Deadliest Catch fans, the wait is almost over. The Emmy-winning Discovery reality series returns March 29 for its twelfth season with a two-hour premiere. John Gray, an executive producer for Original Productions, spoke to Yahoo TV to preview what’s ahead, boat by boat. Get ready…

Brenna A



It’s a new boat for the show, but one with a father-son backstory that’s right in its wheelhouse. The skipper is 23-year-old Sean Dwyer, the youngest in Catch history. “Sean’s dad, Pat, was a really well-established fisherman in the Bering Sea. He passed away, very tragically, from ALS a few years ago in 2013. Before he passed away, he purchased the Brenna A with the specific goal of setting Sean up for the future. Sean and his mom have been working towards this moment. It’s a really emotional story of Sean carrying the torch from his father into captaincy,” Gray says. “He’s a good captain, which a lot of guys aren’t at that age. He’s an impressive young guy.”

He’ll have to be: his 290,000 lb. quota comes from Capt. Sig Hansen. “Sean was not planning on going out king crab fishing; he was getting his boat ready to go opilio fishing. Sig had a lot of bairdi quota. It is a crab that is hard to catch, and you need to get out there early. Sig knew Sean’s father and had heard that Sean was looking for an opportunity, that he was a good young skipper. Sig saw the opportunity A, to give a young captain a chance, and B, for his own benefit to have somebody go out there and catch his quota,” Gray says.

Northwestern

Sig makes a bold decision to visit grounds he hasn’t fished in over a decade. Will it pay off? “He is a guy that always has a couple tricks up his sleeve. I don’t want to give anything away in terms of whether or not he catches his crab quickly,” Gray says. “Of course he has challenges just like everybody. Sig faces some challenges this season that he’s never faced before, which is really great.”

One challenge Sig does know well returns: bad weather. “We see one of the most violent storms that the guys have ever seen. I’m sure that we say that every season, but during this season, there is a point where the fleet has to run and hide, and the waves and the storm are so violent that they bend the steel of the Northwestern’s bow. We have never seen anything like the violence of the wave that shocks the Northwestern,” Gray says. “It is a very testy Bering Sea this year.”

Saga

Jake Anderson remains in the wheelhouse, ready to captain his first king crab season. "Last year he was essentially trying to get there, now he’s trying to prove that he belongs,” Gray says. “He wants to wash the stink off the Saga and make it his own. Part of that is physical: he actually wants to change the color, and he wants to do those kind of things so that he puts his stamp on it. Part of it is cultural: Jake wants to figure out what his brand of fishing is.”

The Deadliest Catch producers love working with Jake because, as fans know, he is very honest with his emotions. “He wears his heart on his sleeve and is not afraid to speak his mind and be who he really is, which makes him a great subject for a documentary television series,” Gray says. “For Jake, it’s figuring out how he harnesses that passion that makes him a great character, but that can also make him a combustible person as well, in a positive way for the sake of his crew and the sake of his success as a captain. That’s his big challenge.”

But will we see Jake cry this season? “Well, we haven’t edited everything. Whether or not we show it, that’s still being determined, but of course Jake cries,” Gray says with a laugh. “All you have to do with Jake is say his son’s name, Aiden, and he starts to tear up.”

Related: ‘Deadliest Catch’ Favorite Capt. Phil Harris Voted Greatest Reality TV Personality of All Time

Cornelia Marie

Capt. Casey McManus and Josh Harris are again working as partners. “Josh has to take off the training wheels for himself personally, and also for the success of the Cornelia Marie. They have a lot of quota. They have to fish a lot, and Casey shouldn’t have to do it all on his own, so it’s important for Josh to step up,” Gray says. There’s added pressure, too: To pay for over $1 million of upkeep on the Cornelia Marie during the off-season, Josh had to sell a majority of the boat to investors.