INTERVIEW: Dave Carraro can’t stop fishing on ‘Wicked Tuna’

Dave Carraro is a common presence on National Geographic Channel’s Wicked Tuna, the popular reality series that documents the wildly competitive tuna fishing industry out of Gloucester, Mass. Carrarro, captain of the FV-Tuna.com boat, is seen as a leader among his fellow fishers; he’s a man who has brought a sense of prestige and bankable success to the sometimes fraught waters of this uncommon trade.

On the new season of Wicked Tuna, which premieres Sunday, Feb. 15 at 9 p.m., Carraro said there will definitely be a lot of fish. “[The audience] can expect a lot of fish being caught by all the boats, and it’s going to be a race to the finish,” he said. “Of course, I like being the top dog. Top dog, that means you’re making the most money. Sure, I don’t mind it. However, everybody’s always coming at you. Everybody’s always coming after the top guy, but, you know, anyway it’s good, too, because it keeps you on your toes. And it makes you fish that much harder, and catch that many more fish and make that much more money.”

A common question that might arise about FV-Tuna.com’s success is whether Carraro has a lot of luck or a lot of skill, or both. The captain has a direct answer to such queries.

“A lot of other boats say that we’re just lucky,” he said. “It’s not luck. It’s what we do, and it’s how we do it. It’s how we rig our baits. It’s a lot of perserverance. We grind. We work hard, but there are definitely things that we do differently on the Tuna.com that other boats don’t do. It’s basically a trade secret.”

Even with the constant success, Carraro has seen his fair share of ups and downs. Some seasons, he admitted, are better than others. This past season, which will be documented on Wicked Tuna, was a “good” one. Carraro even called it a “free for all” where untrained fishers were able to land some fish.

“Some guys did better than others,” he said. “Some guys were in the right place at the right time more often than some boats, but, yeah, it was lots of action this year, a lot of small fish and also a lot of big fish.”

Carraro also fishes for cod and haddock. His company goes out on charters approximately 120 times per year, and the captain spends roughly nine months fishing.

If audience members were interested in getting in on the action, maybe becoming a reality TV star as well, they should think again. Carraro said his business has been in existence for more than 20 years, and he thankfully doesn’t need new customers. He only fishes with the same clients year after year.

“Any of the emails that I do get about people inquiring about going out on the Tuna.com for a charter, I basically copy and paste an email to them saying, ‘Sorry, we’re full for the season,’ and I recommend them to a couple other boats that are nearby in the Gloucester area.”

Carraro, who was profiled by Hollywood Soapbox two years ago, doesn’t come from a long line of commercial fishermen. He started the hobby with his father in local ponds. Ponds became lakes, and lakes became salt water.

“I grew up in an area of New Jersey that was very close to the water, and I used to go down the docks all the time after school and help clean the boats for a few bucks here and there. I’d clean the buckets, and then eventually I was going out on these boats. They were fishing boats where you take people out fishing for the day.”

This initial party-boat experience led to full-time fishing and a relocation to the Gloucester area. Today, he’s a man positively enamored of fishing, so much so that he doesn’t like coming back to land.

“On the way in, the only thing we’re thinking about is going back out,” he said. “Sometimes it takes not the normal 14 hours to get home. … Sometimes it takes us 20-24 hours to get home because it’s such a rough ride. As beat up as we are, as tired as we are, as dirty as the boat is, when we get in, we just can’t wait to turn around and go back out.”

Although it appears Wicked Tuna will be around on National Geographic for a while, Carraro said his fishing began long before the reality series and will continue long after.

“This show has brought a lot of opportunity for us. I was OK before the show, and I’ll be just as OK after the show is over. I’m not a money-oriented person. I’m happy doing what I do, and that’s fishing. There’s nothing that’s going to change. I’m content. I love to fish, and I’ll do it until my health no longer allows. Nothing is going to change after the show. After we all disappear, fade away, and Wicked Tuna is really just a vague memory for most, I’ll continue doing what I’m doing.”

One part of the job can get to Carraro, and that’s the sleep deprivation. His trips sometimes last up to seven days, and the few winks he’s able to catch are not “good, sound sleep.” To combat the ZZZs, he thrives on the adrenaline and expectation.

“Just the excitement gets you going, just to know that you might catch a 1,000-pounder, just to know that you might catch a $10,000 fish,” he said. “That drive is always there as tired as you are.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Wicked Tuna returns to National Geographic Channel Sunday, Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. Click here for more information.