Music @ Fort George Brewery
Sunday Night Music @ Fort George Brewery
Mar 26 @ 8:00 pm
Never a cover charge. See schedule of whose playing on their website.
Mar
27
Mon
12:00 pm Astoria Rotary Meeting @ Elks BPOE Lodge 180
Astoria Rotary Meeting @ Elks BPOE Lodge 180
Mar 27 @ 12:00 pm
Regular meeting of the Astoria Rotary.
Mar
28
Tue
4:30 pm Benefit Night @ Fort George Brewery
Benefit Night @ Fort George Brewery
Mar 28 @ 4:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Raise a pint and some funds for local non-profits. See their website for nonprofit schedule.
Mar
29
Wed
3:00 pm Read to the Dog @ Astoria Library
Read to the Dog @ Astoria Library
Mar 29 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Improve your reading skills and make a new friend by reading aloud to Maisie, a certified therapy dog.
View Calendar
Add
  • Add to Timely Calendar
  • Add to Google
  • Add to Outlook
  • Add to Apple Calendar
  • Add to other calendar
  • Export to XML

Trending Now

Springtime On The Oregon Coast…Vegetable Garden, What To Plant When?

Massive Wave on Tillamook Rock

The Legend of Terrible Tilly, the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse

seaside photography

Favorite Hikes around Clatsop County

Editor Picks

ALL ABOARD !!!

JEFF NELSON…BIGGEST STAR TREK FAN…PASSES FROM EARTH TO THE STARS!

From Marching Band to Rock N Roll, The Audrey Aiken Band...

Recent Posts
  • ALL ABOARD !!!
  • test
  • JEFF NELSON…BIGGEST STAR TREK FAN…PASSES FROM EARTH TO THE STARS!
  • From Marching Band to Rock N Roll, The Audrey Aiken Band Popularity is Exploding
  • A Peek at What Happens to Your Vote After You Mail it in.
ABOUT US
ClatsopNews is a community social network delivering positive stories about what it’s like to live, work and play in Clatsop County Oregon. Advertise with ClatsopNews. Brand your business and tell your story to your target market.
Contact us: info@clatsopnews.com
FOLLOW US
  • Menu
    • Food / Art
    • Featured Business
    • Fun to Read
    • Movie Times
    • Death Notices from Clatsop County, Oregon
    • Obituaries
  • Astoria
  • Warrenton and Hammond
    • City Government
      • City Community Channel
  • Seaside
  • Cannon Beach
  • Local Press Releases
    • UNDER BUDGET AND ON TIME, WARRENTON’S NEW SCHOOL PROJECT IS PROGRESSING…

      Darlene Warren Insurance Agency Helps Local Families

      Miss Clatsop & North Coast Teen Contests Draws 15 to February…

      Astoria Warrenton Chamber Honors the “Do’ers” Of The Communities We Live…

      TJ’s Auto Repair in Warrenton Kicks off Their Annual Food Drive

  • Events
  • Community Channels
    • City, County and Government Information
      • City of Warrenton, Oregon
    • Media Partners
      • Community Media Partners
  • Latest Headline
  • Ship Traffic
  • Road Conditions
  • Tides
  • Coastal Web Cameras
© ClatsopNews.