A scantily clad Cajun woman, Desiree Thibodeau, guides her motorboat through a Louisiana bayou catching water snakes and alligators while two young men wait to apprehend her. A deputy named Billy Boy tells his friend, Ben Bracken, that he will put Desiree in jail for alligator poaching if she refuses to have sex with them. When Billy Boy calls out to Desiree, she speeds away and although the boys give chase, she throws her snakes into their boat and gets away. As Billy Boy shoots his gun at the snakes, he accidentally kills Ben. Billy Boy tells his father, Sheriff Joe Bob Thomas, that Desiree killed Ben while they were pursuing her for alligator poaching. The sheriff reprimands his son for going after Desiree, saying that there is no need to uphold the new hunting laws, and becomes more enraged when he learns his new boat was sunk in the bayou. As the men head to the Bracken family homestead to report the murder, young Pete Bracken tries to rape his sister, Laura Lee, but their father, T. J., chases him away with a whip and another son, Leroy, comes to his brother’s defense. When T. J. learns Ben was killed by Desiree, the Bracken men and the officers look for his body in the bayou. T. J. complains that the sheriff had not persecuted the girl for castrating Leroy, but the sheriff argues that Desiree was being raped and acted in self-defense. Upon finding Ben’s body, T. J. vows revenge. Meanwhile, Desiree returns home to a makeshift camp along the swamp and tells her two younger siblings, Julie and Big T, that she was chased by Billy Boy and Ben. After spending time with Big T, Desiree leaves the camp and resumes hunting. As the Bracken men search the bayou with Billy Boy and the sheriff following behind on a raft, Pete sees Julie bathing naked and tells his father. The men sneak into Julie’s camp in search of Desiree and hold the siblings at gunpoint. When they interrogate Big T about Desiree’s whereabouts, Julie says that the boy has no tongue. While Pete and Billy Boy argue who will rape Julie first, Leroy threatens her with a knife. The sheriff tells T. J. to stop his sons, but the older Bracken refuses and allows Big T to escape, claiming that he will bring Desiree back to the camp. As Pete prepares to rape Julie, Leroy knocks his brother out of the way and shoots her in between the legs. Meanwhile, Big T finds Desiree and they race back to camp. Billy Boy tells his father that he is afraid of the Brackens and admits that he killed Ben, but the sheriff does not want T. J. to discover the truth because he will take revenge on Billy Boy instead of Desiree. When Desiree returns home that night, she douses the Bracken’s boat with gasoline and ignites an explosion to distract them, then discovers Julie’s body in their cabin. Desiree screams, but the men cannot find her in the darkness. They set fire to the shack, destroying the evidence of Julie’s murder. The next day, Desiree leads the men on a chase through the bayou, but the sheriff’s raft is weighed down by the five men on board and T. J. forces Leroy, Billy Boy and the sheriff into the water. As T. J. and Pete chase Desiree, she traps them by shooting down a tree and goes back for the others, causing Leroy to run out of bullets. That night, as the men camp on the shore of the swamp, T. J. recalls that the sheriff had an affair with Desiree’s mother. When her husband sought revenge by tying the woman to the back of his boat, using her as “’gator bait,” the sheriff shot him and Desiree witnessed the killing. Billy Boy realizes that his father wanted him to stay away from Desiree because he was afraid she would reveal his secret and T. J. threatens to tell a judge unless the sheriff complies with his demands. Early in the morning while the men sleep, Desiree steals their dwindling supplies. Discovering the theft, the sheriff tells T. J. that he will not allow them to kill Desiree and Leroy reports that Pete went after the girl earlier that morning because he intends to marry her. Elsewhere in the bayou, Big T and Desiree corner Pete and decide to let the swamp kill him. The men discover Pete’s body with a snake on his bare chest. Later, Desiree ambushes the men and when Billy Boy goes after her with a gun, she shoots him in the stomach. The sheriff attempts to take his ailing son to the raft, but Leroy objects, saying that the boy will slow them down, and the sheriff forces Leroy to carry him. That night, Desiree punctures the men’s raft and T. J. argues it will be impossible for them to get out of the swamp on foot if they are carrying Billy Boy. Holding the Bracken men at gunpoint, the sheriff admits that Billy Boy killed Ben and, after a fistfight, T. J. drowns the sheriff in the swamp. As the two surviving Brackens walk away, leaving Billy Boy behind, Desiree and Big T follow. Desiree pretends to seduce Leroy, but her trap fails. He pins her down and puts his rifle to her head. Before Leroy can kill her, however, Big T shoots him dead. The siblings then hold T. J. at gunpoint, but the man welcomes death because all of his sons have been killed. When Desiree decides to let him suffer alone in the bayou, T. J. claims that he is her father. Desiree tells T. J. that her father is dead and heads home with Big T.