Deadliest Catch (2005–…): Season 7, Episode 2 - Proving Grounds - full transcript
Across the Bering Sea crab fleet, bad fishing causes high tensions and low morale as empty pots whittle away profits and nerves among the men.
♪
It's sort of scary right now.
Everybody I know isn't pulling
nothing.
Oh, yeah. Three-quarter-full pot.
Yeah!
Jack!
I have never had a run of bad luck
like his ever.
There's probably guys out there
kicking my ass to high heaven.
Holy Jesus, full pots of crab!
But nobody's gonna know.
♪ THEME MUSIC
Watch out!
I have never in my life set a crab
pot
that I didn't think was gonna come
up full.
700km north of Dutch
Harbor...
Worst part of the season.
..on the remote blue king crab
grounds.
There's St Matthew's Island,
crabs, basically, are to the south
and west on the survey.
We're gonna start deep and work our
way up shallow.
This is the last outpost,
where those brave and bold enough to
venture this far north
will find grim failure or a king's
ransom.
You followed us.
Yeah, baby.
Six days ago...
I don't need you. I don't
need you here.
Good. You want me to leave?
I'll leave.
..the crew of the Cornelia Marie got
off to a rough start.
I want you to treat me with some
respect.
. Don't shove me
around.
Now with their first pot off the
bow...
..it's time to fish.
I'm super comfortable with this
fishery.
I've succeeded more than I've
failed,
so we'll find them and make this
happen.
First pot of the season, baby!
Sink or swim, right here.
This is for you, boss!
A little bit. No keepers, though.
I see one.
At least it wasn't a blank.
It's a sign of life.
How did we score?
Not a lot.
A good-looking crab pot averages
between 20 and 30 crab.
Jesus!
Derrick's first 20 pots average two.
Oh, God.
Unbelievable.
We'll get 'em.
Attitude's definitely key right now
to keep everybody's spirits up.
Two to a pot - we can't live on
that.
Back to the drawing board.
Woo!
We got a big problem.
I don't know what he's got going up
there.
We need to find something better
than this.
On a quick run between strings,
Steve pays Captain Derrick a visit.
The blue crab, these guys just still
not buying it.
They're not buying the whole story.
Someone's got to prove me different.
I have never made money there.
I have in my mind, when I leave the
dock,
that I'm gonna fill the boat
up.
That's what I know is gonna happen.
All's I know is all the guys who
tell me how great they are,
I never, ever heard Sig ever tell me
how great they were.
They just went out and did it.
Not once did I tell you how
great I am, Steve. Not once.
I just told you I caught
crab. That's all I know.
I didn't tell you how great I was,
that I was the greatest ever.
I just know that I succeeded.
We.
You.
We.
We're just the deck monkeys.
No, we are a crew and a team. We
have to hold this boat together.
We have to take care of each other.
Just 95km from the Cornelia Marie...
..also fishing the blue king crab
grounds
is the 33m Ramblin' Rose.
We're in the middle of nowhere up
here. Nobody else is around.
We're out here all by ourselves.
You know, we're going to be 2.5 days
from anywhere
you could get help from.
The Coast Guard couldn't get us if
they wanted to.
If something goes wrong, we've got
to fix it.
You've got to make sure everybody is
on point at all times.
Ambitious young skipper or foolish
risk-taker?
I think we're gonna score real big
up here.
Either way, a tip from a fisherman
friend is all Elliott needs
to think he's going to hit the
jackpot.
This is definitely an opportunity
for me to go out and shine.
Everybody thinks fishing blue crab's
real hard,
but not for Ramblin' Rose. We're
gonna kill it.
Here we go, first pot of blue crab.
Round 1.
Don't miss the first pot of the
season.
Nice!
I'm feeling pretty good about it.
I'm pretty stoked.
Come on, baby!
There it is!
Oh!
Woo!
Yay!
Elliott's first pot as a captain
shows signs of life.
Five.
Right on. Right on.
But only a new skipper could get this
excited over single digits.
Careful!
That'd be a really good pot
right there
if they were all bigger.
We'll find out if they're keepers.
Bye! bye!
The females must be preserved in
order to maintain the species.
Hopefully there's some males
somewhere.
Two.
At least there's something.
They're not boneyards.
Hopefully there's some crab in it.
He better get more than five or I'm
gonna throw his ass overboard.
After 25 pots, the number of crab
continues to drop.
I need more crab. I need more crab.
Elliott's decision to rely on his
buddy's friendly advice
has proven to be a costly error.
We've been hauling gear now for 2.5
hours,
probably about a two average.
We're gonna keep moving on.
It'll take a lot more than that to
stop the Ramblin' Rose.
♪
♪
390km to the north-east of Dutch
Harbor... is the Wizard.
Right now, we're 3.5 days
into a fishery,
I got zero crab onboard and my crew
hasn't slept.
Things are about as bleak as I can
ever remember.
Welcome to the jungle, baby!
You're gonna die!
Five days ago...
I've been poring over these charts.
We're seeing the concentration of
crab coming in
between Black Hills up into the
Deep Hole.
..Captain Keith Colburn used 30 years
of experience
to go out on a limb on new grounds.
Right now, these pots are telling
me to get the hell out of here.
After suffering defeat at the Black
Hills...
..the skipper has returned to one of
his trusted fishing spots.
Right here where we are now, way up
in the Northern Gully,
I've had good fishing in 2008 and
2009.
I figure I'll go back to what I know
and go back to what I'm comfortable
with.
I need to make some kind of a
comeback here
and basically catch some crab.
As Keith returns to his comfort
zone...
Let this be the one.
..his attention turns to minimising
the risks on deck.
My brother is 46 years old.
He doesn't belong on the stack any
more and I need him at the controls.
Hey, Paul, jump up on the stack
and, Monte, walk him through what
he's gonna have to do.
What's up, Mouse?
So you want to put...?
I want to put him up on the stack,
yes.
I don't think he's ready for it.
I don't give a .
Mouse, listen, I'm not arguing about
this, OK?
I can't rely on having you as a
stack man forever
and one of these guys has got to
learn how to do it,
so let's see if we can pull this
off.
Instead of prove me wrong, prove me
right
and train this guy how to do it.
All right, we'll get him going.
Paul's not ready for this. He's
never tied the gear down on deck.
You don't put somebody up here
that's not ready.
I kind of want the chance.
If he's allowed to go up there, I
want the chance to go up.
One false move on the stack can mean
serious injury...
There's a lot of big drops up here.
..or worse.
Watch where you step. Don't expect
to land on something.
This is a real good time right now
to give Paul a soft landing
on just getting used to being up
there, getting his balance,
being around the gear, seeing where
the ties are
and how to get them off quickly.
The right way to do this is you're
going to start over here
with these ties.
It's tied there, it's tied over
here,
it's tied yet again right there.
OK.
I'll probably screw up, but...
There are over 200 pots with four
ties apiece.
What's going on? We're standing
idle.
The lurching crane pulls the pots
free for setting.
One mistie could send the entire
stack
tumbling to the deck below.
Yeah, Paul's slowing us down. This
is gonna take forever.
I don't understand what these guys
have against Paul.
There's one right there in
front of you.
You know, it's like they're
unwilling to try and train him
how to do this job.
OK, sorry about that. Now it's
yours.
You know, the problem is my brother
wants to prove he's right.
Right here, Paul.
Roger!
Total lack of discipline on this
boat...
OK, Paul! Paul!
Paul!
Come on down!
..and it stops and it ends now.
Everybody back in the house right
now. Everybody off the deck, now!
Everybody on this boat, who's the
captain.
You are!
Then stop arguing with me!
Everybody's making their own
decisions, all right?
That's not true! No! Mouse, did I
just say who's arguing with me?
OK, OK.
Shut up and listen.
All right, I'm listening. I give
you guys an order, you take it.
I'm shaking like a leaf
right now
because I've got absolutely no
respect for my crew.
If I ask you to do something, let's
do it.
Keith, can I just say this, Paul
being way up there on the stack -
Lenny! Lenny! Lenny! Stop, please!
Did you just hear a word I said?
Yes, I did.
That's all I want to hear.
OK. We're trying to tell him.
I don't want to hear any more
back talk!
Are we back out?
I guess we're outside.
I got way too much on my plate right
now.
The last thing you need is a
distraction,
the distraction of somebody deciding
he's in charge, like my brother.
You know what?
This gong show is
over.
440km north-east of Dutch Harbor...
We're coming up on the first string
of the season.
..is the Northwestern.
We've got the first pot right here.
You can't hang your hat on the
first pot, but it will set the mood.
Oh, yeah.
A new season...
..a new skipper.
Hey, Jake, the bag's over that way!
Well, sort of.
And so the child on board isn't
happy.
The only way to make him happy is to
give him his way,
so now we're going to let him haul
gear.
Jake driving the boat is going to
make this a long day
into an even longer day.
For the past five seasons...
When are you going to teach me to
run the vessel?
What makes you think you're gonna be
up here?
..Jake Anderson has been pestering
Sig for more responsibility.
I just want to keep moving forward
so you know that
I'm aiming somewhere.
Why don't you aim for the galley?
I'm sure it needs cleaning.
Now...
You better turn around
and you better tell them to stop
throwing the hook. Ahem.
..he's got his chance.
That's the turn of shame.
Usually it's our fault down here we
missed.
Driving a boat...
They're waiting on you.
..and hauling pots...
You can get closer to them.
..takes timing...
Closer.
you!
Yeah!
..and the ability to get within 6m of
the bags.
Let the games begin!
What are you doing to me?
Which one is next?
What do you mean, which one next?
No, no, no, no.
OK, got that out of the way.
What will Jake do next?
Our first load of gear we set on the
east side of this bank,
then I set a cross here out to the
west.
A lot of times, you'll find that the
crabs school up more on these edges.
I want to see if that's the case
here.
That's big.
Woo!
That's almost half, baby!
Yeah! Ha ha!
I like it.
I know, man.
It's a good one, half-full.
Holy cats! Bad-ass!
There's some big-ass crab in there.
Big-ass crab.
Look at that.
What you got?
57. Woo!
57.
Awesome.
They're all keepers.
Half-full pots. Setting back and
they're dancing on deck.
Beautiful!
Yes!
♪
♪
725km to the north-west... is the
Cornelia Marie.
We're coming back to our furthest
north-east gear.
It's got 20 pots in it.
After striking out on his first two
strings...
It seemed like a spot crabs were
always at,
so the only thing we can do is hope.
I may be completely wrong.
..Captain Derrick Ray needs this
string to pay off big.
Let the good times roll, baby!
You just gotta hunt
them down.
You just gotta find out where
they're walking, running,
what they're doing. That's our job.
Jackpot!
High pot. That's an improvement.
All right, baby!
That's how we roll, bro!
They're coming.
18 or 19?
One-nine? Kid doesn't even know how
to give a crab count.
Some parts of the map, 18 crab
wouldn't be too good,
but we're blue crab fishing. 18 is
damn good.
I just hope it holds up a little
bit, you know?
It'd be nice to have a string with a
19 average.
Oh, yeah!
Oh, yeah, baby!
Oh, yeah! Thank you! OK,
brother.
Woo!
The third string is paying off...
18! Yeah!
..with double digits.
But the wrong hand-count...
Highly trained
professionals.
..is confusing the skipper.
This is how you give a crab count -
one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, zero.
Easy.
Ten pots into the string...
All the way.
..the crab dies off completely.
Uh-oh. That ain't good. What's
happened there?
Let's see what we've got going on.
Put it in there.
Little, tiny crab.
Looks like sand fleas ate our
hanging bait.
See? Sand fleas.
They start off really, really small,
so they get in the holes in the
bait jars
and a couple of nother hours they
turn out to be that size.
But sand fleas can wipe out an entire
string.
It's amazing what little things can
do.
They'll eat that hanging bait in a
matter of one or two hours
before the crabs even have a chance
to get at it.
Big tide, full moon, sand fleas.
If it ain't one thing, it's another.
Just 30km to the east of the rest of
the fleet is the Seabrooke.
I've had some really good
concentrations of crab
on this little finger.
It's a little 36-fathom finger.
Right now it's time to haul fast
and haul hard.
36-year-old Scott Jr Campbell has
been on the crab for days.
You could put a biblical trip
together on these kind of numbers.
As he pulls up on the first pot of a
new string...
Argh!
Oh, Milton!
..the moon on deck is decidedly
up-beat.
Hurry, hurry, it's going by, man!
What's going on?
He got it, though. He didn't miss.
Woo!
Oh, yeah!
Ow, hoohoohoo!
What have you got for me? What have
you got for me?
Hoohoo!
That's what we're looking for, man.
That's what we're looking for.
Leave it in the rack. We're gonna
set.
Junior makes the call to set back
immediately.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Wow!
Yeah, baby!
It's a good high, man. This is it.
This is why you're here.
Yeah!
Yeah, baby!
This is a pretty phenomenal start.
I always seem to start strong,
finish strong.
With big numbers coming on board...
What the is this?
Where's that bait guy?
..the pace for every job on deck
becomes critical.
Kyle's standing around when he
should be doing bait.
Now everybody has to pitch in.
Kyle's just kind of, like,
walking into people,
walking into things.
I got it! Go back to your bait.
You know, if he'd just pick up
the pace a bit,
nobody would be yelling at him.
Not really doing his job and very
productive right now.
Can't slow the operation down to
teach them.
They've got to learn to go to the
pace of the boat.
We haven't got time,
jackass. do it!
Oh, he's being a .
Deck boss Bob Perkey jumps in to help
out his son.
Well, I've got my oldest son here
on the boat right now.
Getting some of that daddy love...
He's got to quit, you know, nursing
his kid.
It's time to cut him off. Cut him
off the nipple.
I was trying to throw the kid a
bone.
He's still trying to get used to
this.
Bob, give me a call on the phone.
If I have to wait to set these pots
cos he doesn't have bait ready,
I'm gonna come unglued.
He should be able to fill two jugs
and put two fish on it.
He's just gotta stay focused.
If he loses focus, he's not gonna be
able to do his job correctly.
If not, we're gonna have to get
somebody else who can.
That's the bottom line.
Micromanagement.
If he can't do his job, we'll get
somebody who will,
Bob's kid or not.
And Bob's gotta quit babying his
kid, bottom line.
I'm not staying for much longer.
I'll probably just do this season
and go home.
Seven hours later...
Two minute warning.
Two minute warning and we will be
getting started.
Two minute, yeah!
Firing up!
Yeah!
..Junior charts a new course on deck.
OK, Knuckles, I want you to take a
break from the bait
and I want you to stack the pots.
Whipper, you're gonna be on the
bait. You better keep up.
Everything's primo by the end of
this string.
I haven't done bait in, like, a
couple of years.
I'm trying to show him how it's
done,
keeping up and how you do it.
We'll see if he pays attention or
not. No excuses.
He didn't want to do bait any more.
He's gonna have to suck it up.
With a new line-up in order,
Junior hits his fifth string of the
season.
Yeah! Another one!
Righto, righto, boys. There we go.
Back in 'em. Yeah!
Yeah!
So we're just gonna continue to
stack and move,
stack and move, stack and move till
we're full.
Woo!
Junior's not just setting back,
he's bumping his pots north to stay
on the ever-moving ball of crab.
They just keep coming.
They're unstoppable. We can't keep
them away.
Whipper, you're doing such a good
job on bait
I think I'll keep you there, man.
Keep it up.
You're the baitmaster.
Keep up that good work.
That'll get him charged up.
Yeah.
Junior loves messing with his little
brother.
He thinks it makes him move faster
when he's getting on his case.
Every once in awhile, it's nice to
get away from the bait.
It starts to stink over there.
Yeah, there's a little competition
between them,
but it's good competition and that's
the key
to running a successful business is
recognising a problem,
attacking the problem, getting it
straightened out
before it becomes a massive issue
and that's what we've done.
Morale's up on both of those kids,
they're both hustling harder than
they were
and that's the name of the game.
That was a good call.
Pat myself on the back for that one.
♪
♪
Far to the north, on the remote
grounds of the blue crab,
is the Ramblin' Rose.
If it gets any bigger, I think we're
going to shut down.
It's at 18ft right now and still
growing.
It's supposed to get up to 30.
We're not going to haul gear in
30-footers.
It's a little too big for a boat
this size.
The crew has been hauling for 36
hours with no break...
It's gonna be a long night.
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
..and a shrinking crab count.
What kind of numbers are we?
Wow.
On his friend's advice, Captain
Elliott set all 120 of his pots
in the shallow waters off Pinnacle
Island.
It has been real frustrating.
Setting all our gear, we haven't
caught crab.
And there is no pay-off in sight.
This is painful.
..so, , we're going to do it
my way.
Whatever works, we have 120,000lbs
to catch right around there.
With nearly three days wasted on
these grounds...
..Elliott will continue stacking the
rest of his pots...
If you can't find them, grind them.
That's what we do sometimes.
..and immediately set them on fresher
grounds.
Oh, man!
It's kind of a bummer sometimes.
You know, it's, like, wow, the
opportunity to sleep.
If we start getting crab it won't
matter.
Right now it just kind of sucks.
If this technique doesn't work,
there's gonna be mutiny.
I don't expect these crab are just
gonna give themselves up that easy.
I'm gonna have to work for it just
like everybody on deck.
We'll find a way to catch some crab.
That's what I was hired for and
that's what I'm gonna do.
725km to the south-east is the
Northwestern.
As the boat steams between strings,
deckhand Jake Anderson takes the
first wheel watch.
So the child on board isn't
happy.
The only way to make him happy is to
give him his way.
This is bull, Jake.
Welcome to the crab
boat, buddy.
Can't take it? off.
A punching bag is what I am.
I swear, that's what they hired me
for.
I'm sick of being on deck. I want to
be somebody, you know?
Five years just spent trying to get
up here -
and not up here in this specific
wheelhouse,
just any wheelhouse.
Jake, we found the truck
and...
Mom? Mom?
I think this whole crabbing thing
has left a big, bad taste in my
mouth.
So many tragic things have happened,
it just reminds me of awful, awful
times in my life.
Nine months ago, while Jake was at
sea,
his father went missing.
Mom?
We found the truck.
We haven't found him yet, but
they're still searching
and our families are out searching.
I just want you to not give up hope
yet, OK?
There was no trace of my dad.
There was blood found in the truck.
We got some food, you know, and some
water across,
we sent some food down for my dad,
you know,
cos we didn't want to leave him, you
know?
He would have never left me.
Never left me in the woods
to die.
They reported him missing.
Quickly, I became the man of the
house.
There's four sisters and they all
have 12 kids combined.
It's become my life, you know, to
make sure
that they're all doing OK...
..they all have their bills paid
and...
I'm so torn, you know?
I just want to run a boat. That's
it.
I don't see Sig leaving the boat to
me.
385km north-east of Dutch Harbor on
the Wizard...
Who's the captain?!
You are!
Then stop arguing with me!
I give you guys an order, you take
it.
Keith, can I just -
I don't want to hear any more
back-talk!
I haven't talked to my brother since
that big blow-out yesterday.
It's been 26 hours since Captain
Keith Colburn went off on his crew.
Loud, , aggressive are three
of my idiosyncrasies
that I really dislike about myself.
What I need to do is find a way not
to be a tyrant.
And the best way to win back the
guys on deck...
..is to land on the crab.
If there's any place in the Bering
Sea for me to mount a comeback,
it's right here.
These pots have been soaking on
Keith's favourite grounds
for over 18 hours.
I just really want to believe
there's some crab here.
Double digits, double digits, double
digits.
Dud. Ugh! No!
They might squeeze a ten-count out
of that.
We need to keep catching.
Every day we don't catch crab,
it's just more cost, more expenses,
no money for us.
How are we doing, Lenny?
You get a count? Five crab.
Not enough is the answer to how many
crab.
As long as we keep hauling fives and
tens, we can't rest.
He took a gamble, it didn't pay off.
Unfortunately, we are putting
another stack on the boat.
What I'm seeing right now, at the
beginning of this set,
looks like we just made another
180-pot mistake.
Even my hotspot, my old
tried-and-true hotspot
isn't providing us anything.
It means this crew is gonna have to
go for another day or two
without any sleep.
With no more than a snack break in 50
hours...
..for the third time in four days,
the crew is restacking a full load.
More pain, more pain.
More pain, less crab.
More pain, no crab.
..I'd wrap up with the cod and go to
sleep right now.
Hey, guys, we've got about four
miles, OK?
After a 26-hour stand-off, Monte
approaches the wheelhouse.
Here he is.
Come in and have a candy bar - four
miles?
Come in and have... come and have a
candy bar. Yeah.
Right on.
It means...
Yeah, you guys, we've got a couple
of miles here.
You might as well...
..might as well come on in and have
a can...
He can't even say it!
Might as well come on in
and have, have,
have a candy bar.
Oh, God.
That's why I love my brother, you
know?
They haven't slept for three days
and he finds a way
to make it lighter for me.
He makes me miserable, but he also
finds a way to make me laugh.
The Wizard has made its reputation as
a 24-hour fishing vessel.
We're gonna pull this boat out of
gear.
But tonight the Captain makes a very
unusual decision.
We gotta reboot, regenerate, get
some sleep...
..start tomorrow off on a good note
with the guys all rested up.
♪ It seems so far away
♪ And then it seems so close to
me... ♪
Don't battle me any more, OK?
Let's battle Mother Nature, let's
battle catching crab.
No more battles here.
You bet.
I can't think properly when we're
battling.
I know that. We gotta earn some
money.
♪ Cos I'm looking myself in the eye
in the mirror
♪ Maybe I am wondering... ♪
Tomorrow we'll see what's in this
gear.
Hopefully we'll be on them.
♪ When I'm old, if I'm lucky
♪ And the years have gone by
♪ I can look back and smile
♪ I can look back and smile
♪ I can look back and smile. ♪
♪
It's sort of scary right now.
Everybody I know isn't pulling
nothing.
Oh, yeah. Three-quarter-full pot.
Yeah!
Jack!
I have never had a run of bad luck
like his ever.
There's probably guys out there
kicking my ass to high heaven.
Holy Jesus, full pots of crab!
But nobody's gonna know.
♪ THEME MUSIC
Watch out!
I have never in my life set a crab
pot
that I didn't think was gonna come
up full.
700km north of Dutch
Harbor...
Worst part of the season.
..on the remote blue king crab
grounds.
There's St Matthew's Island,
crabs, basically, are to the south
and west on the survey.
We're gonna start deep and work our
way up shallow.
This is the last outpost,
where those brave and bold enough to
venture this far north
will find grim failure or a king's
ransom.
You followed us.
Yeah, baby.
Six days ago...
I don't need you. I don't
need you here.
Good. You want me to leave?
I'll leave.
..the crew of the Cornelia Marie got
off to a rough start.
I want you to treat me with some
respect.
. Don't shove me
around.
Now with their first pot off the
bow...
..it's time to fish.
I'm super comfortable with this
fishery.
I've succeeded more than I've
failed,
so we'll find them and make this
happen.
First pot of the season, baby!
Sink or swim, right here.
This is for you, boss!
A little bit. No keepers, though.
I see one.
At least it wasn't a blank.
It's a sign of life.
How did we score?
Not a lot.
A good-looking crab pot averages
between 20 and 30 crab.
Jesus!
Derrick's first 20 pots average two.
Oh, God.
Unbelievable.
We'll get 'em.
Attitude's definitely key right now
to keep everybody's spirits up.
Two to a pot - we can't live on
that.
Back to the drawing board.
Woo!
We got a big problem.
I don't know what he's got going up
there.
We need to find something better
than this.
On a quick run between strings,
Steve pays Captain Derrick a visit.
The blue crab, these guys just still
not buying it.
They're not buying the whole story.
Someone's got to prove me different.
I have never made money there.
I have in my mind, when I leave the
dock,
that I'm gonna fill the boat
up.
That's what I know is gonna happen.
All's I know is all the guys who
tell me how great they are,
I never, ever heard Sig ever tell me
how great they were.
They just went out and did it.
Not once did I tell you how
great I am, Steve. Not once.
I just told you I caught
crab. That's all I know.
I didn't tell you how great I was,
that I was the greatest ever.
I just know that I succeeded.
We.
You.
We.
We're just the deck monkeys.
No, we are a crew and a team. We
have to hold this boat together.
We have to take care of each other.
Just 95km from the Cornelia Marie...
..also fishing the blue king crab
grounds
is the 33m Ramblin' Rose.
We're in the middle of nowhere up
here. Nobody else is around.
We're out here all by ourselves.
You know, we're going to be 2.5 days
from anywhere
you could get help from.
The Coast Guard couldn't get us if
they wanted to.
If something goes wrong, we've got
to fix it.
You've got to make sure everybody is
on point at all times.
Ambitious young skipper or foolish
risk-taker?
I think we're gonna score real big
up here.
Either way, a tip from a fisherman
friend is all Elliott needs
to think he's going to hit the
jackpot.
This is definitely an opportunity
for me to go out and shine.
Everybody thinks fishing blue crab's
real hard,
but not for Ramblin' Rose. We're
gonna kill it.
Here we go, first pot of blue crab.
Round 1.
Don't miss the first pot of the
season.
Nice!
I'm feeling pretty good about it.
I'm pretty stoked.
Come on, baby!
There it is!
Oh!
Woo!
Yay!
Elliott's first pot as a captain
shows signs of life.
Five.
Right on. Right on.
But only a new skipper could get this
excited over single digits.
Careful!
That'd be a really good pot
right there
if they were all bigger.
We'll find out if they're keepers.
Bye! bye!
The females must be preserved in
order to maintain the species.
Hopefully there's some males
somewhere.
Two.
At least there's something.
They're not boneyards.
Hopefully there's some crab in it.
He better get more than five or I'm
gonna throw his ass overboard.
After 25 pots, the number of crab
continues to drop.
I need more crab. I need more crab.
Elliott's decision to rely on his
buddy's friendly advice
has proven to be a costly error.
We've been hauling gear now for 2.5
hours,
probably about a two average.
We're gonna keep moving on.
It'll take a lot more than that to
stop the Ramblin' Rose.
♪
♪
390km to the north-east of Dutch
Harbor... is the Wizard.
Right now, we're 3.5 days
into a fishery,
I got zero crab onboard and my crew
hasn't slept.
Things are about as bleak as I can
ever remember.
Welcome to the jungle, baby!
You're gonna die!
Five days ago...
I've been poring over these charts.
We're seeing the concentration of
crab coming in
between Black Hills up into the
Deep Hole.
..Captain Keith Colburn used 30 years
of experience
to go out on a limb on new grounds.
Right now, these pots are telling
me to get the hell out of here.
After suffering defeat at the Black
Hills...
..the skipper has returned to one of
his trusted fishing spots.
Right here where we are now, way up
in the Northern Gully,
I've had good fishing in 2008 and
2009.
I figure I'll go back to what I know
and go back to what I'm comfortable
with.
I need to make some kind of a
comeback here
and basically catch some crab.
As Keith returns to his comfort
zone...
Let this be the one.
..his attention turns to minimising
the risks on deck.
My brother is 46 years old.
He doesn't belong on the stack any
more and I need him at the controls.
Hey, Paul, jump up on the stack
and, Monte, walk him through what
he's gonna have to do.
What's up, Mouse?
So you want to put...?
I want to put him up on the stack,
yes.
I don't think he's ready for it.
I don't give a .
Mouse, listen, I'm not arguing about
this, OK?
I can't rely on having you as a
stack man forever
and one of these guys has got to
learn how to do it,
so let's see if we can pull this
off.
Instead of prove me wrong, prove me
right
and train this guy how to do it.
All right, we'll get him going.
Paul's not ready for this. He's
never tied the gear down on deck.
You don't put somebody up here
that's not ready.
I kind of want the chance.
If he's allowed to go up there, I
want the chance to go up.
One false move on the stack can mean
serious injury...
There's a lot of big drops up here.
..or worse.
Watch where you step. Don't expect
to land on something.
This is a real good time right now
to give Paul a soft landing
on just getting used to being up
there, getting his balance,
being around the gear, seeing where
the ties are
and how to get them off quickly.
The right way to do this is you're
going to start over here
with these ties.
It's tied there, it's tied over
here,
it's tied yet again right there.
OK.
I'll probably screw up, but...
There are over 200 pots with four
ties apiece.
What's going on? We're standing
idle.
The lurching crane pulls the pots
free for setting.
One mistie could send the entire
stack
tumbling to the deck below.
Yeah, Paul's slowing us down. This
is gonna take forever.
I don't understand what these guys
have against Paul.
There's one right there in
front of you.
You know, it's like they're
unwilling to try and train him
how to do this job.
OK, sorry about that. Now it's
yours.
You know, the problem is my brother
wants to prove he's right.
Right here, Paul.
Roger!
Total lack of discipline on this
boat...
OK, Paul! Paul!
Paul!
Come on down!
..and it stops and it ends now.
Everybody back in the house right
now. Everybody off the deck, now!
Everybody on this boat, who's the
captain.
You are!
Then stop arguing with me!
Everybody's making their own
decisions, all right?
That's not true! No! Mouse, did I
just say who's arguing with me?
OK, OK.
Shut up and listen.
All right, I'm listening. I give
you guys an order, you take it.
I'm shaking like a leaf
right now
because I've got absolutely no
respect for my crew.
If I ask you to do something, let's
do it.
Keith, can I just say this, Paul
being way up there on the stack -
Lenny! Lenny! Lenny! Stop, please!
Did you just hear a word I said?
Yes, I did.
That's all I want to hear.
OK. We're trying to tell him.
I don't want to hear any more
back talk!
Are we back out?
I guess we're outside.
I got way too much on my plate right
now.
The last thing you need is a
distraction,
the distraction of somebody deciding
he's in charge, like my brother.
You know what?
This gong show is
over.
440km north-east of Dutch Harbor...
We're coming up on the first string
of the season.
..is the Northwestern.
We've got the first pot right here.
You can't hang your hat on the
first pot, but it will set the mood.
Oh, yeah.
A new season...
..a new skipper.
Hey, Jake, the bag's over that way!
Well, sort of.
And so the child on board isn't
happy.
The only way to make him happy is to
give him his way,
so now we're going to let him haul
gear.
Jake driving the boat is going to
make this a long day
into an even longer day.
For the past five seasons...
When are you going to teach me to
run the vessel?
What makes you think you're gonna be
up here?
..Jake Anderson has been pestering
Sig for more responsibility.
I just want to keep moving forward
so you know that
I'm aiming somewhere.
Why don't you aim for the galley?
I'm sure it needs cleaning.
Now...
You better turn around
and you better tell them to stop
throwing the hook. Ahem.
..he's got his chance.
That's the turn of shame.
Usually it's our fault down here we
missed.
Driving a boat...
They're waiting on you.
..and hauling pots...
You can get closer to them.
..takes timing...
Closer.
you!
Yeah!
..and the ability to get within 6m of
the bags.
Let the games begin!
What are you doing to me?
Which one is next?
What do you mean, which one next?
No, no, no, no.
OK, got that out of the way.
What will Jake do next?
Our first load of gear we set on the
east side of this bank,
then I set a cross here out to the
west.
A lot of times, you'll find that the
crabs school up more on these edges.
I want to see if that's the case
here.
That's big.
Woo!
That's almost half, baby!
Yeah! Ha ha!
I like it.
I know, man.
It's a good one, half-full.
Holy cats! Bad-ass!
There's some big-ass crab in there.
Big-ass crab.
Look at that.
What you got?
57. Woo!
57.
Awesome.
They're all keepers.
Half-full pots. Setting back and
they're dancing on deck.
Beautiful!
Yes!
♪
♪
725km to the north-west... is the
Cornelia Marie.
We're coming back to our furthest
north-east gear.
It's got 20 pots in it.
After striking out on his first two
strings...
It seemed like a spot crabs were
always at,
so the only thing we can do is hope.
I may be completely wrong.
..Captain Derrick Ray needs this
string to pay off big.
Let the good times roll, baby!
You just gotta hunt
them down.
You just gotta find out where
they're walking, running,
what they're doing. That's our job.
Jackpot!
High pot. That's an improvement.
All right, baby!
That's how we roll, bro!
They're coming.
18 or 19?
One-nine? Kid doesn't even know how
to give a crab count.
Some parts of the map, 18 crab
wouldn't be too good,
but we're blue crab fishing. 18 is
damn good.
I just hope it holds up a little
bit, you know?
It'd be nice to have a string with a
19 average.
Oh, yeah!
Oh, yeah, baby!
Oh, yeah! Thank you! OK,
brother.
Woo!
The third string is paying off...
18! Yeah!
..with double digits.
But the wrong hand-count...
Highly trained
professionals.
..is confusing the skipper.
This is how you give a crab count -
one, two, three, four, five,
six, seven, eight, nine, zero.
Easy.
Ten pots into the string...
All the way.
..the crab dies off completely.
Uh-oh. That ain't good. What's
happened there?
Let's see what we've got going on.
Put it in there.
Little, tiny crab.
Looks like sand fleas ate our
hanging bait.
See? Sand fleas.
They start off really, really small,
so they get in the holes in the
bait jars
and a couple of nother hours they
turn out to be that size.
But sand fleas can wipe out an entire
string.
It's amazing what little things can
do.
They'll eat that hanging bait in a
matter of one or two hours
before the crabs even have a chance
to get at it.
Big tide, full moon, sand fleas.
If it ain't one thing, it's another.
Just 30km to the east of the rest of
the fleet is the Seabrooke.
I've had some really good
concentrations of crab
on this little finger.
It's a little 36-fathom finger.
Right now it's time to haul fast
and haul hard.
36-year-old Scott Jr Campbell has
been on the crab for days.
You could put a biblical trip
together on these kind of numbers.
As he pulls up on the first pot of a
new string...
Argh!
Oh, Milton!
..the moon on deck is decidedly
up-beat.
Hurry, hurry, it's going by, man!
What's going on?
He got it, though. He didn't miss.
Woo!
Oh, yeah!
Ow, hoohoohoo!
What have you got for me? What have
you got for me?
Hoohoo!
That's what we're looking for, man.
That's what we're looking for.
Leave it in the rack. We're gonna
set.
Junior makes the call to set back
immediately.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Wow!
Yeah, baby!
It's a good high, man. This is it.
This is why you're here.
Yeah!
Yeah, baby!
This is a pretty phenomenal start.
I always seem to start strong,
finish strong.
With big numbers coming on board...
What the is this?
Where's that bait guy?
..the pace for every job on deck
becomes critical.
Kyle's standing around when he
should be doing bait.
Now everybody has to pitch in.
Kyle's just kind of, like,
walking into people,
walking into things.
I got it! Go back to your bait.
You know, if he'd just pick up
the pace a bit,
nobody would be yelling at him.
Not really doing his job and very
productive right now.
Can't slow the operation down to
teach them.
They've got to learn to go to the
pace of the boat.
We haven't got time,
jackass. do it!
Oh, he's being a .
Deck boss Bob Perkey jumps in to help
out his son.
Well, I've got my oldest son here
on the boat right now.
Getting some of that daddy love...
He's got to quit, you know, nursing
his kid.
It's time to cut him off. Cut him
off the nipple.
I was trying to throw the kid a
bone.
He's still trying to get used to
this.
Bob, give me a call on the phone.
If I have to wait to set these pots
cos he doesn't have bait ready,
I'm gonna come unglued.
He should be able to fill two jugs
and put two fish on it.
He's just gotta stay focused.
If he loses focus, he's not gonna be
able to do his job correctly.
If not, we're gonna have to get
somebody else who can.
That's the bottom line.
Micromanagement.
If he can't do his job, we'll get
somebody who will,
Bob's kid or not.
And Bob's gotta quit babying his
kid, bottom line.
I'm not staying for much longer.
I'll probably just do this season
and go home.
Seven hours later...
Two minute warning.
Two minute warning and we will be
getting started.
Two minute, yeah!
Firing up!
Yeah!
..Junior charts a new course on deck.
OK, Knuckles, I want you to take a
break from the bait
and I want you to stack the pots.
Whipper, you're gonna be on the
bait. You better keep up.
Everything's primo by the end of
this string.
I haven't done bait in, like, a
couple of years.
I'm trying to show him how it's
done,
keeping up and how you do it.
We'll see if he pays attention or
not. No excuses.
He didn't want to do bait any more.
He's gonna have to suck it up.
With a new line-up in order,
Junior hits his fifth string of the
season.
Yeah! Another one!
Righto, righto, boys. There we go.
Back in 'em. Yeah!
Yeah!
So we're just gonna continue to
stack and move,
stack and move, stack and move till
we're full.
Woo!
Junior's not just setting back,
he's bumping his pots north to stay
on the ever-moving ball of crab.
They just keep coming.
They're unstoppable. We can't keep
them away.
Whipper, you're doing such a good
job on bait
I think I'll keep you there, man.
Keep it up.
You're the baitmaster.
Keep up that good work.
That'll get him charged up.
Yeah.
Junior loves messing with his little
brother.
He thinks it makes him move faster
when he's getting on his case.
Every once in awhile, it's nice to
get away from the bait.
It starts to stink over there.
Yeah, there's a little competition
between them,
but it's good competition and that's
the key
to running a successful business is
recognising a problem,
attacking the problem, getting it
straightened out
before it becomes a massive issue
and that's what we've done.
Morale's up on both of those kids,
they're both hustling harder than
they were
and that's the name of the game.
That was a good call.
Pat myself on the back for that one.
♪
♪
Far to the north, on the remote
grounds of the blue crab,
is the Ramblin' Rose.
If it gets any bigger, I think we're
going to shut down.
It's at 18ft right now and still
growing.
It's supposed to get up to 30.
We're not going to haul gear in
30-footers.
It's a little too big for a boat
this size.
The crew has been hauling for 36
hours with no break...
It's gonna be a long night.
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
..and a shrinking crab count.
What kind of numbers are we?
Wow.
On his friend's advice, Captain
Elliott set all 120 of his pots
in the shallow waters off Pinnacle
Island.
It has been real frustrating.
Setting all our gear, we haven't
caught crab.
And there is no pay-off in sight.
This is painful.
..so, , we're going to do it
my way.
Whatever works, we have 120,000lbs
to catch right around there.
With nearly three days wasted on
these grounds...
..Elliott will continue stacking the
rest of his pots...
If you can't find them, grind them.
That's what we do sometimes.
..and immediately set them on fresher
grounds.
Oh, man!
It's kind of a bummer sometimes.
You know, it's, like, wow, the
opportunity to sleep.
If we start getting crab it won't
matter.
Right now it just kind of sucks.
If this technique doesn't work,
there's gonna be mutiny.
I don't expect these crab are just
gonna give themselves up that easy.
I'm gonna have to work for it just
like everybody on deck.
We'll find a way to catch some crab.
That's what I was hired for and
that's what I'm gonna do.
725km to the south-east is the
Northwestern.
As the boat steams between strings,
deckhand Jake Anderson takes the
first wheel watch.
So the child on board isn't
happy.
The only way to make him happy is to
give him his way.
This is bull, Jake.
Welcome to the crab
boat, buddy.
Can't take it? off.
A punching bag is what I am.
I swear, that's what they hired me
for.
I'm sick of being on deck. I want to
be somebody, you know?
Five years just spent trying to get
up here -
and not up here in this specific
wheelhouse,
just any wheelhouse.
Jake, we found the truck
and...
Mom? Mom?
I think this whole crabbing thing
has left a big, bad taste in my
mouth.
So many tragic things have happened,
it just reminds me of awful, awful
times in my life.
Nine months ago, while Jake was at
sea,
his father went missing.
Mom?
We found the truck.
We haven't found him yet, but
they're still searching
and our families are out searching.
I just want you to not give up hope
yet, OK?
There was no trace of my dad.
There was blood found in the truck.
We got some food, you know, and some
water across,
we sent some food down for my dad,
you know,
cos we didn't want to leave him, you
know?
He would have never left me.
Never left me in the woods
to die.
They reported him missing.
Quickly, I became the man of the
house.
There's four sisters and they all
have 12 kids combined.
It's become my life, you know, to
make sure
that they're all doing OK...
..they all have their bills paid
and...
I'm so torn, you know?
I just want to run a boat. That's
it.
I don't see Sig leaving the boat to
me.
385km north-east of Dutch Harbor on
the Wizard...
Who's the captain?!
You are!
Then stop arguing with me!
I give you guys an order, you take
it.
Keith, can I just -
I don't want to hear any more
back-talk!
I haven't talked to my brother since
that big blow-out yesterday.
It's been 26 hours since Captain
Keith Colburn went off on his crew.
Loud, , aggressive are three
of my idiosyncrasies
that I really dislike about myself.
What I need to do is find a way not
to be a tyrant.
And the best way to win back the
guys on deck...
..is to land on the crab.
If there's any place in the Bering
Sea for me to mount a comeback,
it's right here.
These pots have been soaking on
Keith's favourite grounds
for over 18 hours.
I just really want to believe
there's some crab here.
Double digits, double digits, double
digits.
Dud. Ugh! No!
They might squeeze a ten-count out
of that.
We need to keep catching.
Every day we don't catch crab,
it's just more cost, more expenses,
no money for us.
How are we doing, Lenny?
You get a count? Five crab.
Not enough is the answer to how many
crab.
As long as we keep hauling fives and
tens, we can't rest.
He took a gamble, it didn't pay off.
Unfortunately, we are putting
another stack on the boat.
What I'm seeing right now, at the
beginning of this set,
looks like we just made another
180-pot mistake.
Even my hotspot, my old
tried-and-true hotspot
isn't providing us anything.
It means this crew is gonna have to
go for another day or two
without any sleep.
With no more than a snack break in 50
hours...
..for the third time in four days,
the crew is restacking a full load.
More pain, more pain.
More pain, less crab.
More pain, no crab.
..I'd wrap up with the cod and go to
sleep right now.
Hey, guys, we've got about four
miles, OK?
After a 26-hour stand-off, Monte
approaches the wheelhouse.
Here he is.
Come in and have a candy bar - four
miles?
Come in and have... come and have a
candy bar. Yeah.
Right on.
It means...
Yeah, you guys, we've got a couple
of miles here.
You might as well...
..might as well come on in and have
a can...
He can't even say it!
Might as well come on in
and have, have,
have a candy bar.
Oh, God.
That's why I love my brother, you
know?
They haven't slept for three days
and he finds a way
to make it lighter for me.
He makes me miserable, but he also
finds a way to make me laugh.
The Wizard has made its reputation as
a 24-hour fishing vessel.
We're gonna pull this boat out of
gear.
But tonight the Captain makes a very
unusual decision.
We gotta reboot, regenerate, get
some sleep...
..start tomorrow off on a good note
with the guys all rested up.
♪ It seems so far away
♪ And then it seems so close to
me... ♪
Don't battle me any more, OK?
Let's battle Mother Nature, let's
battle catching crab.
No more battles here.
You bet.
I can't think properly when we're
battling.
I know that. We gotta earn some
money.
♪ Cos I'm looking myself in the eye
in the mirror
♪ Maybe I am wondering... ♪
Tomorrow we'll see what's in this
gear.
Hopefully we'll be on them.
♪ When I'm old, if I'm lucky
♪ And the years have gone by
♪ I can look back and smile
♪ I can look back and smile
♪ I can look back and smile. ♪
♪