The Deadliest Catch Captains' Wager

Prior to the red king crab fishery, the skippers who were going to be on this year’s Deadliest Catch show sat down for some drinks at the Latitudes bar in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor.

An hour of tense, drunken negotiations

Once the drinks started kicking in and the guys had loosened up, Larry Hendricks of the Sea Star proposed a bet. Initially in was to be the first boat to catch 100,000 pounds, but not all the boats had 100,000 pounds to catch. Then it was proposed that the 1st to catch 10,000 crab would be the winner. That got scratched as the fleet had not yet settled on a price, which would give an advantage to anyone leaving early before a price was agreed to with the processors. An hour of tense drunken negotiations (the captains were trying to find an advantage in crafting the wagers rules) ensued.

Finally, it was settled upon that the boat that hauled the fewest pots to get to 10,000 crab would be the winner. Basically this bet was based on what is known as CPUE (Catch per unit effort).

All the captains signed on, and laid down their $100. Larry, having been the one that instigated the bet and never one to miss out on a bet, wanted in. He wouldn't’t be fishing this season, so it was agreed that he would secretly pick one of the boats, and put the name of the Captain and boat in the envelope with the $900 that was being held in the bar till after the season. If he chose correctly he would split the $900 with the winner.

Factors that would impact the bet 

1. Vessels out early: This is an advantage as the crab grounds would be fresh, and the 1st pick on hot fishing is always the best. If a captain can get his gear set early on a hot spot before the fleet arrives, his gear won’t be competing against other pots. Concentrations of gear definitely reduce your CPUE. Fishing alone increases CPUE substantially. 

2. Partner boats out early: If a trusted partner boat found the crab prior to your arrival on the grounds you could set directly on hot fishing. This could be huge, but red crab can move really fast, and yesterday’s hot spot can be today’s blank pick. 

3. Pot size: Larger pots hold more crab, and not all vessels use the same gear. Why would anyone use smaller pots?  A captain that uses smaller gear may do so because he can turn the gear faster, smaller pots are easier to handle, and slightly quicker to work with. The number of pots onboard will vary because of size and weight: a vessel that can stack 180 6.5 ft x 6.5 ft may only be able to get 140 7’x8’s onboard. Having more gear means a captain can cover more area, and have more information on where the crab are, or where they may be moving to.

7’x8’ pots hold 100-150 king crab
7’x7’ pots hold 75-100 king crab
6.5’x6.5’ pots hold 50-75 king crab
6’x6’ pots hold 35-50 king crab (none being fished with this group)

4. Soak time: The longer you can afford to keep your gear on the bottom, the more crab you can expect to catch per pot.

5. Bait: Everyone has their own idea of what works best. Herring or sardines, chopped, and put into jars or bait bags for the primary bait. There are actually a lot of choices on brand or provenance. Hang bait is best if fresh. Choices range from cod, dog (chum) or pink salmon, halibut heads, or even black cod heads. Some guys will even mix in salmon eggs, or use herring oil which they dip the bags in or mix in with the chopped bait. 

The Odds

4 to 1 Odds:
Sig, the Northwestern. Using 7’x8’ and 300 pots. The trip back to town while he soaks the first set should be huge, and had friends out 48 hours prior to the rest of boats starting.

5 to 1 Odds:
Phil, the Cornelia Marie. Using 7’x7’ pots, good size load for 1st set, and first boat on the grounds.

6 to 1 Odds:
Al, the Early Dawn. Using 7’x7’ pots, early start. Excellent captain. 2 loads of gear so good soak time on first set. Partner info.

6 to 1 Odds:
Keith, the Wizard. Using 6.5’x6.5’ pots, big load for initial set, and 100 more pots in the storage grounds. Partner info.

6 to 1 Odds:
Greg, the Farwest Leader. Using 7’x7' pots, fishing 2 loads long soak the first set, good partner boat info.

6 to 1 Odds:
Jonathan, the Time Bandit. Using 7’x8’ pots, one load of gear, but has a small trip to take to St. Paul and the ability to soak most of his first and second sets.

7 to 1 Odds:
Blake the Maverick. Using 7’x7’ pots, Rookie skipper, lots of other radio info going into season, which can be good or bad. Depends if the guy giving you the info is a straight shooter. Long soak on 2nd pick while delivering to St. Paul is huge.

10 to 1 Odds:
Corky the Aleutian Ballad. Using 6.5’x6.5’ pots. Excellent, seasoned captain, but fishing small single load of gear.

Contest!

Take a guess at who will win the wager and win a Crabwizard hat. Pick the correct captain and boat. Log your guess in the “Wizquiz”. One random winner. And also the person with the most interesting, amusing, or colorful reason why they picked the winning boat will also win a hat. Only 1 guess per person please.