The spring eel season has arrived, but coastal Maine is still plagued by winter weather. Three teams of eel fishermen, the Eelinators, the Maineiacs and the Grinders, come together to toast the start of the 10-week elver (glass eel) gold rush and reboot their rivalry. As the men approach their familiar fishing holes, they face severe challenges because frigid water temperatures do little to encourage the baby eels in their migration. The Maineiacs gamble on new territory near the ocean, and despite a run-in with rogue fishermen, they take an early lead as the gambles pay off.
Eel season is off to a lousy start due to cold weather, and tensions heat up between the Eelinators and the Grinders as they compete in close quarters for the scarce but pricey catch. At their long-time fishing turf, the Maineiacs are confronted with invading fishermen who threaten to deplete their haul. With the cash flow coming slower than they hoped, the fishermen are nervous about making ends meet for their families.
The rivalry between fishermen escalates as Grinder teammate Lester Toothaker turns amateur witch doctor, resorting to voodoo to outmaneuver the Eelinators and help his team haul in nearly $16,000. The Maineiacs’ continued struggle with turf invasion sends old man Lee Leavitt into a tailspin, so his teammates distract him with a video blog to tell his old fisherman’s tales. Rumors of late night robberies lead the fishermen to take extra precautions and pack heat.
Foul weather is no friend to fishermen when a cold snap passes over coastal Maine. The Grinders copy the Eelinators’ design for specialized nets, which catches eels that run in deeper water when the weather is rough, but the team’s knockoff proves hard to handle. The Maineiacs amuse themselves by convincing old man Lee Leavitt that he’s suffering from a contagious eel disease. Stressed about not catching anything, the three teams are relieved when the weather warms up and brings them a sizeable payday.
Halfway through the fishing season, it looks like the eel run may be drying up, so the teams must reassess their strategies. The stealthy Eelinators go on the hunt in hot pursuit of eels far from home. Frustration builds among teammates from the Grinders as they debate their next move, and Lester Toothaker uses a didgeridoo in a last-ditch effort to summon the elver eels into local waters. The Maineiacs are distracted from the search for new fishing holes by family bickering and Lee Leavitt’s new pet baby squirrel.
Rumors of huge hauls and hefty payouts lure the teams far north to Bangor, but fishing the big river turns treacherous when nearly every other eel fisherman in Maine shows up with the same plan. Dana Hole starts strong with a $20,000 haul in one night, but the teammates from the Eelinators are faced with turf wars that threaten their catches. The Grinders split on strategy, and while Chad Jordan gambles and wins, Lester Toothaker is left in the dust. Old man Lee Leavitt has the last laugh when Jason Leavitt and Mike Bradley of the Maineiacs ignore his advice; instead, they follow the crowds and end up with nothing but empty buckets.
While Bangor got the best of most of the teams, the Eelinators are the last men standing on the big river, but soon, even they are driven back to the familiar waters of home. Time is running out, and with the highest tide of the spring approaching, all the teams scramble to find elver eels before the season’s end. The Grinders find that loyalty to the Royal River brings good fortune and a reunion with rival Dana Hole of the Eelinators. When the Maineiacs plan to cash in on Lee’s secret spot is ruined, Mike takes charge.
As the clock runs out on eel season, the teams try to make the most of the final hours. With the hope of scoring a sizable last haul, the Maineiacs make a series of risky choices.. The innovative Eelinators find new ways to bring in the money while looking ahead to the next fishing season, and the Grinders stay true to the Royal River and team strategy while putting CJ Jordan to the final test. Only time can tell which team walks away with the largest payday and can claim the champion title.