CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — One local Islander found himself on Discovery Channel's fishing series Ice Cold Catch, where he would take on the fight of his life for more than four months on the waters of Iceland.
"Started doing charters out of Port Aransas on the party boats on and off for seven years, said Island resident Andrew Neystel. "I'm a captain myself now. Still doing trips."
Like most fisherman, Neystel was looking for a bigger catch. He applied to an online advertisement for a fishing job -- and is now on Discovery Channel.
I didn't even have to think for a second," he said. "I moved here to follow my passion and this was the next step."
Neystel told 3NEWS that no amount of experience on our waters could have prepared him for the brutal weather.
"There was some hardcore times," he said. "I mean regular storms they are bad. But we actually got into hurricanes, there was 118 feet waves at one point. 124 mph wind, but we were still catching fish. We limited the boat and went back out."
Neystel told 3NEWS that it has been difficult trying to adjust to normal weather conditions once he came back to Padre Island.
"My moms really happy I didn't go overboard," he said. She was freaking out, but everyone in general is happy I made it back in one piece. I would go back in a heartbeat."
Gaining enough fisherman experience to last a lifetime, Neystel said that he hopes to inspire other young fisherman who have a dream.
"If you fight for something hard enough and believe in yourself enough, you can make anything happen.
The second episode of Neystel's season is streaming on Discovery Channel.