The life of a Florida Keys commercial fisherman holds many daily tasks: Securing bait. Fueling up. Wincing at gas prices. Fixing traps. Checking market prices and the weather report. And looking at the number of views on their latest TikTok post.
Yep, TikTok. The salty commercial fishermen from decades past might have been shocked at the turns that their profession has taken in modern times. Checking analytics on a social media post? What on earth is that?
But that’s exactly what Islamorada commercial fishermen Jesse Hayes, 43, and Conner Rachowicz, 25, have been doing: Showing their catch in videos on not just TikTok, but also several other platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and SnapChat.
And they’ve been “kicking ass,” according to Hayes. The two fishermen have about 400,000 followers between them, across all their social media platforms. Hayes’ most popular YouTube video, which explains how a stone crab regrows its claws, drew 7.5 million views. Rachowicz’s views for a video in which a puffer fish inflated in his trap clocked in at 28.4 million. And, in an odd twist, their content is so stunning that they both regularly get accused of using artificial intelligence.
While the popularity of their videos keeps growing, Hayes and Rachowicz have been building a community of loyal followers who regularly thank them for their videos, and even getting an important source of income.
The fishermen mostly focus on their bycatch in the videos. The diversity of the sea creatures that land in their traps is dazzling to people in other parts of the world who have never seen a puffer fish or a moray eel. Or a baby octopus. Or an urchin. Or a sargassum fish …
Hayes and Rachowicz both developed a curiosity for marine life as children.
“I would spend hours in the fish room of a pet store in the mall as a kid in Alaska,” recalled Hayes. “All the stuff I thought was cool is here in the Florida Keys, and it’s f–king normal.”
“I grew up loving fishing in Chicago, and there is not much diversity,” said Rachowicz. “I came here, and it’s a million different species.”
“It’s rewarding to share this,” said Hayes. “I have had people reach out to me who say watching my livestreams has helped them get through hard times.”
“I feel happiest when I read, ‘I never knew that animal existed,’” said Rachowicz. “Or things like, ‘You inspired me to go to the beach today.’”
And since the market has been soft for their target species — stone crab and lobster — the profit from a video can be helpful.
Hayes, who runs a solo commercial fishing operation, said, “There are still good days going home when I do a touchdown dance, but it’s certainly not every day. I do supplement the income from fishing with social media revenue. I would have bailed out of fishing two years ago. It makes that much of a difference.”
“We’re still doing all right, but social media revenue helps aid with the necessary expenses,” said Rachowicz, who has a larger commercial fishing business with his grandfather.
The fishermen are surprised at their success on social media platforms.
“Let’s be realistic,” said Hayes. “I’m probably too old to do OnlyFans, but just young enough to do TikTok. When my views exceeded the population of my home state, I knew I had something. It was my fourth or fifth video, where I caught a moray eel, and I remember sitting up all night and hitting refresh and watching the numbers go and go. It was awesome.”
Hayes’ community enjoys his narration on the videos, which at times gets a little spicy. He calls himself the “Degenerate Steve Irwin,” but “a lot of nicknames for me have cropped up on there,” he says, laughing. “Like, Off-Brand Aquaman.”
Rachowicz is more straightforward with his content, preferring just to keep the camera on his catch and his hands as he opens his trap. “I’m ‘Blue Gloves,’ that’s how they know me,” he says, smiling.
Hayes has been inspired to create another channel of YouTube videos called Tidal Watch 4K. His passion project is made up entirely of hours of underwater footage filmed with a customized rig, and the content is so jaw-dropping that his viewers ask him if he has used AI. He has not, and puts a label on his videos that say so.
“That’s how amazing our content is — the sea creatures,” said Rachowicz, shaking his head. “I’m accused all the time of being AI.”
As for the future, the fishermen will keep doing what they love to do.
“If it ever gets to a point where the content-creating is work, then I’ll stop,” said Rachowicz. “But all it takes is one video to make 20 million views to change everything.”
You can catch Conner Rachowicz on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and SnapChat on @FishingWithConner. Jesse Hayes can be found on TikTok and YouTube on @incidentally_awesome and on YouTube @Tidal Watch 4K.
