SRSG’s Deadliest Catch

By Jody Shackelford – Now, crab fishing in the Bering Sea is a daunting task, but what about beating out every other show on television in your demographic? Captain Sig Hansen of the vessel The North Western might disagree here, but beating-out Dancing with the Stars has to be up there on the difficulty meter.
One thing is for sure, the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch is a hot commodity. Now in over 150 countries, the captains are reaching exponentially more people than the crabs they catch. “It has just been a whirlwind,” Andy Hillstrand, captain of The Time Bandit, told me while standing in the marshes of southern Louisiana.
Kendra Fisher, who worked tirelessly at SRSG Magazine and is now working on a publication in her hometown of Slidell, Louisiana, called me up and told me she had some interesting news. A friend of hers, Mike Fradella of Air Boats International was hosting a hog hunt. The interesting part came when he dropped the D-Bomb. The Discovery Channel was filming the hog hunt with the captains of Deadliest Catch for their show called After the Catch, which shows the Captains enjoying the off-season on various adventures.
“I need a good photographer,” Kendra said, followed by a long silence. I was not trying to be rude but for some reason my mouth was having trouble producing the vowels necessary to say, “Heck yeah, I am your man, babe!”
So, the shoot was set up for June 5th at 5:00 a.m., rather early for me, but I figured an exception to the all-important sleep schedule was in order. I kissed my girlfriend goodbye and left Arkansas for the Bayou, not knowing exactly what to expect.
With the sky still clinging to the last minutes of night, Kendra and I drove toward John’s Bayou. We arrived at dawn, on the edge of an expansive marsh, chock-full of wild hogs – the real reason for the event. The airboat crew seemed calm and ready as several sets of headlights made their way towards us.
The first to emerge from the caravan was Sig Hansen, “Good morning, mother lovers!” he said, smiling with his arms in the air. We all laughed and watched as a small handful of people scrambled to unload various pieces of video production equipment. Sig was followed by Keith Colburn, captain of the Wizard and brothers Andy and Jonathan Hillstrand, captains of The Time Bandit.
With only about 15 people at the entire site, including Kendra and me, I could not have wished for better experience. No body guards, no huge entourage, just us and them. We shook hands, laughed about how early it was and talked about the upcoming hog hunt. It was priceless. I rarely get star struck but the feeling of standing shoulder to shoulder with these men, the same guys that I have watched in my living room for six years fight for their lives, laugh, cry and even anger the Geico Caveman, was really an experience.
With the cameras mounted on the airboats, the sound guy ready to go and a sky now full of light, the cameras rolled as the captains were reintroduced to the airboat team, for theatrical purposes, of course. On camera or off, the captains were the same people. Actual people with personalities that have yet to be influenced by the success of their show – good people.
The Discovery crew, the captains and the airboat team loaded up in five different rigs and headed into the marshy distance. The massive power of the wind screaming out of those devil boats was awe inspiring.
We stayed back with a couple production assistants, Brad and a guy named Chris Burke. While waiting on the results of the hunt, I picked Chris’s brain about how he got into the business and what it was like working with Discovery. As a 21-year-old freelancer from New Orleans, he had racked up an impressive resume of work. We talked cameras, lighting, and even about the drinking habits of various movie stars, while Kendra worked on her tan on the wheel well of a airboat trailer.
After a while, we could hear the veritable roar of the boats heading back in from the far corners of the marsh. The entire group was grins, ear to ear – even the production crew was jazzed up. They had had a great hunt. Mike’s son Mathew, who does these hunts regularly, said it is customary to release the hogs they catch, a practice foreign to me. I would have had three hung in a tree and the pit of coals getting ready for one hell of a roast. Matt sounded like he knew what was best for the situation, so I quietly slid my pig skinner back into my hip pocket.
And then, there was beer. The man in charge of the show, Mark Fortgang, said there was one more thing to shoot that morning. He brought out four black t-shirts that memorialized Captain Phil Harris, one of the show’s most appearing captains. Discovery announced in February that Captain Phil had passed away after suffering a stroke. The four captains donned the shirts and raised their ice cold bottles of Coors Lights. “Here’s to you, pal,” Jonathan said. “We are going to miss you.” The crew filmed the toast twice, once with the airboat crew and once with just the captains. “Just in case Discovery gives me grief,” Mark said.
We visited, talked, took pictures and fought the deer flies as the boats were loaded and the camera gear was packed away. Kendra and I were actually invited out by the captains to have drinks later that night in New Orleans. The experience was incredible. Genuine people doing dangerous and genuine jobs, filmed for the world to see. Now, enjoying a peak into the world on the other side of your seafood platter – that is really up there on the difficulty meter!
P.S. They loved the magazine.