[Jack whistles] Woo-hoo!
Hey, you're just in time to throw lines.
Yeah, let's go.
[Harley over radio] Okay, let's start going, guys.
And go, go, go.
I'm ready. Whoo!
[Harley] Yeah, we gotta get fishing, bud.
They're catching about 500 metric tons a day.
So this thing is going way faster than anybody expected.
Hope this goes good.
-[deckhand 1] Here we go! -[deckhand 2] Yeah!
That's a derby. I've got about 72 hours to put on as much product as I can.
It's getting chewed up fast.
Let's get it together and run the piss out of this one and the next one.
I know you guys are tired, but crank it the [bleep] up.
Uh-oh.
[alarm bell ringing]
[man speaking]
[Keith over radio] Whoa! Watch out!
Get her down! Get her down!
-[Harley] I got this handled. -[Jack] So do I.
-No, you don't. -[Jack] I [bleep]--
Your bow's going that way, that's [bleep] up.
[grunts] I wanna punch him in the [bleep] face.
[Harley] Lord, say a prayer!
[narrator] 160 miles northwest of Dutch Harbor...
[Keith over radio]
[Keith] OJ has the best eyes in the Bering Sea.
[Keith over radio] Good job, eagle.
[mimicking an eagle call]
[Keith] We don't call him eagle eye for nothing, man.
You need a spotter? OJ's your guy.
[narrator] ...aboard the Wizard...
[Keith] Pretty much looking for a miracle right now
with big tides and big weather.
We need to get 'em popped through the gear.
It's another 15,000 crab, that would be [bleep] huge.
[deckhand] The weather right now, boys!
[narrator] As the final 72 hours of the cod derby tick down...
We want the motherload. We want the motherload, baby.
[narrator] ...Captain Keith Colburn sprints to catch
$500,000 of eastern bairdi crab
before the 24 registered cod boats switch fisheries and flood the grounds.
Give me something to work on!
Anything.
[deckhands cheering]
[grunts] Got 'em!
[deckhand] Whoo! Yeah!
[Keith] Well, our end pot looks good.
If we pop a 50 out of that thing, that'd be good.
[deckhand speaking]
Pow pow! Right on!
-[Keith over radio] All right, guys, I'm gonna sit back here. -Yeah, rog.
[deckhand] Whoo! All right, now we're fishing.
[deckhand speaking]
You got what?
[deckhand speaking]
[Keith over radio] Whoa! Watch out!
Get her down! Get her down!
Swing it in more, swing it in right there.
What's going on?
[deckhand speaking]
[Cody] These pots are really heavy
so when we're at sea and these thing are swinging around,
one of the most sketchiest parts of this job.
Yeah, I can hear it down here.
[deckhand speaking over radio]
We do not have another spare, do we?
[deckhand speaking over radio]
[bleep]
All right.
[Keith over radio]
Okay? All right?
[deckhand] Roger.
Pretty unconventional manning these pots without my winch.
[narrator] The picking boom lifts a pot from the water to the rack
using a high-powered winch.
I come over here, I got a boom up and extend out.
[narrator] But no winch means raising and lowering the boom itself...
Hit a safe point to land it.
Wait for the wall coming up!
[narrator] ...turning the 1,000 pounds of steel
into an unwieldy wrecking ball.
Okay, now bring it in.
[Keith over radio] A little more, right, wait, stop.
Up and down!
Up and down, land it.
[Keith over radio]
I'm gonna have to start keeping these guys real busy, you know?
Probably run that crew out to 20 hours or more.
[deckhand] One more!
[Keith] But if we can do that, we can haul 130 pots a day.
That's all there is to it.
[narrator] 150 miles southeast, on the cod grounds.
[Rick] Come on, baby. Come on.
[narrator] Aboard the Aleutian Lady...
[deckhand mimics sad trombone]
Yeah, that's atrocious.
[deckhand speaking]
I really thought this area was gonna pan out. I did.
Lots of sand fleas.
[narrator] Eyeing a $90,000 gray cod goal,
Captain Rick Shelford pots are coming up full.
[Rick] Sand fleas are the worst.
[narrator] Just full of the wrong species.
Snaring instead, tens of thousands
of 0.25 inch long parasitic arthropods
that feast on his bait and his profit.
[Rick] These are sand fleas.
These are what destroy our fishing.
They eat the bait and you don't catch as many fish.
Big ones, too.
[Rick grunting] Ugh! Oh, my gosh!
[deckhand speaking]
No, no, no!
[deckhand speaking]
-Yeah. -Okay, I'm out.
[Jacob] Sand fleas are full of protein and really nutritional.
I'll treat this whole ocean like a buffet, baby.
Oh, that was so gross.
[deckhand] Not good.
[Rick over radio] Stack it.
[Rick] We're gonna start pulling out of the deep area
and bring it in shallow and get away from the sand fleas.
Uh-oh.
[Rick speaking]
Oh [bleep]!
[alarm bell ringing]
[bleep]
[narrator] When it works, the clutch transfers energy
from the port generator to the deck hydraulics.
But when it's not secure, it can slip and overheat,
starving the deck machinery of power.
[sighs in exasperation]
Right now we'll stay on the starboard generator,
hydraulics on the starboard generator.
And set all of these pots before our town pick.
[deckhand over radio] Roger!
[Rick] This cod season is about to close.
So we need to head back to Dutch, get back out.
[deckhand] Over!
[Rick] And I gotta find cod.
[narrator] 210 miles northeast...
[Linda] All right, guys, down to the wire.
Every second counts, every pot matters.
-Every fish! -[deckhand] Yeah.
Let's go!
[chuckles] She's out there giving everybody hell.
I push these guys harder than we ever push in a crab season.
[narrator] ...on the Summer Bay...
[Bill] Three, four hours, we are gonna deliver.
Try to get in one last good pick before we go.
[narrator] ...with 48 hours left in the cod derby,
Captains Wild Bill and Linda spur their crew to haul and set back all 160 pots
targeting 150,000 more pounds
before the season is brought to a close.
[deckhand] Going over!
Yes. There you go.
[Bill over radio] Hey, Austin, throw the bags far enough out so I can see them.
[deckhand] Going over!
[deckhand speaking]
[Bill over radio] Throw that son of a gun.
[bleep] got it in the wheel. You [bleep].
Damn it. All right, I'm grabbing nylon.
-[keys clatter] -[grunts] Ugh! I wanna punch him in the [bleep] face!
[narrator] On the Summer Bay...
[bleep] got it in the wheel. You [bleep].
-[keys clatter] -[grunts] Ugh! I wanna punch him in the [bleep] face!
Hey, I'm gonna hand you this down,
and you're gonna cleat this tail off
on the cleat, okay?
Okay. One, two, three.
I didn't clear the bags far enough and the line got caught in the wheel.
All I can say is sorry.
Got it? All right. Let's go.
We're gonna pull on it in the block.
What it's gonna do is pull the line up.
-How tight is that? -Pretty tight.
Tight.
Sometimes you'll get a bit of an unwrapping effect, loosen it up.
Stand away from all the lines, I don't know what's gonna come tight.
[deckhand] Yeah, rog!
Stand by.
[electronic beeping]
Can't do this too much, it's hard on the clutch.
Come on, baby. You got this. Come on.
There it is.
[Bill] Is it coming up?
[Landon] Think we got it.
All right, we got it, guys.
Get that cord up, get the block back over the side.
Thank God.
[deckhands cheering]
[Bill] We're pulling crazy numbers on cod
and the end is near, the end's in sight.
[deckhand] Yeah!
[Bill] We'll need to get in, get this off.
Hopefully it adds up to a paycheck.
[narrator] 180 miles southwest.
[Jack] I got my old cherry pie underwear on today.
[Harley] What happened?
I got my cherry pie underwear on today.
-Shut up. -[Jack chuckles]
You got your what?
Yeah, check these things out, man.
Look at that.
You got cherry pie. I got the lattice and everything on there.
Don't be getting awful cozy with me.
This relationship is business.
[chuckling]
[narrator] Aboard the Barbara J...
[Harley] Let me have this.
This thing is going way faster than anybody expected.
There ain't nothing we can do about it.
Can't make time, we just keep doing what we can
with the time available, but that's it, man.
[Jack] Let's get her done and go home.
-First pot coming up. -[deckhand] Roger!
[narrator] Still shy of their goal...
Get some!
[narrator] ...Captains Jack Bunnell and Steve Harley Davidson
attempt one more run through their northern gear
before turning their bow toward town.
[deckhand] Come on, cod!
Come on, baby, come to papa.
[deckhand] What do we got?
Oh, yeah!
Whoo!
[Jack] That's a lot of cod.
-[deckhands cheering] -Oh, yeah.
[deckhand] Yeah!
[Jack and Harley laughing]
[Jack] Holy [bleep].
[deckhand speaking]
That's freaking on fire.
Man, that's the best thing I've heard all day.
[deckhand whooping]
[Harley] And they're there.
[deckhands cheering]
-[hissing] -[mechanical grinding]
That doesn't sound very good.
Hey, Canyon, when I put the port engine in reverse,
it doesn't really go in reverse.
[Jack] What else can you do?
It's fine on forward, but when I go to reverse...
-[hissing] -[mechanical grinding]
Engine goes way up, but I'm not doing nothing.
Yeah, something's up with it.
[man] I think the clutch is slipping in there.
[Harley] Something on the inside's slipping, huh?
Oh, God.
[narrator] With the reduction gear or transmission working intermittently,
Jack and Harley's season
and their march to a $100,000 cod derby payday is under threat.
[Harley] Let's go to Dutch and get this thing fixed.
You just gotta calm down. Take a breath.
[Harley chuckles]
If we get it quick, we should be all right.
[Harley] It's too risky.
I wanna get through this gear though.
It's not like we're hauling blanks here.
There's 17 pots in this,
we can jam down the string and get 17 hauled in an hour, we'll be looking good.
And we're done. We're going home.
-[Harley chuckles] -[deckhand cheering] Making money!
We're gonna end up with 7,000 to 8,000 pounds for the day.
We're not gonna get 17 in an hour and--
[Jack] You gotta let me try, Harley.
I'm not quitting.
Yeah! Looks good!
[Harley groaning] Yeah.
[deckhand] Some big boys.
Yeah, you can try. You can try it.
You're gonna thank me.
[deckhand cheering] Oh, yeah!
I hope so.
[Jack over radio] All right, we're not done yet, boys.
7,500 pounds on the boat. Hopefully we can double that.
[deckhand] Roger.
Look at that. Haulin' gear!
I need to be on my game. Block's turning.
[deckhand] All right. There we go.
[Jack] All right.
We're looking good.
Yeah! Looks good.
-[deckhand 1] Two-two. -[deckhand 2] Twenty-two keepers, two-two.
Okay.
[breathes then chuckles]
Second one and five minutes down.
-[deckhand 1 laughs] I like it. -[deckhand 2] Right on!
[deckhand] 41! Four-one.
Oh, yeah, baby!
Tick, tick, tick.
[narrator] On the Barbara J...
[deckhands cheering]
[deckhand] That's a lot of money in the tank right there.
I got 30 seconds. Last pot.
I'm gonna make it. 17 pots in one hour, man.
[deckhand whooping]
[Jack] There it is, we got it. 17 in an hour.
59 minutes, 30 seconds. Good job. Well played, Jack.
-[laughs] -Man.
[Harley] I never saw that coming.
[deckhand] Oh, yeah!
I'm rooting for you, but gotta survive through the evening.
We're gonna get in there before we have to shut down.
I guarantee that.
[narrator] 140 miles northwest.
[Keith] Careful behind me.
Our forward crane, the winch is broken.
But the guys are getting through this gear at a pretty good clip right now.
[deckhand] This shouldn't get hot, that's not a good thing.
[Keith] All right, that's it.
-Setting this load off. -[deckhand] Roger!
[narrator] On the Wizard...
[Keith] We have just this gear on deck to set.
If we can, with a boat that's falling apart by the moment.
[narrator] With his crew grinding for 24 hours without sleep,
or a working winch,
Captain Keith makes the call to shell off 20 pots
before the cod derby ends, and it's fleet
descends upon the bairdi grounds.
[Roger speaking]
What?
[Roger speaking]
Hey, let's, uh, let's go run down and do an engine room check.
Roger's in there back so can get in there
and get a real good idea of what's going on.
Yeah, this is a real bad time for this.
Bairdi boats are fishing cod right now, they'll be out here later.
That's why I need to get this quick jump on.
I don't know.
I gotta assess pretty quickly just how bad it is.
Rog, how we doin'?
Pretty sure the air clutch popped.
The air clutch toast?
[Roger] Air clutch toast on a John Deere.
-All right. -And our winch.
All within however many hours.
[bleep]
Yeah, it's just one thing after another, man.
[Keith] That engine is out of commission right now.
We're on one engine.
I... I can fish like this, but I won't have any backup.
We gotta get this boat heading towards south.
We got a lot of things to repair now.
[narrator] In Akutan...
on the Aleutian Lady.
[Rick] All right, here we go.
Let's rock and roll.
[machinery whirring]
[narrator] Nine hours after a clutch failure...
Make sure everything is working good.
[narrator] ...Captain Rick pushes his crew for a quick repair
and return to the cod in his 130 soaking pots.
[deckhand speaking]
[narrator] Before the season's end turns his catch
into a costly, mandated catch and release.
[clattering]
[deckhand speaking]
[bleep]
[sighs deeply]
I already what happened.
[deckhand speaking]
[Rick speaking]
[bleep]
[deckhand speaking]
[Rick] We had a little bit of a scare.
We assessed it, we addressed it and we're good to go.
We're outta here.
[narrator] In nine fathom shallows
just north of the Aleutian chain...
[Bill speaking]
[narrator] On the Summer Bay.
[Bill] We're outside Port Moller.
We're gonna tie up to a boat called the Deception,
and get the pump in and get started pumping.
[narrator] Loaded down with over 230,000 pounds of cod in the tanks,
Captains Wild Bill and Linda navigate to a tender vessel for final delivery
before launching their bairdi crab season.
[radio operator speaking]
[Bill speaking]
You're here for me, I'm not here for you, bitch.
[boat clangs]
Why the [bleep] isn't this thing turning?
What's going on?
Why are we not turning?
[engine whirring]
[Bill] Oh.
Where the-- why the [bleep] aren't we--
Is this not where we are on the chart?
Should be nine fathom [bleep] water here.
We got--
[Austin speaking]
[deckhand] Oh [bleep]!
What?
[deckhand] Whoa.
Well, I [bleep] know!
We should be in nine fathoms of [bleep] water right here.
Holy [bleep].
[Linda] Oh!
[deckhand] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
[deckhand] Whoa.
[Bill] Holy [bleep].
[Linda] Oh!
[Austin speaking]
[Bill speaking]
It says should've been at nine fathoms, but obviously we weren't.
[Austin speaking]
[Bill speaking],
[Austin speaking]
[narrator] Only 200 yards from delivery,
Bill pumps water out and air in,
betting more buoyancy will raise his keel
and allow him to steam his 100,000 catch over the muddy shoal.
[Linda] Hang on.
[Bill] Oh [bleep].
It's a big sandbar, and I mean--
[Bill speaking]
Come on.
Come on!
That was [bleep] strange.
[Linda speaking]
[Austin speaking]
Tighten that [bleep] up.
What a pain in the ass that was.
We're gonna offload the two tanks,
and dump some pots on the dock,
bring 'em over for bairdi, we start out at 0500 in the morning.
Get the hell outta here.
[narrator] In Dutch Harbor...
on the Wizard...
[Keith] All right, well...
We're here.
It's 3:30.
We're just getting going right now.
'Cause Rog-- Roger's talking about going back to bed
before we start going after that clutch.
-No-- -I think that's a mistake.
Yeah, no, these guys are wrong.
[man speaking]
Yeah, the sooner we get that [bleep] clutch off, we can assess what we need.
I've got another project to do, can't wait.
Hopefully, it's easy.
[narrator] After a day and a half of non-stop work...
You know, we as a crew have lots of [bleep] to do.
No sleep still, but I'll be able to fix that here in a little bit.
Give my solid four hours in.
[narrator] ...Captain Keith pushes his crew
to repair the clutch and to make a fast turnaround
to their 200 soaking pots.
[indistinct radio chatter]
[man over radio] Southeast over 40 knots.
Seas 19 feet.
20-- 30 knots, Southeast 20 knots... [continues indistinctly]
[Keith speaking]
[OJ speaking]
[Keith] Every minute we spend at the dock here,
is every minute that that next storm is coming.
[Jack] Akutan Dock, Barbara J.
[narrator] In Akutan...
[radio operator speaking]
Okay, I'll be there in five minutes.
Thank you.
[narrator] With one of two props functional
on their 110 foot steel hulled vessel,
captains Jack and Harley manoeuvre through the crowded bay,
to their final offload of cod season.
[Harley] You wanna slow down a bit,
'cause that Bering Star wants to be outside you.
-Yeah, they're way back there. -I know, I thought it'd be [bleep] 5 knots.
Yeah, put in reverse.
Put in big reverse.
I'm reversing right here, you can
go around me.
[radio operator speaking]
[Harley] Farther in.
Um, yeah, farther in.
[Harley] Look at the big crane sticking up.
Look at the crane sticking up in the air.
All the way up there, my bow will be up there at the dock.
[radio operator speaking]
[Harley] Don't keep the bow turned that way--
Yeah, I'm in reverse-- [bleep]
Would you like to sit in the seat?
-[Harley] Why don't I do it. -Yeah, yeah please.
-Get the [bleep] out [bleep]. -Well, you're welcome.
-[bleep] turning, [bleep]-- -[Jack] You're freaking out like you do, it's fine.
I'm backing up with one [bleep] engine, I'm doing [bleep] I can do.
-Jack... -[Jack] I have one engine, man.
-Jack-- -[Jack] And you're freaking out,
you're talking to me on the radio.
[Harley] I got this handled, you go--
[Jack] I understand that you got it handled, but so do I.
-[Harley] No, you don't. -[Jack] Yes, I [bleep] do.
-No, you don't. -[Jack] I was [bleep].
Bow's going that way, you're [bleep] up.
-[Jack] 'Cause I was reverse-- -Your bow's going that way, that's [bleep] up.
[Jack] There was one engine.
Figure it out, use other engine forward.
[Jack] I was figuring it out, I was right in the process of it.
No, you [bleep] up.
-[Jack] Oh, you [bleep] do it then, I'm not doing it. -I got it.
Yeah, you can [bleep] take it till Seattle, too.
-[Harley] I got that too. -[Jack] [bleep] good!
-[machine beeping] -Oh, really?
[indistinct shouting]
Well, that's [bleep] dandy.
Now I got freaking no power.
Now, I'm dead.
[Keith] Bryce, we've got some mail for you.
[Bryce] What?
Don't ask me.
Violation, cautionary notification,
Canadian compliance.
-Oh, it's from Canadians? [scoffs] -Wizard...
So, in the fall months, when you were coming north,
did you realize that there are areas
-that are, uh, killer-- -Speed limits?
Speeds limits for killer whales.
The speed limit is seven knots.
It says you're doing ten knots in there.
-Okay, good to know. -[Caelan speaking]
-I don't know, that's a good question. -Yeah, how do you get
a speeding ticket for doing...
12 miles an hour in a 10 miles an hour zone.
It's a Canadian speed trap.
-[Keith] Canadians? -[all laughing]
-You officially have... -A moving violation?
-A moving violation. -Nice.
-[Caelan] Must've been a school zone. -[all laughing]
[narrator] While the Colburns deal with a whale ticket,
the Summer Bay gets their fish ticket,
scoring over a quarter million dollars.
[narrator] On the Barbara J...
Now I got freaking no power.
[indistinct shouting]
[Harley] Now, I'm dead.
[bleep]
[Harley] We're dead meat.
Get a good eye on it right now, get your eyes on it.
[Jack] Roger.
[machine beeps]
Okay, I'm steering now, I'm backing, steering and driving.
Port one's working now, starboard one won't start.
Trying to get the starboard one online.
[Harley] Starting to get the starboard one online?
-Oh, we'll just use that one. -Yeah, we're good now, but...
it may or may not happen again, so, just...
May happen again?
Well, it-- I don't know why it just happened, but...
Go get canyoned up and we'll get this boat tied up.
[sighs deeply]
[chuckling]
Okay.
Let's go try that again.
[bleep] dark.
Say a prayer, come on.
Give it to daddy.
-Yeah, you gotta give it forward or I'm gonna hit. -[Jack] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Choices aren't very good.
[Jack] Be ready!
-Oh [bleep] uh... -[indistinct shouting]
[deckhand speaking]
We got it this time, we got it this time.
[Harley] Okay, I think we got it, Jack.
Really good chance we might have this.
And there we go.
We got two lines on.
Dock guys are doing awesome.
[Jack] Right there, cleat it up!
[Harley] Tighten them up, baby, tighten them up.
-Woo-hoo! -Nice.
-All right, now we'll make up. -[chuckles]
Man, I get-- I get a little hot.
Me too, me too, man.
That's why we work good.
-Well, that's a good sign of a good man-- -[bleep]
-There-- [bleep] right. -That's the sign of a good man.
-I lost, but, you know what, it happens. -[Harley chuckles]
I'm glad we got in here.
Season's not over till we get this last delivery of cod off.
[Harley] Oh, I know.
[Rick] Come on, baby. Big number.
[narrator] On the Aleutian Lady...
[people whooping and exclaiming]
Yeah! That is it.
Whoo!
That's a good pot, baby. Whoo-whoo!
Forty fish, whoo!
[Rick] This is exactly what we need.
Hell yeah!
[narrator] Off the sand fleas,
Captain Rick banks a total of 200,000 pounds of gray cod,
worth 90,000 bucks...
All this cod brought to you by Aleutian Lady. Whoo!
[narrator] ...landing each deckhand nearly $10,000.
I am ready to put a... ending on this cod season.
And move on to bairdi.
[narrator] And on the Barbara J...
[exclaiming] Cod fish!
[narrator] Despite crippling breakdowns,
Captains Jack and Harley secure $100,000 worth of cod...
[laughs] Two thumbs up.
[narrator] ...lining each crewman's pocket with 12 grand.
[Jack] That's what we like to see.
[Keith speaking]
[OJ speaking]
[Keith speaking]
[OJ speaking]
[Keith] You breathe real slow.
-It's really-- -[Keith] Okay, okay.
Where does it hurt?
[Keith] Is it like...
-Yeah, just like-- -Sharp pain? Or...
-[Keith] You're gonna go to the hospital, okay? -Okay.
Give me your hand, OJ give me your hand.
[OJ groans]
Okay. [grunts]
I'll have you at the hospital before the ambulance there. Let's go, come on.
Shallow, but easy breaths, okay, OJ?
All right, start to breathe, come on.
Yeah, just like that, come on, come on.
What's-What's your level of pain right now?
Give me a number.
One to ten, what's your number?
[OJ speaking]
[Keith] Eight or nine, okay.
[indistinct chatter]
Let's get outta here, man.
-Oh, Jesus, can you breathe? -[OJ grunts]
[Jeff] Yes.
[Keith speaking]
[Jeff] Back door.
[Keith speaking]
Tell them to be ready, I got a cardiac patient coming in.
Give me a pain level now? Still eight?
[OJ] Right now, ten.
[Keith] Okay.
Stay with me, man. Stay with me.