Nick Cheskey is the host of Saltwater Underground, now in its sixth season on ESPN2, Discovery Channel, Sportsman's Channel, and Waypoint TV. He's one of the most versatile anglers in the country — a guy who grew up fishing, surfing, and ice skating on frozen Jersey swamps, and who pioneered surf shark fishing on the Northeast coast before anyone else was even trying. In this conversation, Nick and I catch up after three years and cover a lot of ground — from saltwater rivers freezing over in central Jersey to thresher sharks hunting with their tails to prehistoric megalodon teeth in freshwater streams. This one goes everywhere, and I loved every minute of it. Some of the moments I found most meaningful in this conversation: - Nick describing the first night he ever tried surf shark fishing in 1998 — paddling bunker bait out on a surfboard in the dark, alone, and having a thresher tail come whipping out of the water right next to him - How thresher sharks actually hunt — corralling bait with that massive tail and using it like a weapon, which is unlike anything else in the ocean - The species showing up in Jersey waters that have no business being there — tarpon off Cape Cod, cobia inshore, pompano in the surf, and Spanish mackerel everywhere - Nick's obsession with fossil hunting in New Jersey freshwater streams and finding a Hell Pig tooth that nobody had ever pulled out of Jersey before — 15 to 30 million years old - A real conversation about the future of fishing media, social media's effect on spot burning and content quality, and why both of us think the pendulum is starting to swing back toward expertise 00:00 Introduction 01:30 Three Years Since the Last Episode — What Nick's Been Up To 04:00 Ice Fishing Saltwater Rivers in Central Jersey 08:30 Growing Up Ice Fishing and Hockey in Frozen Jersey Swamps 13:00 Saltwater Underground Season 6 — ESPN2, Discovery, Waypoint TV 17:00 Filming Five Episodes in the Florida Keys 21:30 Sheepshead, Redfish, and Species Recolonizing the Northeast 27:00 Tarpon in New Jersey — Cape Cod Catches and the State Record 31:00 Surf Shark Fishing: How Nick Pioneered It in 1998 38:00 Thresher Sharks — How They Hunt and Why That Tail Is Deadly 44:00 The Great White Situation Up and Down the Coast 50:00 Fossil Hunting in Jersey Freshwater Streams 58:00 Finding a Hell Pig Tooth — 15 to 30 Million Years Old 1:04:00 Blood Worms, Sand Worms, and $35 a Dozen 1:09:00 The Saltwater Sportsman Seminar Series with George Poveromo 1:13:00 Social Media, In-Person Events, and the Future of Fishing Media 🔗 Watch Saltwater Underground: YouTube → Saltwater Underground with Nick Cheskey 🔗 Connect With Nick Cheskey: Instagram → @NickCheskey YouTube → Saltwater Underground with Nick Cheskey 📘 Free Resources: 🎁 Saltwater Knot Guide → https://bit.ly/3UnAeIP 🎙️ Tom Rowland Podcast → https://bit.ly/3O4lgn0 📺 Subscribe for More Unfiltered Conversations → https://www.youtube.com/saltwaterexperience?sub_confirmation=1 📱 Follow the Show: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/saltwater_experience/ TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@saltwaterexperience Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/tvswe #NickCheskey #SaltwaterUnderground #SurfSharking #TomRowlandPodcast #SaltwaterExperience #ThresherShark #JerseyFishing #FossilHunting #SaltwaterFishing #NortheastFishing