Reel Rivals

It's every red blooded American's dream: feeling the wrenching bite of a giant marlin. Ahead lies an arm-popping, hour-long, character-testing battle to land that 500lb, prime-eating, mount-ready, Hemingway-worthy, champion of the ocean. But for one group of rough edged experts finding and hooking those leviathans isn't a once in a lifetime fantasy – it's their lives and livelihood.

In this series we follow a band of loud-mouth, hard-living charter boat captains who turn those once- in-a-lifetime dreams into thrashing, finned reality. Grizzled thirty-year veterans or young brash Keys natives, these human fishfinders use every last scrap of skill, judgment and pure luck to land the biggest trophy catches, best one another and, above all, keep their high paying customers satisfied.

The captains are all based at Bud and Mary's marina in Islamorada, the sports fishing capital of the Keys. Thousands of Americans flock to the island, eager to test themselves against the great game fish. Some are adrenaline hunting bachelor parties, wanting to fight a monster shark; others are fishing fanatics, desperate to win a big money tournament; some are high roller CEOs and sports celebrities who've jetted in from Miami; others are family guys from Nebraska who've never hooked a sardine before, let alone a 10ft swordfish.

As the boats moor up alongside one another the customers get an instant measure of who got the most out of their big money adventure and the captains can tell at a glance who'll have bragging rights at the waterfront bar. Come in with a few measly yellowtail and there'll be hell to pay; crank a 600lb swordfish up on the crane and, for tonight at least, you're the King of the Keys.