Sophia ‘Bob’ Nielsen Takes Over Northwestern for Sig Hansen

The winter season on Deadliest Catch has been challenging the captains in more ways than one. Sophia “Bob” Nielsen has been wanting to show Sig Hansen what she can do as she awaits her big opportunity to take the Northwestern’s captain chair. With the Aleutian Lady having its share of greenhorns, Rick Shelford looks to fulfill his crab quota while managing the next generation on deck. 

Johnathan Hillstrand’s run has been a mixed bag, but the Time Bandit’s leader knows how quickly the tide can change. That proved true during the July 24 episode when he not only needed to keep the operation going on the vessel. He had to address a painful situation someone close to him was dealing with aboard as well. 

Read on below as we explain. 

Sig Hansen

Sig Hansen (Discovery Channel)

Sig continued to ride the Russian border to intercept opilio northbound. Bob wants her shot behind the wheel. Sig felt given the conditions the Northwestern captain needed to stay the course. Bob felt that her mentor needed to get some beauty sleep after he yawned and appeared tired. The waves toppled over the deck, creating a dangerous situation. Sig’s son-in-law Clark Pederson appeared to hurt his head. Sig rushed to check on him and took responsibility for what happened after believing he was distracted. “The one thing I was afraid you’d do, I did.” Sig said to Bob. Sig then assured her she would get her time when he really needed it and to be ready. 

The time came where Bob was given the green light to lead her first opilio sting, which she dubbed the “Rookie String.” Bob now had the pressure to get the gear set with everything riding on this moment. “Would you be a dear,” Bob joked to Sig by handing him a mug for coffee. They bond over past losses with Bob having her dad die right after her 13th birthday. Sig’s own father also passed away when he was young. He said Bob’s dad would be proud of her being on the Bering Sea. Sig coached from the sidelines. The team posted some nice numbers. “Good job Hot Rod,” he said. Speaking of hot rods, fun fact is that Sig voiced the character Crabby, a crab fishing boat, in Cars 2. 

Rick Shelford

Deckhand Todd Meadows (Discovery Channel)

On the bairdi grounds, Rick needed to deliver 25,000 pounds per day to get to his goal. The devastating conditions weren’t making it easy with 22 foot swells a regular threat. He wanted to set 29 pots in the area, but was forced to rethink his strategy after the weather was “pushing the envelope a little too close.” Adding to the stress was the fact his new crew member Todd Meadows had been dealing with a painful broken tooth. Sadly, the 25-year-old rookie died later in the season after falling overboard due to drowning and probable hypothermia. He was still included in these episodes at this point with a painful toothache. 

Rick said this was Todd’s first time on the Bering Sea. He remarked that despite the inexperience, he was ahead of where he should be when it came to picking up things. However, the captain worried about his tooth. He gave Todd some antibiotics. The crew ended up going to town after the pain never subsided. That set them back 50 hours, but Rick thought this might be more than an infection. The doctor pulled out Todd’s wisdom tooth and the broken won. They returned to the boat where work continued. 

Johnathan Hillstrand

Johnathan Hillstrand’s wife Heather (Discovery Channel)

It was two weeks into the Time Bandit captain’s first opilio trip in two years. He had his wife Heather by his side. He worked toward filling 100,000 pounds worth $500,000. The crew discovered sand fleas were wreaking havoc on their cod bait. As this was going on, Heather was irritated by what looked like a painful ingrown hair under her armpit. Johnathan joked, “This is why we don’t shave our arms and armpits out here.” He grew more concerned for Heather as she looked in anguish. “I can’t take it anymore,” she said in tears. 

Johnathan was hesitant to drain what appeared to be a cyst, but he went ahead with it. Heather’s screams were probably loud enough to be heard at the Dutch Harbor, but having the puss come out certainly brought some relief. “There is definitely some bad juju going on,” Johnathan said. His luck changed in terms of the heavy baiting paying off. Then it was off to the clinic to get Heather checked out. 

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