Skip to main content

Deadliest Catch fans have seen many captains and crew members come and go since it premiered in 2005. Some have made a bigger impression than others, including Phil Harris, one of the show’s most memorable cast members. The captain of the F/V Cornelia Marie was a fixture on the Discovery Channel series in its early seasons, but he died suddenly in 2010 at the age of 53.

After Harris’ death, his sons Jake Harris and Josh Harris took over the family fishing business. Their efforts to carry on their late father’s legacy were chronicled on Deadliest Catch. But both Josh and Jake have since left the show. Josh’s exit came after some disturbing information about his past resurfaced in 2022, but Jake left Deadliest Catch much earlier.  

Jake Harris struggled after leaving ‘Deadliest Catch’ in 2012 

Shortly after his father’s unexpected death, Jake opened up about his desire to continue in his dad’s line of work. 

“I’m going to be looking at that [captain’s] chair in a different way,” he said in an interview with People. “We definitely talked about it, but I just didn’t expect this to happen so soon. That’s definitely something where I would take over and take the responsibility.”

Unfortunately, personal challenges derailed Jake’s fishing career. The fisherman had started abusing opiates in high school, he shared in a conversation with Dr. Drew Pinksy. After his father’s death, he turned to drugs to cope.

“I got a big hole in my heart and I tried to fill it up with everything that wasn`t good for it,” he explained (via CNN). 

Jake left Deadliest Catch in 2012. Since then, he’s had several run-ins with the law. In 2017, he was arrested in Phoenix for stealing a car and drug possession. In 2019, he was sentenced to 18 months on DUI and drug charges. And in 2021, he was arrested again after a police officer in Washington State pulled him over for driving 86 MPH in a 70 MPH zone. He was booked for felony DUI, driving with a suspended license, and driving without a required ignition interlock, Fox News reported.

He made a brief return to TV in ‘Deadliest Catch: Bloodline’ 

Jake Harris of 'Deadliest Catch' on the field a at a Dodgers game
Jake Harris of ‘Deadliest Catch’ at a Los Angeles Dodgers game in 2011 | Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
Related

‘Deadliest Catch’ Captains Earn Good Money From the Show, Jake Anderson Says

While Jake struggled with substance abuse issues, he did eventually make a return to Discovery Channel. He appeared in a single episode of Deadliest Catch Season 16, which aired in 2020. And in 2021 and 2022, appeared in a handful of episodes of Deadliest Catch: Bloodline. That spinoff series followed his older brother Josh and his co-captain Casey McManus as they explored Phil Harris’ old fishing grounds in Hawaii. 

According to Josh, things were looking up for Jake after a difficult few years. 

“He’s doing really well. He has a new lady in his life, and she’s got five kids, so he’s a stay-at-home dad, which has been great for him,” Josh shared in a 2021 interview with Patheos. “He’s doing really good. So, we’ll see in the future what his plans are and what’s going to help him with his sobriety.”

Deadliest Catch: Bloodline has since been canceled, and Jake hasn’t appeared on the current season of Deadliest Catch. Based on his Instagram, he’s been spending time with his family, including his daughter, who was born in 2021. 

Sources: Fox10 Phoenix, TMZ, Fox News, Instagram. 

How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

For more on the entertainment world and exclusive interviews, subscribe to Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s YouTube channel.

Best in Entertainment