Sports are, generally speaking, the first experience people have with teamwork and competition. On this episode of A Look Through the Lens podcast, Captain James Marko, charter captain and TV host of Goliathfishing.com, sat down with host Sean Heath to discuss the transformation of fishing from a leisure activity to a research-heavy career.

Athletic competition provides numerous valuable lessons and life skills through a person’s formative years. Marko is one of the few individuals who managed to continue their sports career as an actual job after adolescence.

“Work is fun,” he said. “Each day is, just, totally different and that’s what I’m loving about my career right now, with doing a TV show and chartering and the research. Every day has just been something new.”

There have been some significant changes in how he approaches a day of fishing, according to Marko.

“The big difference between me and you is; you get to fish. I have to put the client on the fish,” he said.

That change in perspective isn’t a negative development, he said. 

"When clients are getting a catch of a lifetime, like they do with me, it makes it all worth it,” Marko said.

The amount of preparation that goes into each day’s trip starts very early and recent technological advances, specifically the newest night vision cameras from SiOnyx, help greatly with that.

“It’s been one of those products, that, since I’ve had it in my hand, I’ve used it every single day,” Marko said. “If there’s anything I can say about this device, it’s; peace of mind.”

In Marko’s career, he has transformed from a sportsman to a leading researcher on goliath fish and his clients get to be part of that, as well.

“That’s the one thing about my charters. A lot of my clients get to do the research with me. It’s a new fish. We get to name it,” he said.

Visit our Night Vision for Boaters page to learn more on how boaters around the world are using the night vision to see better at night on the water.