It's week three of gator season...
Lord, it's brutal today, huh?
And the bayou is on fire.
Yeah, dude, it's gonna be the hottest day of the year.
The heat has been unbearable. We not catching nothin'.
Scorching heat is pushing swampers to the edge.
Hunters must go beyond their limits to get their catch...
It's so hot, we're going to the mighty Mississippi.
and get out alive.
I'm already freaking dying right now, it's so hot.
- Whoa! - Oh, my God!
[blues guitar plays]
Radio Announcer: An excessive heat warning
is in effect for Southern Louisiana parishes.
You can expect temperatures topping 105 degrees
through the afternoon.
Residents are encouraged to stay out of the sun
and drink plenty of water.
Narrator: It's 7 A.M. in Pierre Part,
and with the temperature already pushing 85 degrees,
King of the Swamp Troy Landry and his deckhand Pickle Wheat
are feeling the heat.
Whoo, Lord, Pee-wee.
Yeah, dude, it's hot.
I don't know. I was watching the weather last night.
They said it's gonna be the hottest day of the year, so...
I feel it. I think it is.
Let's get moving, try to run these lines.
Yeah, we need to hurry, because if we got alligators
in the sun, they gonna spoil.
The last few days, the heat has been unbearable.
It's so humid and so hot,
it's like you just stood under the shower
with all your clothes on.
And you gotta work like that all day.
You got us some drinks in the ice chest?
Yeah, I got some drinks and a secret surprise.
- You got what? - I got a plan.
Oh. Lord, I'm in trouble if you got a plan.
I got this. Don't worry. You're gonna like it.
We wake up on a hot day like this,
we know we gonna catch alligators
because alligators just, they love the hot water.
But with a heatwave like this,
our bait dries out in minutes.
So I came up with a solution.
Don't worry about it. I got a little secret.
You got us some drinks in there?
- You got plenty drinks? - A little secret weapon.
Yeah, I got some drinks. Plenty drinks.
Gonna be the hottest day of the year today.
Let's go.
Mr. Troy does not like new ideas.
It's his way or the highway.
And you don't really get too many times
to put an idea in there,
so I really have to prove myself.
Pee-wee, what you got in the ice chest?
You sure you wanna know what I got in here?
They're called chicken pops, okay?
That's what they call 'em.
A friend of mine gave me this idea,
and I personally think it's a good idea.
We get heatwaves like this and our chicken dries out so fast.
They're frozen.
Already put the hook and everything on them.
- What? - So they're gonna--
As, like, it gets hotter in the day,
they're just gonna constantly drip.
No, no, no. I can't believe you took the time to freeze chicken.
- Dude. Dude. - Pee-wee, I like rotten chicken.
It is rotten chicken.
I took the rotten chicken, put the hook on it.
- I froze it... - Oh, my God.
And it's gonna drip all day long.
It's all right, Troy. It's gonna be okay.
I need to catch alligators on these lines today,
not in the next day or two.
Who knows? These things could be frozen till tomorrow.
I don't know.
We don't have time to wait for it to defrost.
I really don't think it's gonna work.
I've never heard or seen that before,
cool pops for alligators.
But she did some, and we're gonna try 'em.
She went through the trouble and the time to make 'em,
so the least I could do,
even though I don't think they gonna work,
the least I could do is try them for her.
Tie that up. I'm gonna show you something.
Oh, Lord, have mercy.
Chicken pops.
Learn you something, Troy Landry.
- I'm gonna learn you something. - Chicken pops.
It's gonna keep leaking like that.
You see it leaking and dripping?
It ain't gonna dry out.
- Hmm. - It's gonna work.
Hmm.
Come on. We got this.
Oh, that wasn't a good one. [laughs]
I don't know if I like that idea of chicken pops.
You're gonna like it.
With more than 20 lines left to bait,
Pickle hopes her frozen chicken pops
make a believer out of Troy Landry.
Sometimes I do feel like
I need to push him to kind of try new things.
And, you know, he's been fishing for a long time,
so that's kind of hard for me.
He knows a lot more than I do.
But looking from the outside in,
sometimes you get a different perspective, you know.
And I feel like I gotta push him into new ideas
and things like that.
Hopefully, these chicken pops are gonna do the job.
It's gonna work.
I got faith.
- Lord have mercy. - I got faith.
What did I get myself into?
[Pickle laughs]
100 miles east, in Violet,
veteran swamper Ronnie Adams
and his deckhand Ashley "Deadeye" Jones,
are also feeling the effects of the heat.
- Lord, it's brutal today, huh? - Yeah.
I'm already freakin' dying right now, it's so hot.
Look at that sun is just blaring on me.
- And it's not even up yet. - Ooh, my God, it's hot.
We got to make sure that we're drinking plenty of fluids,
because I am not having you in the ER like last year.
Oh, I don't wanna be in the ER.
I'm really concerned about today.
I know that it's gonna be
one of the hottest days that we've ever had.
And not only that, we're in the Biloxi marsh.
There's no trees, there's no shade,
and the heat just radiates off of that grass.
You know, I just don't want something to happen
like it did last year with Ronnie.
It was really concerning and just scary for me.
Last year, during the hottest day of the season,
Ronnie suffered a life-threatening
case of heat exhaustion
that nearly ended the hunters' season early.
When Ronnie had heat exhaustion, it was a really scary feeling.
I'm just glad that Ronnie only ended up in the emergency room.
I mean, It could've been a lot worse.
I mean, heat exhaustion or stroke
can cause you to die.
All right, so we got everything we need.
There ain't no reason for dehydrating.
We got pickles, we got water,
we got electrolytes, everything we need.
I know. We just gotta keep drinking them.
And you gotta stay on me for that,
because I definitely don't like to be getting no IVs.
I know, but you're hardheaded.
When I tell you to get a drink, you got to listen.
- I will. I promise. - And you stay on me, too.
I don't wanna go through that crap again, girlie, at all.
I got a line right here, baby. Look at it.
Ooh, look, it's straight out, ain't it.
Come on, be a big boy.
Look. It broke the one cane I had holding him up.
Look at him, he's getting so mad.
Get it, girl. Get, get, get, get it, girl.
He's furious.
Ooh, you gotta shoot him. He's hooked in the leg.
Hold on, let me get on this side of you.
No, soon as he pops, you shoot him.
Get him, right there. Get ready.
He's rolling.
Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Soon as you can see his head, you whack him.
Whoo!
- Yes! - Dude!
Man, this is great.
We caught that dude by the foot.
Catching this beast is a great start,
but on the hottest day of the year,
it's also a reminder of the challenge ahead.
Whew! Ashley, boy, that's a big 11-footer, girl.
- I am wore out, che. - You sweating, too.
Let's get some water and hydrate.
I need fluids, yes.
I think the only way
for us to make it through the hottest day, like, safely
is for us to take turns.
The most exhausting thing about gator hunting
is pulling the line.
I mean, you're having to fight with a gator
that's, you know, three times your size
and full of strength.
So I think that
if I were to just pull the lines on every other gator
and Ronnie shoot, it would just really lighten the load
or at least, you know, cut it in half.
- Click click! - Clickity click!
- Man, what a gator. - First of many.
Whoo, yes!
45 miles southeast, in Port Sulphur,
after getting an early start,
swamp patriarch Daniel Edgar and his grandson Dorien
have run half their lines, all empty.
Not taking the line, pa.
They're not biting.
Yeah, I agree with you, pa.
We ain't been catching much over here.
You know, we're struggling right now with these alligators.
It's so hot, they're just not taking the lines.
I'm not sure what's happening.
This heat's affecting them.
Just see if he's on there, pa.
I don't think so.
These lines are just not working, pa.
It's so damn hot.
Nothing for 'em to eat, something.
Yeah, I don't think there's enough feed.
We gotta regroup and try something different.
With alligators, what typically happens,
they like to follow the feed.
And whenever it's too hot to fish,
they move to cooler and deeper water,
like a mouth of a river.
That's where alligators
typically navigate towards and focus on
because that's where all the food is.
It's just too hot.
We'll just move to the mouth of the river.
What do you think about that, pa?
I think that's a good idea.
It's blistering hot out here.
All right, let's do that.
With the temperature rising,
Daniel and Dorien head for the mouth of the Mississippi
to set 30 more lines in the cooler water.
I'm thinking the mighty Mississippi,
as vast as she is, is gonna change my luck.
I think everything's going over there,
so we're going, too.
I think it's gonna be a game-changer.
Look. Look at the fish, pa.
Look there, look at 'em.
We're circling around the river and checking things out
and getting a feel for everything.
I mean, there's bait fish piled up everywhere.
Mullet, shad, everything,
and there should be some pretty big alligators.
So we're gonna go set lines
on the edge of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The mighty Mississippi, pa.
There she is.
With a boatload of tags to fill,
the Edgars will do what it takes
to get their lines set.
Look, you see him going across the bayou?
Alligator right here. You see him, pa?
Alligators already.
We're already seeing some, so we made the right call.
We made the right call coming here.
Pretty good one. Pretty good one.
126 miles northwest, in Pierre Part,
Leron Jones and his deckhand Anthony "Porkchop" Williams
know from experience that the heat will cause problems,
but Leron has an idea to get ahead of it.
Man, Porkchop, it's a hot one out here today, buddy.
Chicken done start drying up already.
Oh, man.
But I got something for that.
You got something for it?
Secret recipe.
Hottest day of the year right now.
That heat dries up my chicken, my bait.
There ain't nothin' that hurts you more
than when you're watching that chicken
swing on top of the water like a piñata,
untouched.
You know, a little concoction.
Whoo!
Something that I know the gators gonna like,
and it'll keep the chicken nice and moist.
- Keep it nice and moist, cuz? - Yeah, man.
Leron, he always comes up with some good idea.
Go ahead and dump all that in there.
Oh, yeah.
And this definitely gonna keep it moist.
Oh, yeah. Oh, man, that look good, man.
Make me wanna eat that chicken now, buddy.
Man, got me hungry. I wanna taste a piece of chicken.
Gators won't be able to resist that, cuz.
Yeah.
Man, I know they coming, cuz.
If I wanna attract a big 12-footer,
that dry piece of chicken ain't gonna cut it.
Put some kind of sauce,
keep it nice and moisturized.
It drips from that fat.
It's almost like it sends a signal out there to that gator.
Porkchop, that's guaranteed gators.
Oh, yeah.
With that good sauce on that chicken.
So I'm gonna cross my fingers and my toes
that this stuff work out.
- On to the next one. - On to the next one.
After setting 20 fresh lines, Leron and Porkchop circle back
to find out whether they've got the recipe for success.
Look like we got one over there, boy.
Gator on the line, baby. Gator on the line.
Whoo! Look like a nice one, boy.
Yeah, nice one there, boy.
Ooh, he putting up a fight.
Hold on, cuz. Now hold on, watch it.
He know that we in town, buddy.
Then he under the boat.
- Let me know when you're ready. - I'm born ready, Porkchop.
We could get the chair now.
Whoa. He got a lot of energy.
He could pull up right there
and get on land and get underneath this boat quick.
Oh, he trying to roll over, cuz.
I don't want him to pop the line now.
You gotta get him, cuz. He might pop the line.
Hold on, cuz, hold up.
You gotta get him now.
Man, whoa, whoa!
Gimme five. Gimme some love. Gimme some love.
After reeling in this nine-footer,
Leron's hoping his special sauce
will keep attracting big gators as the day heats up.
Good way to start off.
Why don't you cut that string, buddy?
I'm gonna put that tag in that tail.
If I'm a gator and I see a nice piece of chicken
with some juice on it, I'm gonna be like, man,
God, what did I do to deserve this?
You mean to tell me I ain't gotta hunt?
I just can climb up and got the food right there?
Whoo, it's a good start, cuz, good start.
Man, it's a good start.
I know, whoo!
Across the swamp,
Pickle's also hoping her special bait,
frozen chicken pops, will do the trick.
But after two hours, the lines are cold.
Look, look, look. You see?
- I see. - Bait's still hanging.
That's the third one we drive by with nothing on it.
With Pee-wee's chicken pops, we ain't catchin' crap.
You know, we ran quite a few of them already,
and we not catching nothin'.
It's not good.
To me, it was a waste of time.
It's hurting us.
It's not helping us, it's hurting us.
You see, when you freeze it,
I don't think they gonna smell it as good
because it's frozen.
Yeah, but it's so hot it's steady dripping.
That's my point.
It drips all throughout the day.
We hang them in the morning,
they drip all day, and then they bite.
I don't know, Pee-wee, we just passed by three.
Yeah, well, some of yours are still hanging, too.
- How you know? - I saw 'em.
- You looking? - I didn't see them.
You're looking past those, huh?
You're pointing mine out, though.
Give me a minute. Run the next one.
Man, we're already running behind this year.
We don't have time to experiment.
Although Troy doubts her plan, Pickle's not deterred.
These first couple chicken pop lines
are not doing too good,
but, I mean, you gotta give them some time to melt.
I mean, it's a block of chicken juice on there,
and everybody knows Troy Landry don't have patience.
So he's trying to pick these lines up
as soon as I put them out,
and that's just not how these are gonna work.
It's gonna get hotter and hotter
and they gonna start melting and dripping
and then they'll smell 'em.
It's gonna work, it's gonna work.
I got all the confidence.
130 miles southeast,
Daniel and Dorien have moved all their lines
to the mouth of the Mississippi River,
hoping the gators will bite in cooler waters.
Look at the fish, pa, look at that.
Look at that.
Wherever there's that much feed,
all those predators are gonna come here to feed.
- Oh, I see. - Full of feed.
Cool water.
It's so hot right now and so uncomfortable.
But being right here at the mouth of the river
with this cooler water,
it's a little bit more comfortable here.
So, yes, Dorien and I made the right decision.
All the alligators are gonna be here, too.
They got a alligator right there, pa.
- How big? - I don't know how big,
but they got a alligator right there.
Don't spook him.
He's sitting on the bottom, pa.
Watch him, pa. I think it's a good one, son.
Give me a shot.
Whoa.
Is it good?
- Pure weight. - It's a heavy one?
Ooh.
Yeah.
Give me a shot. Grab him again.
Don't let him whip you like that.
Bring him over here.
He's getting the death roll on me.
Give me a shot.
- Give me a shot. Whoa! - Whoa!
- Take control of that gun! - Come on, come on.
I got the gun. You get the line.
- Don't let him beat you. - He beating you up.
Hold still. Give me a shot.
You okay?
Don't worry about me.
You the shooter.
Come on, get it.
He took all the rope from me.
He done rolled so many times.
- Give me a shot. - Whoa!
He's trying to get under the boat.
I don't want him in that tree.
- Come on, pa, get a shot. - Give me a shot.
There's your shot.
Take him!
- Wow. - Almost knocked me out.
Man.
That thing hits like a hammer.
All right, pa. Let's get this thing in the boat.
All right, let's go.
Look, he's rolling.
Let him roll in, let him roll in.
That's a Mississippi River gator.
With this 10-foot river gator on the boat,
it seems Daniel and Dorien's decision
to move to cooler waters is paying off.
You really feel good when a plan comes together and it works.
So catching one of these big Mississippi giants, it's on now.
We got a boatload of alligators.
We getting a little success.
100 miles east,
Ashley is doing everything she can...
Oh, that feels so amazing, dude.
To make sure Ronnie
doesn't fall prey to heatstroke like last season.
Is it all rubbed in?
Is it blended in with my skin? Can you see it?
No, you can't see it.
You're good.
Imagine being in a sauna
and then them turning up the heat.
It is absolutely scorchering hot,
and there's nowhere to hide from the heat or the conditions.
Ronnie's just not great at taking care of himself,
and so, you know, it just feels like
I wanna do something to take care of him.
It's probably just the mother in me.
To survive the heatwave,
Ashley and Ronnie have decided to split the workload
by taking turns wrangling the gators.
We got one right here. Look at this one, boy, huh?
Looks like it was pulled back into the grass.
That's what I'm looking at.
Oh, yeah, look at that [bleep], girl.
I'm so ready to hold on to a monster.
Ashley, this line's down.
This is the one you're gonna run, girl.
This is your turn now.
All right, batter up.
Can you see the rope?
Oh, it looks like it's over here.
Yeah, look at all that.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Look at it moving, girl.
He's got all that mud all up in there.
Look at that, papa, huh? We got a crime scene.
He done tore up the weeds. I'm ready.
How he feels? Let me grab the gun.
Let me grab the gun, baby.
It's just a bunch of weeds right here first.
Oh, yeah, Ronnie, this is a good gator.
- How good? - It's a real good gator.
- Come on. - He's hugging the bottom.
- Come on. You sure you got it? - I got him.
I'll let him go if he pulls too hard, but...
This boy right here is heavy.
- Whoa! Hold him, Ashley. - Oh, my God!
Hold him. Don't let him get under the boat.
Golly, Ashley, that is a monster.
Give me a shot. Don't let him go.
Oh, yeah!
Girl, that's the way to fight him, baby.
That's about an 11-footer.
Grab his back leg, che.
- Budge in there. - There we go.
God, that is a monster.
- [exhales] - Yes!
Oh, look at the size of this hammer, Jack.
After wrestling this massive 11-footer,
Ronnie knows it's his turn to take care of his partner.
Hey, you need some juice? Got some water?
Let me get you a water.
How about I got some pickle juice?
Drink some pickle juice.
Well, I got some--
Hey, I done been through this last year.
Somebody took good care of me.
I wanna take good care of her, make sure she don't dehydrate.
You know, Ashley did such a good job
wrestling this big monster 11-foot gator,
I mean, big gator.
I feel obligated that I gotta take care of her right now.
You know, I know how hard it is to catch a big gator like this,
and I know how exhausting it is.
So now it's my turn to take care of her.
Yeah, get you some fluids, girl.
Mmm. Tastes better when you gotta work for it.
Yes.
70 miles northwest, in Hammond...
Come on this way, boy.
Swamp legend Bruce Mitchell
has a special helper today,
his grandson Kris.
All right, man, we fixing to have some fun.
We gotta go feed them gators up.
This afternoon, Bruce is showing him
how to work the family alligator farm.
Think I might need somebody to help me drive this tractor.
I got little Kris with me at the gator farm today,
and we gonna be teaching him a little bit.
How to work, how to feed up,
how to drive a tractor.
Let me crank it up.
Okay, now pick the bucket up.
There you go. You got it, boy.
That's good. That's good. Wow.
You pretty good with this. Okay, we gonna back up now.
I can remember when I was his age
driving my grandpa's tractor, sitting on his lap.
And I thought I was the king of the world.
[laughs]
Okay, we gotta feed these gators.
Get them something in their bellies.
You know where to go to, the big gator pond?
- Right about here? - Yeah.
I mean, the hurricane hit the farm pretty bad.
It tore a lot of stuff up.
He been fooling around the farm with me.
He goes out and feeds up, helps me fix fences.
Whatever I gotta do, he's always there with me.
All right. Oh, here she comes, Look, see her?
See the gator's coming?
She is coming towards us.
- You think she's hungry? - She smells that chicken.
Just like me with my grandpa,
he wants to be with me 'cause I'm his grandpa.
Hey, bubba, come on up, man.
Be careful, Pop, 'cause there is water on this.
All right, come stand over here.
You stay up here. You don't go down, okay?
Pop's gonna go down here, feed these gators right here.
All right. How y'all doing today?
Look, look at the grass moving over here, bubby.
Can you see right over there?
That's a big one.
Oh, there's old big boy.
I call these gators and start hollering for them,
and they start coming up one by one.
Come on, up. Come on, babe, up.
They know me, they know I'm gonna feed them.
They know I take care of them.
And just part of our family now,
just like you would have a dog or a cat.
My pets are a little bit bigger, that's all.
And they will eat you. [laughs]
You just got to remember that.
Good girl. I mean, I'm hoping later on in life
that we get this farm going again.
We have a tour business.
We take people around on tours and stuff.
Just is gonna be a place where you could come,
you could see alligators in a big habitat.
They out in a big pond swimming around.
Bruce and his family
have been raising gators for over 35 years.
He knows the dangers of working with these apex predators
and always takes the necessary precautions.
These gators are older than Pop.
They're about 60-something years old.
Basically, to the 1980s?
[laughs] More like the fifties.
So they're almost way older than one grandpa?
I guess that's a way of putting it.
But he also knows how important it is
to pass on his knowledge to the next generation,
even if for now they're safe on a perch behind a fence.
Well, little Kris is watching me,
and this is how people learn, you know.
He's no way near
coming in here with these gators right now.
It'll be a long time before he crosses the fence.
But when he's on this side of the fence,
the gators are still looking at him.
They know him.
All right, bubba, you ready to go feed the gators?
- The little ones? - Yeah, yeah.
You do pretty good calling them little ones up.
I wouldn't tell your mama that, though.
Tell you what, Porkchop.
What you think?
Back in Pierre Part,
the heat is cranking up on Leron and Porkchop.
With the temperature cresting 100 degrees,
they're hoping Leron's special gator sauce will hold up.
We know we gonna get some more big ones back here.
From my experience,
I catch more gators when my bait not dried up.
So we been putting this secret hot sauce recipe,
kept it nice and wet, sun ain't dried it out.
And set your traps and hope they be on there.
See what we got.
Oh, man, this is a huge one here.
Do your job.
- You can't see the string? - I can see the string.
Them bad eyes you got.
Don't worry about where I got the boat.
I got the boat right where the boat needs to be at.
This is an 11-footer, Porkchop.
I can bet on that. Come on.
All right, get ready.
Come on, come on.
All right.
Show me how to get a good, clean shot.
Gotta get him up.
Oh, yeah, there we go.
All right.
He feisty, cuz, look at that.
Come on, what you doing?
Get up in there and get it.
Watch it, cuz. He's trying to roll.
Give me a good, clean shot, Porkchop.
Give me that good, clean shot I been begging for.
Whoa, look at that. Whoa!
Oh, he still fighting. Come on.
He got a lot of fight left in him.
Get him! What you waiting on?
[gunshot]
Whoo! Man, a big boy here, boy.
Come on. Let's go. Let's go.
Come on, get this damn thing in here.
After catching this 10-footer,
Leron and Porkchop seem to be on a roll
with their special sauce,
making the heat a little more bearable.
Put him in the front.
We ain't finished.
Pull him to the front, cuz.
Hell aboveground in these swamps of Louisiana.
And you're sweating your butts off.
It's miserable.
Not bad in my book, buddy.
- Two for two. - Take that any day.
Yeah.
Being an alligator hunter is, like I say,
is not a job in the library.
It's not nothin' easy, you know.
You gotta do what it takes to get it done.
All right, cuz, on to the next one, cuz.
On to the next one.
Meanwhile, Daniel and Dorien
are hunting at the mouth of the Mississippi River,
where cool waters have attracted fish
and the gators that like to eat 'em.
I'm definitely happy to be on the edge
of the mouth of the Mississippi right now.
I'm glad we picked up the lines where we were fishing before.
Definitely we're catching more.
That's a huge positive success.
Because if we don't catch alligators,
we don't make money.
Now, pa, I'm gonna go straight in.
We're gonna tie it tight, tight to that branch straight ahead.
Got us a alligator?
Hey, pa, what does he feel like?
- Feels heavy. - Feels pretty good?
Oh, yeah.
Big Mississippi giant.
Oh, it's a good one, pa. Give me a shot.
Look at the size of that thing!
- Now he's on a roll. - Here's your shot.
- All right. - Good gator.
Mississippi River keep on rolling.
Nice one, pa.
- 11. - What a giant.
Oh, man.
Yeah, it's a good one.
One, two, go!
With another gator in the boat,
it looks like Daniel and Dorien's big river gamble
is paying off.
Right at the mouth of the river.
Starting out today, we had to
pick all these lines up in this extreme heat,
and, you know, and pushing, and it's aggravating.
It's a long day,
but we're putting alligators in the boat.
It's paying off.
Yeah, pa, I'm enjoying this cool breeze.
You know, it's a 100-degree temperature,
but that breeze blowing over the cool water,
it's not so hot.
I could fill the whole tags,
finish out the season over here.
I like this.
But, unfortunately,
we're not gonna be able to stay here long.
106 miles north, in Hammond,
Bruce is teaching his grandson Kris
all about the family gator farm.
Now Pop's gonna pull up right here,
and I want you to call these gators, all right?
Uh-oh. That's good.
Okay, get down, shut it off.
Okay, get down. Oh, they coming up already.
I think they know you're here, huh?
They're probably really hungry.
Okay, let's go over there by that gate,
and you call 'em.
All right?
- Do they always come right here? - Yeah.
- Here, let's-- - They're already coming.
Those ones are all over each other over there.
Yeah, call 'em and clap your hands.
Come on!
There you go. You got it, man.
Look at them all coming now.
They like you. I'll open the gate.
- That's the kind of big one. - Don't put your hands in there.
Ooh, wow, they coming. Good deal.
Don't put your hands over there.
You gotta start 'em at a young age,
and that's what we doing.
We're basically teaching him how to work.
Let him holler a little bit, call the gators.
And, you know, after a while, he's starting to holler,
and the gators are recognizing his voice.
Pops, can I do it?
- Like, dump it? - Yeah.
'Cause I get trained to do that if I keep on doing that?
Yeah, you're doing great, man.
I mean, I'm not just teaching little Kris how to work.
Basically what we're doing,
we're getting him used to the gators
and the gators used to him.
All right, lift that bucket all the way up.
There you go. You got it, man.
You gotta go slow because it'll dump on you.
Yeah, I see that skinny one that I saw.
Oh, he's opening his mouth right where it's gonna dump.
He's gonna get it all over him.
Cool. Let's back up and go watch 'em.
What they doing? Ooh, they're tearing it up.
Ooh, one was right here opened his mouth.
He probably got it all over him.
Bruce is hoping his grandson
will someday carry on the family legacy.
Little Kris helped me out today. He did good.
Drove the tractor good.
He helped me call the gators up. He's coming along.
I think he's gonna make a good gator man.
Over time, he's gonna be the one doing it, you know.
Pops is getting old.
Pops needs somebody else to drive the tractor
and take care of the gators.
You got it, man?
Yeah. Once it gets dark, you need a headlight.
Yeah.
You think you can push this down a little bit?
Yeah.
Push the bucket, and let the bucket go down.
- Yeah. - Let's get outta here, man.
We're going fishing.
In Pierre Part,
Leron and Porkchop have been loading up the boat,
thanks to Leron's secret gator bait marinade.
But the intense heat
is taking its toll on the hunters.
Aah!
Hold up there. Hold up.
Grab him by the--there you go.
You get that part, you get that.
Hold up.
Whew!
- Look at that. - You all right, man?
The hand locking up on me.
- Whoo-whoo! - You need some water, man?
This sucker, yo, like he still got action. Hold on.
All right.
Tighten up, Porkchop.
Come on, Porkchop. You can do it.
You can do it, Porkchop.
You can do it, you can do it, you can do it.
Whoo!
Them fingers took a beating
from them big giant alligators, man.
When I seen Porkchop cramping, I immediately know what to do
'cause I done been through that situation with him.
We keep pickles on deck.
One for me, one for him.
I need that pickle
because, man, for the salt and the little vinegar,
to just put back in my body.
It be so hot, you be dehydrated.
And, you know, you drink a lot of water.
You know, everybody say water good for you,
but there's something about that pickle.
The veteran hunters know it pays to be prepared
on days like this,
and after a quick pickle break,
they're ready to finish running their lines.
You're doing a fine job, cuz.
Thank you, Porkchop.
We doing a fine job.
Couple more big ones, man, we need a bigger boat.
Yes, sir.
Back in Pierre Part,
it's been slow going for Troy and Pickle,
whose frozen chicken pops haven't been producing results.
I was telling you, Pee-wee, I don't think that's gonna work.
You froze the bait. It's not gonna smell as much.
I'm a little disappointed, but I still got confidence.
They gonna bite.
I got faith.
Mr. Troy definitely needs to be a little more patient,
especially when it comes to these chicken pops.
I'm not catching too many alligators on my chicken pops,
but the longer they're out there,
the better they gonna work,
and he just needs to have some patience.
Give me a chance.
I know that they're melting like crazy,
and we fixing to catch some massive alligators
on these chicken pops.
Well, Pee-wee,
we got something on your cool pop here.
Oh, yeah.
Look like your cool pop might've finally caught one.
Oh, yeah!
Oh, dude, you might wanna get your gun on this one.
Huh? Get the gun, get the gun?
- It's a good one? - Yeah.
All right, good job.
Oh, my God. Bring him up easy.
Bring him up, bring him up, bring him up!
Yeah, he's pretty good.
Show him who's the boss!
Bring him up! Whoo!
Show him who's the boss, Pee-wee. Show him.
Ready? You ready?
Shoot fast.
[gunshot]
- Whoo! - [laughs]
Good job, Pee-wee.
After catching this 11-footer,
Troy's starting to warm up to Pickle's special bait.
Yeah, what you think about that?
Hey, I think we caught that one on my bait.
No, no. That's my bait. I marked it without you looking.
I know that's my bait.
I know it was your bait,
but I just didn't want to tell you that.
You know, all morning we didn't catch nothin',
and now when we get into the late afternoon,
the hottest part of the day,
and now it looks like we starting to catch good.
Looks like the chicken pops might actually be working.
We catching good on your Pop-Tarts or popsicles--
Chicken pops! Chicken pops!
Chicken pops, whatever you call 'em.
I was really worried 'cause we weren't catching nothin'.
Now we catching.
I'm gonna prove you wrong, Troy Landry.
- Imma prove you wrong. - Time will tell.
Back in Hammond,
Bruce and family have gathered for a fish fry,
courtesy of the catfish his grandson caught.
Caught all these fish.
Now we're just gonna cook 'em up,
feed the family.
Oh, yeah.
This is pretty much a staple in Louisiana, fried catfish.
I love fried catfish, especially freshly caught.
I'm not teaching my grandson this
just so he can catch a fish.
It's stories that go with it.
Teach him how to eat,
how to get along with the family,
how to help family,
putting a good work ethic on him, you know,
let him learn how to work.
And it's all about family. That's what it's about.
If you ain't got your family, you ain't got nothin'.
All right, y'all, y'all ready to eat?
Now, bubby, I think you ought to be
the first one to fix your plate because you caught these fish.
So I think you ought to be the one to fix your plate first.
That's what I want to show him,
stuff like you can feed your family out here, you know,
on the swamps.
Most people don't realize it,
but that's how we ate all our life.
This is stuff they will never forget.
I can remember doing stuff like this with my grandpa,
you know, when I was five and six years old,
so I know he's gonna remember this stuff.
By the time he's my age,
the fish are probably gonna be a lot bigger than they are now.
But we did catch some nice fish.
Well, bubby drove the boat, and he did excellent.
You drove the boat? All by yourself?
It's fun to go catch fish and then eat it, huh?
Now I'm not just teaching little Kris how to work.
I'm hoping that one day he's gonna take over this farm.
It'll be his farm.
You got to pass this stuff on,
teach these kids how to do this stuff.
If you don't, it's over, it dies out.
But, uh, he's loving it.
He loves to go fishing and hunting with me,
so I'm pretty sure one day this will be his farm.
Pop, why do you always wear that hat?
See your daddy's hat like he got the thing on the front of it?
When you're riding the boat, it does that and then it blows off.
These don't blow off your head.
For Bruce, sharing swamp wisdom and good food with his family
is what life is all about.
Mmm-mmm!
I said it don't get no better than this.
Over in Violet,
after a frightening experience last season,
Ronnie and Ashley are focused on
looking out for each other in this extreme heat.
Yeah, we gotta stay on top of being hydrated,
especially because I don't want what happened last year
to happen again.
Me neither, babe, and I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to worry you about like that.
I apologize for that.
- That was serious, Ronnie. - I know.
But I'm glad you was there, though,
to help me get to the emergency room.
But I don't wanna go through that either.
I agree with you 100%. We gotta stay hydrated.
I know. And, look, you're already sweating.
Dividing up the hard work wrestling the gators
will definitely help us get through this heatwave.
Hunting alligators is a team effort,
and I feel like last year I tried to put too much on myself.
My pride got the best of me,
and then the next thing you know,
I'm in a ambulance being rushed to the hospital.
Babe, I think we got one by this island.
I just wanna go check it just to make sure
and use that big long stick to scoop it.
I got the line, baby! Get the gun, get the gun!
He's heavy, too, che!
Che-che, he is heavy!
- Oh, my God! - [bleep] Lord, look at him.
Whoo-hoo, boy, that's a good gator.
Oh! Ow!
Are you okay?
He whipped the [bleep] out my leg.
Golly! Shoot this son of a gun.
Whoo! Biting my boat.
Give me a shot.
Come on, big boy.
Whoo-whoo! That's a big motherhumper!
Whoa, Nelly.
Whoo-hoo! Hammer time!
[gunshot]
- Atta girl! - Good job.
Lord have mercy. That was work for this gator.
I'm glad he's a big one.
Ronnie and Ashley are filling up the boat fast,
but the heat is taking its toll on the hunters.
- Whew. - You okay?
I'm gassed, dude. I'm gassed.
That sucker wore me out.
Well, um, make sure you drink plenty of juice.
I am.
This is rough heat.
We're catching a lot of gators.
I don't know if it's the heatwave or what,
but they're definitely eating a lot more,
and they're just everywhere.
You know, if Ronnie had to do this by himself,
then I don't know that we would make it through today.
It's not just the sun, it's the humidity.
Oh, the humidity is what gets you.
Ain't nothin' like September heat, baby, in Louisiana.
All right, Ronnie, it's my turn.
You're on gun duty.
Meanwhile, in Pierre Part,
For Leron and Porkchop,
the only thing hotter than the weather
is the hunting.
With the help of Leron's secret sauce,
they've been loading up the boat.
Straight ahead. Keep going straight.
Coming in hot. Coming in hot, Porkchop.
Hold on, cuz. My bait covered with ants.
Look at that, man. Bait covered.
I gotta put some of that juice on it.
Yeah, that's a whole red ant pile.
Yeah, but don't worry about that.
Oh, that's not a red ant pile. That's a damn gator bed.
That's why I'm pouring that juice on him, cuz.
Damn gators gonna be fighting over that thing.
Yeah, they ain't gonna be able to resist that, cuz.
Might get a two-for-one on that one.
Dealing with the heat, man, it'll dry your bait out.
You started running lines
and you got that chicken in direct heat of the sun,
that sun beaming down on it, and it tends to dry it out.
Got a line right there, cuz.
That line is pulling tight, Porkchop.
Oh, yeah. Hold on. Watch out now.
Man, that's gotta be the monster, man.
Hold on, now.
Whoa, now you put it on that tree.
Whoa.
Yeah, he gonna come up.
Let's see what that head look like.
He coming up, about to get it.
Whoo! Whoo!
Get ready. Get your shot now.
Watch out, cuz, he's rolling now.
Come on, now.
Come on, come on.
What you waiting on?
Give me a good, clean shot, Porkchop.
[gunshot]
Whoo.
He ain't no monster, but he gonna fill a tag up.
Yeah, he gonna fill up a tag.
- You got it, Porkchop? - Yeah, I got it, cuz.
With the boat filling up fast,
Leron's special sauce is a huge success.
And for the veteran swamper, it was a no-brainer.
Another one in the boat, cuz, another one in the boat.
Yes, sir.
Growing up in Louisiana,
we love Louisiana hot sauce,
so I said what the hell.
Them alligators from Louisiana.
They might like it, too.
And he just can't help himself, you know.
And it just been working from there.
Whoo. Boy, cuz, it getting hot, boy.
You're right, Porkchop, it's hot, buddy.
My body might be hot,
but my mind cool looking at a boat full of gators.
Yeah, cuz.
At the mouth of the Mississippi,
the Edgars have been successful catching in the heat.
Man, the river's paying off big time.
This is a hot spot.
But Daniel's not satisfied yet.
Another Mississippi monster
would sure look good in this boat.
Well, I tell you what.
Working in this kind of heat,
I'm tired, that's the truth.
But I'd sure like to get one more giant
out the mouth of this river.
Put one more big one in the boat,
I'd sure feel a lot better about today.
Yeah, there's an alligator on it, you know.
I'm telling you, it might be a bull.
Wait, don't untie it until you pull on that thing.
It might be a giant on there.
It feels heavy, but he's under the boat.
Just bring him around.
Look, just bring it all the way around the nose.
Might be a good one.
No, it feels good.
Feels pretty good? Big gun?
Oh, yeah, I would come with the big gun.
Give me a little fight.
Ooh, a good one. Give me a little fight.
Bring him back to us.
Whoa!
- Oh, my goodness! - I can't control him.
Don't let him beat you up, pa. Try to give me a shot.
Take him.
Focus, focus.
Shoot him!
You missed your shot.
Let him swim out a little bit. Let him swim out.
Right there. Come on, pa, focus.
[gunshot]
Come on up a piece.
All right, now. Now we'll go up with him.
Make him roll this way, pa.
Roll him in.
- There you go. - Look how fat he is.
This delta at the mouth of the river
just got so much feed.
It's been a long hot day, but with a full boat,
Daniel proves once again that swamp wisdom conquers all.
I'm glad we made this change
to come here to the mouth of the river.
It's paying off.
Yeah, it's paying off.
We're gonna do a lot better right here.
You know, today,
starting off with all the heat was a real struggle,
really challenging.
But at the end of the day,
we're really successful and I'm really tired,
but I'm feeling good about the success we had.
The Mississippi always provides.
In Violet...
Lord, it's a hot one today, boy.
That motherhumper's hot, baby.
Ronnie and Ashley's strategy to split duties in the heat
is keeping them going into the late afternoon.
- Miserable today. - Today's a hot motherhumper.
It's the hottest day of the year so far,
and Ashley come up with a game plan
that we gonna rotate wrestling the gators,
and hopefully this'll get us through the day
and we'll survive this big bad mama-jama of a heatstroke,
you heard me?
- Y'all watch for stumps now. - Okay.
- It's brutally hot. - Oh, it is hot, girl.
I feel like something good here.
- Yeah, straight out. - Come on, come on.
Give me a break on this one.
Ooh, I like it when it's straight out.
- He's pulling, too. Good. - Come on, huh.
How good?
Real good. He's hugging that bottom.
- Oh, we got a tree. - Pulling up a tree.
Golly.
Whoo-hoo!
- Come on, boy. - Oh, that's a good one, girl.
Come on, my baby. Give it to me.
Oh, yeah, you got you a fighter there, girl.
Come on, girl. Get him, Ash. Come on.
Oh, he's in the roll.
Don't let him rip your hands, don't let him rip your hands.
Oh, he's rolling.
Let me get a shot on him, give me a shot.
- Whoo! - Watch your foot.
Come on, big boy.
Don't get under that boat.
[gunshot]
Yeah!
Dude, he's pulling us all over with, baby.
That's a tug, that's a tugboater.
Ashley and Ronnie landed another monster
on their last line, but more important,
they've made it through the heat safely.
It's a really nice way to end the day.
After we've been taking turns,
we both got to work together on this last one,
and it's a monster gator.
We got him, baby.
Unh-unh-unh-unh!
Air five.
No, we can reach. We're long.
It's a successful day when nobody gets hurt,
we get a boat full of gators, and everybody's safe.
Good job, girl. Atta baby there, papa.
That's what I came here for.
That's right. Big Boy McCoys all day long.
Meanwhile, in Pierre Part,
Pickle's bait of frozen chicken pops
has made a believer out of Troy Landry.
Dude, we catching good.
Looks like we might be catching
actually a little better on your frozen stuff.
You don't like admitting I'm right,
but I'm proud of you.
- Huh? - That's a big step.
You know, I wouldn't have bragged
on Pee-wee's chicken pops this morning
because all the lines we ran earlier this morning
wasn't catching nothin'.
But late in the afternoon, it look like they doubling up.
They catching better
than we would've caught with regular chicken.
What we got? Ooh, I see the line wrapped up.
- Whoo! - Another tree-shaker.
Yay.
Yeah.
Whoa! Watch him, Pee-wee, watch him.
Whoo! It's a big one, it's a big one!
Good Lord!
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.
All right.
Good one, dude.
He's coming to Pierre Part with us, Pee-wee.
Coming to the PP.
We got him now, Pee-wee.
Oh.
Whew!
- [laughs] - Big dude.
What?
Whoo!
Wrapping out the day with a 13-footer
is exactly what Pickle had hoped for,
and Troy is impressed
with his deckhand thinking outside the box.
What I like about her chicken pops,
not so much the idea of the chicken pops,
but the idea that she's trying to help us.
She's thinking of ways to better us.
She's a team player, you know.
It's not just me that got to do all the thinking at night.
She's thinking of ways to try to help us out,
and that's a team, you know.
That's what teamwork is all about,
and she's doing good.
Doing better than I expected we'd do.
Told you so.
Meanwhile across the swamp,
Leron and Porkchop are suffering
in the unbearable heat,
but there's no denying the success they've had
using Leron's secret gator hot sauce.
Tell you what, Porkchop, starting to get hot out here.
What you think?
Oh, man.
When Leron came up with the idea of that sauce, man,
we been catching some monsters.
Big one after big one after big one.
I'm telling you, he nailed it.
We gonna get some more big ones back here.
Go see where that line at over there.
I see it.
Hold on, hold on. Imma get it.
He under that log right there.
Pull him out of there.
Nice one, cuz. Hold on.
- Keep it tight. - I'm getting--
Whoo!
Don't let him get under that log, Porkchop.
You're gonna lose him like that, man.
Yeah, I know, cuz, I know.
So you get ready now. Whoo!
- What you waiting on? - Give me a clean shot, though.
Whoo! Trying to get in the boat, cuz.
Whoo! That's another monster there.
Yeah, we been getting monsters all day, man.
Leron's hot sauce
has landed the hunters another mature bull...
Told you gonna start getting bigger
once we got in this bayou, man.
adding to their already impressive pile of gators.
What you say, cuz?
Gotta be the sauce.
Them gators couldn't resist that combination I put on there.
It just was amazing.
Them gators sure got a taste
just like human beings from Louisiana.
Ha! It worked out perfect.
Whoo! Come on, boy. It getting hot out here.
We gotta take it on in.
That don't sound like a bad idea to me.
Take it on in.
Too bad we got a boatload of gators.
We can't go fast.
We can go fast enough.
Get on out of here.
As the sun sets in Violet, the heat finally breaks,
and Ronnie has a special celebration in mind.
Oh, my God, Ashley!
Look at that, che. Whoo!
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
It's been a really hard day,
and I just wanna show my appreciation.
Ashley's always trying to take care of me in any way possible,
and I don't say it much and I don't thank her enough,
but I'm really appreciative of what she does for me
and how much she looks out for me
and how much she cares about me.
Guys, y'all come on. Get around the table, baby.
Let's do it to it.
For a lifelong swamper,
there's no better way to end the hottest day of the year
than with a good old-fashioned shrimp boil.
Y'all eat away, guys.
Oh, my God, they taste amazing.
Oh, yeah, baby, it don't get no better than that, papa.
- Yum! - Whoo-hoo!
Food is where the home's at.
Everything in Louisiana revolves around food.
Family, tradition, everything revolves around food.
Because whenever there's family, someone's cooking.
You can go on and guarantee that.
You did pretty good, Ronnie.
We'll let you stick around.
Cheers.
Oh, man, just to hang out with the friends
and drink a cold beer after a hard day's work
is just absolutely amazing.
Knowing that you're done and completed for today
and just can relax and enjoy it
and talk about the day with your friends and family,
absolutely amazing.
Hey, and if y'all around again tomorrow,
we might just do it all over again tomorrow.
Come over here and give me a hug.
- I love you. Thank you. - Love you, too, my girl.
You're always welcome in my family.
- We accept. - You bet, my baby.
- We love y'all, baby. - Love you, man.
- You bet. - Good to see y'all.
- Yes, indeed. - We appreciate it.
It was fantastic.
Very good.