KEY POINTS:
How did you get to be the star of the show?
I think with the two boys there, the father and son thing gets the storyline juices flowing and as the show goes on we catch a lot of fish, we've got a big quota, and we'll go just about anywhere to get them.
So you do like eating crayfish?
Love it. If we want a quick snack on the boat we just drown them in fresh water, boil them up in salt water, a bit of curry in there, not too long - a coupla three minutes - until they go red and drain the water out and there's a snack any time of day. And we make them into patties, chop them up finely, with a bit of egg, curry, fry them up, but there's all sorts of ways. You don't want the whole f****** list do you?
No, no. That sounds bloody great. You've been fishing these waters for 23 years so how did you get into this game?
I left school at 15 and my father was a crayfisherman and what do you do? You go crayfishing. As simple as that. You do what your father does.
But over and above the money-making and the family tradition what else is the attraction?
It used to be freedom once. But we're now getting stifled a bit with rules and regulations by OSH and all that sort of carry on. But we've still got our sense of freedom out there and that is a major attraction for most of us. We don't know anything about weekends, we're not 8 to 5ers, I never did like that. Most of us have had a go at it and didn't like it. It's the hunting thing too. You're always out there roving round hunting and that's the best part of it.
I like what Jayce said too. Just after he nearly got tossed overboard by that rogue wave he said it's exhilarating?
That comes into it. The fact you're a battering ram one minute and you turn around and become a giant bloody surf board the next. That is quite thrilling when you're surfing down a 10 or 11 metre swell at 25-26 knots. It really gets the adrenaline flowing.
So how do you think the shows have turned out?
They don't look too bad and they are very informative.
The maps plotting where you guys are are great. It puts it all in perspective.
That's right. And putting it on screen like that gives people an idea of what New Zealand is about, especially in Fiordland, there is some incredible scenery. The scenery will be riveting for a few people and the crayfish action will be riveting for everyone. And the dramas, well, there's not a hell of a lot of drama on board. But there's enough there to keep people titillated, you know. It's pretty close to how it happens. There's nothing been drummed up.
Million Dollar Catch screens on TV3, Wednesdays 7.30pm.