The lives of Alaskan crab fishermen are dangerous, taxing, and turbulent. But the rewards can be well worth the risks, and perhaps no one knows this better than Captain "Wild" Bill Wichrowski.
During Tuesday's edition of The DA Show, the longtime star of the Discovery Channel hit series "Deadliest Catch" discussed the competitive crab fisherman lifestyle, and shared some crazy stories from times at sea.
"In the beginning, [Alaska] was where a lot of people went when they were in trouble," Wichrowski said. "They went to Alaska to hide. And it was that kind of personality -- aggressive, not afraid of anything -- that's how a lot of guys got started in the industry. And in the beginning, the money was crazy. It was like rock star wages. It's kind of changed now, with insurance costs and fuel costs and everything else has gone up. But it was the rock star, in a way, in its day. You'd come home with $100,000 for a two-week season. And it was unbelievable, and it was cash. It was wine, women, and song. The rest of it, you wasted for a lot of years...
"There were definitely seasons like that. I had a king crab [expedition] that was seven-and-a-half days, and my take was $89,000, and you'd just end up with a check... I bought my first house for $55,000, paid cash. And it was a pretty exciting lifestyle... In the beginning, in the Northwest, if you told some of your crab fishermen, they'd spit on the ground and say stay away from my daughter. And now, they're introducing them to their daughter."
A new season of "Deadliest Catch" premieres Tuesday, April 20 at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery, and is streaming now on Discovery Plus.
The entire conversation between Wichrowski and DA can be accessed in the video and audio players above.
You can follow The DA Show on Twitter @DAonCBS and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.