Whoo!
-Oh! -Whoa!
-He's rolling!
As gator season kicks into high gear...
Oh, no! Ow!
Mother Nature blasts the swampers
with extreme temps...
This is crazy.
And record low water...
Oh, I see it. He's floating a little bit.
-Dead? -He's dead.
Hunters launch daring new plans to beat the heat...
We're gonna do a morning shift
and an evening shift today, Peewee.
Oh! Ay yi yi yi!
And navigate disastrously shallow waters...
Having Dad's old airboat is a game changer.
Oh, my God, that's a big one!
Using every weapon in their arsenal
and every trick of the trade...
There's pockets that open up and they hold these big gators.
-Oh! -We don't have any ammo.
Get him, Anna, get him.
Oh!
As the battle with nature rages on.
Ooh, watch yourself.
-This is a big gator. -Bring him up.
-You got him? -Oh, no, no!
[gunshots]
As the first week of gator season ramps up,
at St. Mary's Seafood,
Edgar family patriarch Daniel Edgar
starts the new season with a unique solution
to help his family battle the low water.
There's Joey. What's up, Joey?
Come on, come on, feeling good.
What is this thing we're about to go on? I'm excited.
Well, I've got a new boat, as you know,
so that gives me the opportunity to let you guys take this boat.
Oh, Lord, thank you.
Now y'all can go in some of these holes.
Correct. That helps a lot.
This is gonna change the game.
Getting these things to bubble with that engine
and having that bird's eye view up there,
this tool, I promise you, it'll be night and day for us.
We're gonna bring in some gators on this airboat.
-It's different. -I promise you that.
-Oh, yeah. -Very good.
Very good, very good.
This boat is being passed down to me.
We usually use an outboard,
but I think the water's so low this year,
it'll benefit Zak and I if we use the airboat.
The fact that we're a little higher up looking down,
it's a different deal.
This airboat is gonna help Zak and I a lot.
This gives us an advantage.
We got a lot of tags to fill. This will help me and Zak.
We can get in some of those areas
that we typically couldn't get in.
And we can get into shallow water
when we can't hunt in the deep water, too.
We worked in this boat for years and years and years.
Giving Joey the other airboat,
with that boat, he can go in a lot of places
that he can't go with an outboard.
And I just hope he takes care of it like I did.
What's the plan?
What's your thoughts?
The water in the Gulf's real hot.
I'm gonna go all the way to the east,
try to kill those as fast as we can,
and we'll work our way back this way.
That makes a lot of sense. Good luck.
Appreciate you. Let's do it.
Let's go them, baby.
In Bayou Sorrel,
Veteran gator hunter Willie Edwards
and his son Little Willie
believe they have just the right weapon
to take on this year's record low water.
With the low water,
treble hooking is still a good advantage.
Most of the alligators gonna be in the bayou.
And once they in the bayou, game's on from then.
I mean, he can't hide nowhere,
and you got more gators there gonna be in the bayou
and you just gotta pick the one you want.
Big male bull gators dig holes for shelter and protection,
usually deep into the swamp.
During periods of drought or low water,
those holes can be separated from the main canals and bayous
by dry land, forcing the gators
to converge onto these larger bodies of water to hunt.
Adding to Willie's confidence
is the return of his son Little Willie.
After briefly leaving to take a job on land last season,
this year Little Willie is back.
This year, I'm back full time. Ain't got a job in a way.
We're gonna try to make it happen.
This year I quit my job,
and now I'll be hunting all season with my dad.
My goal is I'm gonna prove to him I can handle the weight,
I can handle the responsibility on my shoulders and everything.
I'm not a kid no more,
and I got what it takes to do that and more.
There may be one snag in Willie's plan.
His son missed most of last gator season,
and his skills may need some sharpening.
If we treble hook, bear with me.
I might be a little rusty.
It been a whole year since I did it.
Starting the first day of alligator season,
I'm kind of worried.
Sit out in the offseason and being out of shape
and that's what scares me and all.
But we gonna get it going and see how it goes.
Treble hooking is an Edwards family tradition,
with Willie learning it from his father
and passing it on to his son.
Big one up there.
Going that way.
Gotta keep in mind, that's a big gator.
-Look at the waves. -That's what I'm saying.
This thing's big.
Go ahead.
Aw, man.
He's trying to get back off that bottom.
How far to throw ahead of him?
Yes, you can throw it right out there.
Oh!
I feel like I'm bumping him, but I'm not.
Right here, son.
As Little Willie struggles,
his dad decides to step in.
Big.
Hey, watch your hand, Willie. Don't let it out.
He is a heavy.
-That's what I'm talking about. -Yes, indeed.
-Ready? -All right.
Snagging this nine foot giant in spite of low water
is a great catch for Willie,
but he's concerned his son
might not be up to the challenge.
It's the first day of the season,
and, you know, he got a little rust on him.
So I went ahead and grabbed the hook from him
and threw the hook on the alligator.
But I'm gonna try to work that off of him,
try to get him where he gets on top of his game and everything.
But he's doing all right.
He's just gotta pick it up just a little bit faster.
Hook just wouldn't work for me.
Gotta let it just bump against him
and then snatch up on him.
We been waiting on for a little over 11 months.
We got a little rust and everything,
but we're gonna knock the rust off.
We need to do this.
We gotta get on the ball.
Over on Lake Verret,
with over 800 tags still left to fill,
Troy's come up with a daring strategy
to work around the heat.
We got 150 lines to run today, Peewee. We gotta hustle.
We gonna do a morning shift and an evening shift.
Oh, yeah? We're coming back this evening?
Yup.
75 in the morning, 75 in the evening.
No playing around today.
We gonna run roughly about 75 lines,
then we're gonna bring in our alligators,
cool them down, ice them down,
because the weather's been hotter than normal
and the water's been hotter than normal.
It's very important
to get these first ones we catch right at daylight
on ice as soon as possible so they don't spoil.
And then we're gonna hurry up and go back,
try to run the second half of the lines.
We gotta catch a lot, a lot of alligators.
That's a lot.
That's more than I ever fished with you.
I have never ran a double-shift on an alligator boat.
And it's hot as Hades right now out here,
and especially with the low water,
it makes it even more steamy,
and it's gonna be a tough one.
The heat is almost unbearable.
There's a big risk splitting your lines in two
because if you catch a gator on that second half,
the last lines we gonna get to late this evening,
if there's a gator that's been on there since yesterday,
there's a chance it could be spoiled.
So it's very important to get to them as fast as possible.
Because they are cold blooded,
alligators assume the temperature
of their surroundings.
They feel the most comfortable
between 82 and 92 degrees.
Above that they can overheat.
This year, water temps in the Atchafalaya Basin
are reaching the mid-90s,
while the air temp is into the triple digits,
so gators must constantly search
for cooler spots to move to or die.
Oh, oh, oh, oh!
Oh, good Lord.
[laughs]
Got a tree-shaker.
Other side, P.
Show him who's the boss.
He's digging his toes in.
Ah!
Bring him up!
Show us what you got, Peewee.
Whoa.
Whoo!
Shoot!
[gunshot]
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
He's perfect, perfect size.
Ready? One, two, three.
Oh, three, Peewee. One, two, three.
Good job.
This eight footer is a good start to a long day,
but the hunters need to keep up a brisk pace
to stay ahead of the heat.
We got two full days in one you packed on me, huh?
It's gonna work, though.
It better work.
I promise you it's gonna work.
Some 70 miles away,
Joey and Zak are heading to shallow sloughs
in their inherited airboat,
and Joey's hoping to outshine his dad
in his dad's old boat.
I'm thinking we got an opportunity
to get ahead of Daddy,
and we got to get us an alligator bigger than his.
Y'all are so competitive.
He's always outdoing us.
It ain't gonna happen this year. Not this year.
Having Dad's old airboat is a game changer
as far as us competing with Dad on a different level,
being able to go and access places
we typically couldn't with an outboard.
You know, him and Dorien better get ready,
'cause Zak and I, we coming.
The Edgar family's always competing.
Dad and I, we compete in everything, every day.
That's who we are.
Line's down. He's on the bank.
You got to get out and go get him.
Joey, that slide looks massive.
Oh, that might be where he climbed up. I don't know.
Be careful.
This looks like a bulldozer came through. Look at this.
Yeah. He definitely passed right there.
It's a big path back here.
Oh, there's a big alligator.
I don't know if he's alive.
I think he's dead, pop. I don't know.
He's upside down.
Oh, he's upside down?
It's a nice size alligator,
but I don't think that's what made all that racket, though.
Look, there's a big puddle on this side.
Watch yourself. You know how it is when they're on the bank.
There's a slide that goes into it.
Look, all the branches are nice and smooth.
Watch yourself, bubba.
I'm not worried about the one I can see.
I'm worried about what's in this water sitting here right by him.
Make sure he's dead. Touch him.
Oh, no! Ow!
In Braithwaite,
Zak's surprised by a land gator playing dead.
There's a big alligator. I don't know if he's alive.
Watch yourself, bubba.
Oh, no! Ow!
Aah! Ow! Pop, he's alive!
Shoot him!
[gunshot]
Shoot him again!
[gunshot]
-Whoa! -Oh, my God.
Nice job, good job, good alligator.
First one of the year, baby.
That thing slapped the guts out of me.
[laughs] I told you.
Damn.
This is a good spot, Joey. You good?
You might have to help me with this one, bubba.
Yeah, I'm coming.
Catching this eight footer
on recently exposed dry land is encouraging.
The team should be able to hunt
in a whole new range of territory
thanks to the airboat.
Any time an alligator's on the bank,
you have to be careful.
And Zak walks up to this alligator,
he thinks he's fast,
but an alligator will get him on land.
He took a chance, but luckily we got this alligator
and it didn't get him.
There we go, Joey.
That's a nice alligator, dude.
Good job.
We got some.
Fishing out of the airboat,
it's a little different working out of this thing.
I like it. I like it a lot.
You know, I don't have to scrub that engine, dude.
We get to sit up on these seats
instead of down here with the alligators.
I'm liking it. It's flat.
Look at this platform out here.
This is like a sport fish. I can do a dance up here.
We gonna see. We gonna see.
24 miles away,
Ashley "Deadeye" Jones and her deckhand Anna Ribbeck
have their own strategy
to combat this year's unusually low water.
Ashley spent the offseason
researching deep water honey holes
and has mapped the best locations to find gators.
What is this place?
This is Cauthen Bayou.
You're gonna love this place.
Because the water's really deep,
there's some monster gators in there.
Yes!
Cauthen Bayou is one of my favorite places
that I was able to do some research during the offseason,
and I know that it's gonna be worth it to get back in there.
The big gators like to hang out with big deep water,
which makes Cauthen Bayou perfect.
It's been a long boat ride for this.
With the water being so low,
there's pockets that open up
and they hold these big gators.
It's gonna be worth it, Anna.
Heck, yeah.
Finally made it to our first line of the day.
It's down.
That's a good sign.
I think it's in the back.
Yup.
Let's see what we got.
He got himself wrapped up in the stumps.
Flip it up. There you go.
He's coming right back up underneath us, Anna.
All right.
You ready? He's right here.
Whoo! Watch yourself!
-Got him? -I got him.
Hold him, Anna.
Get him, Ash.
There he is, get him Ash, get him, Ash.
[gun clicks]
Ugh.
Ugh!
No.
Damn it!
There he is.
[gunshot]
Good job, Anna.
-Whew! -Whew!
Come on.
Anna and I both forgot the ammo, and as a captain,
that's really the number one thing to remember.
You gotta have bullets, you know.
Oh, I can't believe that.
This eight and a half footer on their first line
is a tribute to Ashley's meticulous offseason work,
but the missing ammunition for their rifle
puts their entire day in jeopardy.
I only have five shots left.
You think we can go in and get some more ammo?
No, we're way too far out. We're not gonna be able to.
We can't leave these gators on the line all day.
They'll go bad. They'll be ruined.
-You have your bow? -We can do it with the bow.
It's not gonna be easy, but I can definitely do it.
I'm definitely gonna need Anna to use her bow today
and conserve the bullets whenever we can,
because we're in a pickle now.
Got my pistol, got the bow.
I'm ready for whatever happens.
Show me where that next gator is.
Over in Bayou Black,
the extreme temperature has Daniel Edgar considering
how much longer he can meet the demands of gator season.
It's not gonna be long before you and Joey
are gonna just have to start taking some of this.
Pa, you're telling me you're considering retiring?
Well, unless they find something to stop aging,
I'm gonna retire.
That's hard to believe.
I'm 74 years old, and it's over 100 degrees.
Heat's almost painful.
I would like to slow down a little.
But despite more than seven decades in the swamp,
Daniel's competitive spirit is still strong as ever.
You know, Joey and I compete a lot. Always have.
Last four or five years,
I've always had bigger gators than him and Zak.
I've skinned their butt.
So day one I'm gonna make sure that I line up everything
to get a big one on the first day.
Let's take a look at this thing, pa.
I wonder if they got one on there, pa.
Let's see what we got.
Confirmed.
It's a nice gator.
Whoa, watch yourself.
We got one, pa.
It's a good alligator.
Come here, boy.
Give me a shot on this thing.
Trying to roll.
Whoa!
Try to turn him.
This a bad dude.
Watch him, pa. Give me a shot.
Okay, okay, okay, okay.
Whoa!
That alligator was so mean,
we almost need to give him a name.
After all that twisting he did.
That's a warrior.
Nice.
Start our pile.
This eight footer is a good start to the season,
but Daniel's not gonna quit until he gets his monster.
When you love to do something so much,
how do you slow down?
That's my problem.
You can't be in a recliner at home
knowing that my son and my grandson
are in the swamp chasing alligators.
Looks like a good eight footer, huh, pa?
Eight and a half, yes, sir.
That's a good start.
Back on Lake Verret,
Troy and Pickle have run more than half
of their first set of 75 lines.
But with another set to run later today
in this record heat,
the two hunters must race the clock and exhaustion
if they hope to retrieve the last gators
before they die on the line and spoil.
We got 150 lines to run today,
and these alligators gotta get out the sun.
So I know I gotta hustle and bustle and work hard.
You see the line?
Yeah.
Look, look at-- look, he broke the whole branch.
Hey, grab that line and do not let it go.
What is it, P?
Bring him up, bring him up.
Do not let that line go.
[grunting]
Show him who's the boss.
He don't wanna come up.
Whoa! Whoo!
Yeah, fight him, Peewee, fight him.
Whoa. Ooh, it's a big one.
Don't let him go, whatever you do.
Whoo, it's a big one, it's a big one.
Yeah, bring him up, bring him up!
Oh!
Bring him up, bring him up.
Do it, do it.
[gunshot]
Ooh, Lord have mercy.
Okay, P, we gotta hustle.
One, two, three.
Even as they continue to add gators to their pile,
Troy and Pickle are racing against time.
Oh, I see it. He's floating a little bit.
Dead?
I don't know.
Could be playing possum right now.
Oh!
On Lake Verret...
Oh, I see it. He's floating a little bit.
Troy and Pickle are hustling to run two shifts today.
-Dead? -I don't know.
I think he's dead.
Oh, Lord. I see it.
I hope he's still good.
Once a gator dies,
there's only a short two hour period
during which it can be recovered
and still be considered good by the buyer.
Pretty alligator. I think he's still gonna be good.
I'm getting worried about gators that's on the lines
'cause it's really hot.
But most important thing I believe as a hunter
is everything we have in Mother Nature is a gift.
Morally you don't wanna waste an animal,
you don't wanna waste an alligator.
They're dying faster than ever.
That's why it's more important than ever
for us to leave early, hustle.
We gonna need to hurry up and go back,
try to run the second half of the lines.
The last thing we need is a bunch of dead alligators.
In remote Cauthen Bayou,
Ashley and Anna found deep water full of monsters.
But without ammo for their rifle,
they need to rely on Anna's pistol and bow.
This misunderstanding has really got us in a bind now.
We're not gonna be able to just ride in and get the bullets
because we're so far out.
I'm gonna need Anna to use her bow today.
I really need her to pull through and make it happen.
With the bow, it's a lot more difficult
and it kind of puts you
almost on the same playing field as the alligator
because you don't have the sureness of the gun.
You know, I don't even have a sight on my bow.
It's all about man versus beast at this point,
or woman versus beast.
All right, Anna, line's down. You got your bow ready?
Yeah, getting it ready.
Step one complete, Anna.
Step two, bring me that good gator.
Got a feeling this is gonna be a big one.
I'm gonna reach out and get that line
and try to get a good hold on him for you.
Okay. Let me know what he sees.
-Ready? -Yeah.
You get the first shot you see, okay?
I will.
-There he is! -Whoa!
Watch out!
This is a big gator, Anna.
Bring him up, Ash, bring him up.
Get him, get him, get him.
He's trying to bite the boat.
Whoo!
Where is he? Where is he? Watch out!
Get a shot, Anna.
-There he is! -Oh, my gosh.
Get him, get him.
Come on, gator, play nice.
All right, pull him up, pull him up.
Right there.
Shoot him, Anna.
Good shot, Anna.
Yes!
I'm so glad to see an arrow in this gator, Anna.
Oh, felt good.
Whew!
One, two, three. Watch his mouth.
Anna's perfect aim
means the hunters saved a bullet on this line,
but there's still many more left to run.
Reusable ammo.
That's what I like about that, Anna.
That's right.
I made a great shot,
and I know I've gotta maintain the bow all day long today.
It's gonna be tough, but we're gonna get it done.
Alrighty. Click, click.
Click, click.
Double A Team.
-So proud of you, Anna. -Ooh.
Over in Bayou Sorrel,
the Edwards are relying on their trusted treble hook
to hunt in low water,
but Willie's worried his son is out of practice.
When you got a deckhand and it's your son,
it's a lot different
than having a deckhand a stranger off the street.
And anybody that works in my boat,
it's not gonna be lollygagging or playing around.
He just gotta pick it up just a little bit faster.
We're gonna try to make it happen.
Good.
Treble hooking, 99.9% of the time
I don't miss.
But today it just ain't working.
Just gonna push it off and keep going.
Yeah, I see him right there.
Yeah, it looks like this one's a good one.
I see him, Willie.
Grab the gun.
Yeah, he's a biggin'.
Nice gator right here, Willie.
He ain't got no odds.
Looks like a big one.
Come on, come on, come on.
Pull it, pull it, snatch it.
Nice one, boy.
Hoo-whoo!
With this nine footer,
Little Willie's getting his swamp legs back under him.
Once you treble hook and everything,
once you once you do it one time,
it's like riding a bike.
It comes to you naturally.
Yeah, you gotta knock the rust off a little bit.
Other than that, you never forget it.
Farther south in Braithwaite,
armed with a new airboat from Daniel,
Joey and Zak are hunting areas
that would otherwise be inaccessible to them.
With the water as low as it is,
having Dad's old airboat has been a great advantage.
I think it's been a game changer.
It's given us an opportunity
to go back in some of these holes that we couldn't go in.
But with this airboat, we got a good chance.
As the day goes by,
Zak's beginning to discover
added advantages to their new mode of transportation.
This airboat, the motor roars
in a way that it makes these alligators move.
It makes them bubble a lot better
than it did with that outboard engine.
It's amazing. Spin around, spin around,
spin around, spin around, spin around.
-Did you see him? -No.
That's him.
That's a big alligator, Joey.
Here it comes, here it comes.
Let him turn.
Yeah, perfect.
That's a big alligator. All right.
Look at the bubbles this thing is creating, dude.
All right, don't move.
You got him? You got him?
Yeah.
-Still have him? -Yeah.
All right, I'm loosening up the drag.
He's barrel rolling!
Oh, God! Aah!
In Braithwaite,
with the help of their airboat,
Joey and Zak have hooked a huge beast.
He's barrel rolling!
Oh, my God, that's a big one.
Okay, he's off, he's off, that's all you.
Hold on, hold on, hold on. I got the gun.
[gunshot]
[laughs]
Yeah!
Hell, yeah.
That's how you do it, man.
All right, I'm coming to help you.
All right, you gotta pull. Stand up.
With this nine foot beast,
Joey and Zak are making the most of their new vessel,
but they'll need a bigger catch to beat Daniel Edgar.
Should've stayed down, buddy.
This airboat is becoming a Godsend.
I'm able to see alligators 500 yards plus,
just the tip of their nose and eyes.
I just need Joey to drive it straight,
and we'll catch all the alligators in the swamp.
-This thing is sick, dude. -Oh, yeah.
Let's go get another one.
60 miles away,
Daniel and Dorien have bagged three gators so far,
but Daniel still wants to find the goliath
that will start his season with a bang.
I always start the season off
hoping I'll get more than one 12 footer.
No matter what, we all want the big one.
I'm older, but I still need that energy.
I need that fight.
People like me, these moments are what we live for.
See one, pa?
Yeah, he just popped up.
Where was he?
You see on this branch right here on this point?
Right behind it, that's him looking at us.
Okay, let me see if I can get close to him, pa.
Maybe about 40, 50 yards.
It's shallow right there.
You ought to be able to shoot him.
Just keep it steady.
Look right there, pa, right to your left.
That's him, that's him, pa.
Make your shot count.
Take your time and try not to move the boat.
[gunshot]
You got him.
Good shot, pa.
We got that rascal.
Good shot. You got him.
He's right there in that dirty water.
Okay, pull.
The sniper.
Oh, yeah.
Peeled the white off his head.
I told you, pa.
Hold on, let me get that head.
I got it. Let me come up.
Uh!
You got him, pa.
Better than mine.
This beast is a great catch,
but it's still not the legend Daniel wants.
Putting this 10 footer in the boat,
I mean, it's all good.
We're having a good day, but I need that monster.
I need the fight that I'm longing for.
I need a big one.
That's where we're gonna start making our stack, right here.
Start stacking them up.
In Bayou Sorrel,
Little Willie is trying to relearn
the hang of treble hooking,
but nature's not making it easy.
That sun glaring off that water
and it's putting it right into your eyes
and can't see nothing.
I mean, this is crazy.
I see a couple little bubbles over there.
Look, right there, right there. See him?
Yeah, I see him.
Oh, that's a good gator.
Throw it.
-Right there. -Mm-hm.
He's down way out there.
Oh! I had him.
Big gator.
Going out there in the wind again, right in the sun.
Right here.
No, no, no. Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up, pick it up.
There he is.
Throw it, throw it.
Hold it tight, hold it tight.
Whoa!
Big gator.
[growling]
That's what I'm talking.
Oh!
In Bayou Sorrel...
Oh!
Little Willie's treble hooking skills
are getting tested by a monster.
Hyah!
Oh!
Oh, yeah.
Oh!
Oh, wow.
He's big.
Come on.
That's what I'm talking.
That's what I'm talking about.
10 foot.
Little Willie hooked his second big beast of the day.
It's clear the ways of the swamp
are coming back to him.
Just like that.
Yup, just like that.
I'll be hunting all season with my dad,
and my goal is I'm gonna prove to him and make it known
that I can handle the responsibility
on my shoulders and everything.
I'm not a kid no more,
and I got what it takes to do that and more.
Done pretty good, pretty decent.
We got some big ones, some nice ones.
Gonna find another.
In Pierre Part,
after dropping off the gators from their morning shift,
Troy and Pickle rush back
to start their second set of 75 lines
before any gators on them drown and spoil.
75 in the morning, 75 in the evening.
You better be paying good.
Who said anything about pay?
Yeah, okay.
I'm really starting to worry
if this was the right decision or not
because we just lost a couple of hours
by going to bring these gators in.
But we got more tags than ever,
and I think it's more important than ever to fill them.
What you see, P? Got something?
Might be dead.
Is that a floating gator?
I think so.
You think it's just the water's so hot, they dying so fast?
Yeah, it's worse on the lake than anywhere.
We might run into a lot of this,
being out here running our second shift.
And I still have lines hanging on the other side of the lake
that is just sitting there.
They've been hanging all day at this point,
and it's got me worried.
Look at the slime.
Yeah, that goes to show you how low the water is, huh?
We out here in the lake, and he got slime on him.
Know what I'm saying?
Yes, the temperature of the water, that's what does it.
I think he's still good. Gonna try to save him.
It look like it's still good, it's not spoiled.
But it's kind of scary.
We starting to notice
that we catching a lot of alligators that are dead.
Over in Braithwaite,
Joey and Zak are using the airboat
they inherited from Mr. Daniel to pick out big gators
using a rod and reel and the treble hook.
Seen that big one right here.
We got a couple good gators in the boat,
but I'm still looking for an alligator
to put us over the top
and make Dad proud or angry.
One of the two.
That's the one we want.
Oh, I see bubbles, I see bubbles.
Cut off, cut off, cut off, cut off.
Did he bubble?
-Sunk right there, huh? -Yeah.
Oh, look, look, look. Look where he's at.
Maybe try right there.
Gonna have to gondola over there, pop.
He didn't bubble?
I don't think so.
-Yup, found him, found him. -You got him?
No, no, no, no, no! I got him, hold on.
I got him. Found him, pop.
No bubbles, no problem, baby. Let's go.
Hold on, pop, hold on.
Damn, that's a big one.
Oh, my God. Yup, that's a giant.
He's glued to the bottom.
You better get ready with that thing.
Damn, that's a big gator, papi.
You're in for it right now.
Yup, you're in for it.
You lost him? Did you lose him?
-No. -No?
Oh, God, no, you didn't. You still got him.
Yeah, he's rolling up. I'm trying to unwrap.
I got you. Hold it, hold it, hold it.
Oh, my God. Oh, yeah, there he is.
Look at him on the surface, baby.
-You good? -Yeah.
-Oh, crap, that's a big one. -Get your rifle.
Hold him up, hold him up.
I got him up.
[both laugh] That's what I'm talking about.
That's a good one.
We gotta get this thing in the boat.
He's swallowing water.
All right, let's go. Aah!
He's heavy.
There we go.
This is a day one giant Joey and Zak were hoping for,
but wrestling this behemoth in open water
is only half the battle.
Hunting out of the airboat is awesome,
and everything about it is good.
But loading an alligator in it is not fun.
Damn, that alligator was heavy.
He's bigger than you think.
Yeah, he is.
Tell you what, Dad's gonna be impressed with this one.
I don't know if he caught anything like this.
Look at the size of this thing.
All right, pop.
That was an awesome snag, though.
Gotta give it to you.
Thank you, sir. Appreciate you.
That's why we're the best team out here.
In the backwaters of Bayou Sorrel,
Little Willie's starting to hit his stride,
and they have a boatload of alligators to show for it.
Getting the boat loaded down.
Not bad for a first day. That's a good day.
Can't complain.
Yeah, we need the biggest ones
we can get our hands on this year.
Try to keep our average up. We doing good.
We got a bunch of alligators in the boat,
and we starting to feel confident.
We're catching monsters already,
so it's gonna be a good season.
Maybe better than last year.
It's right there.
One's on up, yeah.
He's right there.
Got something.
Right on top of him.
He's heavy.
Look at that big old alligator.
Hold it right there.
Aah!
In Bayou Sorrel,
Little Willie has hooked a dinosaur.
Aah!
That thing's spunky.
Now or never, Dad.
[gunshot]
I'm loving this.
Ready?
Let's go.
That's what I'm talking about.
Good start, good start.
This 11 footer caps a great day
and gives Willie confidence
that his son can continue to be a reliable hunting partner.
Seem like me and my son,
we work good together
and look like we're going pretty good now.
I mean, looks like we done got the rust knocked off
and ready to roll.
The day is done.
Day one under the belt.
Done good. Can't ask for no better.
In Cauthen Bayou,
Ashley and Anna's game plan
to hit deep water in search of giant gators
is working despite being down a rifle.
I thought you were bringing the new ammo.
I thought you had it.
Didn't make it in the boat, though, did it?
How did we do that? We never do that.
Oh, boy.
I thought we had it covered.
With just two bullets left in Anna's pistol
and a single arrow for her bow,
she needs to get it right each time.
What else could freaking go wrong?
I need Anna to shoot the bow anytime she gets an opportunity.
If a gator is gonna be still and give her a shot,
we gotta take that with the bow every chance we get.
As captain, it's my responsibility
to decide what needs to be done in that moment.
Oh, yeah, I see it.
-What's it doing? -Out straight in the back.
Towards the land?
Towards the land behind that log.
Oh.
I mean, it is, like, pulled tight.
It goes all the way back.
Under that big old tree?
Yeah.
-You got it? -Yeah.
Hold him.
Hold him, Anna.
Come on!
Get your pistol, get your pistol.
-Got it? -Yeah.
Let me hold him.
Get him, Anna.
Get him, Anna!
-Oh! -Watch your hand!
Shoot him, Anna!
You got him!
-Good God. -Whew!
We didn't have another second.
So glad you got that pistol, Anna.
One, two, three.
Backup pistol comes in handy.
Anna with the quickdraw.
This feisty beast is another prize for the hunters,
but using their pistol
means they're down to one bullet
with five lines left.
Being down to only one bullet
means that if the gator gives her a good shot with the bow,
we definitely need to take it.
Thing's still smoking.
Bringing the heat, Anna.
Filling them up one by one.
Back on Lake Verret,
Troy and Pickle are filling up the boat
with gators from their second set of 75 lines.
But sunset, the end of the hunting day by law,
is approaching fast.
This second half, we starting to catch good.
We filling up the boat.
We ain't got but one or two lines left.
But with the water being so hot,
it's very important to get to them as fast as possible.
Right in front of you.
Oh, right here.
It's limp going straight down, right under the flag.
Grab it. Grab it, Peewee, grab it.
Feel like a big one?
Oh, man, it's a good one.
Feels like something heavy over here.
Whew! He don't wanna come up.
Can't bring him up? Here, give me the line.
I'm trying.
Give me the line, you take the gun.
It's not your normal beast.
Whoo!
This is the biggest thing I ever seen.
Oh, my God, Peewee.
Aah!
Whoa!
Whoo, that's a big one.
Oh, [bleep]!
Whoa!
On Lake Verret,
Troy and Pickle battle a monster
as they race to run their remaining lines.
Whoa!
Ay yi yi!
Whoo!
Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!
All right, P, get ready.
[gunshot]
[laughs]
Ow-woo!
That's a big alligator.
Thing's got a head like Moby Dick.
-Put the winch on him. -All right.
Is that a hoss or what?
Okay.
Ready? On three.
One, two, three.
Yeah!
Whew!
[sighs]
This 12-foot behemoth
validates Troy's double-shift strategy
and caps a winning, if exhausting, day.
In this moment, I'm just grateful
that we did split the day up into two shifts,
because he wouldn't have fit in the boat
if we had the load from this morning in here with us still.
There's no way.
Two checks today, huh?
Two checks?
Yeah, two checks. Two shifts.
-Come here, Peewee. -Why?
I was saving this for when you would do real good one day.
Yay.
I don't know if the real good day's ever gonna come.
I get a lollipop.
I bought me one, too.
-Look funky? -Yeah, it's all melted.
It's been in the box for a week.
He gives me this lollipop after a day of two shifts,
and it tastes like ice cream with a hint of alligator blood.
[laughs]
Tastes like gator and chicken skin, huh?
You taste that little bit of-- little chicken in there?
I don't think she was too happy with her lollipop.
I think she wanted a day off instead of a lollipop.
But she can't have a day off right now.
She'll have to settle for her grape lollipop.
[laughs]
Now you see it, now you don't.
Farther south,
as the day winds to a close,
Daniel's still hoping to catch the beast
that will keep him atop the Edgar clan.
Every time you approach a line, it's real exciting.
I want that alligator.
I know I said I was gonna slow down some,
but I'm too pumped.
This is too much fun.
There's no slowing down today until I get me a monster.
Hey, pa, the line's down.
I don't think that alligator's on the hook.
This one's just tangled. Watch yourself.
This big 12 footer's killed the nine footer that's on the line
and got himself wrapped up into it,
and there's nothing holding him.
There's no hook in him, nothing.
Only the string that he wrapped around himself.
The big one is just tangled. There's no hook in him.
If he rolls around, he'll untangle himself.
Watch yourself.
-Whoa. -Watch it.
It's a bad dude. A splasher.
There's no hook in him, pa.
What a warrior.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Let him turn, let him turn, let him turn.
He got three more wraps.
Don't let him go the other way.
Man, he won't stop.
Shoot him. Shoot him, pa.
That's a warrior.
Yeah, I'm not taking no chance losing that thing.
He probably killed this gator and got himself all wrapped up.
Talk about that's some luck.
All right, grab his leg.
One, two, go.
Yeah!
I'm gonna roll with you. Hold on.
I got him, big guy, I got him.
-You got him? -Stay right there.
Go take you a breather.
Ha ha!
That's my first double.
With this behemoth in the boat,
Daniel hopes he finally has his trophy catch.
Very unique and amazing day
to end the first day of the season.
Got one pushing 12.
I'm having an awesome day,
but I'm tired as hell.
Now the other alligator is just floating.
He broke the line.
Well, it's gonna take maximum effort
to get him on that pile.
Putting 21 feet of alligator in the boat off that line,
super uncommon.
Never happened in my lifetime.
Never happened in my grandpa's lifetime.
Very special to have a moment like that with my grandpa.
Never forget it for the rest of my life.
One, two, go.
Drop his head.
Can you believe that?
To finish the last line on a double.
We are loaded, boys.
What luck. Whew.
That's the kind of story I wanna tell my grandkids, pa.
Let's head for the house.
In Cauthen Bayou,
Ashley and Anna's strategy to travel far
to reach a secluded pocket of deeper water
has paid off with a boat full of gators,
but as they approach their last line,
they find themselves doing math.
I guess nobody wants to take this ride back here,
but it's gonna work out for us.
I'm getting a little nervous.
We've pulled in some good gators today,
but we are way off the map right now.
And all we have left to kill these gators
is one bullet in my pistol and one arrow in my bow.
Can you see where that line is?
No, I can't tell yet.
Where's that line?
It's kind of tore up right there.
It looks like something's been thrashing around.
Line's down.
Ash, that line is straight out the back.
-Uh-oh. -Probably caught on something.
Watch him, Anna.
-Oh! -What?
In Cauthen Bayou,
a giant faces off with Anna and Ashley.
Oh!
Anna, this is a big gator.
Look at his head.
This is a monster.
I'll get the bow.
This is gonna be a hard shot, Anna.
Oh, boy.
All right, Anna, you ready?
Yeah.
Here we go.
Get him, Anna.
Get him!
Got him!
-I'm so proud of you. -Thanks, Ash.
We're gonna need some water to load this big boy up.
Anna, this is a big old gator.
This is a beast.
One, two, three.
With a boatload of gators and a 12 footer topping it off,
Anna and Ashley can feel proud of their skills
in overcoming setbacks.
Anna, he's coming back to life.
I can feel his head opening underneath my knees.
Anna, go get another shot in him. Hurry!
Come on, please.
Hurry and get another shot in him right here, Anna.
Get him!
[gunshot] Whoa!
Anna!
Oh, my God.
-Are you okay? -Uh-uh.
It was a very eventful day, a lot of chaos,
and I'm just really proud of Anna.
She really pulled through for me today.
-Click, click. -Click, click.
You were right. This spot is awesome.
-I'm so proud of you. -Thank you.
Back at Duffy's,
Troy and Pickle finally made it back
with their second boatload of alligators.
Oh, everything hurts.
I'm broken.
I don't know if I'm doing any more double shifts.
No, uh-uh, not me.
These double shifts got me wore out.
By the time we get back to Duffy's
with this second boatload, I can't go no more.
I'm tired, Peewee's tired, and plus she's a mom.
She got a little five month old baby now.
But it's satisfying to know that we did it.
We got our work done, and I'm happy and she's happy.
We caught not one, but two boatloads of alligators today.
After running 150 lines,
Troy and Pickle hauled an impressive 26 gators.
-That's all of them? -That's it.
Running the first 75
and having to come right back out
and run another 75 has been daunting.
Watch it, P.
That worked. [laughs]
We got our little groove and we stick to it.
We got 900 tags this year.
If we still moving like we're moving,
we're gonna get it done.
We're gonna try to make it all in one trip tomorrow.
We're gonna try not to make two trips.
-Yes! -Let's get some rest.
You gonna be right back over here again in seven hours.
Seven? I thought it was nine?
Nine? Nope, not at this time. We gotta start early tomorrow.
Whew!
Over at St. Mary's,
the Edgars wrap up
a very successful first day of alligator season.
We got some good ones, but this one's big, Joey.
Yeah.
Definitely gonna make the old man proud
with this one today, huh?
What we looking at?
-11-6. -11-6?
I didn't think it was gonna be that big, huh?
Yeah, it's a nice one.
Look at that big old monster, man.
I'm proud to carry this alligator back to St. Mary.
Dorien and Daddy, they gonna have to kill something big
to outdo this alligator.
Look at those teeth, bro.
Look at that thing, look at that.
Not a bad first day, bubba.
What y'all got?
We got a big one, D. What you got in the boat?
I hope I beat y'all.
Oh, dang.
Look at the size of that thing.
I don't know if I got y'all beat, though.
Y'all got a giant, too.
It's pretty close, huh?
Now, I'm eight feet tall.
You're eight feet tall? [laughs]
So, listen, guys,
if I'm eight feet tall, he must be 14 feet.
I don't know. That's a good alligator, though.
Come on. That's a good one, man.
I don't know, that one looks like
it's about the same size as ours, huh?
Boy, it's gonna be close. Y'all got a monster.
Damn.
All right, let's see if I'm a winner or a loser today.
Come on, let me see how long this thing is.
Make sure that thing's tight.
11' 9".
Get out of here.
-And how long was yours? -11' 6".
Three inches.
Oh, my God.
Three inches.
On day one, the eagle's still on top.
I still have the biggest gator,
and I know it's eating these guys up.
I got all season to put it on you now.
Yeah, I know.
[all laugh]
You probably will.
We just needed one to beat y'all.
That's it.
-You gotta rub it in, huh? -Yeah.
It is what it is.
He's been doing that to us our whole life.
But we not giving up. It's not over.
We gonna get him, we gonna beat him.
We gonna show Dorien and Dad
that we gonna out-fish them this year, no doubt.
All right, let's get these things on ice.