[Warning: The below contains spoilers for Deadliest Catch Season 21]
It’s three days into the Winter 2025 season on Deadliest Catch, and Keith Colburn is dealing with excruciating pain. During the October 17 episode his brother Monte was concerned as this couldn’t have happened at a worse time dealing with a low pressure system. Keith rammed his kidney area into the counter top during a fall in the galley. Luckily, Even though his back was killing him, The Wizard captain at least wasn’t peeing blood. This got him concentrating at the task at hand, securing 175,000 pounds of bairdi crab.
The intense conditions got more intense and won’t make reaching quota easy. He set course to find homes for his 150 pots in the midst of 25-foot waves. Though Keith contemplated if he had other medical issues that needed to be addressed when he went back to town. The short-tempered captain gave a pep talk to his crews. They’d need all the encouragement with the vessel swallowed up by violent swells. I’m sure the hundred count pots of crab made the risk worth the reward in the crew’s eyes.
Northwestern and Aleutian Lady (Discovery Channel)
Meanwhile, Sig Hansen was fuming after Rick Shelford sent him on a wild goose chase while he cashed in on a prime opilio crab spot. However, the Northwestern captain wasn’t going to be played a fool and went on a spy mission to see what the Aleutian Lady was up to. Half a mile away, Rick was indeed making headway toward his 220,000 pounds of crab quota. He hoped Sig would continue to prospect to the east.
Instead Sig, in stealth mode, could see Rick’s pots were full and tracked north. “I’m not here to be a patsy for anybody.” Sig declared. He started to drop his pots for opilio catches of his own. Rick noticed someone else’s pot and identified it as belonging to the Northwestern. Rick gives Sig a call, and the veteran captain doesn’t respond. “What a d*ck,” Rick concluded. Sig continued to drop his gear.
In an act of retaliation, Rick told the crew to break out the torch and burn holes in Sig’s pot. He wanted to send a message that he won’t get bullied or pushed around. “It’s time to go old school on them,” Rick said. “These guys had no right coming over here.” Rick knew it would probably end their partnership and is okay with it. When Sig found his damaged pot, he instructed his crew to get a flare gun to shoot a symbolic shot across the bow on Rick. “Don’t mess with daddy,” Sig said. Game respected game in the end. A truce was formed…at least for now.
Jake Anderson (Discovery Channel)
On the Titan Explorer, Jake Anderson also fought the storm. He was waiting on his steering repair, idling in 15-foot seas, which is not something you want to happen with 400,000 pounds of crab to catch. The $2.8 million bounty would make him that much closer to purchasing the vessel outright. Engineer Felipe was able to change the solenoid and get them back in business. Although the problems with the steering continued, only this time it was for both directions. If he couldn’t get a fix, he’d have to call for a tow. This would cost him upwards of $15,000, and that’s even if he could get someone to come over.
Jake noticed a burned cable and affected both solenoids. In their situation, there was a risk of starting a fire. He got thinking of a temporary solution to get them back to the Dutch Harbor safely. He instructed the crew to hang a pot on the starboard and port side. They’d lower it one at a time to help balance the steering. “This is going to be 15 hours of grueling hell if it works,” Jake said. The good news for them was it worked. Jake prepared to maneuver close to the harbor working through strong winds. He relied solely on the throttle to get him to the dock. The vessel rode close, but they were able to make it. Now the crew had to get the Titan Explorer patched up and back at sea. There was more work to be done.
Deadliest Catch, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel