Deadliest Catch“Striking Out”
Original air date: April 15, 2008
Jeff P – TwoCents Reviewer
After the rush of tax day, we are graced with a doubleheader of Deadliest Catch to start season 4. The theme of this episode is the oncoming Arctic Storm system barreling down on the fleet, along with the prospecting of the fleet’s first string of pots.
Continue Reading...
Posts
Deadliest Catch
ReplyDelete“Striking Out”
Original air date: April 15, 2008
Jeff P – TwoCents Reviewer
After the rush of tax day, we are graced with a doubleheader of Deadliest Catch to start season 4. The theme of this episode is the oncoming Arctic Storm system barreling down on the fleet, along with the prospecting of the fleet’s first string of pots.
The Northwestern-
Captain Sig learns that they will be facing winds up to 40 knots with the storm coming in, so he orders the crew to batten down the hatches. However he plans to drop pots no matter what. After they start dropping pots, Sig calls out to Edgar to ask him if he “took care of the ritual”. He is referring to Edgar’s 11-year tradition of biting the head off of a herring for good luck. Edgar has forgotten, but he plans to “bite the head off something” before the last pot is dropped.
The next day Sig gets ready to pull his first set of pots. They’re fishing in grounds not fished by their family for 40 years, since their father Sverre. So far, the gamble hasn’t paid off with a poor string of pots.
Sig decides to take one last gamble with his father’s map, and challenges Edgar to bite the head off something. Edgar does, and inspires greenhorn Jake to do the same. Hopefully the ritual will bring good luck to the next stop.
The Wizard-
Captain Keith is also battling the storm. He is preparing to see his two greenhorns get worked over by his experienced deckhands. Greenhorn Moi is already showing signs of fatigue.
The following day, the seas have settled down. Moi is still having troubles dealing with the rigors of crab fishing. Captain Keith takes him off deck and he breaks down in exhaustion inside.
Keith pulls his first string of pots the next day and hits pay dirt. As they start pulling pots, one after the other reveal great numbers of crab. And greenhorn Moi help works the rail and shows that he may be able to learn to fish after all.
The Time Bandit-
Captain Jonathan is in calmer seas, and is on the hunt for a different target. He’s on the lookout for one of the Cornelia Marie’s pots to play their practical joke. They pull one of Captain Phil’s pots and replace it with the junked up truck which they’ve been hauling since they launched.
After pulling their first string of pots, they are disappointed to come up with low numbers. However, they have a light moment when Captain Phil from the Cornelia Marie calls up and congratulates them for the great prank with the truck.
The Cornelia Marie-
Captain Phil is still suffering from the lack of crab in his first string. He has the crew pull up the last pot of this bad run, only to discover that it is the junked up truck that the Time Bandit had put on his line for their prank. Phil and the crew take the joke in stride. He admits it was ten times better than the pipe joke he played on the Hillstrands.
The Early Dawn-
We’re reintroduced to Captain Rick Fehst who is ahead of schedule, and almost at his quota. Rick is after brown King Crab, which are smaller than their red brothers. He uses a different system to fish for the browns called ‘Long lining’. It is a dangerous process that drops a 400’ line that has up to 100 pots on a line. It’s very risky, because the line pulls each pot and slides it off the stern of the boat. Each deckhand must have a knife in the case they get caught up in the line. All of this is worth it, as a deckhand offers up that they pull in approximately $800 a pot of brown crab.
The next set of pots does not offer the bounty of the first. This leads into the antics of greenhorn Brian, the owner of the Early Dawn’s son. He has improved from last year, but he still had a lot to learn. He’s slowly gaining the respect of the crew.
Soon, Rick estimates that he’s made his quota. They pulled 784,000 pounds of brown crab, worth 1.9 million dollars. This is a whopping 90 thousand dollars for each crewmember. They head back to Dutch Harbor to cash in, so they can go out for red crab next.
This is a great show. Even with the monotony of pulling pots of crab, you are always entertained. I get tired just sitting here watching these people, much less do what they do. I can imagine showing up to work looking like the Gortons Fisherman. They’d laugh me right off the boat. It would be like the prom all over again.