Deadliest Catch Season One

This is the first and only season of Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch to have derby fishing rules. In a nutshell it's this: Everyone grabs as much crab as fast as they can until the season is closed. What any one boat will make of it is up to the captain and his gut.

Below are the synopses I've completed for the first season. Be assured I will someday finish the last episodes. You can return to my main Deadliest Catch lens by clicking on the picture above. Leave a note about your favorite episode or crew in the guestbook. Go ahead and rate this lens if your inclined and Thankya for visiting!

As the various crews of each ship prepare for the upcoming king crab season, all are loading supplies, tying down gear and mentally preparing themselves. A few ships take on new hands. Once everything is ready the ships leave Dutch Harbor and wait for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to announce the season is open.

The season starts at exactly 4:00pm on October 15th and ends when the ADF&G estimates the fleet has its quota of 14 million pounds. Which could be at any time. At almost $5 dollars a pound, each crew is scrapping to get its share of the quota. The crab and any profit is divided amongst 251 boats and more than 1200 fisherman. It's the lure of almost $40,000 for a deckhand on one of the larger ships that send these men onto the dangerous Bering Sea.

On a hunch Tony LaRussa takes the Fierce Allegiance farther West than he normally goes. As soon as the season starts ships begin launching pots and continue to do so until they're all gone. Sig fishes the Northwestern East of the fleet, testing the waters with a couple of strings.

Greenhorns are new hands. Their main job is cutting, chopping and packing frozen mackerel and herring into bait sacks. They take said sacks, a cod sliced into pieces and bait the crab pots just moments before they are launched. In just the first eight hours bruises are formed and exhaustion sets in. And they are just getting started.

A crewman can burn 4000 to 5000 calories a day, easily twice that of a normal person. They eat whenever and whatever they can frequently. As Edgar Hansen puts it, "it's quantity not quality."

Best quotes from Bradford Davis on the joys of being baitboy.

Ships and crew featured:

Fierce Allegiance - Capt. Tony LaRussa, Eric Abrahamson (baitboy), Eric VanKirk,
Saga - Capt. Roger Strong
Northwestern - Capt. Sig Hansen, Norman Hansen, Edgar Hansen, Bradford Davis (baitboy)
Western Viking - Capt. Coleman Anderson
Lucky Lady (58ft - smallest in fleet) - Vince Shavender, Kevin Davis(survived going overboard on the Saga)
Sea Star - Capt. Larry Hendricks

It's almost time to start crabbing. Pots have been soaking and the crews prepare to haul them back on board - hopefully loaded with crab.

The Sea Star starts out on the crab, pulling in 30 crab starting on the first pot. Capt. Larry Hendricks hopes to average 49 a pot. Only male crabs at least 6.5 inches across are kept. Females and juveniles are returned to the sea.

On the Western Viking Capt. Anderson has to fix a problem in his hold where the crab are held. The pots that he stored there have moved and damaged the bin boards. Without them he runs the chance of smashing his catch. This is important because a dead crab releases toxins that in turn can kill more crab.

The Northwestern drops all of its pots to soak for the next 24 hours. Bradford Davis, the baitboy, has ground and packed almost a ton of baitfish. Edgar is pleased with the greenhorn but won't let him see it.

The Saga starts pulling pots after only an 8 hour soak. His first pot contains 19 crab. The next one has 38 crab. The owner's son Julian is the Saga's greenhorn and the crew is uncertain about him.

The Fierce Allegiance has dropped its pots in an area that hasn't been fished in 15 years. The first pot had an 8 hour soak and comes up - with 16. It doesn't look better as they haul in the next ones with even smaller numbers. Capt. LaRussa decides to go radio fishing to find out where the crab are and heads out to drop his remaining pots in better waters.

The first pot pulled in by the Western Viking is, to the crews great dismay, empty. They stack the pots on deck as the numbers aren't good enough to re-launch them.

The Saga is on the crab and catching. On board the Sea Star greenhorn John is floundering and the rest of the crews temper's grow short as the hours pile up.

The Fierce Allegiance heads NW after Capt. LaRussa's old fishing grounds don't pan out.

Ships and crew featured:

Sea Star - Capt. Larry Hendricks, , Kenny, Don, Robin Cooper, John
Northwestern - Sig, Edgar, Bradford Davis
Saga - Capt. Roger Strong
Fierce Allegiance - Capt. LaRussa, Sam Venable, Eric Abrahamson
Lucky Lady - Kevin Davis
Western Viking - Capt. Anderson, Willie Ovalles, Mike Reddekopp, Tim McWilliams

Crab Count
Fierce Allegiance 1334
Lucky Lady 700
Saga 1300
Northwestern 0
Sea Star 1667

Edgar Hansen of the Northwestern hands this beauty down after a comment about crab from baitboy Bradford.

Robin Cooper, salt of the sea on the Sea Star shares his concern about fellow crewman Kenny.

King crab season has been open for 40 hours. The Sea Star has one strategy, fill the boat. And the pots they are pulling are moving them towards their goal.

The Lucky Lady, the smallest boat at 58ft fishes 88 pots and has one shot at the crab. The place they choose to launch will decide their season. While launching pots Kevin twists his ankle badly. The Lady Luck can't operate short a crewman and the severity of the sprain will decide if the season is a bust.

On the Northwestern Sig is second guessing his string placements, especially because he is off by himself. When the pots start coming up the numbers for the first string are mediocre. Between strings the crew rests and shake their heads.

On the Western Viking much of the night was spent fixing mechanical problems. Finally they begin to haul crabs in. The young crew's mood vacillates between bad (problems) and good (pots with crab). Rob smashes his fingers trying to fix the sorting table when a part was left in Dutch Harbor. Tempers continue to flare and morale worsens as they aren't fishing.

The Fierce Allegiance's decision to start lower doesn't pay off. After 40 hours of working and little crab to show for it the crew starts to worry. Eric can't keep up baiting the pots and doubts himself. His crewmates are tired and doubting too.

Two hours later the Lucky Lady is still waiting to pull pots. Kevin's ankle will decide the season. Kevin has his ankle wrapped and climbs back into his gear. He knows he has to go back out and fish for his crewmates. He moves to the crane (hydraulics), a position held by a twelve year veteran. Kevin wings it and manages.

The Western Viking has spent more time doing repairs than fishing. And the crew is mutinous with the lack of crab.

On the Northwestern the pots are still coming up mediocre. Bradford is earning the crews respect. He is paid a flat rate and won't earn a share of the profits. Unless his crewmates take it out of their own pockets.

The Western Viking's repairs give the pots an extra-long soak. The crew hopes this translates into more crab. Tim, Rob and the Captain discuss motivating abilities. The first pot comes up full. Crab helps sooth bad feelings. It is announced the season will be eighty hours long and they are 24 hours from being done.

On the Northwestern Sig tells the crew the season ends in 24 hours. The crew is stunned. They need to pull up strings from over 60 square miles of ocean.

On the Lucky Lady a shorter season means less time to make or break it. But the pots are coming up with good numbers.

The Western Viking's crew hauls a 30 pot string with 707 crab - worth over $20,000. A hydraulic leak at the sorting table causes Willie to shut down the hydraulics on deck without asking the Captain first. Cole is not amused.

Ships and crew featured:

Sea Star - Capt. Hendricks, Robin, John, Kenny
Lucky Lady - Capt. Shavender, Kevin Davis, Vince, Daniel
Fierce Allegiance - Eric VanKirk, Sam Venable, Eric Abrahamson, Capt. LaRussa
Northwestern - Capt. Hansen, Edgar Hansen, Bradford Davis
Western Viking - Capt. Anderson, Willie Ovalles, Mike Reddekopp, Tim McWilliams, Rob Raddler, Ken Ostebo

Crab Count
Northwestern 6500
Saga 5000
Fierce Allegiance 3600
Sea Star 3475
Western Viking 2855
Lucky Lady 1350

First quote comes from Sam Venable on the Fierce Allegiance and it's about Eric the baitboy.

Kevin aboard the Lucky Lady does what needs to be done.

There are only 24 hours left in the king crab season and the ships and crews are racing to pull pots and make a profit before the season ends.

Sig rethinks the Northwestern's fishing strategy and bounces it off the crew. They crunch the numbers and decide not to launch any pots.

Fatigue is a problem on all the boats and crews fall asleep in the oddest places and times.

Kevin isn't doing so hot at the crane position on board the Lucky Lady. Because of his ankle he is unable to work the rail - his normal position.

The Fierce Allegiance has been averaging less than 20 crab a pot. Because the season has been called Capt. LaRussa doesn't launch any more pots and goes with what he has in the water. But their luck turns and the pots are coming up full.

On board the Sea Star the pots are coming up with decent numbers and the crew pushes themselves that much harder to get to the end of the season.

The Western Viking has only pulled in about $100,000 worth of crab in one of her worst seasons yet. With 30 pots left to pull the numbers have to be spectacular for the crew to make some real money. The crab don't co-operate. They fix yet another problem, the hydraulic leak under the table.

The Northwestern's last string, "long tall Sally" has to deliver. Two hours before season end they have 30 pots in the water and 10,000 crab in the hold. The numbers in the last string are very good and the crew is dead on their feet happy.

The Lucky Lady is experiencing 20 foot swells and making hauling pots even more difficult. The pots coming up full help the crew forget some of its troubles this trip.

With one hour left the Saga is pulling its last five pots. This crew, like all the others, has been working for 79 hours with very little rest. Exhaustion is only kept at bay with some nice numbers. The pots and deck need to be secured as they rush for the processing plant.

The Sea Star brings it's last 3 pots in and finishes 15 minutes before season end.

The Western Viking's beaten up crew goes on deck to pull their last string. Their crab numbers are only half of their normal average.

The Fierce Allegiance doesn't have the numbers they are used too. The ships large size also brings with it a large overhead. A smaller catch translates to a unexpectedly smaller paycheck for the crew. Eric decides that one season is enough and hangs up his baitboy hat.

Sig on the Northwestern lets greenhorn Bradford Davis throw the hook to snag a pot. Edgar throws a flaming hook and snags the last pot on his first try. The season ends and the crew gives Bradford a little hazing. While he watches the deck the rest of the crew retires to decide if Bradford gets a bonus - he gets 1%. Which equals out to around $3,500.

The crab processing plant works on a first come first serve basis. Being stuck in the harbor means more crab dying in the hold. Everyone who can sleeps as the ships steam in.

The Western Viking has a broken pump and is leaning to starboard. They limp home at minimal speed. The Sea Star passes the Viking on the way in.

The Western Viking makes it in to find dead crab in the hold. A dead fish has the crew really PO'd and Ken Ostebo lays the blame at Willie's feet. They lost 600 crab - about 25 grand.

King crab season Finals:

Northwestern $363,188 for about $16,000 per deckhand
Fierce Allegiance $271,121 for about $10,000 per deckhand
Saga $187,896 for about $8,000 per deckhand
Sea Star $164,802 for about $7,000 per deckhand
Western Viking $149,584 for about $6000 per deckhand
Lucky Lady $113,711 for about $8,000 per deckhand

Ships and crew featured:

Northwestern - Capt. Sig Hansen, Edgar Hansen, Nick Mavar, Bradford Davis
Fierce Allegiance - Capt. LaRussa, Eric Abrahamson, Sam Venable
Sea Star - Don Huggins, Capt. Hendricks, Norm
Western Viking - Capt. Anderson, Willie Ovalles, Ken Ostebo
Saga - Capt. Roger Strong, Joe Berg
Luck Lady - Capt. Shavender, Kevin Davis, Daniel

Deckhand Joe Berg tries some crab strategy(quietly so as not to scare).

The Fierce Allegiance's greenhorn Eric sums it up.

It's the Opilio (snow) crab season and the ships are heading into Dutch Harbor from their home ports. It's January and the sea's will be rough. The crews are securing pots on deck and preparing to leave. Safety as always is first on everyone's mind.

The Captain's of the Lady Alaska and Big Valley, sister ships, are planning their strategy for the season. With five other boats they pool their information to catch more crab.

The Maverick and Cornelius Marie also pool resources as sister ships, fishing close together to hopefully bring in a greater percentage of the 20 million pound quota. Very shortly the boats will be steaming towards the winter fishing grounds. Bait is being loaded and supplies are being stowed.

Donna Quashnick, the Captain's wife is in charge of the Maverick's galley. Stocking up for the season she purchases $2,819.14 in supplies.

The Northwestern is finalizing everything for departure while the ADF&G inspects the ship. The crew doesn't like the look of the frozen bait they are loading. After putting in 7,000 pounds they unload it and restock with fresh bait. Pastor William King pays a visit to read scripture and pray with the crew for their safety.

On January 13 the ships leave port for the Bering Sea. They pass some of the rusting hulks of ships now gone. An Arctic storm is bearing down on the fleet as they head out to the crab grounds.

The Lady Alaska returns to Dutch Harbor to fix an electrical problem that could cause a fire. Sparky rewires the panel in two hours and they promptly set back out to sea. The fishing grounds are around 400 miles out of Dutch Harbor.

The Northwestern will be fishing near Russian fishing grounds. In preparation for the coming storm they tarp some of the pots on deck to help against them icing up. In an emergency, turning the Northwestern around in rough seas is a 20 minute procedure. Just as they finish, the front edge of the storm hits. The ship is 200 miles ahead of the fleet.

At 7:45am the Coast Guard reports the Big Valley has activated its emergency radio beacon. The Lady Alaska calls repeatedly to her partner ship the Big Valley. The crew prepares bait before they are full into the storm. The Lady Alaska is 8 hours away from the Big Valley's last know position and looks for other ships in the area. Capt. Liske tells his crew the unhappy news.

The Cornelius Marie is close to the Big Valley at 4 miles and goes to help. Other nearby ships aren't finding any debris or signs of survivors. At 10am dawn breaks and the search intensifies. A USCG helicopter is overhead, The Maverick, Sea Rover and the Alaskan State Trooper ship Stimson are all looking. Shortly after dawn the Maverick's crew starts finding debris and any doubt of the Big Valley's status disappears. Crews on nearby ships ready emergency equipment should they find someone.

The Coast Guard finds the emergency raft with one survivor, Cash Steele. Five more men are still missing and the news about them isn't good. Only two men were wearing survival suits.

The season hasn't even opened yet.

Ships and crew featured:

Lady Alaska - Capt. Pete Liske, Kyle Robertson
Big Valley - Capt. Gary Edwards
Maverick - Capt. Rick Quashnick, Donna Quashnick, Hiram Johnson, Blake Painter
Cornelia Marie - Capt. Phil Harris
Northwestern - Capt. Sig Hansen, Edgar Hansen, Matt Bradley

On board the Northwestern a deckhand makes an observation about the 7,000 pounds of frozen bait he just helped load.

Donna aboard the Maverick is the bestest.

It's been two days since the fleet set out and several hours since the Big Valley went down. Ships work together to scour the ocean for survivors. The last man in a survival suit is recovered and the search is called off. The Lady Alaska's crew say a prayer for the Big Valley.

The Northwestern is fishing near Russian waters far to the Northwest. They also happen to be very near the edge of the safety grid provided by the USCG. The crew see no other boats and aren't really sure of their location. The tarp needs to be removed thats been protecting the pots from icing over. They begin to launch pots in big wave seas. Sig's first string is twenty pots.

The Maverick starts launching and fishes near the Big Valley disaster. Everyone is very cautious.

The Retriever is coming up behind the Northwestern. They haven't started fishing even though the season has started. Captain Stone is steaming for the Arctic Circle and also notices they are alone. Capt. Jim is surprised when he finds Sig's pots, then spots the Northwestern.

Sig wants pots in the water when he spots the Retriever. And he wants to fish some deep.

The Billikin is preparing to drop their first pot and get to launching their first string. They are prospecting around. Untying pots on the stack is very dangerous, like everything on the Bering Sea.

The Maverick is fishing when word comes over the radio of a man overboard. Capt. Jeff on the Billikin listens to the report as well.

Come nightfall the Billikin starts fishing in bad weather and rough seas. They then return to pull their first string.

The Lady Alaska is also fishing in rough seas. It is cold and exhausting work.

The Retriever is nine hours in and just getting ready to launch their first pots. The weather is terrible and worsening. Every tenth of a mile they drop a pot in a string 40 or so long. On the next string of 25 they also fish deep at 700 plus feet.

As the Billikin crew gets a bite and some sleep the Maverick is preparing to start pulling pots. Donna wakes the crew to eat a Paul Bunyan sized meal. They first pot comes up nearly empty and is followed by more. Suddenly a full one comes up and when dumped pulls the sort table out of the deck.

Ships and crew featured:

Maverick - Capt. Rick Quashnick, Donna Quashnick, Hiram Johnson, Blake Painter
Lady Alaska - Capt. Pete Liske
Northwestern - Capt. Sig Hansen, Nick Mavar, Matt Bradley, Edgar Hansen
Retriever - Capt. Jim Stone, Daher Jorge, Mizrain Rodriguez
Billikin - Capt. Jeff Weeks, Greg Arnold

Aboard the Retriever Mizrain Rodriguez remarks on how far out they are fishing.

On the Maverick Hiram likes full pots.

The pots have mostly been set and it's time to see who's going to come up big and who'll get skunked.

The Northwestern is noisy and so are some minds, neither of which allows sleep. After barely two hours everyone else is awakened. Watch how much sugar one crewman puts on his cereal. The first pot comes up "with nuthin." They have a few more blanks and very little crab.

On the Billikin her first pot comes up empty too. Then they catch cod - the crab bait of choice. Those are mixed with more blanks.

Lady Alaska set 72 pots over 70 miles, which is very spread out. Capt. Liske is looking to find out where the crab are concentrated. The ship is also using salmon to bait the traps instead of the usual herring/cod. The first pot comes up with some crab but not the kind they like. They stack the pots to try elsewhere with better luck.

The Billikin has been pulling blanks for 20 hours. The crew tries hard to keep greenhorn Andy out of trouble and on the right track.

The Lady Alaska, after a bad first string smear mud on each other for good luck. The pots are improving but the Capt. is second guessing his choice of salmon for bait. They stop using salmon and go to cod.

The Northwestern is pulling pots out of order to get an idea where the crab are. Capt. Sig finds them and starts hauling in huge numbers. The crab table almost isn't big enough when they are pulling in 700+ crab a pot. Sig takes the boat into 'stealth' mode.

The Maverick is pulling up full pots but when they start a new string one of the shots gets tangled. They salvage the pot with over 300 crab. The string is definitely on the crab which are nice and clean. After finishing the string the crew gets another huge meal then back out to get the next string. The next string is full of crab too. It's so busy that Donna goes to work at the table.

The Billikin is finally catching crab but is joined by twenty other ships all seeking to fill their holds. Capt. Jeff goes out on deck to work with his crew as a deckhand which he doesn't mind so much when it's warm. They finish the string and Jeff goes back to the wheelhouse and discusses strategy with Jim.

Capt. Liske decides to fish with the rest of the fleet and then goes back and re-baits his other strings.

The Northwestern has been fishing for 12 hours and almost filled it's front hold.

Crab Count
Northwestern 62,000 lbs
Maverick 53,000 lbs
Lady Alaska 40,000 lbs
Billikin 28,600 lbs
Vixen 26,000 lbs
Retriever 13,900 lbs

Ships and crew featured:

Northwestern - Capt. Sig Hansen, Edgar Hansen, Adam, Matt Bradley
Billikin - Capt. Jeff Weeks, Andy, Jim Hieldt, Tama Lagarejos
Lady Alaska - Capt. Pete Liske, Leo Estrada, Kyle Robertson, Steve Maher, Brandon Ober
Maverick - Capt. Rick Quashnick, Hiram Johnson, Blake Painter, Donna Quashnick, Mat Curnow

Edgar Hansen and another deckhand on empty pots.

Hiram Johnson on green mud.

The Northwestern is fishing hard and going North has reaped good returns. The crew is hauling in full pots on their second round. The Northwestern's two main holds are full of crab and a decision must be made to empty bait from the last.

The Lady Alaska has been fishing for near 40 hours straight. Sadly they haven't been on the crab and the crew is exhausted. They stack their pots and go to check the string where he switched from salmon to cod.

The Maverick dropped her pots near a processing plant on St. Paul Island after she spent several hours helping in the Big Valley search. The Fates have smiled and pots are coming up full. The crew takes a nappy in the tackle room before pulling in a last string and heading in to empty her holds.

Aboard the Billikin they are pulling their second string of pots. Capt. Weeks is kind of on the crab with mediocre numbers. He plans to move and launch in a new area. Capt. Weeks heads out on deck to motivate and encourage the crew. They launch the last pot at dawn and the crew gets a break. In the wheelhouse Capt. Jeff finds out crab is being hauled in fast and the season might end sooner than expected.

The Northwestern is on the crab and the Retriever, to her North isn't doing as well. Capt. Jim decides it's time to move and launch elsewhere. Closer to the Northwestern? He thinks Sig isn't catching anything. Sig thinks Jim's bringing in numbers like him.

After 48 hours Sig allows the crew of the Northwestern a sit down meal. At least two of the Hansen boys forget Moms birthday the day before. The Northwestern is doing way better than the fleets average. Sig decides to empty his last hold of bait and use it for crab. It's a good thing because the pots are full on his next string.

The Retriever is pulling a deep string after a short soak. The crew starts pulling in numbers that are fleet average. Then they get better. Suddenly the power goes out and Mizrain smells smoke. An electrical flare up just like the one that caused the Galaxy to catch fire and go down in 2002. They find the right circuit and repair it.

Is that king crab Mizrain?

The evening of the third day finds the Maverick headed in to the cannery to empty her bulging holds. Capt. Rick relaunches all his pots to swing through again so long the season doesn't end.

The Lady Alaska has been fishing hard after re-baiting and re-setting all her traps. It's time to check if the new bait did the trick. Which it did - they haul in huge pots of nice clean crab.

The Maverick takes 12 hours to get to the cannery, arriving just before midnight. They process crab from 6am to midnight and have to wait until 4:45am when they start to offload. Unfortunately another ship has a scheduled off-load at 10am and there won't be time to empty all the Maverick's holds. They luck out and the plant foreman orders the final hold emptied because the scheduled ship is late.

The Northwestern is on their third round of her strings. The crew feels like this will make or break the season since they expect the season to close soon. The first pot is small and is followed by more. Sig believes the smaller numbers are due to pots being dropped in the area.

The Maverick is empty by 11:30 am on day 4. Capt. Rick collects his check, hears a report from the ADF&G about the season's catch so far and heads back out to fill her holds again. He joshes with his crew about the numbers.

Ships and crew featured:

Northwestern - Capt. Sig Hansen, Edgar Hansen, Matt Bradley
Lady Alaska - Capt. Pete Liske
Maverick - Capt. Rick Quashnick, Hiram Johnson
Billikin - Capt. Jeff Weeks
Retriever - Capt. Jim , Mizrain Rodriguez, John
Galaxy - Capt. Dave Shoemaker

Crab Count
Northwestern 134,000 lbs
Maverick 97,341 lbs
Billinkin 78,325 lbs
Lady Alaska 75,000 lbs
Retriever 52,000 lbs
Vixen 39,000 lbs

Sig uses a favorite phrase of mine that dates us both.

Mizrain aboard the Retriever is exhausted.

Coming Eventually

Coming Eventually

Coming Eventually

Coming Eventually