Nome Harbor is frozen but the miners are determined to stay on the gold throughout the icy winter. Shawn Pomrenke is thrilled to be mining without the interference of his father Steve and he's counting on Christine Rose deckhand Cody Moen to help lead the team to success. Zeke Tenhoff and Emily Riedel reunite after a contentious summer season and get busy winterizing the dredge with the help of Emily's quirky father Steve. Meanwhile, newcomer mining crew from the dredge Lazy Gator is on the ice hoping their inexperience won't prevent them from scoring a huge payday.
An electrical fire out on the ice spells trouble for one of Shawn's divers and Steve makes a surprise appearance to check up on his son. Over at the Lazy Gator camp, the guys find a pay streak but problems with a hose may stop them from sucking up the gold. Meanwhile, Zeke's operation suffers a setback when Steve Riedel refuses to dive.
Jesse risks his life to save crucial diving equipment that is caught under the ice and a Shamrock greenhorn fights the urge to panic as he learns to dive for the first time. At the Clark camp, a rookie mistake costs Zeke an entire night of mining but help from Steve Pomrenke may improve their luck.
Nome Harbor's ice is melting and the miners brave dangerous conditions to get on the gold. Zeke runs into trouble after he drops his weight belt while diving and no one is around to help and a fatigued tender over at the Lazy Gator camp does not respond to his diver's cry for help. On the Shamrock, Cody suffers a season-ending injury causing Shawn to send in his greenhorn as a substitute diver.
Rising temperatures signal the end of winter mining season under the ice thus the crews race to capture their final ounces of gold. On the Shamrock, Cody fights through his injury in order to get in one last dive while the Lazy Gators pack up early when they hear the ice start to move. Zeke and Emily are philosophical about their disappointing season but vow to do better this summer.