On this week’s Deadliest Catch on Discovery, Sig and Edgar Hansen’s boat the Northwestern and all her crew reap the rewards of a fortuitous crabbing season.
It was a challenge, but hunches and well-laid plans combined with pure maritime luck of the draw will see hefty paydays for Sig, Edgar and all of their crew.
Our clip shows Edgar in the captain’s room steering the Northwestern in relatively calm Bering seas as the guys prepare to bring up a pot, and Edgar is dying to know how many crabs are in it.
So far this season, the Northwestern has had some real luck, but lately just averaged two crabs a pot. That is not going to make anyone any money. One good pot does not a successful string make as narrator Mike Rowe says.
But things are looking up for sitting-in captain Edgar Hansen. He says of their latest attempt to pull up crab: “Hopefully, it just stays a good average of the whole thing.”
The answer? The string of pots that the crew has laid down is about to become the best haul ever in the Northwestern’s season.
Over two hundred crab are pulled up in just one gobsmacking pot haul!
The crew brings up a pot and it looks to be a very good one filled with lively crab.
“That’s a good looking pot,” says Edgar as the crew can be heard whooping and hollering on deck as the crab spill out on to the deck.
The crew opens the pots and crab fall out everywhere, full of life and scuttling about.
Laughing, Edgar says: “This is fun now! That is really good news, that crab on that table is awesome. Smoking hot.”
One hundred and sixteen crab come up in one pot and he has doubled the existing crab stores in the hold from just two pots. Then, the third pot is lifted and it has 271 crabs in it!
“Unbelievable!” says Edgar.
Sig was over 90 percent from his crab quota. But with brother Edgar taking over the helm as Sig takes a rest, they head back to the cannery as the deck chief oversees the Northwestern crew and pulls up these crazy pots filled with live crab.
The last few episodes saw Edgar get Sig’s Northwestern greenhorn and new son-in-law Clark Pederson to poke the bear with a wicked prank, telling Sig that his daughter Mandy was pregnant.
Last week Captain Sig got him back with a prank on Clark where he filled his dry deck boots with water and then froze them in the galley fridge so that when it was “go” time, Clark was unable to get them on unless he sledgehammered them.
Deadliest Catch airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Discovery.