'Swamp People' brings the bayou to Charleston

"Trapper Joe" LaFont knows a thing or two about catching alligators.

Growing up deep in the bayou country south of New Orleans, LaFont's first memories are of relying on his watery surroundings for survival.

"My daddy fished alligators his whole life," LaFont said with a matter-of-fact Cajun drawl. "I would have to say, at the age of 6 or 7 years old, I was out traveling with my daddy, pulling gators. He died at 93, and me and him worked to the end. Even at that age, he was still gettin' on in the boat."

LaFont never expected that a life spent fishing, shrimping and hunting alligators in the Atchafalaya Swamp would lead to fame, but these days he's a celebrity for those very reasons, thanks to a prominent spot on the History Channel reality show "Swamp People."

"One day I was at the house and they pulled up and said they had a show going on," said LaFont, who regularly harvests more than 200 alligators during the annual season. "They heard around that I had a lot of tags and asked if I was interested."

Louisiana's gator hunting season runs for one month each September. In 2009, licensed hunters brought in 9,126 wild alligators, in addition to the profitable farm trade. They're sold for their meat and valuable skins.

Gators are a vital part of the bayou economy (and dinner table), dwarfing the South Carolina gator hunt, where 1,200 tags are issued each year.

"Swamp People" shadows several families and independent hunters across lower Louisiana as they live off the land, including harvesting snakes (by hand) from the water at night and wrestling 700-pound gators into their boats. Most gator hunters work from open jon boats, stacking their catch along with them in the hull.

Trapper Joe and his stepson and partner, "Trigger" Tommy Chauvin, work with slightly more sophisticated equipment, piling their captured gators in a giant cooler packed with ice.

"A lot of guys go out and just fish until 10 or 11 o'clock and they're done," LaFont said. "I don't get in 'til 4 or 5 in the evening. That's why I've got to ice 'em down. This year we had record-breaking heat. That sun strikes that (gator) skin for 20 minutes, and you can just peel 'em like a banana. He's road hide. Don't take long to lose 'em."

Trapper Joe and Trigger Tommy are logical guests at a boat show. Their 21-foot Alweld extra wide, powered with a 150hp Suzuki motor, is easily the largest and most enviable vessel on the show.

Outfitted with a white tarp awning, LaFont calls it his "sunroof," the team is able to escape the heat.

Paired with white rubber boots -- "they keep your feet from cookin'," LaFont said -- the duo is capable of bringing in more gators than the other families on the show.

In one episode, they created suspense by agreeing to take on 103 more tags from a friend, just a week before the season closed. After coming home empty-handed on their first two days out, Chauvin whipped up his "shake 'n' bake" seasoning to make the chicken they bait their lines with more enticing.

"Our biggest run was 51 in one day, and 47 the next. We hit it just right," LaFont said. "A good calm night is the best for it. They smell that chicken hanging and it smells like Popeyes Chicken, like when you pass across the chicken place and you get that good smell."

With "Swamp People" entering its third season this month, LaFont, Chauvin and the other gator hunters are local and national celebrities, even appearing in commercials for small businesses in Louisiana.

"When I stop somewhere to do grocery shopping or hardware shopping, it takes a little while to get out of there. I'd say about eight out of 10 people recognize me," LaFont said. "But I'm still the same old Joe. I'm busy every day, keeping on doing my work."

At the Charleston Boat Show, LaFont and Chauvin will be on hand for meet-and-greets over four scheduled sessions. They'll have Cajun-inspired merchandise for sale, including alligator back-scratchers, key rings, autographed photos and T-shirts. Or just stop by and ask LaFont for a story, like the one about the biggest gator he ever caught, a 14-foot, 3-inch monster.

If you're really lucky, he might even teach you his signature dance.

"That'll work," laughs LaFont when asked for a lesson. "One afternoon after the show, we'll go get a 12-pack and see if we can do the 'Alligator Roll.' "