'Deadliest Catch' Captain Jake Anderson Pummeled by 20-Foot Waves During Massive Storm

Deadliest Catch Captain Jake Anderson had a tough call to make when it came to fishing in the 20-ft. waves of the Bering Sea — play it safe or go for broke?

As winter storm Elsa took on the Deadliest Catch fleet during Tuesday's episode of the Discovery docuseries, Anderson attempted to avoid the icy winds up north, following a school of opilio crab along the southern edge of the storm.

But while he wasn't using a hair dryer to melt the ice on the windows of his boat like Captain Josh Harris of the Cornelia Marie, Anderson struggled with the decision to set his pots in the most profitable area, as it would also put his crew in danger of the massive waves threatening to knock them overboard.

"Honestly, right now I'm a little bit uneasy and unsure," he confessed to the camera, watching as towering waves broke over the bow of the Saga. But with a partner's share in the boat at stake this season, it was a risk he was willing to take.

"If I'm gonna catch crab, I gotta do what I gotta do," he insisted. "If we're gonna make money, if I'm gonna buy this boat, I'm gonna have to set this one."

Taking the "calculated risk" to set his pots on the broadside, the young captain watched nervously, trying to steer the boat through the worst of things and warn his crew to hit the deck when needed.

"If this all works man, I'm either really lucky or just a complete genius," he grimaced.

Ahead of the Season 15 premiere, Anderson admitted to PopCulture.com that his timing trying to buy into the boat was certainly stress-inducing.

"It's a tough time to buy into the boat, especially because you're not gonna make a ton of money if you don't do it right," he admitted. "We didn't even know how much money was to be made … it was really high stakes."

Deadliest Catch airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Photo credit: Discovery