All the hunters were on the home stretch. The season took its toll on many of the hunters. The grounds and the hunters were almost tapped out. Troy tried to back up his claim as King of the Swamp, while RJ and Jay Paul were struggling to reach their goal of a record 500 tags.
Joe and Tommy went out early to catch their last 20 tags. Joe decided to let Tommy lead the way for the last two days. Tommy wanted to go to a new area to find some very big gators. The first line in the new area was down and the boys found a nice sized gator. Tommy’s new area was paying off big time with 9 gators in the first 4 hours. They then came up on a very tight line that had a very powerful gator on it. The twisting and thrashing gator nearly took Joe overboard, but he regained his balance and Tommy got the kill shot. Joe was very proud of Tommy’s decision on the area and Joe wanted to be the first to tag out for the season. The new hot spot was a huge success and they found a down line that ended up being their last tag of the season. The last gator of the season did not go without a fight, but Joe’s hands and Tommy’s trigger finger did the job.
Junior Edwards and his son Willie reunited to fill the last 17 tags of the season for the family. Junior wanted to tag out a day early to reduce operation costs. Junior also wanted to get one last trophy gator named “Big Bertha” that he has been chasing for years. The first line was a good one and Willie struggled with the line, but his dad was able to get a good shot. Despite very good fishing, Junior still was disappointed he hadn’t found Big Bertha yet. On the last line the father-son team found a giant gator. Willie had to use all his strength to wrestle the monster gator. The boys finally caught Big Berth and the 12-foot, 1000 pounder did not disappoint. Junior then spoke about his pride in his son Willie. They still needed 1 more gator, but they ran all their lines. Junior was able to hit the last gator of the season with a great open water shot.
RJ and Jay Paul went out to finish their season. RJ wanted glory, but exhaustion and overfished grounds seemed to be in his way. The boys hung 150 fresh lines to attract the last 42 gators they needed to tag out. They started the morning off with a beautiful gator. After some trolling around they finally got another gator on the line and it was a 350 pounder. There just were not many gators around on the grounds and the two were starting to get nervous. The two were circling the grounds all day, but the finally found a nice gator in shallow water.
Troy Landry is up against tough odds. He used precious days to help a fellow hunter Rebel tag out after his partner died. Troy has 48 hours to fill his last 45 tags. The first line looked promising and Troy tried to pull in the big aggressive gator. After one miss Clint was able to hit the gator perfect. Troy was having a real good day, but he wanted to end the season with a bang. With 24 gators in the boat Troy was still working hard to catch up.
Liz and Kristi had 25 tags left to fill and they were very confident. The common theme of Liz reminiscing about her Dad led the ladies to her dad’s favorite honey hole. There were 6 gators just swimming in front of the boat as they approached the grounds. Liz was able to hit one in open water to start the day off great with a 600 pounder and no struggle. Liz and Kristi hit the jackpot in her daddy’s old honey hole. The memories of her dad overwhelmed Liz and she was having a very special day. One of the gators was hiding under a thick patch of lilies and made the catch very dangerous. The ladies made it look easy and at lunchtime the women had 11 gators in the boat. The ladies had an amazing day with a mound of gators in the boat. To cap off the day the ladies got a nice big gator and only needed 7 more tags for the season.
