INTERVIEW: Captain Bob Cook returns for season 11 of ‘Wicked Tuna’

Photo: Wicked Tuna features the adventures of anglers off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Captain Bob Cook stars in the new season. Photo courtesy of Nat Geo / Provided by press rep with permission.

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Wicked Tuna has returned to National Geographic for its 11th season, and one of the prominent captains on the reality series is Bob Cook, who heads the Fat Tuna boat. According to the network, Cook has been fishing for bluefin tuna for more than 15 years, and he brings in a sizable catch each season. His home base is Beverly, Massachusetts, and when he’s not navigating the waters off the New England coast, he’s working at his restaurant, Little Italy Pizzeria.

Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Cook about the new season of Wicked Tuna, which airs episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.

How much did COVID-19 disrupt your business operations?

Covid-19 really affected our business. There was just no market for our fish and therefore no income for our boats. That was very tough, but this year it seems to have bounced back in a big way. This year our prices are probably double what they were last year. If there’s no demand, then we can’t supply anything, and last year with no demand for our fish, it was tough. But this year will be different. 

What’s the secret to your success?

The secret to my success and our success on the Fat Tuna is drive. I don’t think there’s another boat out there with more drive. We just always want to be the best. That’s how we roll in anything we do. Sometimes it’s a burden. We put so much pressure on ourselves to succeed, but I think that helps us. We just do not give up. 

Do you like having the cameras document your every move on the boat?

I actually love having the cameras on board! I think that a lot of times you forget to stop and smell the roses, and what I mean by that is we’re just out there day in and day out. And what we do is cool — it’s really, really cool. We love to see it documented. We sometimes forget what happens through a season, but then when it airs on National Geographic, we have the ability to put it on and say, “Oh my god, that’s right, that happened!” or “Oh wow, look at that cool shot!” The production crew doesn’t get in our way at all out there, and they’ve become very good friends of ours. It’s just a lot of fun. Honestly, the sit down interviews are more strange to me. I’m much more relaxed in my natural habitat when I’m out on the boat fishing, doing what we love, doing what we do best.  

When you consider other anglers on the show, do you view them as competitors, friends, colleagues?

All of the above. These guys are friends and colleagues, but they’re also competition out there. We want to win this competition, and the number one reason why is that it means we’ve caught a lot of fish and brought in a lot of income. So although I do consider the other captains friends — for the most part — it’s mainly an element of respect because they’re also at the top of their game right there along with us. I do hang out with the other captains off-screen, off the water, and they’re some of my very good friends now. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. These are the guys I want to compete against because they’re the best. 

How did you get into the pizzeria business?

I recognized the need to invest in a land job while I was also doing my sea job. We have off-seasons, and there was a need to fill that income gap when it’s slow. And I needed multiple careers to do so. It’s extremely expensive to live in the Northeast, so I needed more than just the offshore income to be able to afford to live around here. My [business] partner Gail Guittarr and I decided to buy the pizzeria because we grew up eating there, and when she heard it was going up for sale, she approached me with the idea to go in on it with her. One of the great things about Little Italy is it has a niche following, and that’s because we use a sweet Italian sauce. Our sweet sauce can be a polarizing subject, but we love that it sets us apart from all the other local places. It works well because we do groundfish charters starting in May and switch over to bluefin tuna charters on June 15, so from May through December I’m fishing. And I have managers that run the pizzeria for me, and from January through the beginning of May, I run the pizzeria.

Does fishing ever get old?

It only gets old for us when we’re not catching. Tuna fishing is tough. You have about a 50% chance of landing a tuna every day, and that ratio is just not great. But by and large, fishing could almost never get old for me. This is something I want to do until the day I die.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Wicked Tuna continues with new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. on National Geographic. Click here for more information.