“Pacific Warriors” on the Discovery Channel Features Hawai‘i Kayak Fishermen

Watch the season premiere of “Pacific Warriors” on the Discovery Channel on Friday, Oct. 23.

October 22, 2015

Don Wallace,

Photo: Courtesy of the Discovery Channel

“Fishing from kayaks while fending off tiger sharks” was probably a slam-dunk for the Discovery Channel when Original Media pitched the series, which debuts this Friday, Oct. 23 as Pacific Warriors.

But now that Mack the Knife is back in town with a couple of too-close encounters, one with a swimmer who was saved by a kayaker off Lanikai Beach, you have to wonder if reality TV is once again tempting fate.

Among the “brave Hawaiian men and women” who “venture out to catch some of the most desirable fish in the sea” is Kimi Werner, subject of a profile in the pages of HONOLULU. Werner has been known to swim with sharks and doesn’t think twice about hunting among them.

But for West Sider Isaac Brumaghim, the founder of kayak fishing club Aquahunters, the scenario has already gotten too real—and gone viral—in his 2013 encounter with a large tiger who helped himself to Brumaghim’s catch. While the video below is exactly the kind of action the show may be looking for, all a viewer can say is, Be careful what you wish for.

Pacific Warriors season premiere, Discovery Channel, Friday, Oct. 23 at 10 p.m.