[hugh]

A ten part documentary series, SWORDS: LIFE ON THE LINE comes to Discovery World HD on February 16 at 8 p.m. ET/10 p.m.

The series follows four boats, (The Eagle Eye II, Big Eye, Seahawk and Frances Ann), that head into these stormy waters hoping to hit the jackpot. The skippers of the boats use every ounce of experience and knowledge they have to try and find the fish. It costs around $60,000 to make the month-long journey and they need to catch thousands of kilograms of fish just to break even. One big catch can be worth as much as $20,000 so a trip can turn from disaster to success in seconds. Once the fish are caught, it’s a race to the market where the first back gets the highest prices. The job is physically and mentally exhausting. Twenty-hour days are the norm.

 

[hugh]

EPISODE 201: "Grand Banks or Bust"
Season 2 begins with Capt. Scotty crowded out of his favorite fishing spot and legendary Capt. Linda vowing to find fish this year or retire for good. His deckhand brother's medical bills puts Capt. Chomps in the red before they even leave the dock.

EPISODE 202: "Deckhands Down"
Capt. "Slick" and his young guns join the fishing grounds. Capt. Linda's crew is dropping like flies after bad luck and injuries. Blue sharks are Capt. Scotty's bane, but sharktagger Lisa's boon. Chomps questions his decision to come to the Grand Banks.

EPISODE 203: "Turf War"
The Frances Anne's gear is "all sharked up," and a deckhand's mistake almost costs them the fish they already have in the hold. Eagle Eye II is defending its turf when deckhand Fox is knocked to the deck. Capt. Chomps clashes with another captain.

EPISODE 204: "Overloaded and into the Storm"
Fish holds are filled or filling fast. The Big Eye survives the storm, but more than just fish leave Capt. Chomp's boat when they reach port. Capt. Slick forgives and forgets Lenny's mistake when their new problem becomes finding more space to stuff fish.

EPISODE 205: "So Close But So Far"
Capt. Linda rides out the storm in port, while Capt. Scotty debates high prices vs. hurricane-force winds to decide whether docking is just too dangerous. Out at sea, the storm is fouling gear and tempers.

EPISODE 206: "Man Overboard!"
On the second trip, fishing is poorer and weather is no better. The Big Eye heads south to safer waters, but the job is still as dangerous — as greenhorn Don find out when he goes overboard into sharky waters.

EPISODE 207: "Needle and Thread to the Head"
Boat and crew member frustrations stymie the Bjorn 2. Greenhorn Don decides to take sewing up his head wound into his own hands, literally. Stress causes Capt. Slick to blow his stack. Later, he's demoted when the boat owner decides to take over the helm.

EPISODE 208: "Trapped"
Capt. Scotty's gamble doesn't pay off. His gear becomes tangled in traps, the line snapping and whipping deckhand Brian. Capt. Chomps' luck is looking up until a line fouls the Big Eye's propeller. It's dead in the water, and Hurricane Ida is approaching.

EPISODE 209: "What Happened on the Back Deck?"
Supplies are low, fish few and luck bad. The Bjorn 2 must fish short-handed when Deckhand Dave goes overboard and Capt. Linda is forced from the deck when her hand accidentally gets caught in the hauling block.