13 March 2009, 06:40
kudu56Extreme fishing!
No bait, just tackle: He jumps fish via helicopter
‘Extreme fisherman’ also snags marlin from surfboard; watch out for spears
Video
Gone extreme fishing
March 12: TODAY’s Matt Lauer talks to Matt Watson about the fishing antics that will be documented in a new show called “Extreme Fisherman.”
TODAYShow.com contributor
updated 8:01 a.m. MT, Thurs., March. 12, 2009
If the phrase “extreme fishing” sounds fishy to you, it’s only because you haven’t met Matt Watson — a man who brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “Don’t try this at home.”
After landing 1,100 marlin in his life by conventional methods, the New Zealander decided there must be a more exciting way to catch a fish that can grow to nearly a ton and sports a lethal spear on its nose. Thursday, he gave TODAY’s Matt Lauer a look at what he came up with.
His footage revealed Watson diving from a helicopter onto the back of a cruising marlin in the Pacific Ocean. Another camera underwater caught him wrestling the giant fish to the surface before finally letting it go.
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After watching the remarkable video, there was no reason to ask the spiky-haired Watson why he calls the new show he’s producing for Discovery Channel “Extreme Fisherman.” Coming this fall, the show will chronicle Watson’s unending quest to find new and dangerous ways to catch some of the ocean’s most powerful fish.
The thrill was gone
“I’ve been around fish and fishing my whole life, and having caught so many fish, the thrill started wearing off, so I started thinking of ways to bring back the thrill of catching my first big fish again,” Watson explained via satellite from New Zealand. He also offered sneak peeks from videos of him catching marlin while riding a surfboard and a jet ski.
These are not methods recommended by safety experts.
“Obviously, they’ve got a bill, which is a sharp, pointy thing on the front of them,” Watson said brightly. “Of course, that’s sharp, and they’ve got a lot of weight and power behind them, so you don’t have to be a genius to figure out if they’re hitting you straight on, it’s probably gonna go through you. In New Zealand, just in the last couple of weeks there’s been two fishermen that have been speared.”
Lauer asked Watson how he gets his ideas. The extreme fisherman confided that, as with so many other wacky notions men get, alcohol is involved: “Most of the ideas I come up with are born just from hanging around with my buddies having a few beers and throwing some ideas around.”
That’s how the ideas of fishing from a surfboard and jet ski came up. But the wild idea of tackling a marlin from the air had a different genesis.
TODAY
Footage from Matt Watson’s upcoming Discovery Channel show reveals him stalking marlin from a helicopter.
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“We were in Vanuatu filming for our show, and the helicopter pilot was telling us how in New Zealand he used to take guys up to do live deer catching,” Watson said. The men would jump from the copter onto the back of deer and capture them. A light bulb illuminated in Watson’s brain.
“That planted a seed. I thought that would be pretty cool, to catch a big fish in the same sort of vein — jumping out and grabbing hold of it,” he said.
Even harder than it sounded
It didn’t sound easy, but Watson had no idea how difficult it would actually prove to be. He told Lauer it took 11 months and a number of failed attempts before he and his film crew finally got everything right.
The challenge wasn’t just tackling the fish; Watson also wanted clear shots of the dive from the helicopter, and underwater shots of him wrestling the marlin. That meant boats and divers and the helicopter — and then getting a marlin to cooperate by staying close to the surface, where Watson could grab it.
So, Lauer asked, how did he do it?
TODAY
Extreme fisherman Matt Watson admitted that some of his best ideas come over a few beers with friends.
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“For a start, fish really aren’t the smartest creatures,” Watson pointed out. “People assume because they’re big, they’re intelligent, but in fact they’re not very. They’re really just focused on food. We used a few fishing tricks to keep it near the surface. We were making sure the marlin was well-fed.”
But he wouldn’t reveal how he got a diver close enough to the cruising marlin for the money shot of the underwater wrestling match.
“There’s a lot of moving parts to it. I can’t divulge too much,” he said. “I’m sure you wouldn’t hear Peter Jackson telling Steven Spielberg how he made ‘Lord of the Rings.’ ”
Lauer didn’t argue. Instead, he inquired what the extreme angler’s next angle might be.
“Just the other night, in one of our creative discussions, I guess you could call it, one of my friends said: ‘How about a car tire tube — like an inner tube from a car tire?’ ” Watson replied. The concept is still being worked out. “A few more brews to be had on script development on that one,” he said.
Lauer laughed at Watson’s creative process. “Obviously, we have a lot in common,” he told Watson. “That’s how some of our best ideas get developed also.”
13 March 2009, 07:55
SGraves155Hardly even sounds possible, does it? Will be interesting to see.
I remember a night-time croc spearing event in Moazambique one time after a little estra beer. We really had to twist arms to get a native to go with us, as their beer wasn't as good as ours. Kinda one of those things you're glad you did, but will have more sense next time.
If it sounds like BS and looks like BS, well--- 