Skip to playerSkip to main content
dmdmdtvs
  • 5 months ago
River.Monsters.S02E05.Rift.Valley.Killers

Category

🐳
Animals
Transcript
00:00Animal Planet, surprisingly human.
00:10Africa's Rift Valley is by all accounts one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a fisherman.
00:18Storms come out of nowhere.
00:21Giant crocs attack from beneath.
00:26Hippos maul you to death.
00:30And rival gangs will kill you for your catch.
00:34But the rewards of fishing here can be spectacular.
00:38There are reports of rare but very real giants living here.
00:42So I've decided to head to one of the deadliest fishing spots in the world as it may be my last chance to catch this massive river monster.
00:50This could be my most dangerous mission yet.
01:00I'm Jeremy Wade.
01:01I've made my name investigating improbable fisherman's tales from around the world.
01:10And tracking down the bloodthirsty river monsters that lie behind them.
01:11But there's one place I've heard of where the death rate for fishermen apparently exceeds all others.
01:24It's the birthplace of mankind, the Rift Valley in East Africa.
01:26Formed by two continental plates pulling apart, it's a monumental scar spanning several countries and containing a series of lakes and rivers.
01:39I want to find out just how dangerous it is to fish out there, but I also want to catch the giant at the heart of this region.
01:57The Mputa or Nile perch is Africa's largest freshwater fish and it's the reason fishermen here have been putting their lives at risk for millennia.
02:10Just one animal can feed an entire village.
02:14This fish can apparently reach weights in excess of 400 pounds and measure over six feet long.
02:22They are ambush predators and they will eat anything they can fit in their mouths.
02:26Including cannibalizing Nile perch up to a third of their own size.
02:31Giants like this used to be caught regularly, but as in so many parts of the world, population pressures have led to overfishing.
02:40I thought all the big ones had long gone, but just a few months ago I received some pictures that suggest there are Monster Nile perch still out there.
02:49So I've travelled to the heart of Africa, to the White Nile in Uganda, the site of that extraordinary catch.
02:59I'm actually now fishing in the very spot where the largest ever Nile perch, which was accurately weighed, was caught on a rod and line.
03:12This fish weighed just slightly under 250 pounds and was almost seven foot long.
03:20Unfortunately though, that fish was actually attacked by a crocodile and it didn't survive its wounds.
03:27So that fish is no longer in this river, but it's quite possible there could be others the same size or maybe even bigger.
03:33I'm just going to tighten it up.
03:34Something definitely hit that bait, but it wasn't particularly confident.
03:46It ripped a couple of feet and then stopped.
03:47I've got a circle.
03:48Oh, here we go.
03:49I've got a circle.
03:50Oh, here we go.
03:51OK.
03:52I'm just going to tighten it up.
03:55Something definitely hit that bait but it wasn't particularly confident.
04:00It ripped a couple of feet and then stopped.
04:07I've got a circle.
04:12I've got a circle.
04:15Oh, here we go.
04:17Yeah, there is the fish on.
04:22Let me get this ratchet off.
04:27The line's coming up.
04:28The line's coming up.
04:29That's a Nile perch.
04:29It's a good-sized one.
04:31There it is.
04:33In this part of the Nile, the goal is to land fish quickly
04:36before the crocs come looking for easy prey.
04:42It's a decent-sized Nile perch and a great start
04:44to my quest for a giant.
04:51Now, this is quite an unusual capture.
04:53It actually swallowed the bait fish head first
04:55down to about here.
04:58I think it was actually this dorsal barb of the bait fish
05:02that actually stopped the bait coming out of its throat,
05:06not the hook.
05:08Oh, let's just support it maybe like that.
05:12Look at that.
05:14Let's get down.
05:15OK.
05:16Whew.
05:16Very nice fish, this.
05:1770 pounds, something like that, but beautiful fish.
05:19Lovely, beautiful coloration.
05:21Very strong as well.
05:23The paddle-like tail and muscular body
05:25indicate a fish designed for power and acceleration.
05:29These fish are ambush predators,
05:30relying on their large eyes to target prey.
05:35And just cavernous mouth on this thing.
05:37It just inhales its food fish whole.
05:41Ah!
05:45I've got to let this fish recover before I let it go,
05:48and that means exposing myself to a potential croc attack.
05:51But out here in the middle of the river,
05:53it's my only option.
05:54What I want now is one that weighs maybe three times that.
06:07Encouraged by my success and aware that there could be even
06:10bigger monsters on the prowl,
06:12I decide to head downstream for my next cast,
06:15as the commotion of that catch could have spooked
06:17everything close by.
06:21But as I'm traveling,
06:22I see a heavily fortified barrier in the water that confirms
06:25that crocs are a very real problem here.
06:32This is protection from something in the water?
06:34It is like a crocodile.
06:35These villagers risk their lives,
06:37simply collecting their day's supply of water.
06:40This is a serious barrier, and it's pretty solid.
06:43There's not much in the way of sort of spaces between there.
06:45And that is to stop crocodiles taking people
06:47when they come down to collect water.
06:48So this is a very definite sign that the people here
06:51take them very, very seriously indeed.
06:55I mean, on this piece of river,
06:56have there been people killed by crocodiles?
06:58Yeah, yeah.
07:00It was a local fisherman who lost his life.
07:02And apparently this is not uncommon.
07:05Nile crocodiles are thought to kill hundreds of people every year,
07:08making them responsible for more fatal attacks on humans
07:11than lions, bears and sharks combined.
07:16Maybe I was a bit foolhardy holding that fish in the water.
07:19The locals certainly don't seem to be taking any chances.
07:24But it's not just creatures in the water I have to look out for.
07:27The weather is extreme and can turn in a matter of minutes.
07:31A bit of a storm can sometimes get the fish stirred up,
07:35get them feeding.
07:36But as you look at all the lightning,
07:38I'm not really sure that holding a conducting rod up in the air
07:41in the middle of this is a very good idea.
07:43So if they don't feed, if nothing hangs on the end,
07:45it's actually not going to be too much of a disappointment.
07:48Storms in this part of the world are sudden and brutal.
07:52In 2008, 18 fishermen drowned when their boat capsized in a storm
07:56just a few hours away from here.
07:58So I decided to bring in my line.
08:00We actually got torn away from our mooring on the bank.
08:03Soaked.
08:04If we're not careful, we could become the next deathly statistic.
08:10But as quickly as it started, the storm stops.
08:13I'm just hoping it hasn't ruined my chances.
08:16The trouble with rain, as if it's heavy,
08:18you just get all this rubbish coming off the land and colouring the water.
08:22And if you're fishing for a sight predator like the Nile perch,
08:25you know, you can forget it.
08:26Luckily, I've got a little bit of a clear patch here next to the bank,
08:30but it's actually colouring up as I speak.
08:34You know, if more runoff comes from the land or if it rains more,
08:38you know, it could just put an end to the fishing for me.
08:48Could this be the catch that proves truly giant Nile perch?
08:51Are still out there.
08:53That is definitely a fish.
08:56The trouble is over there.
08:59There's a big storm coming in.
09:03With lightning coming down.
09:06The storm seems to have swung back around,
09:08and this is exactly what I didn't want.
09:10My carbon fibre rod in the air like a lightning conductor
09:13as the wind picks up.
09:15An incredible 10,000 people are killed by lightning strikes worldwide every year,
09:20and Uganda is known for having the highest frequency of thunderstorms anywhere in the world.
09:28That's a catfish.
09:29But it looks to be quite a good sized catfish.
09:32I've got to land this fish before the storm returns.
09:35That actually, okay, is after a Nile perch, but that's a nice sized catfish.
09:49This one is a Sematundu catfish, and it's missing a bit of its tentacle here, but, I mean, totally different from the Nile perch.
10:01Long body shape.
10:04It's a predator as well.
10:05You can see the mussel blocks here very clearly on the side.
10:09Catfish are right at home in the muddy water with their strong sense of smell and ability to sense movement in the murk.
10:15It's probably not much of a surprise I caught one of these rather than a Nile perch.
10:20Right.
10:21Get this back in the water very quickly, and then I think we've got to run for it.
10:30Oh!
10:33I don't want to be caught in another lethal storm.
10:35And besides, this river is rapidly turning to mud.
10:38There's no way I'll be catching a sight feeder like the Nile perch for at least a few days.
10:43So I decide to head up the White Nile to its source at Lake Victoria.
10:58This is Lake Victoria, one of the biggest bodies of fresh water anywhere in the world.
11:03But it's also a place where I hear that they are still catching Nile perch in some quantity.
11:07It seems like a calm and tranquil lake, but my complacency is about to be rocked.
11:15If I was in any doubt that I had come to a dangerous region to fish,
11:20then seeing the body of a fisherman driven off in a makeshift ambulance confirms that this could be my most dangerous mission yet.
11:27This just actually goes to show just how regular accidents are with the fishermen.
11:32Just came down to the lake and there's police here being called in because a body has just been recovered on the side of the lake.
11:40And it's quite hard to establish exactly what happened, but it sounds like this is a fisherman who couldn't swim
11:45and somehow ended up in the water.
11:48This is a very big body of water, so it's like fishing the sea out here.
11:52So in a way it's not surprising and people go out in very flimsy boats.
11:55Just another example of the dangers and also how common accidents can be.
12:02Maybe the fisherman got caught up in the storm that I just avoided.
12:06It's pretty sobering to see how little fuss his death has caused.
12:10But in this place it's a wonder any fisherman survives the deadly predators or the raging waters.
12:16And if I'm not careful, I could be the next body they drag out of the water.
12:20I've come to Lake Victoria in the African Rift Valley to prove that there are still monster mputa or Nile perch out here.
12:41And that I can survive catching them where they live, in the oldest and perhaps most dangerous fishing region in the world.
12:51Lake Victoria is in the middle of the African Rift Valley system.
12:55It has dried out several times in its history, so Nile perch were originally not found here.
13:01However, in the late 1950s they were introduced to create an industry for the surrounding countries.
13:06And in just a few decades they took over, out competing the native fish species and reaching enormous sizes, as they were without any real natural predators.
13:18This fish was apparently 340 pounds, but it was caught some five years ago and the locals haven't seen anything as big since.
13:26However, with the lake covering 26,000 square miles, I reckon there could still be some giants that have stayed hidden.
13:33This is an inlet of Lake Victoria. Here they are actually catching Nile perch, and not just a few, I mean it's serious, serious quantities.
13:42This boat is just full of them, just one after another after another.
13:46But none of them are the giants that I'm after.
13:49A quick chat reveals that this ice boat collects the fish netted by a fleet of some 30 small fishing vessels.
13:56This is fishing on an industrial scale.
14:00This boat's been out for three days apparently, and there's three to four tons, tons of fish in here.
14:08It's a lot of fish.
14:10I've been invited behind closed factory doors to see the Nile perch industry in action.
14:14It provides thousands of jobs to the area, and it earns over 200 million dollars in revenue every year.
14:21This is the reason truly giant Nile perch are so rare these days.
14:26So apparently there's about 10 to 12 tons of processed fish leaving this factory every day, which is just, you know, a huge amount.
14:34I mean quite mind-boggling, particularly when you consider it's a freshwater fish.
14:36Well, certainly an impressive quantity of fish coming out of the lake.
14:45But one thing that really struck me is that the big ones are just really, really few and far between.
14:52Just trying to do a bit of the maths, and I reckon I'd have to plough through something like a thousand fish that size
14:58to have even half a chance of getting something half decent.
15:01So I'm going to have to try and find a place where they don't have such intensive commercial harvesting.
15:09I decide to head further up the Rift Valley to Ethiopia, as the fishing there is far from industrial.
15:16In fact, it's still conducted in much the same way that it has been for tens of thousands of years.
15:22And the Nile perch has always been the ultimate prize.
15:25Ethiopia is one of the oldest and richest cultures in the world.
15:40This is the birthplace of mankind, the home of Lucy, Ardy and many of the so-called missing links.
15:47But there are also traces of the very first fishermen, here at the Ethiopian National Museum.
15:52I've been allowed access behind the scenes at the museum, and in this very room are some of the oldest human remains anywhere in the world.
16:03But what I'm looking at at the moment are some of the earliest ever fishing implements.
16:08It's fairly clear that these were used for fish because in the same place were found remains of fish.
16:15They found a skull there.
16:17Just the skull was three foot long, so the whole fish, seven, eight foot, something like that.
16:22So whoever was using these harpoons here could have been after some fairly interesting fish back then.
16:28I'm overwhelmed to be this close to the earliest tools of my trade.
16:34It turns out that this skull belonged to a giant Mputa or Nile perch.
16:39It looks like this modern day monster has been a valued prize for thousands of years.
16:44The ancient Egyptians revered Nile perch for the amount of food they could provide.
16:48They even mummified these sacred fish and entombed them with their dead.
16:53It's no wonder there's a huge industry harvesting these fish today.
16:57But if I want to catch one, then I need to head to the spots that are hardest to reach,
17:01where the fishing is so dangerous that the locals won't even attempt it.
17:06Maybe here's where I'll find my giant.
17:08These are the headwaters of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.
17:12From here, this water will go a couple of thousand miles all the way to the Mediterranean.
17:20There are two main branches of the Nile River.
17:23I started my search on the Ugandan White Nile, but this is the Blue Nile.
17:28And Nile perch are found along its entire length.
17:30These falls are known locally as Tissistat, which translates as the water that smokes.
17:50The mist has made these rocks incredibly slippery.
17:53If I fall into this swirling water, I could be swept downstream too fast to be rescued.
18:00There's definitely no commercial fishing here.
18:05So maybe at these falls, I'll catch my monster.
18:19There's a fish!
18:25The internal organs of the Nile perch are vital to the production of which Western products?
18:30The answer is A, beer.
18:31The swim bladder of the Nile perch is still used in some parts of the world to filter out the yeast in beer.
18:36I'm in Ethiopia, trying to hook Africa's largest freshwater fish, the Mkuta, or Nile perch.
18:37I'm in Ethiopia, trying to hook Africa's largest freshwater fish, the Mkuta, or Nile perch.
18:38I'm in Ethiopia, trying to hook Africa's largest freshwater fish, the Mkuta, or Nile perch.
18:39I'm in Ethiopia, trying to hook Africa's largest freshwater fish.
18:43There's a fish!
18:44There's a fish!
18:45There's a bar!
18:46There's a bar!
18:47It's off!
18:48There's a bar!
18:49It's off!
18:50There's a fish!
18:51There's a fish!
18:52There's a bar!
18:53It's off!
18:54That was a fish!
18:55That was a...
18:56That was a...
18:57That was a...
18:58A knock, and then a titan, and then I felt something on there.
19:01I'll just wind it up and see...
19:02There's a...
19:03There's a fish!
19:04There's a...
19:05There's a fish!
19:06There's a...
19:07There's a fish!
19:08There's a bar!
19:09It's off!
19:10There's a fish!
19:11Ah!
19:12It's off!
19:13That was a fish!
19:14That was a...
19:16A knock, and then a titan, and then I felt something on there.
19:23I'll just wind it up and see...
19:28I can't actually see any signs there, toothmarks or anything like that, but there was definitely
19:39something on there.
19:40I think I should log that out again ASAP.
19:44I continue fishing for another few hours, but whatever that was lurking in this pool,
19:49it seems to have been spooked, and it didn't feel like the giant I'm after, so I decide
19:53to move on.
19:54I head south to another lake, as I hear Big Mputa are the villagers' target species.
20:04Fishing techniques here have remained pretty much the same for thousands of years.
20:10Maybe if I leave my high-tech equipment behind for now and join these fishermen, they'll share
20:14their secrets of where they catch their fish.
20:18This is Lake Chamo in Africa's Rift Valley, and just looking around today, even in the
20:2421st century, this place has the look of somewhere that could hold a real serious monster.
20:31Lake Chamo is in the south of the Ethiopian Rift Valley, and it is known for the size of
20:36the beasts that live here, and these beasts aren't just fish.
20:48I generally scout out an area before I fish, but on this lakeside I'm not alone, and I'm
20:54not sure I like it.
20:55I'm not used to jostling for position with man-eaters.
21:02These guys can eat up to half their own body weight in a single meal, and very often it's
21:07fishermen that end up on the menu.
21:10Situations like this that make you rethink your place on the food chain, I'm normally the
21:14person who's doing the hunting, but I'm very aware now that I'm actually having to sort
21:19of look around me, watch my back, something might have its eye on me.
21:26Feeling a little bit more relaxed now.
21:30This croc's still in some of these reeds here, didn't actually see the animal then, but heard
21:34the movement as it went through the reeds.
21:44It seems like the big Nile perch are only going to be found where the dangers are high.
21:52I'm hoping to get some survival advice from a group of fishermen camped out on the lake
21:56shore.
21:59So why is it off the ground, why have you got it raised up off the ground?
22:05So one reason it's off the ground is just to keep them dry, but there's also just a real
22:10menagerie of animals that's active at night.
22:13They say, you know, even pythons will come and sort of snuggle up to you if you're lying
22:16on the ground.
22:19Just last year, a man was nearly killed by a 13-foot python.
22:23He only escaped by using his cell phone to raise the alarm.
22:27So you actually live here all the year, all the year round?
22:32It very much is, you know, a very hardcore way of life, this is set apart from the rest
22:37of society.
22:38I think quite a few people here have got rather shady pasts and, you know, they can't really
22:43go back.
22:44So that explains why they do live on the edges of this very basic existence and putting up
22:49with the very real dangers that do go with this way of life.
22:52It's a fairly lawless society down here, by all accounts, and I'm not exactly comfortable
22:58in their presence.
23:01Apparently some of these men are wanted by the police for crimes that include murder.
23:08This man tells me that not long ago he was out fishing with a friend when he was attacked
23:12by a rival gang.
23:18Conflict like this has been going on for centuries.
23:27They stole his nets and boats, and apparently he was lucky to escape alive.
23:35The dangers here come at you from all directions.
23:41I'm honoured but a little uneasy when these fishermen on the fringe invite me to join their
23:45meal.
23:46This is tilapia, a little bit of spice.
23:54Tilapia are a small fish that they commonly target as they are easier to catch than the
23:57Nile perch.
23:58Ah!
23:59Very good.
24:00Sushi tilapia.
24:01Actually, not bad.
24:05I realise that if I'm to fish here, I really need to know the risks I'll be facing.
24:10What about the dangers on the lake?
24:11I've seen the hippos, I've seen the crocodiles.
24:15Is this something that you worry about every day?
24:17No, it doesn't matter.
24:19Most of these animals, the hippos and the crocs, will be close to the shore.
24:23That's the dangerous area.
24:24What they do is they deploy their nets out in the middle of the lake in the deeper water,
24:29but obviously they've still got to go through the shallows on their way and on their way
24:34back.
24:35But they say even so, you know, there are people who've worked with them in the past
24:38who have been killed by both hippos and by crocs.
24:43Despite their lumbering looks, many consider hippos Africa's most dangerous animal, as they
24:48often kill fishermen.
24:52This man knows just how real that danger is.
24:55He was attacked by a hippo just a few months ago while on his way to the lake to fish for
24:59Nile perch.
25:00Altair was walking with his nets along a path and then he noticed a hippo.
25:11And when he saw the hippo, he called out and his friend ran off.
25:15And at that point the hippo charged him.
25:19And the next thing that happens is that the hippo is goring him in the side of the chest.
25:28The hippo has these two sharp tusks on the lower jaw and apparently he was spearing him
25:32with these tusks and in the process of that actually flipped him over onto his back.
25:37And he basically just thought he was going to die and he was praying for it to stop.
25:41He was praying that he would survive this somehow.
25:46It appeared that his prayers had been answered because actually the hippo stopped goring him
25:51and started moving off towards the lake, towards the water.
25:53Shortly after that, his friend actually came back and found him.
25:59What injuries were you left with after this?
26:01Can you show your...
26:07This horrific wound on the chest here, apparently there were three ribs broken and with bits
26:11of rib actually visible sticking out.
26:15And likewise the wounds on the leg, there was a flap of skin hanging out.
26:20For me it just really underlines what a dangerous job this is, what a dangerous place this is
26:26to be a fisherman.
26:27I mean I can scarcely begin to imagine what it's like working as a fisherman on this lake.
26:35So if I want to learn how they catch their Mputa, I'm going to have to fish like they do.
26:39So I head out with one of the guys to check their nets.
26:43But I hadn't counted on their boats being so flimsy and exposed.
26:46This is a bit nerve-wracking.
26:47There's a pod of hippos over there.
26:49It's not them I'm worried about, but there's a couple of others on the fringes of the group
26:54which periodically go under and then come back up again and they've been coming back
26:58up closer and closer.
26:59Strangely, I'm actually trying to get to the deep water because that's actually going
27:02to be safer than the shallows where the hippos and the crocs are.
27:06Hippos very, very close.
27:08Looking this way, gone underwater.
27:09I don't like the look of this actually.
27:11After what I've just heard, I want to stay well clear of these hippos.
27:16They are just as dangerous in the water and they have been known to flip boats, chomping
27:21the occupants to death.
27:23If I get on the wrong side of a hippo, especially in this tiny canoe, I'll be lucky to escape alive.
27:40I'm on Lake Chamo in the African Rift Valley, learning from the locals how they fish for Mputa,
27:45also called the Nile Perch, one of the biggest river monsters in the world.
27:51But having just heard of a horrific hippo attack and seeing the crocs lurking in the shallows,
27:56I feel totally exposed out on this little raft.
28:00But my only option is to just get on with it.
28:03If, like the local fishermen, you are dependent on the fish you catch to stay alive,
28:07you've got to work with the dangers.
28:15Bit of a ropey old net, this.
28:18Looks like a few crocs and hippos have actually gone through this.
28:21I think it's quite good actually having something to do while I'm out here,
28:24rather than just drifting on this water.
28:26The thought of what's down there, the crocs and hippos down there.
28:29It was a fish already.
28:35So this is the tilapia, this is what the fishermen mostly catch,
28:40or what they catch in numbers in these lakes.
28:43And they don't run to a great deal bigger than this.
28:46Spiny dorsal fin, lovely bluish coloration there.
28:52Yeah, just very pretty.
28:54But the reason they're catching them is they are very, very good eating,
28:58which is what's going to happen to this one.
29:01The rest of the net doesn't yield any more fish, let alone a Nile perch.
29:08But apparently they are out there,
29:10and they are the prize that makes facing the unseen dangers worthwhile.
29:15The fishermen on this lake are proving to be some of the bravest people I've met.
29:20However, in his pursuit of fish, this guy has pushed his luck to the limit.
29:28This is actually quite a story.
29:30He'd earlier seen a crocodile in this area,
29:33and what he'd done, he'd thrown stones at the crocodile to make it go away.
29:38And he just saw the crocodile sink.
29:41He assumed then that it was actually safe to go in the water.
29:50A crocodile grabbed him by the left leg.
29:58What crocodiles do, they try and pull you into deeper water to drown you.
30:02That is how they kill you before they then, you know, dismember you later on.
30:06But the crocodile actually then got tangled in the net.
30:14And the fisherman was able to actually come free of the crocodile's jaws.
30:20And I'm thinking this is a very lucky guy.
30:23The fact that he's escaped from the jaws of crocodiles,
30:26that is absolutely impressive by anybody's standards.
30:28And I'm really glad I don't have to earn my living fishing from this lake.
30:36The one that attacked you, same size as this?
30:42I reckon that croc must be about 15 feet long and close to 1,000 pounds.
30:47In the nearby village, I come across a man who had an equally miraculous escape.
30:54However, this time, the croc didn't leave empty-handed.
30:59You know, not only did the crocodile actually make off with his foot,
31:02it had done so much damage to his lower leg
31:04that his leg was actually amputated above the knee.
31:09Unbelievably, I mean, he still fishes.
31:11As this picture here proves, he still goes out with just one leg,
31:15fishing on the very same lake where he had that encounter.
31:19He has a family to feed, so he has to keep facing the dangers.
31:24But he's not fished this long without learning a thing or two.
31:28So this tilapia in the picture, very interesting.
31:31He actually used that as live bait for Nile perch.
31:35He knows where the Nile perch are.
31:36He could tell me possibly the places to go and maybe the places to avoid.
31:39I think, you know, this could be a very useful lead.
31:42After a discussion of tactics with this fearless fisherman,
31:46I head back out onto Lake Chamo,
31:48armed with some inside information about good places to try.
31:54But to get to them, I have to pass a point known as the Crocodile Market.
31:58So-called because it's a favourite spot for these lake giants to gather.
32:01Apparently, the largest Nile crocodile ever recorded lived on this lake.
32:08A beast about 20 feet long.
32:10And that was only a few years ago.
32:15Seeing this many crocodiles hauled out in the sun makes me realise just how many man-eating sized monsters are living in this lake.
32:22Just the size of some of these creatures. Just enormous.
32:32I've never seen so many big crocodiles in one place before.
32:35And as they sink back into the water, I can understand why they say it's the croc you don't see that will kill you.
32:45If I'm too close to the lake's edge, or I'm grabbing a fish out of the water,
32:49or if a sudden wave causes me to slip, then in this place there's no telling what might happen to me.
32:55I'm in Ethiopia, fishing for giant Mputa, or Nile Perch.
33:14I'm following a lead to a prime fishing spot.
33:16But again, out of nowhere, the wind has suddenly picked up.
33:20The waves have risen, and the water has muddied.
33:23I think if ever there's a deadly place to fish, either on rivers or in the sea, this is it.
33:31Well, this boat here is metal, there's no inherent buoyancy at all.
33:35If this develops a leak, it's just going straight down, and there's 20-foot crocs in here.
33:41Only a prize as big as a Nile Perch makes facing these risks worthwhile.
33:45So I push on, hoping that I'll catch my prey before I become the prey.
33:50Like the old man suggested, I'm using a tilapia as bait.
33:54It'll work better than an artificial lure, because the water's very cloudy.
33:58But the weather here is beating me.
34:01This is actually not working. We're being blown so fast, we're just dragging that behind us.
34:06It's not actually, it's not drifting.
34:08I try my luck at another spot he mentioned, a rocky outcrop in the lee of an island.
34:14Nile Perch love having cover to ambush their prey from, and the underwater ridge here could be perfect for them.
34:20But despite fishing here for several hours, nothing takes.
34:26Over the next few days, I fish a variety of locations, but it just seems that either the fish aren't here, or others have gotten here first.
34:34So this net is definitely designed to catch Nile Perch. Looks like I've got some serious competition here.
34:42Eventually, I have to admit that this lake is defeating me.
34:47I've seen how determined the fishermen are here, and they've been harvesting these lakes for thousands of years.
34:53I'm beginning to wonder if the Nile Perch here have been overfished too.
34:57It's a bit disappointing having to leave these lakes without having caught anything.
35:00I've seen plenty of monsters, but not the one that I want.
35:04I think if I stayed here long enough, I might catch something, but life is too short for that.
35:07I think I'm going to have to go to one of the other Rift Valley lakes.
35:11I have no choice but to head to a place that is truly out of reach of fishermen.
35:16Not only is it illegal to keep fish that are caught here, but few local fishermen are willing to test its spectacular natural defences.
35:27This is Murchison Falls in Uganda. I've seen how people in the Rift Valley fish some pretty extreme, dangerous water conditions, but I can't imagine anybody fishing here.
35:37So I'm thinking that maybe at the bottom of these falls could be the place where I'm going to catch my Monster Nile Perch.
35:44The water at the bottom of these falls is known as the Devil's Cauldron, and it's where I'm about to meet my river monster.
35:52No, it is on the top, on the top, on the top.
35:55I'm in Uganda, on the trail of the Nile Perch, what the locals call Mputa.
36:13On this journey to catch Africa's largest freshwater fish, I've faced deadly monsters.
36:20Encountered fearless fishermen who have caught it dead.
36:24And I've braved storms and lethal conditions in what is surely one of the most deadly places in the world to be a fisherman.
36:32Yet the giant at its heart has so far eluded me.
36:39As I make my way up to the falls, my anticipation is mounting.
36:45I'm just approaching what looks like smoke there, but that is the spray that is being thrown up by the Murchison Falls.
36:50And the thought of the size of some of the fish that are down in this churning water, you know, starting to get a bit of a flutter.
36:58It's really quite frightening, the thought of hooking a big fish in this water.
37:04This could be my best and perhaps last chance of catching a monster.
37:09This big eddy behind me is called the Devil's Cauldron.
37:16Now that sounds very melodramatic, very over the top, but, you know, words almost don't do justice to this place.
37:23When you're down at water level, you know, just a huge push of water coming through.
37:28Apparently 300 tons every second coming through that crack there.
37:32This is very hostile water and for the local fishermen with their methods, you know, it's not going to be easy to fish here.
37:37If you're fishing nets or long lines, you know, that kind of fishing involves getting in the water very often.
37:42There are crops in here. This water is very, very strong.
37:45So this could be the only kind of gear that might stand a chance here.
37:57I've got to watch my footing. If I fall in, I'll be sucked to the bottom of this churning water in seconds.
38:08Crocs are hard to see in the water at the best of times, but the foam produced by the falls gives them the perfect cover.
38:17This could be my most dangerous fishing location yet.
38:20Anything takes that bait. It's a large bait. It's going to be a serious sized fish.
38:26So, you know, one thing I've got to really be aware of is I don't want to be pulled in here.
38:31Oh, fish on.
38:33Fish on.
38:44Went a bit slack then, but the water is just moving around so much, it's actually gone into the, it's actually gone into some of the water that's coming towards me.
38:49This feels a good size because it's, it's actually coming with the current.
38:57It's up to, like, coming out to the surface. Coming out to the surface.
39:01That's a good sized fish. Gosh, that's a good size.
39:04This fish is actually going with the current.
39:06All right, it's just stopped.
39:07No, it is on the top, on the top, on the top.
39:29I think the fish is tired, but there's a real weight of water behind it.
39:32It's right in the side here. It's right in the side. Right in the side.
39:40It's tired out.
39:42I can't see the fish because there's just all that foam.
39:53How about that? How about that?
39:55Right. I've just put a bit of heavy mono through its, through its mouth.
40:03What I'm going to do, I'm going to just pull it back into the water, walk it round here into some quiet water where it can recover.
40:09Where I can recover as well.
40:11I'm just hoping if those crocs, that they'll prefer the fish to me.
40:15It's already starting to get a bit more strength back, but I want to make sure it's fully recovered before I have a proper look.
40:25Because if it goes back in this water, not properly recovered, it's just going to get bashed, possibly to death, on these rocks.
40:33I'm going to need the help of my boat driver, Etchi, as this fish is too big to lift by myself.
40:42It's 112 pounds with the net. We've got to deduct a little bit for that, but that's well clear of 100 pounds.
40:47OK, and then...
40:50OK. Right.
40:52This is one lump of a Nile perch.
40:54Well over 100 pounds.
40:56And just what an amazing setting to catch it from.
40:57Big old fish, ambush predator, great big paddle of a tail there.
41:02But at the business end, look at this, you don't have tentacles like a catfish.
41:06You've got big eyes, and then you've got this protrusible jaw.
41:11And when it actually opens that quickly, it's almost telescopic, and it just engulfs fish by creating a vacuum.
41:18The water just rushes in.
41:20And one other thing just to say, look at that for a defence.
41:23It's like having six-inch nails sticking out your back.
41:25Finally, I've caught the fish that shows monster Nile perch can still be found, here in Africa's Rift Valley.
41:35Oh, nice to see it go back.
41:38Tell you what though, if I was a fish, I would not like to live in this water.
41:41I mean, some of the other stuff that's in here, particularly the crocodiles, and also just the sheer strength of this water.
41:47But I mean, just what a dramatic setting to catch a fish like that.
41:51On this journey, I've had to fish some of the scariest places I've ever been to.
41:59But I've put my life on the line, faced the monsters, and caught a giant.
42:04In what is almost certainly the oldest, and most dangerous, fishing spot in the world.
42:16Want to know how to catch a river monster of your own?
42:18I'll show you how at animalplanet.com forward slash river monsters.