Hardy Krüger said that he had only ever caught one fish in his life at the time of being cast in this film. It was a Tuna, the type of fish that the fishermen catch professionally in the movie.
The vessel "Velebit" was used for the clipper "Blue Fin". Other boats which appeared in the film included :"Hannibal"; "Bronwyn" (playing "Dog Star"); "Southern Condor"; "Origin:; "Anna Marguerite" and many others.
About 800 boys were interviewed by the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) to play the lead role of Snook aka Steve Pascoe . Of these, twenty-five were screen tested. The role ended up going to then child actor Greg Rowe who had about two years earlier headlined the SAFC's earlier critically acclaimed family film Storm Boy (1976).
Hardy Krüger once said of being cast in this film: "The three most important things about a movie are the script, the script, and the script. They chased me to the wilds of Canada to show me this script. I took it home and read it overnight, and decided I wanted to do it. I had seen an Australian film at a Western film festival at Cannes. My film 'Potato Fritz' [Montana Trap (1976)] was in it and I was hoping it would win. But the film that won was Mad Dog Morgan (1976). That made me aware that Australia could make good films. Then when they showed me Storm Boy (1976) in Los Angeles that clinched it".
Actor Max Cullen received a 'special guest appearance' credit. His closing credits billing reads: ''With special guest appearance of
Max Cullen as the Pensioner.''