The Deadliest Catch captains will have to battle it out on the Bering Sea if they want to bring home the crab and stay in one piece.
In Tuesday’s Season 15 premiere of the Discovery docuseries, the whole fleet was on edge preparing for the king crab season ahead, having heard whisperings from Captain Steve “Harley” Davidson of the Southern Wind that the crab had all piled up within an 800-square-foot area mud pit.
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“Every year the state of Alaska has one boat fish before the season starts,” Wizard Captain Keith Colburn explained of the rumor’s genesis. “And this year, that boat’s the Southern Wind. It’s not about the money, it’s about knowing where the crab are. That’s 10 times as valuable.”
Summer Bay Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski continued, “You know there’s a rumor that the crab are in one spot. As guys find it, they bring in more guys, and more guys, and more guys, and it turns into a battle ground.”
With everyone in one place, fighting to make their quota and return home with the biggest profit, Northwestern Captain Sig Hansen told his daughter Mandy things were sure to get dangerous out on the Bering Sea.
“If you start fishing in those types of tight waters, they’re gonna start pile driving their gear,” he told her. “If the competition doesn’t crush you, the Bering Sea will. To come out on top, you’ve gotta strike while the iron’s hot. You’ve gotta endure suffering, expect the unexpected. Every little bit of information makes you a winner.”
“If the whole fleet’s fishing on one spot, there’s gonna be a lot of battles,” Colburn told the camera. “Well you know what? Bring it.”
With the mud pit filling up quickly, Cornelia Marie Captain Josh Harris was determined to speed out to the money zone quickly in order to stake a claim.
“Everybody says the crab are here, the crab are here! We just need to get out there and find them,” he told the camera.
While the Saga, Wizard and Summer Bay initially tested their luck outside the mud pit to test if Harley’s tip was accurate, shockingly low numbers of the male crab they needed forced Saga Captain Jake Anderson to partner with his fellow younger captain, Brenna A’s Sean Dwyer, in boxing out the older vets from the mud pit itself.
Meanwhile, Wild Bill found his only private stockpile of crab away from the other members of the fleet, hurriedly bringing in as many as possible before his secret was discovered.
Will the mud pit be as perilous for the captains as they feared?
Deadliest Catch airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Discovery.
Photo credit: Discovery
