‘Deadliest Catch’: Why Controversial Captain Greg Wallace Made Dramatic Return to Show

[Warning: The below contains spoilers for Deadliest Catch Season 21]

It’s six weeks into the fishing season on Deadliest Catch, and a controversial figure has made a dramatic return to the show as the pressure is on to deliver. During the September 26 episode, Sig Hansen wasn’t having too much luck in the midst of a very competitive bairdi crab season. The Northwestern was among 33 boats chasing 700,000 pounds of quota. Sig noticed pots in the area belonged to Keith Colburn. Conflicted on his next move, he called on son-in-law Clark Pederson for input. 

Sig wanted to take a little peek at how Keith’s pots were doing, but did it go against his moral and ethical fibers? “If you want, I’ll haul it,” Clark offered. Sig responded, “I can’t tell you what to do.” Nice mental move by Sig as he didn’t have to be the one to get his hands dirty. The pot they picked up had 60 crabs, which confirmed the waters were teeming with product. Sig ordered to set off his own gear parallel to Keith’s pots. 

Keith Colburn/Discovery Channel

Keith’s brother Monte noticed The Northwestern in the vicinity. Keith called Sig, “a sneaky bastard.” The Wizard captain made the decision to go dark on the radar system. “You want a shoving match? Game on,” Keith said. He checked out Sig’s pot the same way. This evolved into a race as the two went head-to-head. That was until The Northwestern hit a snag. In a moment of generosity, Keith offered to help Sig as the vessel had a one-inch thick polyurethane line wrapped around the propeller shaft, Sig depended on Keith to connect the line from the tangle to The Wizard’s hydraulic powered hauler. The strategy worked t. “I owe you on this one,” Sig said to Keith. It then was back to business for crab. 

 Rick Shelford/Discovery Channel

Elsewhere, Rick Shelford and Sophia “Bob” Nielsen were facing rough conditions aboard the Aleutian Lady. The waves came in strong with the two looking to offload, but they needed another 3,000 pounds. That meant a 55 average in their pots. Rick lost power on his controls after cables and monitors were messed up. Sophia’s strategy was to use the GPS on her phone to locate their pots. This meant all was riding on mobile navigation. The string of pots hit double-digits and was enough to make their delivery. The crew ultimately ended up with 90,081 pounds, which translated to more than $2.4 million in king crab. Rick summed it up with, “It don’t get better than that.” 

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In the Dutch Harbor, Steve “Harley” Davidson was awaiting a new co-captain after he faced a mutinous crew aboard the Confidence. Harley brought Greg Wallace on to lend a hand for the rest of the season in the hope he can help deliver results. Wallace garnered some controversy last season aboard the Seabrooke with how he treated his daughter, deckhand Megan, who suffered a dislocated hip. He acclimated quickly, knowing he and Harley had to hustle to make up for lost time with more than a million dollar quota over their head. Harley noticed something was wrong with his throttle and controls. 

“I need eyes in the engine room right now,” Harley demanded. Greg had throttles on his end at least. The crew believed it’s the breaker. The plan was for Greg to operate controls while Harley handles steering. Their hope was their second string of pots would bring them some luck. They received encouraging results with a 57 per pot average. Greg and Harley look to be a good team. 

Deadliest Catch, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel