‘Swamp People’: Troy Landry & Pickle Get Huge Surprise, Plus More Season 16 Drama

Mother Nature’s fury is being felt like never before for the Southern Louisana alligator hunters of Swamp People. The hit History series returns for Season 16 as record-hot Atlantic and Gulf waters have created devastating weather patterns. The exclusive teaser provided to TV Insider below shows how these violent storms and tidal surges could threaten to cut the gator season short.

Despite the obstacles, Troy Landry leveled up with 800 tags to fill and added two new boats to do it. Don Brewer was promoted to captain and running one boat alongside Troy’s nephew Calum Landry and Chase Landry, the youngest son of the “King of the Swamp,” heading up the other. Jacob Landry brought on “Little Willie” Edwards as his new deckhand. Of course, Troy will again be joined by Cheyenne “Pickle” Wheat on his adventures.

Daniel Edgar enlisted Zak Cathmen as his new deckhand while Joey Edgar gave his daughter Callie a shot at truly breaking into the family business. Rounding out the lineup are Ronnie Adams and Timmy Aucoin, Bruce Mitchell with deckhand Anna Ribbeck, Leron Jones, and Anthony “Porkchop” Williams.

Ahead of the season premiere, we wrangled up EP Brian Catalina to set the stage for what’s to come.

What do you make of the show’s success going into Season 16?

Brian Catalina: I’ve been on it since the beginning. It has been a big chunk of my life. I think what we found with the show, or at least what I see, is it connects with a big segment of the population of this country. I think a lot of it has to do with the sensibility of it. Louisiana is a very remarkable place. I’ve spent a lot of time there. It has had a huge impact on my life personally. My son is a senior at LSU. He has a Louisiana girlfriend. He is probably going to stay there for the rest of his life. I think there is a certain magic about the sensibility in Louisiana. There is an old saying that there is the South, and then there is Louisiana. I think the thing that separates it is the incredible hospitality of the people there. The generosity of the people there. The sense of community. There is this bootstrap mindset about life where hard work is highly valued. People’s values are very important to them. I think it resonates with a lot of folks.

Troy and Pickle have developed a working relationship in recent years. What can you tell us about their dynamic this season?

Their relationship continues to grow as alligator hunting partners. They are both really unique people with a sense of shared values. There is a huge surprise coming this season. I’ll just tell you that much. Huge.

Joey brings his daughter on board this season as a deckhand. When you have family involved, that could bring its own unique challenges.

I think you’re going to see what we’ve seen with many of the folks who have been on the show for the last 16 years. That is the importance of family, particularly in the basin and the world of swampers. Many of these are still family businesses. The Landrys are a very strong, tight, powerful family. The Edgars are the same. I think as Mr. Daniel begins to grow a little bit older, Joey is stepping into a larger role. Then there has to be someone coming up behind him, and that’s probably going to be his daughter Callie. We’re getting to witness him bring her into the family business through alligator hunting, which is a very important step in the evolution of that family. She is a remarkable young lady. I’ve known her for a long time. She really embodies a lot of what folks value about the show. She has an amazing work ethic. She is tough. She is smart. She is very polite and a very well-developed young lady. You see her out there on the boat. I think she will blow a lot of people away.

What can you tell us about Little Willie joining the Landry family?

There is a lot of exciting changes on the boats this season. There are some new faces. There are a lot of new partnerships too. Don Brewer becomes a captain this season, which really shuffles the deck and creates a new space on Jacob Landry’s boat for Little Willie. Little Willie’s dad is hunting with Little Willie’s younger brother this year. So, Little Willie was available and Landry snapped him up. He is a very capable young man. I think Jacob is very excited to have him working on his boat. Little Willie has the challenge of being up to the Landry standard. He comes from a long line of alligator hunters himself, but they all do it differently. There is a challenge baked into all of this in adapting to a new captain, a new way of doing things that are priorities. Along with all the other challenges that are thrown into it for our teams this year. We had a very busy weather season this year. I think this pushed these new partnerships to an even bigger test.

What was it like filming during the season when Hurricane Francine and other storms came barrelling in?

The weather situation in the Gulf certainly generates hurricanes, and that’s the thing that gets everyone’s attention because they are huge catastrophic events that really impact folks. Beyond the hurricane, the Gulf is constantly turning up the weather. We have a lot of big storms coming through this year. We have a lot of challenging situations in terms of the weather. The rain is very difficult and dangerous to work in. Then of course we had Hurricane Francine, which really wreaked havoc on the entire are of South Louisiana.

Along with the hurricane-type weather and the environment that generated it. That comes and goes. We also had an extremely hot spell this year. The heat index was above 110. If you’ve ever been to Louisiana, that’s really hot. It’s almost dangerously hot with the humidity they experience there. You have wide swings with the weather from hurricanes to record-breaking temperatures. All of this affects the animals. Alligators are reptiles, cold-blooded creatures. The weather has a huge effect on them. If it’s too hot, they don’t bite. If it gets too cold, they don’t bite. When the barometric pressure drops in a storm situation or hurricane situation, it actually sets off a feeding frenzy. As an alligator hunter, you are constantly trying to adapt to whatever hand Mother Nature is dealing you today. It could be hot, cold, a hurricane brewing, pouring rain. You don’t know what you’re going to get day-to-day.

New Orleans has a supernatural vibe to it, and that kind of carries over into the alligator hunting and venturing into the Bajou.

The Bajou is an inherently mysterious place. It’s incredibly beautiful, but to your point, it’s got a long history just like New Orleans. It has a lot of cultural influences from the descendants of enslaved people to the Creole community to the Cajun community. There is a lot of superstition and folk-loir. Two of our hunters Leron and Pork Chop, who live together, end up in a place that is pretty spooky. There are a lot of believers and disbelievers. In this case, one of them is a believer and another is a nonbeliever. It’s interesting to see how different people react to these superstitions and stories and legends that exist there.

Swamp People/History Channel

What do you think is the state of this business these days?

This is a thing a lot of people don’t know. The alligator meat has become incredibly valuable. When we first started shooting the show, they used to throw the meat away and keep the hides. That was the business model. Any seafood broker in Louisiana will tell you that there is an alligator meat market across the United States now. Most of them will attribute that to Swamp People and the awareness the show created. The alligator meat market has become an important part of the business model now. I think it fetches somewhere around $10 a pound, which is not bad.

I would be remiss not to ask your thoughts about Troy recently being cited for improper tagging. Are we going to see anything involving this play out on the show?

That’s really a matter for Troy to comment on. I think it might have gotten a little bit blown out of proportion, but it’s not really in my wheelhouse. It’s not something you’re not going to see on the show.

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We’ve seen Swamp People: Serpent Invasion. Anywhere you want to see the show go next?

I think what people are coming for the show now are the people. Alligator hunting is great action. I’ve been doing outdoor adventure shows since the mid-1990s, and I think Swamp People has the greatest outdoor adventure to offer on television. That’s amazing, but beyond that, I think we’re blessed with amazing characters. I think we have an amazing ensemble of folks who really represent. South Louisiana well. I want to continue telling those stories and finding fresh stories and faces to share with the rest of the country.

What do you want to say to viewers before they watch this season?

Don’t miss it. There are a lot of surprises, and a lot of new twists and turns with our teams in the boats. Don’t miss an episode because you’re going to hear about it later and regret it.

Swamp People is produced for the History Channel by Truly Original, in association with Brian Catalina Entertainment.

Swamp People premiere, January 2, 8/7c, History Channel

Swamp People: Serpant Invasion: premiere, January 2, 9:33/8:33c, History Channel