The Kodiak and Wizard head out to the open sea past the snow-covered mountains that ring Dutch Harbor.
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The Cornelia Marie plows through frigid seas during the 2010 Opilio fishing season. Capt. Phil's boat got a later start than the rest of the fleet because she was undergoing repairs following a collision with a reef.
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Wizard crewmen use axes and ice hammers to clear away the thick coating of ice that covered the boats in their first days out. Just as the Opie season started, a massive Arctic storm swept across the Bering Sea bringing heavy seas and freezing spray.
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After long hours clearing ice and pots, Wizard deckhands still face a deck covered with snow. Earlier, during the worst of the storm, Capt. Andy on the Time Bandit ordered the pots to be dropped without bait because the ice buildup was making the boat top heavy and unstable. As Andy said, "Don't matter if we're catching crab or not — this is staying alive."
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Time Bandit deckhand Mike Fourtner throws the hook as active fishing operations get under way. Ice still covers much of the boat, but not enough to get in the way of dropping pots and pulling crabs.
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Wizard deckhand Lenny Lekanoff brings in a pot brimming with Opilio crab. A freezing cold Bering Sea is hell for fishermen, but it's the perfect time for opie crabbing.
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Cornelia Marie deckhands dump back crabs that can't be taken — either the wrong species or too small. The crews are especially wary of accidentally taking Bairdi crab that are off season and bring heavy fines if they show up in the catch.
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Wizard greenhorn Paul Edgren brings up more bait for Capt Keith's almost not-stop pot pace. The rookie was introduced to crabbing under the most challenging conditions, including the worst ice storms in decades and the usual rough treatment at the hands of the full shares.
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A lonely Time Bandit slowly makes its way across a stretch of the Bering Sea now covered with sea ice. As the Opie season wore on, the coldest parts of the Bering Sea began to freeze at the surface, forcing the captains to take extra care with their thin hulls.
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The Northwestern heads farther north as the sun goes down. Since the Arctic winter has such short days, most of the fishing gets done at night — but only with powerful floodlights illuminating the deck.
Image Credit: Rick Gershon/Getty Images DCL
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