Captain Reed Meredith competes in season finale of Wicked Tuna this Sunday

Published 10:32 pm Saturday, October 5, 2019

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Meredith’s boat, the Kahuna, is a 50-foot “tuna killing machine” that is twice as fast as the boat he used in Season 1, the Wahoo. Courtesy High10 Media

Kahuna Boat's crew, FROM left, first mate Banks Meredith fights the fish as his brother, Captain Reed Meredith drives the boat and second mate Steve Buchanan work the deck. PFTV/James Fitzgerald, courtesy High10 Media

The Season 6 finale of “Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks” will air this Sunday, October 6 at 9 p.m. EST on National Geographic.

This season, three veteran northern boats faced four new southern boats, along with one returning captain from Season 1 of “Wicked Tuna.” For the residents of the Outer Banks, this captain from the south may look familiar.

Captain Reed Meredith from Nags Head came back with a vengeance this time around. After a five-year hiatus, Meredith returned to the show with his new boat, the Kahuna. Along with his brother Banks and his mate Steve Buchanan, the men of the Kahuna battled their fiercest competition yet.

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In a phone interview with Meredith, he explained how he grew up in the commercial fishing industry. “My father was a second-generation commercial fisherman,” he said. “We moved to Nags Head from Virginia Beach when I was little. I took over the family boat when I was eighteen.” Meredith always knew he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Twenty-five years later, he is still out catching bluefin for his family.

Meredith found out about “Wicked Tuna” through the men he grew up around and became friends with at the inlet. “T.J. Ott from Hot Tuna would come down and fish with me before the show even started,” he said. “I went and fished up North a few times and met some guys from there, too.”

Meredith said this season was not much different from Season 1 of the show, except for the tougher competition. “With the new cast members, the competition was fiercer than before,” he said. Battling the elements proved to be a huge challenge. Not to mention, Meredith and the rest of the crews do this for a living. This is how they provide for their families. It’s much more than just a show for them.

“There’s a struggle for sure when it comes to commercial fishing,” Meredith admitted. “It’s definitely not easy, but it’s all I know.” To watch Meredith and his crew along with the rest of the boats in the final episode of Season 6: “Battle of the Banks,” tune into National Geographic on Sunday night. For more information on the show and episodes of “Wicked Tuna,” visit www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/wicked-tuna.