Harbormaster, summer bay.
Is there a place for us to come in and try to tie up?
All right. Thank you. Back in 60.
We come in to offload some of this crab and finish the season up here, I hope.
It's looking pretty gnarly out.
We've got some big seas here, but I don't think I've ever...
Had more desire to finish the season than I do this season.
♪ legendary I'll be legendary ♪
it's been a rough year for a lot of us.
♪ necessary, yeah saw my death, it's scary ♪
we have had just the worst weather.
♪ nah, tell the reaper I ain't ready ♪
♪ I'ma fight him he ain't scary ♪
♪ I'm a beast and in the belly ♪
being pushed by the ice coming down on the gear.
♪ I can see my death from here ♪
we had two of the major canneries completely shut down.
♪ the end is near offend your fears ♪
and we lost some great guys.
I cannot wait for this season to be over.
♪ legendary I'll be legendary ♪
♪ necessary, yeah saw my death, it's scary ♪
♪ ancestors dead already ♪
I wanna pray that we get the gear back.
Let it go.
♪ yeah, death hereditary won't stop unless I'm buried ♪
♪ and I ain't ever ready, uh ♪
[man] watch out!
Oh [bleep].
Hang on! [bleep]
[screaming]
we're getting close to the finish line.
Kind of down to the wire.
Two of the plants were already shut down.
If the main one closes down, we're in big trouble.
[narrator] ten weeks into the 2021 winter season.
[female reporter] in our top story of the week, another plant
in alaska shut down.
[narrator] half of all major opilio crab canaries suspend operations
following outbreaks of covid-19, leaving just two remaining.
It's kind of weird.
I'm starting to see all sorts of funky marks on the radar here, josh.
Oh [bleep] is that? Ice?
[narrator] but now an old foe descends from the north.
Those aren't boats.
-None of this is boats. -I'm pretty sure that's ice, pal.
[narrator] a 275,000 square mile arctic ice pack
surges south at an alarming 30 miles per day,
threatening to engulf the crab grounds.
-Is this a risk? -Oh, my god, yeah. This is a huge risk.
Going over. Going over.
Every day that ice is getting more and more...
Pots will be underneath the ice floe, we won't be able
to get to them and we lose them.
[narrator] with a frozen menace capable of severing or dragging pot lines
rendering everything it touches unfishable...
I want to take these pots all the way up north.
We've got everything on the line.
[narrator] the fleet must bring home their supersized $250 million quota.
[man] I came back out to help him out so they succeed.
We all gotta work together.
[narrator] before the last canneries close, or the ice freezes them out.
Thing about this ice fog, it looks like it's right there and then it's not.
It seems like it's just getting further and further away,
then all of a sudden, you're in it.
[narrator] thirteen miles south of the russian line,
on the wizard.
[hammering]
and the other thing is you know, these white caps,
it looks like you start seeing like an ice mirage.
You know, every white cap looks like a floe of ice.
Oh, you know what? I don't think that's a ice mirage there.
No, that's no ice mirage. That's ice.
Yes.
[narrator] approaching the southern edge of the ice pack,
captains keith and monte colburn search for their northern gear
before the floes freeze them out.
Look at this ice, man.
Wow.
Come on buoy. Show up.
This is pretty gnarly. That's like eight-inch thick ice right there.
I'm not seeing [bleep].
Dead ahead.
[man speaking indistinctly]
all right, guys, remember, you gotta pull it off the bottom slow, man.
Roger.
Now I wonder if there's any critters in this.
Yeah. Good question. I hope so.
Steady!
That's got crab in it. That's got a [bleep] load of crab in it.
Okay, right on.
Count it up. Count it up.
Four three zero.
Four three zero, I'm guessing like 99% going in the tank, right?
Yeah, roger. That was nice stuff.
Yeah, roger that.
That's [bleep] gone. [bleep]
damn it.
Yeah, he started full speed. It broke off.
Roger.
Not only have we lost at least one pot to
the ice so far but then that happens.
-[bleep] could be anywhere. -Yeah.
Let's just get them back, man.
No pots left behind.
It's only gonna get worse.
[narrator] twenty miles southwest...
On the cornelia marie.
Right now, two options to deliver. Saint paul and king cove.
So only eight miles from the russian border, right here.
Close to the ice pack. We're playing the ice age game now, it'll be interesting to see
if we still have crab here or not.
Don't know how it's going to play out. We'll see with the first pot.
[narrator] looking to plunder their hotspot in the cold of the north,
captains josh harris and casey mcmanus
try to fill their final 60,000 pounds
before the frozen threat can wreak havoc on their gear.
[bleep] did they go?
-Is that your side? -I'm not seeing anything.
Trying to find our first pot here.
So far, it ain't going so well.
It's not right here where it should be.
Oh!
-No. -No. I don't see [bleep].
[bleep]
ice.
Got down this far.
We have a real problem on our hands.
That ice will freeze into the buoys.
And it'll pull that pot along the bottom.
And then at some point, the ice will go back and it'll let go.
So sometimes you're searching for something could be 10, 15, 20 miles away
depending on how far the ice moved.
Yeah, we'll start running north over and over
two tenths to quarter mile.
Turn and go south, run down the full length and the strings and then some.
The whole time you got two guys scanning the wheelhouse.
We need to find these real bad.
Real, real bad.
Gonna be a long night.
Long night.
A lot of eyeballs.
[water splashing]
[narrator] twenty eight miles south...
On the northwestern.
Yeah, man.
We didn't come all the way up here just to get hundreds.
[sighs]
oh boy, oh, boy, oh boy.
I'm trying to stay optimistic, but
the numbers aren't here.
You know, if we don't have a plant to deliver to,
then we're putting crab on and we got no place to go.
So, we're gonna hit the nitrous oxide, end it with a banger.
I think they're moving, they're bumping up and over, northeast.
We want to try to get on something and get busy.
Although we did spread this gear out to the west.
But we don't know if there is crab there.
[narrator] with the clock ticking, captain sig hansen and daughter mandy
weigh two options.
Follow the best sign of life and head to the northeast
or check their prospect pots to the northwest.
[water splashing]
I'm worried about that ice that's looming overhead.
You're limited in time when you're fishing this far north.
[narrator] and with 65,000 pounds still to catch,
the captain must choose.
West or east.
[captain sig] uh...
Jake is in the area.
South of us here.
I mean, realistically if we can work together
we can cut down our time and we can find the crab that much faster.
[narrator] 48 miles south.
[waves splashing]
-[captain sig] you got me? -Sig.
How goes it?
Um, down here, um,
[exclaiming]
well, we got some prospect gear,
by the time you get up here, it'll have a little soak.
No guarantee but it's worth a look, so, you want to pull those?
I mean that'll buy me a little time too.
[jake] I've had rough history with sig.
He makes me run around for him to do his bidding
and he's been doing that to me my whole [bleep] career.
I'm worried about history repeating itself.
[captain sig] jake? Hello?
Where, where you at?
[narrator] on the saga.
[captain sig] well, we got some prospect gear.
No guarantee but it's worth a look, so, you want to pull those?
I mean that'll buy me a little time too.
Jake? Hello?
Where, where you at?
-What is going on? -[thuds]
[captain sig] yeah, hello.
Yeah, there's nothing down here, I'm just going backwards.
I'm in.
I know it's a long way up here but it'll be worth your risk.
So, I'll get you those positions.
Okay. I'll be around.
[captain sig] well, that might work, don't you think?
Goes to show, see, guys know how to work together when we have to.
Up a little farther, northeast.
- Set her when you're ready. -Oh, yeah.
[thuds]
[jake] I don't want to work with anybody else.
- But I don't have any other choice. -[thuds]
just praying to god it works.
I need the season to be over.
[narrator] 44 miles northwest,
on the time bandit.
Andy.
Just tell me.
Am I screwed or is he gonna come get me?
That sucks.
I'll be able to fish a few more days and then retreat.
Okay, thank you so much.
We're out.
We've got trouble coming.
We're gonna be busy boys.
-Are we ready, guys? -[worker] yeah.
Roger.
[narrator] his tanks already stuffed with northern opilio crab...
I'mma go down in pervanence canyon.
The ice just doesn't like the canyons. The currents too strong there.
It's hard for it to freeze 'cause it's too deep. I'm hoping.
[narrator] captain jonathan hillstrand counts on one last deep water set,
before the clock runs out and the ice pack chases him south.
Yeah baby.
We've got about 72 hours to get as many crabs we can
and stack up and get out of here.
Yeah.
[clattering]
aww, what the [bleep]?
Yeah, you never stick nothing in that [bleep] hopper except bait.
Jeepers. That could've been bad.
We know you're gonna [bleep] up that one,
you're gonna [bleep] chop that [bleep] up by hand.
- Oh, yeah. -All right?
Let's go.
I need to harvest some crab as quick as I can. We can't stop now. I mean,
ice is like a big bully in high school, you remember the guy
that stole your lunch money that ate your lunch.
I kicked the bully right in the nuts.
I don't think there is much I can do to the ice.
[narrator] 74 miles northeast.
[bill] last trip. Be interesting to see what we end up with.
I hope it's a bunch.
[narrator] on the summer bay.
[bill] b ack out on the grounds.
We had better fishing at this end.
Right where this red mark is, it's got seven, eight days on it.
[narrator] racing the ice to the north and cannery closures to the south.
Captain wild bill wichrowski bets that his town soak will be the ticket to full tanks
and a quick offload.
I'm hopin' there's still enough of them little devils
down there to fill up the pot.
Look at these damn things.
It's solid.
Solid effort.
[landon] hold on.
[bleep]
not what we're looking for.
When they first came up over the rail, I thought
we're in them, this is gonna be it.
Too small. Not many keepers at all.
We just gotta start from square one.
Female.
That sucks.
[bill] this one looks even worse.
Not so good.
[bill] looks good for the future.
I'd rather live in the present right now.
-Hey... -Woah, what the [bleep]
what's that?
-Nice and easy. Nice and easy, nice and easy. -Take it slow.
It looks like when we were setting one of those shots got wrapped up.
[grunting]
do not hurt yourself, I can't afford somebody [bleep] losing a hand.
Back it out a little. Back it out a little, now, cut that cord, yeah.
Woah, woah, woah.
Hang on, hang on.
Woah, what, who, why would you cut something?
This line back here. I'm gonna need a little help.
Watch your feet. Watch your feet.
Take it off, take it off.
Oh, my god, don't...
You're losing it, whatever is in there, you're losing it.
Watch out.
Woah, woah, watch out.
Out of the block, out of the block. Everybody stay clear
- of the [bleep] line. -[screams]
[narrator] on the summer bay.
Watch out, woah, woah, woah, watch out.
Out of the block, out of the block. Everybody stay clear
- of the [bleep] line. -[screams]
[bleep]
we're lucky nobody got hurt right there, went over the side.
Another high stress situation.
We had them.
They were right there for the taking.
Man.
[narrator] a rookie mistake by experienced deck hands
cost wild bill $4000.
In equipment and crab.
[bleep]
they wash down, they're gone.
[landon] we gotta start over.
Yeah. This trip's starting up [bleep] awesome.
[landon] what next?
[narrator] forty-five miles west,
on the saga.
Tell me the spots, jake. Six pots.
If there is crab
I can set some pots in.
He's helping me get situated
and then in return, he is getting any information that I get.
[narrator] recruited by sig to determine
if there is enough crab in the northwest for the two boat team,
captain jake prepares to haul three of his former men towards prospect pots.
All right. Here it goes.
Yeah, baby. Oh, yeah.
Kinda nerve-racking
partnering with my mentor but,
much as sig at times, has been an enemy.
He's the only one I trust.
[man] coming up.
[man] wow!
Okay. Okay... Right.
That pot is not bad.
-[man 1] roll it up, buddy. -[man 2] roll it up!
[man 2] whoo!
[man] come on, crab! Going up!
-[man 1] here we go! -[man 2] yeah!
[jake] whoo-hoo. [bleep]
[all cheering]
[man] whoo-hoo!
These things are gonna be [bleep] loaded!
[all cheering]
we're gonna set.
We'll drop as many as we can off right here.
Oh, my god! 435.
[sig laughs]
[narrator] just 1000 feet away,
the second prospect pot,
nets over three times the crab.
[jake] right now this is 102 fathoms.
These areas right here are real touchy.
We could be 1200 feet that way,
and it'll be 1000 crab.
And if you go another 1200 feet there is nothing.
[man screaming]
[narrator] twelve miles east,
on the northwestern.
This is where we were setting those ones one to the north. Northeast.
I'm anxious to see what's out here.
[sig] here we go.
[indistinct shouting]
-[man 1] no! -[man 2] bad one.
Does not look good, whatsoever.
Oh, boy. Oh, boy.
[man] man. Where is our crab at?
[sig] damn it.
I think I really made a mistake here.
[phone dialing]
-[jake] hello? -Hello?
You got me.
Roger.
I mean, that was a morale boost.
Yeah, dude.
You're doing me a solid.
This area is gonna be really touchy.
So, you can't go too far north,
too far south.
Too far east or west.
That's what's the problem up there.
You can go half a mile to the left or right
to get crab, you just don't go.
I'm not gonna tell you how to set.
Just be really careful.
[jake] fair enough.
Okay, later.
[sig] I don't mind sharing with jake.
It will work for me and I hope it works for him.
As long as he doesn't step on my toes, I'll be all right.
[narrator] forty-four miles north,
just below the russian line,
on the wizard.
This area here is completely under full pack ice.
Right now we should have been through our gear. We got all of about, what,
12 pots up here in the ice.
[narrator] only a quarter of his gear recovered,
captain keith hunts his remaining pots amid the thickening ice pack.
[exhaling] I can only pray that we get the gear back that's up here.
They're not just small junk.
[man] no, it's not looking good at all.
[narrator] but, with the individual floes,
now the size of automobiles
and growing by the hour.
Not a thing out here.
Just a bunch of ice.
Ice as far as the eye can see.
[narrator] the skipper's window to recover his $72,000 equipment
is rapidly shutting.
The floe goes this way a long way.
-Do you see a weak spot? -No, the worst of it's ahead of us.
[keith] titanic sinkers is what they are.
Better watch your speed.
It's going down the rail, you know? Pretty good flip here.
Split that in [bleep] in half.
[keith] I could feel it up here.
There is another one on the nose.
[keith] oh, god, I forgot how much I hated being in that white stuff.
It just took us 45 minutes to get through it.
Three quarters of a mile. Ooh.
Bumped it and it tipped up on the side.
Underneaath the bottom of the boat.
Yikes.
[keith] yeah. That's the stuff that can get scary
when it's back here.
Back towards the runner, yes.
[narrator] as keith navigates through the birds,
chunks of ice threaten the hull
and crucial steering equipment.
[keith] hopefully it doesn't go on the rudder.
Okay. I'm gonna go look at this side and make sure.
[narrator] on the wizard.
[keith] hopefully it doesn't go on the rudder.
Holy [bleep] man.
-Good riddance, man. -[monte] put it straight.
[keith] it's moving at a glacial pace.
[keith] one headache after another.
Ice floes.
Recovering a bunch of gear.
1500 out of the pot. At the same time
we can't stay up here and be doing this.
[narrator] weighing the cost of lost rigging against the risk
of severely damaging his $2,000,000 boat...
[keith] you know what, let's leave 'em.
I'm gonna point it right down here.
Little bit further south where it's safe.
[narrator] captain keith puts his rescue mission on hold,
until the threat retreats.
[keith] weather and currents permitting,
as the stuff rolls through,
hopefully, we will get some open water
because at this point you can't get into it.
I don't want to do it, but you know what?
We can't afford to lose any more pots.
I'm gonna point at open water.
Try to avoid the minefield.
I've got to catch my crab.
If I don't catch it, we're not gonna get paid for it.
[narrator] eighty-four miles southwest.
[man] okay, guys. Coming up.
[narrator] on the time bandit.
I'll be able to hopefully pounce on the crab one more time,
and get a pick before this ice comes down...
Eats are our lunch.
[narrator] only 72 hours
before the ice is forecast to overrun his chosen grounds,
captain jonathan looks to bring his season to a close,
with his 110 fathom deep set.
I'm going for the gamble.
We're gonna work the canyon.
[laughs]
knock on wood.
[man] wow!
[man] welcome aboard, boys. Welcome aboard.
[laughs]
that's the real deal there.
That's a solid crossbar.
[indistinct conversation]
yeah! I like it.
[man] it might be working out.
[shouting]
[jonathan] yeah, baby!
[beat boxing]
[jonathan] that's the way you load a boat.
[man screaming]
[man] oh, there you are.
[man] oh, yeah baby.
Holy moly.
[jonathan] I can't afford to hurt nobody.
'cause this could send us home really easy here.
Just gotta keep fishing.
Out of the block.
Outta the block.
Watch out! Watch out! Out of the block.
Men. Careful, careful. Help him.
Watch out!
-[bleep] -uh-oh. Here goes the coiler.
[man 1] holy [bleep].
Good job saving that thing. Holy moly.
[bleep]
when it's flat come out, our block's been fine.
We're coming off a big wave...
The line started popping out of the block.
[narrator] as the boat rolls,
a 12,000 pound pot slips out of the hydraulics grasp,
sinking unfettered, ripping the coiler clean off the deck.
That was close. [chuckles] wow!
Let's get that thing back up.
- Let's keep working. -[whirring]
get what? Say that again.
All right.
That's [bleep] bad.
[jonathan] I just need to harvest those crabs as quick as I can up here.
We don't have time to stop.
Ice is gonna shut this fishery right down.
Let's, uh... Everyone help out.
[narrator] with just hours until the ice is forecast to arrive...
Back in 1982, I did 10,000 pots. By hand.
Life ain't fair, get used to it.
[narrator] jon tasks his crew
with coiling the old-fashioned way.
[jonathan speaking]
that's a tough son of a bitch.
He used to be as tough as freddy.
Let's see how it goes.
[narrator] seventy-three miles northeast,
on the cornelia marie...
Couple of holes in the backside.
They ain't got shoved around.
Fifty-five. Five, five.
Take a while to fill a boat with that.
I really thought we were coming out here, we were just going to tear it all apart.
Kick ass and take names.
Came out to devastation, ice came down further than we anticipated.
Take the stuff from the outside, buddy.
So, on retrieval mode right now. Slow process.
We're gonna be on a constant pot rescue mission until we get them all picked back up.
The search grid is paying off. The search grid is paying off.
[narrator] finding buoys over three miles off their mark,
captains josh and casey scramble to locate the final 30 pots
before the ice edge returns with a vengence.
Next bag's sittin' right up the bow.
[man] roger.
Been out here for three months.
Just getting the [bleep] kicked out of us in everywhich way.
Been through storms, been through injuries, been through ice.
We're due for a little love.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey! It's out of the box.
Uh-oh.
Hey, watch out. Watch it.
Keep your eyes on the prize and get the line back in the block.
Is everybody all right?
Go ahead, hit it a little bit. There you go.
Hooks are flying out here.
Was a hatchet from hell. [sighs]
[narrator] the line pops out of a block.
Sending the metal cage and its leg-snagging nylon
racing back to the sea floor.
Simultaneously untethering the picking hook.
Acting fast, deck boss matt simpson
wrangles the line.
While greenhorn kawai cho
secures the fifteen pounds of steel.
Pot that's hanging, it's no good.
That's why I jumped on that and left the hook. The hook, someone could grab.
A pot, you can't hang on to.
A pot'll rip someone over the side if you're not paying attention.
[bleep] that could have went so south, so quick.
Bring another out.
[bleep]
[men shouting]
hey, what's going on down there?
It's frozen, boy.
Watch out.
[exclaiming] [bleep]
whoa, whoa, whoa.
[narrator] on the cornelia marie...
It's frozen, boy.
Watch out.
Oh!
[grunts]
whoa, whoa, whoa.
Don't let go.
Just got sucked all the way down the rail.
He wouldn't let go of the line.
That's called having a grip!
Yeah, man, it was interesting to watch you ride the white lightning down there.
I ain't letting go!
Perhaps should have let go a while ago. He's too fat to fly and he can't dance, so.
-It's like, you know. -[laughing]
yeah, I went for a little ride there.
It happens. [laughs]
rock and roll.
The great pot hunt of 2021 is over.
We found pretty much all of our pots.
You need to stay away from the crowd.
You get into that 90 fathom range,
a lot of guys can reach at
112 or 114 fathoms.
Most guys can't get in there.
[narrator] with all their pots recouped,
the skippers eye the southern depths.
Their plan,
stay safe from both the ice
and swarms of smaller boats more suited to the shallows.
Set all these pots we just found off
and hopefully we put it on some crabs.
All right. Lock these puppies up
and, uh, get the [bleep] out of here.
[man] yeah! That's what we want.
[narrator] thirty-six miles southeast,
on the summer bay.
We're gonna raise a pot up here.
If we ever need a change of luck, it's now,
because that sorting last night just about killed these guys
and it's killing me watching 'em do it.
[narrator] after landing on a pile of small and female crabs,
captain wild bill targets the large males,
typically located on the leading edge of the school.
I'm looking for a band, looking for a depth where they're hanging out.
This'll be the furthest north we've set.
Sounds kinda crazy but...
The ice is coming down, we're going north.
Let's go! Hands on!
[all exclaiming]
when the ice edge is down, it does seem like right along the edge, fishing changes.
I've... Seen it.
[narrator] drawing on his 40 years of experience,
the skipper sets 15 miles from the ice pack,
playing russian roulette with the floes.
It may backfire, you never know. Could be eating snow cones by the time it's over.
[cell phone ringing]
31, 3-1.
Hey, landon, patty lee's got a medevac. We don't know who it is.
I don't know...
Oh, [bleep] yeah.
What?
Coast guard helicopter to 041 channel 16, over.
I just got word that patrica lee heading,
someone got hurt really bad.
Landon knows a bunch of people on board.
We had todd working there with us a couple of seasons ago.
Youre replacing a guy who wore pretty big boots.
-Well, I'm gonna do my best, that's what I'm here to do. -Right on, man.
The kid turned out to be an exceptional deckhand.
Since he's been out here, his name comes up all the time.
I hope it's not him.
Any available launch channel 16.
This has got to be at the limit for those helicopters, I bet.
[narrator] six hundred miles away,
in cold bay, alaska,
[woman speaking over radio] right guys, plan, short notice.
Ready to medevac, so we've trained for this.
[narrator] the coast guard responds to an urgent distress call
from the fishing vessel patricia lee.
[man] my main concern is whether or not he is alert and awake.
[narrator] where a deckhand
sustained life-threatning injuries.
[man] yeah we don't have a lot to go on, find out when we get there.
[woman] call the flight surgeon to see what the urgency is.
If it increases his chance of survival
or if it's, uh, he's going to die.
Roger.
[woman on radio] who's the flight nurse?
Sounds like you got hit by a pot.
If you got hit by one of those, man.
That's a scary, scary thought.
[man over radio] so the patient is in a lot of pain.
It doesn't take much for one of those big, heavy steel pots
of 788 pounds to fall over.
Break an arm, break a leg, break a back.
They're more dangerous for you than the waves.
[indistinct radio chatter]
there's just so many things that can go wrong when you're under the gun
and you're trying to save the gear and get out of harm's way
when that ice starts coming down on you.
[man chattering on radio]
[keith] now I don't know if anybody knows anybody on that crew or not.
And I don't know who the crewman was.
Whether its todd or one of the other deckhands. This is [bleep] terrible, you know.
Maybe try giving him a message. See what's going on.
[landon] yeah, I'll message him.
Can't keep losing friends.
[narrator] cold bay, alaska.
[woman on radio] super, ready to taxi.
[man on radio] it's taxi.
[narrator] the coast guard gears up for a rescue
on a bering sea fishing vessel...
What do we, uh, hear about the patient?
[man on radio] uh, he's in a lot of pain.
[narrator] where a crewman battles life threatening injuries.
[man on radio] ...6041 taxiing onto runway 33
and section charlie for departure to the north.
6041, cold bay hanger.
[man on radio] hanger, four-one, go ahead.
[woman on radio] four-one, hanger. Stand down.
Over.
Hanger, four-one, roger. Stand down.
[cell phone vibrating, ringing]
yup?
-[man 1] going over. -[man 2] roger.
We don't know who it was on the, uh, boat.
But whatever it was, he didn't make it. He got crushed.
-Oh, my god. -[bill] trying to get a name, I don't know.
But whoever was on the boat didn't make it.
My good friend todd's on there. He worked on here.
Unfortunately, that's happened out here every year,
but that's usually not like that.
There's only so much you can do when we're this far away.
I don't know what I'd do if something happened to one of you guys,
I really don't.
I don't know if I'd be able to fish again.
[exhales]
[sig] it hits home every time.
And this is a small circle of guys doing this,
just through one... One way or another
you kind of know somebody on all these boats, you know.
[man] bill!
Bill, it was todd.
His aunt just posted that...
Her only living nephew, todd just passed away.
Yeah, that's his profile picture.
Me, him and nick.
Yeah.
[bleep] seems like ever quarter we're losing somebody.
Nothing you can do.
[narrator] twenty-one miles southwest...
[keith] banging through the ice, stuff happens.
There's nothing safe about this job.
[narrator] ...On the wizard.
[keith] this has been as brutal a trip as I can remember.
The thing is, we've got our crab to catch. I've got to catch my crab.
Coming up.
We didn't come this far to come up short.
[narrator] after turning his back on gear in the north,
captain keith colburn looks to his southern set
to make up the loss.
If we don't hit on this final set,
we're gonna have to go in on this trip short.
I know the ice is coming. I know we're gonna see it,
and this gear's gotta hit.
[metal creaking]
[man] get it, get it, get it.
[keith] that pot looks pretty decent.
Give me a real good count on this one, guys.
Give me a good count.
Three-seven-oh. 370.
Three-seven-oh, right on.
Right. That's how I like to start.
[man] yeah, baby.
Loaded.
Whoo!
[cheering]
yeah!
Whoo!
That's the best sound on this boat.
The sound of those guys shaking those hoppers
trying to get the crab to go down.
Well, this sucker's loaded. We can get this boat headed to town.
Get the hell out of here.
[man] hold! Hold on.
[laughs]
yes!
[grunts]
bang!
We're choking.
[cheering]
right on!
[grunts]
[narrator] taking the worst mother nature can dish out on the chin...
[laughing]
[narrator] captain keith finally tanks the last of his $9.7 million quota.
Huge season the bank. That's the biggest season we've had
in... Over a decade.
Just got to get this offload done.
After we go in, hopefully, we get our gear back,
or most of it, without getting into the ice pack.
It's all we can do.
[narrator] sixty-four miles southwest.
Aboard the time bandit.
[jonathan] I was just seeing if you guys have any spare motors
or anything for a king coiler.
Okay, buddy. Keep up the good work and keep in touch.
Thanks.
It's painful and brutal and slow.
We really need to fix this king coiler thing.
[narrator] with his coiler out of commission,
captain jonathan's crew must create each 800 foot shot by hand.
[jonathan] this is the best crab we've seen so far in this trip.
The problem is, in two and a half days, the ice is coming.
[narrator] but after eight hours of slow back-breaking work,
the skipper is running out of time,
and his crew is running out of gas.
[jonathan] I don't know what to do.
You see that, one guy.
The tempo sea set. It just happens to be about six miles away from us.
This driver behind us, he might have a motor on his boat.
Hey, jo, 116.
Time bandit.
Hello.
[man on radio] how are we doing today?
You don't have to have a king coiler motor, do you?
'cause we're hand coiling and it sucks.
[joe on radio] oh, yuck.
Yeah, we do have one.
Whoo! Yeah.
[joe on radio] you want to meet up later or what?
Hey, I got something better. I'll just head right at you.
You know, just transfer.
[joe on radio] I'll get the guys to set it up.
Okay, yeah. I appreciate this.
Dude, we might be back in business.
Business might be good.
Okay. Just the last one here and we'll stack it.
And they got a coiler motor for us.
Wow!
[jonathan] everyone helps everyone out here.
Even if you don't like him in town.
Hopefully I can get something working.
Salvage this trip 'cause it'll be heartbreaker to lose some gear.
[narrator] thirty-eight miles northeast...
[beeping]
[sig] three miles.
[narrator] ...On the northwestern.
[sig] we're just coming up on our prospect pots that we set.
Jake, uh, I let him pull
a couple three of those pots.
We're looking for some more real estate, you know, wider area
and ice packs nearby,
so we need a shot in the arm so to speak.
[narrator] within intel from the saga,
captain sig arrives at the alleged hotspot
eager to tank his final 50,000 pounds...
Before the ice closes in.
[sig] it's not a lot of area.
And they just got to be in the right spots.
And that's what we're doing.
See if we get a couple of whacks out of this area,
than I think, you know, might get us out of here.
[man] whoa.
No. What is this crap?
Dad. Are you not seeing this?
You're tangled up with jake's pot.
That's not... That's not good. He's all over you.
[sighs]
be careful.
He's-- it's been "jake-onized."
[sig] that's what you get for being nice.
[man 1] no.
[man 2] yeah.
[sig] it's not bad but it's not impressive.
What a dumb [bleep].
[man speaking]
he can fish where the hell he wants.
Just stay away from my [bleep] pots.
[narrator] setting gear too close together,
jake divides the biomass making it nearly impossible
to accurately read the school.
Why would you do that?
You check my [bleep], you set right through it.
How am I supposed to get a read on my pot now
when he's got a pot there and a pot there?
And you got four freaking shots all over the place.
[sig] I don't care how desperate you are.
What the [bleep].
[line ringing]
I'm gonna give jake a call here.
[jake speaking indistinctly]
so, I got some good news.
Well, it moved up north. I spot checked just now.
All right. Stop talking.
[line ringing]
[jake speaking indistinctly]
so, I got some good news.
Well, it moved up north. I spot checked just now.
All right, stop talking.
[sig] you said-- look, I don't understand why you pulled my gear.
Like, you know, but then you set right through...
Those very pots.
Like, I wanted to be able to check so that I could get a decent number
on what's there.
I don't understand why you set right through 'em.
Why would you do that?
Oh, yeah. Well, a lot of reason why it stayed close
is because I know this area in here is really touchy.
I can't go too far to the north, east, or the west.
[sig] I know you're hungry. And I know you are, you know,
had a rough go on this last one.
And you're freaking out. I get it.
I've been there. I know what you're feeling.
But I don't understand why you just, you know--
I just-- I want you to understand, you want that to breathe.
That's all I'm saying.
I'm sorry.
I'm gonna do exactly what I think is best.
I gotta go. I gotta get busy.
Good luck. Do well.
All right. Bye-bye.
[men cheering]
[jake] he's getting nervous
because now ice is possibly coming.
And he wants to get as much crab as he can.
And he's probably kicking himself
because he let me haul those prospectors.
[sig] this is not the way to fish.
You can't be that close.
Just plain and simple.
You know, it is what it is right now.
He can take my spot.
We're gonna go north.
We need to.
Two-tenths of a mile. So, we're gonna stay in the same vein,
but farther north there is more real estate.
[narrator] with jake setting through the 100 fathom range,
sig resolves to follow the same depth,
farther north away from the saga, but closer to the ice.
With the start we had and the clock ticking, we don't have a choice.
Right? He didn't go out there.
It hasn't been touched.
[intercom beeps] you ready?
Set it when you're ready.
There's always risk involved, but we'll keep leapfrogging.
Keep mowing the lawn.
We gotta get out of here before the ice comes down.
[mandy] these pots better be loaded.
[man] going over!
If they don't hit, we got a problem.
[narrator] thirty-seven miles southwest...
On the "time bandit."
trying to fix that damn king coiler.
[jonathan speaking indistinctly]
hope it works.
[narrator] operating at half-speed
without a crucial piece of equipment,
captain jonathan's season rides on a successful at sea transfer.
We're running out of time. The clocks are ticking.
[narrator] t o get his pots on board along with the thousands of pounds
he needs to cover his quota.
[siren blaring]
[man speaking]
yeah, go ahead any time.
[man speaking]
okay, I got it. I see it there.
[man cheers]
[jonathan] you're making our day. Thank you.
[man speaking]
[man] we got a new motor.
And we'll see if we can put it together.
Hopefully this works out for everybody.
For all these-- everybody involved out there.
[machine whirring]
[man] pow, pow!
[man speaking]
you want me to try-- why don't you try it out, freddy?
[grunts]
[jonathan] I'm talking next to the money pot.
We might have ourselves a king coiler.
[machine whirring]
[cheering]
[jonathan] all right, man.
We just got another crew member.
I just wanna fill these tanks up.
And I gotta get back to my pots before the ice gets it...
Before all hell breaks loose.
[narrator] seventy-seven miles northeast
on the summer bay.
We're further north than I've ever fished for crab.
Obviously, to the east of us there is ice because,
uh, we're starting to see some big chunks.
[bill] I am starting to see that...
Pancaky stuff here.
But...
We're still in wide open water here.
[narrator] after gambling over 100 pots in the path of the oncoming freeze,
captain wild bill looks to turn his trip around
and wrap up a season to forget.
You know we're talking about everything that's happened this year and...
In a period of seven months, I lost three guys who worked for me.
Mahlon and nick and then just the other day...
We had this kid, todd. You know, he was a good kid.
Apparently, he got crushed by a pot.
-[man] thirty-eight. -Total accident. Tragic.
Todd had been dealt a pretty rough hand in his own life.
And you know what? He just shook it off, worked hard
and did a hell of a job.
[man speaking]
[bill] all right, first one's coming up.
It's coming down to the wire.
The thinking and looking part is over.
It's just dialing in on the best you can just find and hope you soak some up.
With any luck, we'll get twos and threes.
Time to get out of here.
[speaking indistinctly]
um...
[man] oh yeah!
Yeah!
It looks pretty good, actually. It looks like nice, clean crab.
[man speaking]
[man cheering]
that's real money, honey.
That is amazing.
Yeah, baby.
-Really big, clean crab. -[man] yeah.
[bill] big boy fishing.
What you got, manny?
[man] three seventeen. Three-one-seven.
[bill] three hundred and seventeen crab.
It warms my heart.
Let's see what this looks like.
[man] yeah.
And this one looks even bigger.
[man speaking]
I think, all in all, for all intents and purposes,
we made the right choice going north.
[man speaking]
cha-ching. [laughs]
[cheering]
[bill] I'm sure you guys are ready for this. I know I am.
Thank you so much. It's been hell of a year, and be careful.
Get it aboard, get the crab down. Let's wrap this thing up.
[man] take your delivery.
This is probably 25 on the wind.
This is gonna come up tonight and it's gonna make getting into that harbour hard.
There's still a lot of stuff that can go wrong.
[narrator] five hundred and ten miles northwest of dutch harbor...
On the "cornelia marie."
yeah.
First pot of our southern stuff.
[josh] everything is pretty much stacked,
all concentrated right in this region.
We'll see what happens here.
[casey] we're watching the radar and guys are coming down
right to the 90 fathom mark
they won't come past it.
[narrator] to keep the competition down and the crabs counts up,
captains josh and casey bet on the southern depths before the ice moves in
yet again.
Anything over 300 is gonna be mint.
We got crab!
-Wow, that's a nice pot. -You can do it.
Nice job!
Dandy, right there.
One hell of a way to start the morning out.
Five eight zero.
Yeah, all right. Now we're cooking with gas.
-Wowie. -Yeah.
Six three five.
All right!
Fill the tank, go to the bank!
Kicking ass and taking names.
See, the old man's helping, channeling right through.
Now it's just all about getting as much crab on the boat as fast as we can.
Try to bang the season out while
there's still enough crab on the grounds to be caught.
[narrator] 77 miles north-west
on the north western.
First pot's coming up.
[sig] we're up to the northern area here.
Up above the pots that jake set back.
Hopefully we end this with a big finale.
Where's the ice pack at right now? Is that gonna affect us?
It's close enough, that's the problem.
Wow, come on.
-Here we go. -More crab.
Wow, this is it!
Yeah, come on!
There we go!
How's that for a first pot?
-Five hundred. -500, that works.
They're screaming, move, get out of my way.
Yeah, that's 118.
Oh yeah!
Yeah!
Those are hot.
Oh, wow!
This is nice big clean crab.
I'm not so worried about that as much as that ice that's up ahead.
The ice edge is literally 20 miles away from me, not even that.
I really need to get out of here before it's too late.
Gonna be another ice party.
[narrator] 317 miles south-east off saint paul island...
Harbormaster, summer bay.
[man speaking over radio]
is there a place for us to come in and try to tie up?
All right, thank you. Back in 60.
We come in to offload this crab and finish the season up here I hope.
[narrator] captain wild bill races to make his final delivery
at one of only two canneries still open for business.
It's looking pretty gnarly out.
Seas are building, it's getting ugly.
There are some breakers right inside of here, so.
No fun right now.
[narrator] but roiling between the summer bay and the dock
is the notorious harbor entrance.
All I see right now in front of me is breakers.
And then you look behind me there aint nothing but green and white water.
Yeah we got some big seas here.
But I don't think I've ever had more desire to finish this season,
than I do this season.
I cannot wait for this season to be over.
So we'll be sucking it up right now.
All right better go through one more set than go for it.
Okay, roger!
Well, here we go.
Trying to get in the harbor between these gigantic swells that are...
That are monstrous.
I'm just gonna ride one in.
And have it break just at the entrance
and have that little lull behind it and power through.
Will the one you ride in let you go when it's time, that's the only problem.
There's a big one.
Watch out!
Hold on!
You need to get down. You need to get down, let's go!
Go, go, go.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Look out!
[alarms blaring]
that's forward bilge, high level
what the [bleep] am I doing?
That's too big, I have no control over that.
Come on, turn [bleep].
Hang on.
[narrator] after weeks at sea, chasing the deadliest catch.
The wizard crew celebrates with the gentlest catch.
A number of our driver bags went flat so...
Top of the buoy conveniently is shaped just like a frisbee.
Doesn't take much to keep these guys entertained out here.
Kind of just kids.
It's all in the wrist.
Well, I guess all good things come to an end huh.
Monte and the wizard, finish at the top of the heap.
While wild bill and the summer bay fight for survival near saint paul harbor
bring out the storm. Go, go, go.
Wow, wow. Look out, look out.
Come on, turn [bleep].
Hang on.
[bleep]
is everybody on board?
Everybody is on board?
[man over radio] yeah.
Whoa... [bleep]
[bleep] ...Everywhere.
[bleep]
[man speaking over radio]
[captain bill speaking]
[man speaking over radio]
[captain bill speaking]
[producer] hey, man. Hey!
We're still alive, buddy.
Good job. You... [bleep] brought that thing around, man.
I didn't think we were gonna make it.
Thank you for... [chuckles] just staying on it, dude.
Staying at the wheel. That was not easy.
[bill] I was okay on the first one.
When the second one hit I thought,
"this might be it.
We might not come back up on this one."
I got a lot of faith in this boat,
more than I did before.
Windows were in the water.
I thought that was it.
Yeah, we got...
I hope you guys aren't too traumatized,
but, yeah, we'll put everything back together,
offload and finish the...
Finish the season up here, I hope.
I'm gonna go ahead and wait for this...
Weather to subside before we head in.
Nowhere in my plans is drowning here,
the boat being my coffin.
[producer] you know it's bad when there's water on the ceiling, man.
-That was... [bleep] -[water dripping]
...Gnarly,
we're inside the boat.
It's one of them ones you'll talk about for years. [chuckles softly]
"I remember that op season in '21
when you thought things couldn't get much worse."
guess what,
it just did.
Should have been a cowboy.
[narrator] 316 miles north-west...
On the time bandit.
[whooping]
[man] I'm excited about that one.
Woo-hoo! Sometimes...
Sometimes I'd rather be lucky than good!
Look at that table, oh, my god!
That's more than we needed...
To get home.
[narrator] after feasting on the bio mass
just below the icepack,
captain jonathan closes in
on his 350,000 pound quota.
Eight pots left. I mean...
We're this close.
[narrator] the final push...
[deckhand] heads up!
[narrator] a 20 mile run north to recover his final string.
This whole season, man,
everything tried to work against us.
-[deckhand] woo-hoo! -Right here.
[deckhand] nice job.
We see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Ain't that bad-ass. [laughing]
[all cheering]
hello.
How's it goin', man?
Yeah, I did about 10 miles above that.
The ice is right there?
[captain jonathan] wow.
Yeah, thanks, thanks.
All right, man.
All right. [bleep]
I lost lots of my last string.
[captain jonathan speaking]
the ice is like 4-5 foot thick up there,
and they can't even get to their gear,
and...
Our gear is gone.
I'm almost gonna cry, like, my crew.
They've been with me for 31 years,
these are my soldiers.
Kay,
I just found out from another boat that
our gear is gone.
Save the pots.
We're gonna have a little memorial.
Let's change that flag up.
And be really careful.
[deckhand] roger, cap.
[deckhand] grab that thing.
[captain jonathan] pretty sentimental about my pots.
Been out here a long time,
maybe I've just been on the water too long.
I'm getting weird.
Watch your feet!
Okay, you guys ready?
[deckhand] roger!
[captain jonathan] this is in memory...
Of pr. Pot number pr.
Woo! Pr!
Thank you for your service, pr!
[captain jonathan over radio] that was our damn best pots.
This is for all u2. Uniform 2.
I wanna tear up. Ck19.
[laughing]
[bleep] son of a bitch. This sucks.
Last one.
[sig] we're gonna do a flaming hook.
-Yeah! -[howling]
[laughing]
[sig] this season, from day one, has just been, uh,
one catastrophe after another, it feels like to me.
It's been really tough.
There is no guarantee out here.
[captain keith] I just want to confirm that the trident dock...
Is open for us to come tie up to.
[man over radio] wizard. Harbormaster. Yeah, we copy.
[captain keith] we had processors in facilities
that were shut down.
But we managed to get the crab in.
[captain josh over radio] last one, guys. Nice job.
This is all...
Yeah, that's what we want!
Been a hell of a ride.
Caught more crab than we ever caught before.
Yeah, made more money than we ever made before.
I like that one.
-[laughs] -it's the money.
[captain josh] what's funny is we're gonna get home,
we're gonna have a couple of days off,
then it's back to work in hawaii. [chuckles]
at least it'll be in hawaii.
[captain josh laughs] yeah, that's true.
[captain casey] you don't have to worry about ice.
[sig] at the end of the day,
this is a small circle of...
Guys doing this.
Just getting ready to haul the last pot.
Oh, thank god, it's over.
Kay, you wanna see some fireworks?
Yeah.
Ready?
[explosion]
yeah. Baby! Woo!
[mandy] good job, guys! Good job!
[laughing loftily]
did you see that, kay?
[sig] I'm coming home.
We have to be there for each other
and continue to support each other.
[captain jonathan] this year,
so many industries failed,
and somehow, some way,
the crab industry got it together,
and completed the opilio season this year.
[captain bill] you know, the fishery was on the line,
you know, everybody came together,
and we got it done.
God bless!
[captain jonathan] we fought hard for this crab,
and no one ever fought harder.
And I'll kick... [bleep] of somebody if they say that.
It's not true.
But, uh, I don't know if I'm coming back.
You know, but...
I always say that. [laughs]
[sig] but, we still made out all right, though.
Yeah.
But, honestly, I'm glad it's over.
I wanna go home.
We can come back next year with our heads held high.
Time to move forward.