Porkchop!
Man, that water high.
With water levels rising fast...
The high water's got all these gators spread out.
Swampers must adapt...
That don't sound good.
Or sink.
Oh, my God, Ronnie, what was that sound?
One hunter battles a legendary rival.
Caught him three years in a row, and he broke the rope
and broke the hooks three years in a row.
I got him. [gunshot]
- Come on, Willie! - You've got to watch
you don't shake this tree.
I hate wasps. I don't go towards
a spot that has wasps.
But venturing into the unknown...
Oh! I don't like this.
Comes at a price.
Aah!
Watch him, Ashley, watch him!
Pull out! Pull out!
Run!
[blues guitar plays]
As the sun rises on a new day of gator season...
hunters gear up for battle.
But Mother Nature is always changing the rules of the game.
A few days ago, water levels
were at extreme lows,
but now they're rising.
In Bayou Sorrel,
lifelong swamper Willie Edwards and his son Little Willie
are hoping the high waters
will give them a chance to capture
an elusive giant they've been chasing for years.
We got a monster back here, though.
This what they call the Black Lagoon.
Black Lagoon, I been after him for about four or five years,
six years, something like that, and...
he done got away from me every time.
It's like he got my number, he knows what to do.
He's just one of them alligators, he's like a ghost.
Today's our day. It's our only shot.
I hope it'll be a good day.
Should catch some alligators.
The veteran hunter knows today is most likely
his only chance to catch Black Lagoon this season.
Hold on.
He's got about two miles to go down this little ditch...
and every year, it's taken more water
to get back to where I can get close to him.
So today it kind of looks promising to go back there.
I mean, that water's up another six inches
from what it was the other day, and today is gonna be the day.
If we don't get him today, we might have to wait another year.
This is his little hole right back here.
That look like one.
- Got him? - Yeah, I got him.
Something big...
Let me help you.
He's a big gator.
Come on! Whoo!
Let me get that hand over there.
This 10-footer's a great catch,
but it's not big enough to be Willie's nemesis.
Whoo!
Big, fat, healthy gator, too.
I mean, you never know until you get that alligator up
where you can get your eyes on him to see.
I ain't about to give up on him.
I'll bust him in the head with a 7mag,
he going, he going...
be his-- the end of his days.
104 miles to the southeast, in Violet,
those rising water levels have hit the swamp.
And for veteran hunter Ronnie Adams
and his deckhand Ashley "Deadeye" Jones,
this is a rare opportunity that calls for an airboat.
So we're gonna go out to some areas today
that you can't get to with a normal boat.
These are like landlocked ponds,
and they got monsters in it,
so we gonna do it to it.
With the storms and all the high water coming in,
the high water's got all these gators spread out.
But there's areas in the marsh
that's loaded with big gators.
But it's surrounded by land and flotant,
and you just can't get to it with a regular boat.
The only way to get to it is with an airboat.
Airboats can do things that an ordinary boat can't do.
Whoo-whoo!
Bam, baby.
Gonna be a good one there, papa.
That looks good, Ronnie.
Ooh, boy, that's a good one there.
- All right. - Should have brought that
long cane.
- Hand me that-- oh, yeah. - It's heavy.
Yeah, he was tangled on something.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
Whoo!
- That a girl, baby. - Whoo!
- Yes! - Whoo-hoo!
One, two, three.
There we go.
- That's good. - Whoo!
You know, the first line's got a nice gator on it.
It's a good start, but I know there's big gators in here,
and I know we got a long day ahead of us.
I hope and pray we get some big monsters
and get back out of here with this airboat
to see if I can get across the land
with all that weight in the boat, my baby.
Ooh, girl, the airboat's paying off, my baby.
96 miles west, in Pierre Part...
Man. Porkchop.
Whoa.
Cousins Leron Jones and Anthony "Porkchop" Williams
are just coming to terms with the rising tides.
Man, that water high.
- Man... - Looks like we got
a line down, cuz.
See it over there?
That ain't got nothing on there, man.
If you get me over there, I can find out.
Wait for it, wait for it.
You see it now?
Yeah.
I like to set my lines right above the water
because that's the way alligators, they're working,
they're working off their nose for the smell.
And then the next day, the higher water comes,
it mess you up, because now your bait's underwater,
and when you get over there, your bait's gone.
'Cause maybe a crawfish or a crab
came and ate your bait.
All right. So we gotta go in,
check it out, make sure they're doing it right.
Well, lookie here. What do we have here, Porkchop?
I don't know.
This looks good, man.
Oh, I see it.
What you say? That's a pretty good start, man.
Yeah, that's a good start.
Do what you do, Porkchop.
Oh... nice one there, boy. Watch yourself.
I ain't worried about that.
Whoo! Hold on there, cuz.
Them big boys be pulling the boat and everything.
Gotta tie that off.
Whoo, you all right, Porkchop?
Yeah-- oh! You get ready now, cuz.
- I'm ready, go-- oh! - I just got--
Hold up. Whoo, man!
- Got it! - You see the size of him?
Hold on, cuz, hold on-- whoa!
We gotta get him, cuz.
Whoa!
Look at the size of this!
Whoo! Give me some.
Damn thing is a monster.
- Get him, then roll him over. - All right then.
At 12 feet long,
this monster is the best way
to start the day.
That's a gator, man. Look at the size
of that thing. 12-footer all day.
But Leron and Porkchop know better
than to underestimate the rising water.
Seeing how the weather can change
every minute and every second
especially when you're on that water,
the power of Mother Nature,
I'm very impressed by it.
We gotta run these lines, cuz, come on, we gotta
finish running these lines.
57 miles west, in Lake Fausse Pointe,
the high waters have opened up a new hunting ground
for swamp veteran Joey Edgar and his deckhand Zak Catchem.
But the promise of big gators comes with a catch.
Look at all the spiderwebs on this.
Dang.
Oh, this swamp's full of insects.
As if we didn't have enough to deal with.
We'll take our time through here.
We can't just run and gun right here.
- Mm-mm. - We gonna take our time.
Start moving too fast, something gonna happen.
Look at the nests in these trees, Zak.
- It's unbelievable. - Man.
I like alligators.
I don't know about the rest of the stuff in this swamp.
You know, today we're hunting an area that's got reports
of some really big alligators, but what I'm concerned about,
this area's got a lot of bugs.
I don't know what's going on.
Spiders, bees, everything...
there's a lot of wasps in this area,
and Zak's extremely afraid of wasps.
Joey has been hunting with Zak for four years
and knows firsthand how terrified he is.
- Hornets! - Run, run, run, Zak!
Oh!
- Got you, Zak? - Yeah, he got me.
No, no! Come on. Come on now.
Aah!
We just got to be careful
and try to put in trees that don't have nests.
How're we gonna put in trees that don't have nests
when every single tree has a nest?
You're gonna end up getting us killed, man.
I'm serious, this is...
this is stupid. This is stupid.
I don't wanna do this.
I'm not afraid of wasps.
I hate wasps. I don't wanna be stung.
I don't go towards a spot that has wasps.
I don't care if I have to, I just don't do it.
But guess who's the captain of the boat? Not me.
I've never seen so many wasps in my life.
Well, we gotta take the alligators off the line.
We got tags to fill.
That one, there's something on it.
Oh, Zak, I think we got a good one. Uh-oh.
Oh, my God.
Look at the size of that wasp nest, dude.
Hope it's not hung up bad.
Probably a good one, too.
He's up on the bank, pop.
Yeah, I see him.
- Yeah. - And you've got to go meet him,
but you've got to watch you don't shake this tree.
All right.
Be careful. He's on the bank.
You gotta go meet him... quietly as possible,
and we get him in the boat without disturbing these wasps.
Here he is.
He's wrapped pretty good.
He's wrapped up good?
We gotta untie him. I'll give you the rope.
We gotta get him in the boat...
- Hold on. - as quietly as we can.
I think if this gun goes off, those wasps
- are going everywhere. - We got to take the chance.
I'm ready. If you gotta run,
you run in the swamp, and I'm gonna back out.
He still--whoa!
He's still got some motion-- whoa.
Be careful. The tree's shaking.
Whoa... uh-oh.
Watch how you shoot that thing.
He's coming at the boat!
Pop! Pop! Pop, he's going off!
He's shaking the trees, Pop, go. Pull out! Pull out!
Run! [wasps buzzing]
Run!
In Lake Fausse Pointe...
Zak's facing double trouble
from a wasp nest and an angry gator.
Come quiet.
- Oh, he's right there, huh? - Yeah, kill him.
- Let's go. - Oh, my God.
You're all right, you're all right.
Watch him. Watch for wasps.
I just don't want this gun to go off
and spook something up I'm not paying attention to.
- All right. - Don't shake these trees
too hard, pop. We gotta get this alligator in the boat
without disturbing these wasps.
Pop, these things are everywhere, man.
Look, give me the rope.
Just don't shake that tree too much.
Okay, now get in the boat. I'm gonna back out slow.
Okay. Okay, we're good.
Good job, we ain't disturbed them.
Dude, that was scary.
Damn.
Whew! We gotta be careful, man.
Those things are everywhere.
Joey and Zak have their first gator,
but after his close call with the wasps,
Zak worries he's in for a long day.
Once an alligator's on the line, you gotta catch it.
It doesn't matter if the wasps are there or not.
I don't know what's going on in this area,
but we gonna have to go in here
and get these alligators killed one way or another.
I have a job to do, we got alligator tags to fill,
you know, I just hope Zak can hold on.
Imagine all those wasps hitting you three or four times.
That's like how many stings, hundreds.
- No. - No, hell, no.
We'd have to leave the gators on the line
- and go straight to ER. - Yeah.
-Get some Benadryl, because that many stings?
Yeah.
Damn.
60 miles east in Pierre Part,
Chase Landry, the son of swamp legend Troy Landry,
is back in the bayou.
Shadillac is back in action, baby.
But this year, he's fishing
for something much bigger than gators.
It's time to make a block and go hit the water.
You know, any time I can get out on the water
and find one of those old sinker cypress
is enjoyable to me.
I consider it like treasure.
I would have to say hands down
I would much rather pull logs than hunt alligators.
I was raised hunting and I love hunting.
It's something I'm very passionate about.
But finding the buried treasure,
that's where it's fun for me.
These logs have been down there in the bottom of the rivers
and the lakes and everything, down in the mud
for over a hundred years or more.
It makes it a very precious commodity.
That's why... why it was cut down way back in the day.
The demand for cypress trees
created a lumber boom beginning around 1880,
attracting loggers from all over the country.
By the 1930s,
Louisiana became one of the biggest producers
of lumber in the nation.
It was during those years
that loggers would transport these cypress trees
by floating them down the river
towards the local sawmill.
But in doing so, some trees were too heavy
and would sink to the river bottoms.
Decades later, these sinker cypress trees
can be worth thousands of dollars.
I'm very passionate when it comes to the logs.
My great-grandpa was a logger.
This whole entire community, if not for the logging industry,
who knows if the town or this area
would have prospered like it did, you know.
Using his knowledge of the area's logging history,
Chase is setting out for a spot he hopes
will be full of sinker cypress treasures.
I know that they've done this in this area,
because if you can look right here, see that lane?
They used to pull the cypress logs
that they would cut down back in the swamp,
they would pull them through those lanes.
The loggers would go down those little lanes,
those old pull boat roads, like we call them.
They would go back there,
and they would cut down cypress trees,
and then they would float the trees out
through those little lanes out into the river,
where they would make them into a raft,
and then they would take them to the mill.
Just lane after lane after lane after lane.
I mean, it was-- this was the hot spot in other words.
This is a better spot than any that I can think of
to look around for cypress.
Trying to see what's out there.
98 miles east in Violet...
Ronnie and Ashley are using an airboat
to hunt an isolated area that's opened up due to high waters.
When that water is normal, this is like a big mudflat.
But they got big gators back here in the corner.
We gonna put it on them.
Right now we in an area
that the only way we can get to it is by airboat.
We in here. We already caught a decent one on the line.
I know there's a lot of big ones in here.
We got a long day ahead of us.
Let's hope and pray we get some big monsters
and get out-- back out of here with this airboat.
Might be something on there.
All right.
Deeper you go, the bigger they get, baby.
This is probably gonna be a--
- Oh, there he is right there. - Whoo-whoo!
That looks like a good one there, baby, huh?
You better believe it. There we go.
Okay.
Golly, we got a good one here, partner.
Oh, yeah, this is a good one, baby.
Whoo-hoo! Yeah, baby!
That is a hammer!
Yeah, baby, come on with the fight.
Big son of a...
Oh, that's a good one there, my baby.
Whoo! Get off my airboat, boy!
Whoo!
- Atta girl! - Whoo!
That's a big boy down there, baby.
God, I didn't think he was ever gonna give me a shot.
- Whoo-hoo! - He was mad at us.
Don't mess with gator, baby.
The hunters bagged an eight-footer...
but Ashley wonders if the airboat trip
might not pay off.
Clickity click, come get this stick,
up your big uh-uh-uh.
I really hope that we can do better than this.
This is a good gator, but we spent a lot of time
and energy getting back here.
Hopefully, we'll be able to have, you know,
a few big gators that we normally
wouldn't have been able to get to.
All right, next line.
Back in Bayou Sorrel...
the highest water of the year
has given Willie and Little Willie
a rare opportunity to hunt a remote slough
that's home to a legendary gator
known as Black Lagoon.
The water's high enough now, we can go back here.
He might be way back there.
Can you go sneak over and see?
If you shoot that thing, we ain't gonna be able
to pull him over that hill.
Oh, we'll get him over that dump.
This might be the only day I get
of shooting this big alligator, the Black Lagoon.
He very rare come out.
When you do see him, it's just a quick sight of him,
and then, pfft, he's gone.
Better back out, knee-deep in water.
I mean, you never know when he's laying right there.
If we don't get on out of that low water right there
and get on up the hill.
But, yeah, some big alligator tracks
right there.
Only way you're gonna catch him is
put a bullet right between his eyes.
Fresh tracks mean Black Lagoon is close by,
but Willie will need some luck to spot the elusive beast.
- He's right behind the boat. - Yeah, I see him.
I see him. He's in front of the boat.
Ooh, yeah.
Watch him right there. Nice one, though, he's ten foot.
Don't pull that hook out.
Ready? Let's go.
He's a big one, but he's not the Black Lagoon.
Willie's disappointed not to catch his nemesis...
but he isn't ready to give up yet.
Well, he's still a big one.
I don't want no other alligator nowhere as badder
than what I want this alligator right now.
And I want him in the boat and put a tag on him
and say I killed something that big.
And it just ain't working out for me.
I'm a pretty good alligator hunter, I mean,
I ain't saying I'm the best, but I'm in that category.
And still yet have to catch him.
He's just tormenting me now.
A gator that big, you ain't just gonna go up
and kill him like you think.
I'll bust him in the head with a 7mag.
Be the end of his days. Hope the season
ain't over with before then.
74 miles southwest in Lake Fausse Pointe,
high waters gave Joey and Zak a chance to hunt a new area,
but a scourge of wasps has Zak on edge.
That's a big wasp nest, huh?
- What? - Look right here.
But with that amount of wasps hanging over our head,
we can't play with that.
You don't have to tell me twice.
I'm not afraid of bugs and insects.
I'm not afraid of wasps. But the amount of fear
that Zak has for these wasps are overblown a bit.
You know, I've been in the swamp my whole life.
He don't have nothing to worry about.
They almost in every tree.
They are in every tree. Every single one.
This is a stupid spot.
It's not worth the alligators, man.
[both laugh]
Get that out of here.
You have a lot to learn, young grasshopper.
[laughs]
- You wanna bite this thing? - No.
- Huh? - Please don't do that.
- Huh? - Please don't eat him.
No, I'm not hungry.
I would.
If I'd be hungry, we'd eat him.
[laughs] Oh, my God.
The worst case scenario
is for a 12 footer to be on a tree
where I set a line too close to a wasp nest.
Because he may shake the tree hard enough
to have them disturbed before you get there.
That line is jumping, man.
Look at it all kicked up.
He's all wrapped up.
Watch out for wasps.
[buzzing]
Be careful. The tree's shaking.
I just seen some wasps, I don't know where they at.
Time to move. Get me the hell out of here.
Okay, pop. Come with your rifle.
We just gotta watch out for wasp nests.
- Whoa. - He's pretty big.
He's a little nicer than I thought he was.
Watch your hand.
- Whoa. - Whoa.
Oh, that's power. Whoa.
I don't think he likes spiders either.
Whoa, whoa.
You better make the first shot count.
You don't wanna stir them wasps up.
Good job.
I'm not messing around, man,
not with these wasps in every tree.
We're getting kind of heavy.
Yeah, we're starting to load up the boat today.
Watch it, pop.
Despite the swarm overhead,
Joey and Zak were able to catch
this eight-footer.
- That's a little better. - Mm-hmm.
We just caught another alligator
right next to a tree with wasps on it,
and we got lucky.
You know, it wasn't a big alligator,
but we managed to get the alligator killed
and in the boat without getting Zak or I bit.
Oh, boy, we lucky.
Oh, we lucky we didn't get bit right there.
I hate this spot.
57 miles east in Pierre Part...
- What we looking like, Porkchop? - Let's see.
Leron and Porkchop are racing
against the rising tide,
which is swallowing up the bait on their lines.
I see a string in the water.
Oh, got a lot of slack on that line.
Yeah, got a lot of slack.
I betcha that what happened with that.
We can't cry over spoiled milk, cuz.
I don't like wasting money on chicken
to feed crawfish or catfish or whatever.
Bait hanging in the water, it's fair ballgame
for all the species that live down there.
Need a little help pushing off or what?
Careful-- be careful now.
Nine times out of 10,
we would never have a gator on there like that.
Something else done ate it.
What you see? What you see, boy?
I don't know. I gotta check it out.
Now, you know that water come up, so...
Oh, that's a big one...
That's what we came for.
Yeah, definitely what we looking for.
Whoo! Look at the size of it.
Hold on. Watch out, cuz.
Look what you're doing. Watch out, cuz.
Man! Whoa!
- Watch yourself, cuz. - Here we go.
Oh, look out here, cuz. I'm gonna bind you up, boy.
Whoa!
You see that thing snapping at me, boy?
Shoot him, cuz!
[gunshot]
Man, you ain't get a perfect shot on that big boy.
I panicked, man. I was fallin' in,
and I didn't know what to catch my balance on--
I pulled the trigger, Porkchop.
Glad you pulled the trigger then.
One, two, three. You got the head?
Got the head, pa. All right.
With this nine-footer in the boat...
Oh, man.
Leron and Porkchop are on a roll
despite the challenges of high water.
That worked out pretty good, man.
I know that's right, cuz.
When that tide gets high on you,
it's just an unpredictable situation
down here in these swamps.
You know, it makes our job much harder.
But I will not give up,
and there's only one way to find out what's gonna happen.
You gotta be out there.
- We outta here, huh? - All right.
Meanwhile, in Lake Fausse Pointe,
Joey and Zak are not only battling gators,
but doing everything they can
not to disturb the wasp nests that infest this canal.
Wasp haven, man.
Zak's scared. He got bit by wasps.
Everybody's scared of something.
But at the same time, it's hard to work with a man in the swamp
where there's that many bugs to be afraid of bugs.
You wanna untie the line and drag it out
in the middle of the bayou so we don't disturb these wasps?
Think that's gonna be our only option right now.
All right. You think so?
It's either that or come home with a thousand extra holes.
I think Zak's so afraid of bugs,
he gives a pheromone off
that other people don't give off.
Oh, my God.
They're attracted to him
in a way I've never seen before,
the amount of fear that Zak has for these wasps.
You know, I've been in the swamp my whole life.
He don't have nothing to worry about.
You gotta be careful.
- You don't wanna wake them up. - I'm trying.
I don't know, there's a lot of stuff he's wrapped around.
All this grass? Oh, my God.
Let's just hope they don't come after us after the gunshot.
We might've lost him.
That alligator's gone.
That's crazy.
He went right towards the debris,
and he just got away from us.
With the gator slipping off their line,
the boys need to come up with a new strategy.
Let's get out of here, man.
But before that, Joey's not gonna
let the wasps off the hook that easy.
Hold on. We gonna blow them out.
We can't fight this no more.
[revs engine]
Oh, my God, pop!
What're you doing? Go! Go!
Oh, my God.
You knocked them down. They're out.
- Get down! - Go!
Get us out of here, man.
I probably should've just left those wasps alone.
I tried just to blow them out with the water.
No more problem. We took care of that.
It worked, nobody got bit, but Zak's always gonna be Zak.
He's scared of wasps.
I think I hate you.
[both laugh]
57 miles east in Pierre Part,
Chase is out hunting for valuable sinker cypress logs
in an area where loggers once transported the cut trees
out of the swamp.
See that right there, that's something right there.
We're gonna pull up right here and see what we can find.
We'll work our way further down.
The Shadillac is a 24-foot pontoon boat.
I just converted it
to do some logging instead of some partying.
That fish finder will show you things that's down there
that you won't be able to see otherwise.
And if it shows a little bump on it,
I know that must be a log.
So I'll park right there
and poke around until I find it.
[clack]
Well, that was pretty quick. [chuckles]
[clack, clack] Oh, yeah.
All right, gonna stick that down in there.
That way, I can go under
and feel exactly what that is down there.
If it's shallow enough, I like to get in the water
and actually just kind of walk through the mud.
You can tell by the density of the mud
if there's something down there.
And it makes it a lot easier doing it that way,
because you can actually physically feel the log.
Here, this is a little wireless router,
and that's my remote up there. It allows me to be able
to be in the water in the back of the boat
and still be able to control my winch
and do what I need to do.
Oh, yeah, it's not too warm.
I'll figure out exactly how much slack I need
for my tongs to get to my log down there.
I drop it down, and I wait for it to hit.
And when it hits, I snatch the slack up real quick,
and then I'll turn my winch remote on
and let it rock.
Ready?
If Chase can successfully pull it up,
a single sinker cypress log
can sell for thousands of dollars.
You can tell just how much is down in the mud
by the bind it's got the boat in.
The mud or anything that's down there you can get snagged on
is gonna be going with the log.
Ooh.
It's gonna fight me when I try and turn it.
Once a log is so far down in the mud,
it's just not feasible to think you can pull it up.
Over in Violet, Ronnie and Ashley
are hunting by airboat in a remote marsh
opened up by high waters.
I'm gonna tell you, driving an airboat
is the most relaxing thing there is.
I've been in airboats since I was 15 years old,
and I wouldn't trade an airboat for any other boat in the world.
I love my airboats and it's just a--
You're at peace because you in areas with airboats
that no other boats can get to.
It's just unreal. The airboat is just--
It's just like a magic carpet ride.
Oh, [bleep], that don't sound good.
Something's going on with my motor.
[grinding]
Oh, my God, Ronnie, what is that sound?
That ain't good.
Thing killed on me, dude.
Yeah, we got some fuel issues right now.
I am dead in the water. The boat keeps killing.
I'm not getting fuel to the engine.
Something's going on. I gotta figure it out
and make it happen, because right now we are stuck.
I'm gonna change out that fuel filter.
Probably got some trash.
I've been having some trash in this thing.
You know, I'm kind of worried
because we in such a remote area right now,
you're only accessible by airboat,
and right now if we don't get this boat started,
we in a jam. We gonna sleep out here.
Because if... I can't find somebody with another airboat
or a helicopter or airplane, you can't get to me.
I just gotta figure out what's gonna happen right now,
because we got a serious problem.
I couldn't help you if I wanted to.
That hole ain't big enough for the both of us.
No, but you know what? I think I got that fuel wrench.
Where would it be? You want me to check?
Look straight down from you right there.
- Under this one? - Yeah.
They got a bunch of containers in there,
and they should have, like, an oil filter wrench.
And I got trash in there. That's why it wasn't
allowing the fuel to come through.
See how the fuel's stopped up?
I wish I had a mechanic on the water,
but there ain't no mechanics out here.
- No boat shops out here. - Nope.
- Ain't many airboat shops... - We could sure use one.
around this area, my baby.
I have no clue where we are.
We are, I mean, miles and miles and miles
back here, as far as we've ever been,
and now I've gotta worry about us being stuck out here.
And even if we did get stuck, who's gonna come get us out?
I mean, it's nearly impossible to get back here.
Ah, got it too tight.
It's too tight. I need that oil wrench.
I don't see it, Ronnie.
Che, now we're dead in the water,
boy, with all this heat, and it ain't good, my baby.
We gotta get this thing going.
In Violet, Ronnie and Ashley
are stranded in a remote marsh with no way out.
This one work?
- Or it's the same size. - No, it's the same, my baby.
Yeah.
I just gotta get fuel
flowing to this thing.
So right now I figured out the problem.
I got some trash in the fuel line.
I gotta change the fuel filter off of it,
and right now I don't have the fuel filter wrench.
So I got to improvise and make it happen.
Maybe we can get this puppy started
so we can get out of here.
Let me see, all right,
I'm gonna try to get some fuel
going into this thing.
See, when I take that off,
the fuel should start flowing from it.
Mm-hmm.
Ugh.
Oh, see what we got?
We got fuel now.
- Think we got it, che. - We'll see.
- I hope this worked.
[engine stalls]
Nothing.
[engine starts] Yes, indeed, my baby!
With the fuel issue resolved for now,
the hunters can get back to work.
But they're not out of the woods yet.
I got a boat full of gators,
and I'm having problems with this fuel line.
And it's worrying me right now
because with all these gators in the boat,
I don't want them to go bad.
And then again, I don't wanna sleep out here.
So I gotta figure out this issue,
because right now I got a serious problem.
I'll just be happy when we get back to the dock.
Meanwhile in Lake Fausse Pointe...
We got tags to fill.
Joey and Zak have been running lines
in an area infested with wasp nests.
Damn, this is a good tree, but look right here.
And after several close calls,
the hunters are considering a new game plan.
Please don't go any closer than this.
Man, I'll catch every alligator you need on rod and reel, man.
Come on, man.
- I got you. - All right, all right.
Looking at a nest this size,
there's gotta be over 100, maybe even 200 wasps
just sitting on the outside of this nest
looking you in your eye.
It's just not worth it.
Joey and I are gonna switch up our strategy,
which gets me a little excited,
because I love catching them on rod and reel.
[laughs]
Uh-oh. I don't know how big he is.
- Oh, yeah. - He might be big enough.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Oh, that might be a big one.
Yeah, yeah. That's a lot of bubbles.
Oh, he's moving.
He's coming up.
- Nice-sized one! - He just saw us.
Oh, he's gonna go under the lilies.
Cut him off, cut him off.
Gonna have to kill this alligator.
Right off the boat.
He's running, he's running, he's running.
Running straight down the bayou.
- Look at that. - There he is.
That's gonna do it. Ready when you are.
That's it, that's it.
- You got him? - Yeah, get the gun.
Come on.
- No, no, no, no! - You got him?
Oh!
That's a big one. Oh, he's wrapping up my line.
Hold him, hold him, hold him.
I didn't get a shot off.
Hold him, pop, hold him.
You got this. That's all you.
All right.
The boys bagged a healthy 10-footer...
These kind of kills, oh, they exciting.
And for Zak, it's proof that
switching their strategy was a smart decision.
I'm dialed in with this rod and reel.
I mean, this season I probably caught
more alligators than ever with it,
and I'm ready to go.
Rod and reel, treble hook,
Joey and I are gonna go out there,
and we're gonna teach these alligators a lesson
without Joey spooking up the nests
and getting us all hit by wasps.
Let's roll out, baby boy.
Sure does feel good.
Back in Pierre Part,
Chase is struggling to pull up
what he hopes is a valuable sinker cypress log.
If I had to guess, it's probably a branch
or something down there that's hanging me up more than likely.
When you latch on to it and start to pull it up,
it might take you 30 minutes to get it up,
depending on the size.
But the whole time you're winching it back and forth,
those bubbles are trickling up.
And the more it comes up and the more...
flex you get to it and make a hole
in that mud, the bigger the bubbles.
And then sometimes it looks like the water's boiling.
Yeah, baby.
I'd say on a scale from one to 10, this would be a 10.
I love it.
Chase finally extracted this centuries-old cypress tree,
making all his hard work worthwhile.
Long, straight.
Not all kinds of branches and knots and stuff.
This is what they would call a number one.
Whether or not I make a living from it
or just pull logs for myself,
I'm gonna do this as long as I can.
This to me is the equivalent of, like, farming.
You can get away from town and get out on the water
or get in the woods and nature.
And, when you do get something up
that is worth the value,
I mean, that makes it all worthwhile.
Let's take this one to the house and go clean up, man.
26 miles north in Bayou Sorrel,
Willie and Little Willie are determined
to capture Black Lagoon
before water levels return to normal.
- Maybe? - Yeah.
That's a big one.
We was coming around the bend,
and he comes up out there in the middle of the bayou.
It could be Black Lagoon. I mean, his head
looked like it was three, four foot long.
He's a big old alligator,
biggest one I seen yet this year.
That's the Black Lagoon. Gotta be.
That is Black Lagoon. He come out that hole over there.
- It's getting low. - Yeah, it could be him.
Right there, right there.
That's big boy right there.
I knew right then I couldn't shoot him out of the boat
because this alligator, all he gets is
his eyes and the tip of his nose out,
and he's barely got it out.
And I jump out on the bank and I'mma go back there.
And if I can get a shot, I'm taking the shot.
I mean, it's been about five or six years now.
And he's been tormenting me enough,
and if I see him, he's shot.
Come on, big boy.
I see him way out there. Way out there.
There he is. I got him.
Oh.
Come on, Willie!
I mean, clear as the day is long.
I mean, he bust water and go down.
Find out where he gonna be bubbling at.
That was a big gator.
Oh, he's 13-foot all day long.
Waiting for him to come back up now.
What is that?
Pull it on out now.
- He's still bubbling. - Right here, right here.
Oh! Think that was him.
I've searched and searched for this alligator,
trying to find out where he gonna pop up at
and everything. You know...
he just disappeared like shooting at a ghost.
I don't think he's coming back up.
Would surprise me if he comes back up.
I don't know what it is about this alligator, Black Lagoon.
Every time I go to put the crosshairs on him,
the shot don't hit its mark.
Let's rock and roll.
Five years it's now going, six years going,
and can't put the bullet on his head.
Can't kill him. I don't know what's wrong.
This'll be the last time he gets away.
Meanwhile, the rising swamp
has plagued Leron and Porkchop all day.
Man, that water high.
Ain't like I can press a button and stop the tide from rising.
But they've still managed to pile up a big mound of gators.
Porkchop, we might be up for a challenge, buddy.
In Louisiana, by the Gulf of Mexico
being right there by us, we get a couple of days
of South wind. Push the water in.
We have high tide.
It's just an unpredictable situation.
It make our job much harder.
What can you do?
Besides try to catch them, you know,
and still do your best,
set your traps and...
and just hope-- Hope they be on there?
See some movement.
Think that's a monster on there?
'Bout to find out, boy.
He don't wanna identify himself, huh?
- He coming though. - See them bubbles?
He was down there in that mud.
That water's deep.
Whoo, whoo.
Oh, yeah.
Come on, get ready. You gotta come up here now.
I'm ready for you in that water.
He ain't gonna pull me twice.
Oh, yeah.
Got a lot of fight in him, cuz, he got a lot of fight in him.
- Whoo! Whoa! - Don't let him
throw you now, buddy.
- Come on, I got-- - Whoo, boy.
Whoo!
Come on, man, come get a shot!
Can't hold him much longer, bro.
Give me some five. Give me some love.
Some love, give me some love.
Help me with his head. Grab around it.
- Put your hands with me. - I got the rope.
Despite the challenges they faced,
Leron and Porkchop have a boat full of giants
that will make for a fine payday.
Big gators, baby, big gators.
Did great, man. There was a little struggle
due to the conditions we was under.
You know, but, at the end of the day,
we came home with some meat in the boat,
and that's what it's all about.
- We did it, cuz, we did it. - Yes, sir.
[bleep] to the swamp, man, we out here, buddy.
Let's go to the launch, Porkchop.
Let's go.
They're on every single tree, man.
- Man. - Every single tree.
In Lake Fausse Pointe, Joey and Zak
stopped resetting their lines
to avoid dangerous wasp nests.
Look at the size of that wasp nest, dude.
Oh, man.
These wasp nests, I cannot set
where I need to set.
It's too dangerous,
and they may be a problem going forward.
Dude, we gotta be careful.
Oh, my God.
We've already had a close call today with these wasps.
I'm worried about Zak. We not gonna push our luck.
So now it's time to snag
everything that lives.
Let's see if we can get that big one.
It's coming up right up here.
Now they're hoping to finish the day strong
with the help of Zak's rod and reel.
- There he is. - Yeah.
That's him right there.
Drop it on him, see if we can pull him up.
Nice cast, nice cast.
Yup.
[laughs]
Aah!
Stop him, stop him!
I don't want him to get in them lilies.
I'm gonna cut him off a little bit.
Good idea. Good idea.
Oh. Hard push forward.
Here's the leader. He's coming up.
You're gonna see his head in a second.
- Whoa. - Whoa.
See if you can raise him a little bit.
I'm trying.
Big boy.
Come on.
Wrapping up the pole. Aah.
Watch your hand.
Pull him. Watch out, watch out! Oh!
Oh, we gonna end it.
[gunshot]
All right.
- Aah. - All right.
Joey and Zak have landed another gator,
and despite some close calls,
they've managed to load up the boat.
Whoo! All right, he's done now.
Zak's got a skillset with a rod and reel that's unbelievable.
He's accurate with that rod, and he's very capable.
Mission accomplished.
Let's go, pop.
- Whoa. - Yeah.
Not much room back here.
At the end of the day, no one got hurt.
We got all the tags filled.
You know, it might've not been Zak's favorite day,
but it was a good day all in all.
- Well done, son. - Whoo!
Back in Bayou Sorrel,
the Edwards are chasing Black Lagoon,
a gator that's eluded them for years.
But after a failed snipe attempt,
Willie is worried he may have missed his only shot.
Oh, yeah, I do. I regret every bit of it.
This alligator's always got something up his sleeve.
He always knows what to do.
It's like he can feel the crosshairs
when I put it on him.
And he got away from me again.
I might not get another shot on him.
There he is right there.
He's going up, going up the bayou.
This is his little hole right back here.
Throw it across like that, son.
Just like that.
He's huge.
Oh, yeah.
He's a big one.
Oh, you had him way back in the frigging tail?
- Got him. - Hoo-whoo!
That thing's heavy.
Pull him to you.
That's a big gator.
And we finally got him.
Finally got him.
After years of chasing Black Lagoon,
Willie has finally landed the legendary beast.
Yeah, to have the Black Lagoon in the boat,
it's the most wonderful day ever.
I mean, this alligator been tormenting me five, six years,
and, I mean, I'm tickled pink to have this thing in the boat,
have it done, have a tag on him.
And, I mean,
it's just the most wonderful feeling I've ever had.
We finally got him. That's a good day right there.
In Violet, Ronnie and Ashley
hurry to finish running their lines
before their airboat breaks down again.
I think we're good for now.
But once we get back in there, I got to change that out.
Got to change it out.
For the hunters, a bad fuel filter clogging the lines
is a serious cause for concern.
Even though we're doing really good,
it's still in the back of my mind at all times
that we could get stuck out here.
The boat isn't operating like it should be.
We're as far back as we've ever been,
and, you know, that's a really big concern
when you're way out here.
Oh, I think I see it up there.
Right up there in them bushes.
See them bushes up there to the side?
Let's see if we've got a gator on here, Ronnie.
Stake is down.
Looks like it's going back, huh?
Ooh, che, che-che, we got a good one here, my baby.
Ooh.
That's a big old gator.
Boy, that's 10 foot all day.
Ooh-whoo. Get that gun up here, che.
I know you don't like these land gators.
Oh.
Boy, this is a big son of a bitch too, che.
Watch him, watch him, watch him!
Ooh, ooh, ooh!
I need you to get back behind him.
There you go.
Oh! I don't like this.
I got him good here.
- All right, you got him good? - I got him, I got him.
Now come on, Ashley, come on, Ashley, come on, Ashley.
Aah!
-Watch him!
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
- Oh, my God. - Ooh, Lord, what a hammer.
Watch out, Ronnie.
Lord, he is seriously pissed.
Pull him where he comes back on this side,
and then I can come on this side of him like this
if you've got him held that way.
There you go, Ashley.
- Watch him, baby! - [bleep]!
Eye to eye with him. Shoot his ass.
[gunshot]
- Whoo-hoo! - Whoa!
That a girl. Put another one,
just to be safe.
[gunshot] That a baby.
What a land gator that is.
That is a monster.
- Thank you, Jesus! - Look how the shell fell.
The shell fell perfect on his back.
This 11-foot colossus caps off a successful day.
Oh, boy, that's a gator there, baby!
But Ashley's just happy to be heading home in one piece.
This is definitely the closest call
that I've ever had with an alligator.
It is not a good feeling.
I mean, he was like a junkyard dog,
perfectly capable of taking off any of my limbs or killing me.
Glad to be putting a tag in him
instead of the other way around-- click!
There you go, my girl.
[engine starts]
I'm actually just really glad that today paid off.
I mean, it-- it could've been a hit or miss.
It could've been really bad,
and thankfully for us, it was good.
Whoo! We loaded up that big mamou, che.
I'm ready to get out of here, baby, and head to the house.
Back in Pierre Part, Chase returns
with his prized sinker cypress log.
Get some good boards out of that one.
But the work isn't done just yet.
A lot of chop marks from the axe.
Chop, chop.
See those lines, and another line right there.
Chop, chop, chop.
I was never taught anything about the logging industry
or, you know, our history
in this immediate area, in school growing up.
You know, just to pull a whole axe-cut log up
and know that, well, my great-grandpa
might've been the one that cut that down.
Or pulling something up and having that little stamp in it
with their initials or something and finding out who cut that.
Just to think about that, it's unbelievable.
They all have their own unique level of oil in the grain.
I think of it like a thumbprint.
We all have our own unique thumbprints.
And no two are the same, just like those trees.
Beautiful stuff.
That darker coloring comes from years and years and years
of being in the mud and the water,
and... some trees have a lot more than others.
The darker the colors, the greater the oil.
Different minerals, if you will,
in the water and stuff like that,
it all plays a part on determining
what the color of that log
or that-- Those boards are gonna be.
And some of that stuff, man, is just as pretty
as you could ever ask for or imagine.
Now that I got this baby here at the house,
it'll definitely be going in the pond with the rest of them.
Look at the size of that log right there.
So, this is what I do with all my good logs
when I cut them.
Before I mill them, I'll throw them in there,
and that way it preserves them. They stay in the water,
and they don't crack up or dry too fast and split
and all that other good stuff.
I've got more logs in here than you can imagine.
I mean, some of them even disappeared.
I often think about it.
I was probably born a hundred years too late,
in my mind, you know.
and I won't be able to do it anymore.
That's something that's like a legacy, if you will,
that I'll be able to show my grandkids and--
Or just show friends
or anyone that's passionate about it like I am.
Saving them for a rainy day.
Another great day at the office.