'Wicked Tuna': TJ Ott cheers for girlfriend-competitor Merm as she uses bizarre technique to bag a catch

One could easily see that she was ready to bag a catch and cheering her on was Captain Tyler McLaughlin and TJ Ott from his boat
PUBLISHED AUG 17, 2020
TJ Ott and Marissa 'Merm' McLaughlin (National Geographic/ Facebook)
TJ Ott and Marissa 'Merm' McLaughlin (National Geographic/ Facebook)

TJ Ott, who was previously tight-lipped about his relationship with Marissa 'Merm' McLaughlin, is going all out to express his love for his girlfriend. He is competitive and it seems like love comes first for him. As Team Pinwheel was setting up shop for their first catch of the day, Merm sat on the side of the both with her legs wrapped around to catch a tuna. One could easily see that she was ready to bag a catch and cheering her on was Captain Tyler McLaughlin and TJ Ott from his boat.

He was looking at her go at the tuna and couldn't be happier and proud. However, he kept his emotions in check when his teammates joked that he was only looking at his girlfriend and not the fact that she was catching a fish, to which he responded: "I see enough of her." However, it was a disappointing 183-pound catch for Pinwheel. They got a little over $1,000 on their payday, something to keep them afloat, but still not good enough. Tyler was disappointed but he appeared certain of a comeback. "It's really sad that you go out there, work hard and you get only a little over $1,000 for your fish," he said.

Meanwhile, Dave Carraro of F/V Tuna.com is scaling the leaderboard like it's a cakewalk. He loves fishing and he makes it very evident in his wide smile whenever the team bags a catch. But did his passion for the activity get him some enemies? In this week's episode of National Geographic's 'Wicked Tuna: Outerbanks', we see Dave and his team spear a massive Tuna in the first few minutes of the show. No surprises there, as that's the job they set out to do. But one has to be really lucky to be able to catch two tunas in a day. Even though that put them on top of the list, TJ seemed unhappy that Dave didn't inform the rest of the team when he found out that there was a shoal of tuna nearby. Let's hope this doesn't lead to friction and they are able to explain themselves. 

Catch all the new episodes of 'Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks' on National Geographic every Sunday at 8/c. For more information, check your local listings.

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