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'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 Episode 1: Captain Harley looks into Jake's pots as angry fans call him a 'scumbag'

Jake & Co. whoop with excitement as their pots come brimming with the Alaskan King Crabs, a move they have to thank Johnathan Hillstrand for in the middle of a raging storm

Spoilers for 'Deadliest Catch' Season 16 Episode 1 'The Russians Are Coming'

The pilot episode saw seven captains and their crews head out to the rough Bering sea to grab crabs and beat the Russians, especially after the Russian authorities attempt to fix an issue where they have been illegally and overly harvesting and importing crab into the United States for years. This has hurt the pockets of these fishermen. The double premiere on Wednesday saw some interesting developments between two captains — Jake Anderson of the Saga and Steve 'Harley' Davidson of the Southern Wind. 

A terrible storm rages at night when the crew is sailing with Saga, Southern Wind and Wizard caught right in the outer ring of the storm. While Wizard, spearheaded by the Colburn brothers Keith and Monte, is hit flush on the bow with a 40-foot rogue wave, the other boats cast their pots to see what they have got. 

Jake & Co. whoop with excitement as their pots come brimming with the Alaskan King crabs, a move they have to thank Johnathan Hillstrand for, while Harley gets in some catch, except a majority are female crabs which they let go adhering to the rules. However, Harley, known for his tricks, reaches out to Jake asking him about the situation down there and this led to a fan outrage on Twitter.  His intentions to pull Jake's pots were not received well by fans. 

"100% confirmed Harley is a scumbag #DeadliestCatch" tweeted a fan, and this was echoed by a bunch of fans who shared the mutual hate for the Southern Wind skipper. "That would seriously piss me off to have someone mess with my pots like Captain Harley did to the Saga. Dirty, just downright dirty. #DeadliestCatch," said another. 

"Harley is so unlikeable... #DeadliestCatch wrote a fan. "Captain Harley is a d**k and a lazy ass fisherman. #DeadliestCatch," seconded another. "Let me guess. Harley is going to check Jake's pot. Shifty!" exclaimed one of the fans. "That Harley dude isn't just a prick, he's also a parasite. #DeadliestCatch," tweeted a fan. "Capt. Harley is a piece of shhh as a fisherman. He is a vulture, living on the real crabbers' talent. #DeadliestCatch," was one of the mean tweets. 

"That's bullshit!! Find your own damn crab. I hope his zinc clip fails and he loses his pots #DeadliestCatch@JakeVAnderson@FVTimeBandit," vented a fan. "Even my mother just called Harley a jacka**. And she's a minister #DeadliestCatch," wrote a fan. Well, looks like Harley has no dearth of hate there. 

'Deadliest Catch' airs Tuesdays 8 pm ET on Discovery.