River Monsters S03E07 Jungle Killer

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7 weeks ago

Documentary, River Monsters S03E07 Jungle Killer

Transcript

00:00My name is Jeremy Wade, and I hunt monsters. River monsters. I'm always on the alert for

00:22new information, new leads, and new investigations. I've received a tantalizing report. It's

00:30a story about a fish apparently attacking a diver, but there are frustratingly few details.

00:37And that's no wonder, because this story comes from a remote country in South America,

00:42a country called Suriname. But from what I've heard, this is not the work of South America's

00:47most notorious river monster, the piranha. So what is it? Can there really be a fish

00:53that pound for pound can challenge the piranha for the title of the most ferocious river monster

01:00of South America? There's only one way to find out.

01:17In pursuit of river monsters, I've traveled to the four corners of the globe. Suriname is

01:31one place I've never had cause to visit, until now. I've come to investigate the possibility

01:38that although everyone knows the notorious piranha, there may be a fish out here that has an even

01:45more fearsome reputation. Suriname is South America's best-kept secret. It is the smallest

01:55country on the continent, with a population of only half a million people, but it can boast

01:59the largest continuous area of unspoiled rainforest in the world. Once a Dutch colony, it is a true

02:07melting pot of nationalities and cultures.

02:09The majority of the sparse population live along the coast. So the deeper into the country you

02:18go, the further you are from the civilized world. I have been to remote places before,

02:23but this is of a new order. If things go wrong out here, there is little hope of being rescued.

02:34But first, I have to meet the victim in the story, the man who was attacked by this mystery

02:44fish. I've arranged to meet him where the attack happened, at the dam two hours out of the capital,

02:52Paramaribo. The dam was built on the Suriname River and completed in 1964, creating one of the largest

03:01man-made lakes in the world, called Broca Pondo, on the banks of which I meet Maurice Gantz, a local

03:09man of Dutch descent.

03:11What was your job on the dam at the time?

03:13We were asked to dive to see the erosion in the downstream for big holes underneath. We pour in cement in big, large bags.

03:23So we go underneath there, start up the engine on top. The water becomes like mist. You cannot see anymore.

03:32Suddenly, I saw something blinking. So I grab my knife and then he hits me. So fast. I blew out my hand. I don't know if the knife hits him.

03:44Then I start feeling and seeing the blood flowing. I realized I was bitten and very deep.

03:57This was definitely not a piranha attack. They rush in snatching quick savage bites. They don't cling on to their victims like a dog with a bone.

04:05Maurice's mutilated hand needed over 100 stitches. And even though it was 20 years ago, he still very much bears the scars.

04:15This is the scar here?

04:16Yes, this is the scar from here to here. Over this small finger. Cuts here. And those are the tooth from the top.

04:28It's hard to believe there's a freshwater fish that would launch a solo attack on a diver.

04:35Did you know what fish it was? It's an anumara.

04:41Anumara, also known as the wolf fish, so called for its wolf-like teeth.

04:47These fish can grow to nearly four and a half feet and weigh 80 pounds. They are serious predators.

04:55But I had until now never heard of one ever attacking a person.

05:05I wonder if Maurice ever had any other kind of close encounter while he was diving.

05:10The only thing that we saw close behind us were piranhas.

05:14Did that make you slightly nervous?

05:16Not really. Not really. But every time you do like this or you make a sudden move, they disappear.

05:22They never came and took a nip out of any...

05:25No, no, no, no, no. No.

05:27So Maurice often saw piranhas, but they never ever came close.

05:32Unlike this lone wolf.

05:34This fish attacked, and if Maurice hadn't had his knife, who knows what could have happened.

05:40Could it be that the wolf fish is more dangerous than the more notorious South American horror, the piranha?

05:46To find out, I need to confront one myself.

05:51I wonder if Maurice's monster still haunts this river.

05:56From experience, many river monsters have little regard for our modern world.

06:00I've caught them near dams and in cities.

06:03Will this monster be any different?

06:05The attack on Maurice was 20 years ago.

06:15And as far as I'm aware, nothing like that has happened in this place since.

06:19And also this place seems to be comparatively developed.

06:23So I'm not really sure if this is where I should be looking.

06:26I persevere through the night, but with no luck.

06:38In the morning, I head back into town to Paramaribo, Suriname's capital city.

06:47I need to find out where a wolf fish can be found.

06:52I head downtown to the fish market to try my luck.

06:55This looks like a small anumara.

06:58Small wolf fish.

07:02Ah, small is a...

07:03Ah, yeah, yeah, I understand, I understand.

07:05This one isn't actually the anumara.

07:07This is a small relative called here the pataca.

07:10I've caught something very similar to this.

07:12Maybe actually the same as this in Brazil.

07:15Those teeth are probably almost as vicious as a piranha's.

07:18They're also very slippery.

07:19It's like a bar of soap with teeth.

07:21It's the big one.

07:23Let's sort of scale that version of this, which is what I'm looking for.

07:28The wolf fish I'm hunting are ten times larger than these.

07:32There are no wolf fish here, but I don't leave empty-handed.

07:36I've been told of an old retired anumara fisherman who lives in town.

07:43Maybe he can tell me where I can find one of these monsters.

07:50His name is Fritz van der Bosch.

07:53He shows me his old wolf fish gear.

07:55It's the real that I get the most big anumara.

08:00So this is very strong line.

08:02It may be outdated, but it's an impressive rig.

08:07And as we settle down to chat, he tells me of his own strange experience of being attacked by a wolf fish.

08:13A tree was falling over the creek and walk on the tree.

08:20Anumara jumping to take my foot.

08:24Yes.

08:25So your leg was out of the water?

08:26No.

08:27The way you talk, I see you don't believe it, but it's dangerous.

08:33I tell you that.

08:35If the anumara hungry, it's dangerous.

08:40This story really puts the wolf fish into a different league.

08:44I have never heard of a fish trying to attack someone on land before.

08:48And there's another, more chilling story.

08:50I'm going to tell you something.

08:53An Indian woman was going to wash the creek.

08:57I had a little dog.

09:00I mean, one of June.

09:03We need to take the dog.

09:08Turn back in water and go with the dog.

09:11Reptilian monsters like anacondas and gators are known to snatch dogs from the water's edge.

09:16But a fish.

09:19Now I'm even more determined to find a wolf fish.

09:23Now it is not easy to catch anymore because you get too much people's hunting.

09:29But it sounds like what you need to do now is go a long way away.

09:35Before it was easy to go in there.

09:38So now you can't just do a short fishing trip.

09:41You had to make an expedition.

09:42You had to make an expedition.

09:43Yeah, sure.

09:45Okay.

09:48It seems that people have driven out this aquatic wolf.

09:52It now exists only beyond civilization.

09:55To take it on, I'm now preparing to travel deep into Surinam's wild interior.

10:00Maybe there I'll find other stories of wolf fish attacks that have just never made it out of the jungle alive.

10:05To find a monster more terrible than even the dreaded piranha, I'm about to go deeper than I have ever ventured before.

10:13I'm in Surinam in South America, a country that is almost entirely jungle.

10:29I have heard stories of a fish so fearless that it has attacked people and animals, even out of water.

10:37A lone wolf that is pound for pound more fearsome than the infamous piranha.

10:41But to catch one, I must travel deep into the unknown, to a place where few people have ever been.

10:50Usually there are signs of human habitation dotted around, but out here there is nothing.

10:56I once survived a plane crash in Brazil and was lucky enough to walk to a nearby town.

11:05But out here, I wouldn't stand a chance.

11:13The landing strip is the only cleared patch of forest I have seen for nearly two hours.

11:17I wonder just what I've got myself into.

11:35Peter Sonneveld has a European name, but is 100% Surinamese.

11:40He will help me talk with the local people so I can collate any wolf fish stories from this area.

11:45On the ground, the rainforest is as impressive as it is from the air, but our isolation is even more apparent.

11:55Not only are the heat and humidity oppressive, but our little group are possibly the only human beings in thousands of acres of tangled rainforest.

12:09At night, this place takes on an even more sinister character.

12:13Well, it looks like we're just about here, but I'm not totally sure where here is, but it does sound like there's some serious water over here somewhere.

12:24But I'm going to have to wait until the morning to see exactly what I'm up against.

12:27In all my years of fishing, this could be the most unspoilt and remote river that I've ever fished.

12:47The mighty Corinthian River is 450 miles long and Surinam's largest.

12:58For most of its length, it is completely uninhabited and rarely explored.

13:02The river is punctuated by frequent crushing rapids and deep turbulent pools.

13:10There are vast granite boulders everywhere, some just under the water, others creating waterfalls.

13:17There are so many different fishing holes that I take every opportunity to get a bait or lure in the river to cover as much water as I can.

13:28Different types of fish prefer different parts of the river.

13:32Having never hunted for wolf fish here, I need to explore every likely fishing spot to see if I can discover the monster's lair.

13:45I'm using my short bait caster rod for accuracy to get my eye in.

13:51Although it looks lightweight, this beauty with its strong braided line is capable of landing fish over a hundred pounds.

13:57But there are more than just wolf fish here.

14:02The Corinthian is also home to the red-eyed piranha, one of the largest of its kind.

14:07This river really is the best place to compare these two toothy South American monsters.

14:15That's the fish on, fish on.

14:18Hey, fish off.

14:19Ah!

14:24Suddenly, I'm getting action every cast.

14:29Ah!

14:31When you get these things in, they are just so well hooked, and yet, sometimes you hook one,

14:37and somehow, it just manages to get rid of the hooks.

14:42That was quite dramatic, though. Short, but very, very dramatic.

14:50That's one on, that's one on.

14:52Let's see if I can keep this one on.

14:54But is this a wolf fish?

14:56I haven't seen the fish yet.

15:00That is a piranha in the back. Foul hooked always feels bigger.

15:11Monster piranha. That is black in color.

15:14Just by looking at one, you can understand the piranha's reputation.

15:18But I've done experiments using myself as a guinea pig,

15:21and I've concluded that they're only dangerous to people in extreme circumstances.

15:26For piranhas, the mob rules. It's death by a thousand cuts.

15:30And for that, they have no equal.

15:32But I'm comparing wolf fish with piranhas one against one,

15:37and having now seen the piranhas they have to compete with,

15:39I'm even more wary about meeting a wolf fish.

15:45I wonder if, like wolves, the fish I'm after are nocturnal hunters.

15:49So I continue fishing into the night, but it's too risky to move around.

15:54There are too many hazards and dangers that could send me into the dark water.

15:57So I change tactics and stick to the shore.

16:06I'm fishing with a big bait cast into the stream.

16:12Fish on.

16:13Fish on.

16:17But it's just another monster piranha.

16:20I'm supposed to be asleep now, but there's always one.

16:24There's always one.

16:26There's always one.

16:28It's November, and the rainy season is fast approaching.

16:32Carbon fiber rods make excellent lightning conductors.

16:34I don't know how long I can stay out here.

16:40Luckily, something picks up the bait.

16:42It feels big.

16:43Much bigger than anything I've hooked so far.

16:45On the boat.

16:46Motor, motor, motor.

16:48I'm hoping to finally come face to jaw with a wolf fish.

16:55Which fish has more teeth?

16:57Is it the wolf fish or the piranha?

17:04With over a hundred teeth, a wolf fish has approximately four times as many teeth as a piranha.

17:17I'm deep in the jungles of Suriname, hunting for the wolf fish.

17:22A creature that, according to the people I've spoken to, is more fearsome than even piranhas.

17:26The question is, do I have one on the end of my line?

17:37Right, that's a new species for here, that's a red-tailed catfish.

17:40That's about the size of what I want, but it's the wrong species.

17:43The local name for these fish is the motro t'jali.

17:46Which translates as motor car, on account of all the noises they make when out of the water.

17:51Oops.

17:53Red-tailed catfish.

17:55It's another species that's active at night.

17:58Not what I was after, but it's quite interesting just to see a bit of the variety here.

18:02It's a familiar species to me, but in a different part of South America.

18:06Bit of excitement.

18:11But a long kind of excitement.

18:12After several more days of trying with no success, my guide Peter suggests we visit the only village in the area.

18:32And talk with the locals to see if they can give us the information that we need.

18:41The trio tribes' village at Amatopo has no more than 20 huts.

18:46It is their only settlement on the Corentin River.

18:48They live with the woolfish, so they know it better than anyone.

18:53I'm hoping they will share some of its secrets with me.

18:57How dangerous exactly is the Anumaro?

19:02I don't know.

19:03I don't know.

19:04I don't know.

19:05I don't know.

19:06Anumaro was hunting, and he came to a creek near here called Mosquito Creek.

19:13And there was a troop of monkeys crossing the creek.

19:19They were going to the furthest branch on one side, jumping across onto the furthest branch the other side.

19:25And the whole group of monkeys had jumped apart from the last one.

19:28One missed the branch, landed in the water.

19:37As soon as it hit the water, it was attacked by a wolffish and killed.

19:43Suddenly, the stories come thick and fast.

19:47So somebody was actually bitten on the arm.

19:51That speaks of a real sort of aggression.

19:53Martinio's uncle was hunting one day with his dog.

20:00They're hunting dogs when they're hunting.

20:02They're barking, barking, barking.

20:05Martinio's uncle found his dog dead in the creek with its stomach ripped open.

20:15And there's now another incident of somebody getting bitten, in this case on the thumb.

20:20So there's another two animals to add to the list.

20:25Snakes swimming on the surface and just being taken from below.

20:30That's a type of bird called an anamu.

20:32This is a bird, comes to the water to drink.

20:35And likewise, that's just grabbed by one of these fish just lurking there in ambush.

20:41Is that the new sort of, you know, wary about getting in the water sometimes?

20:45He's not jumping in, because where people don't fish, the anamu are just very raw aggression.

21:03People outside South America, they know all about piranhas.

21:05Now, locally, a wolf fish, this is a fish with a very big reputation.

21:10It's known to be very aggressive.

21:11And there are certain circumstances where they will literally rip anything apart that goes near them.

21:17Reptiles, birds, primates, even people.

21:21After listening to the trio tribe, it's clear that having the weaponry is one thing, having the attitude is quite another.

21:31The wolf fish is well equipped with both.

21:34But one thing still eludes me, where do you find them?

21:37Salamone agrees to take me fishing, but it's like no fishing I've done before.

21:49Straight away, we do something I wasn't expecting.

21:53Salamone leads me to a narrow creek, one that no one has been through for some time.

21:58We then take to the land and creep through the jungle.

22:10Looks like we're following the course of a sort of dried up sub-creek.

22:14So the chances are there's going to be a bit of a junction here.

22:17And that does look like the kind of place where you might find fish.

22:23He fishes with a bow and arrow, the way his ancestors have for centuries.

22:26There's a string in the bow.

22:29Just getting the tension in the bow.

22:37This is mimicking the sound of a water bird.

22:39So there's a little bit of disturbance on the surface, a little bit of whistling.

22:43The idea is this calls the wolf fish in.

22:48I don't know if it's coincidence or what, but I've just seen movement on the surface,

22:53which looked very much like a wolf fish.

23:01Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.

23:08Oh, it's on.

23:09Don.

23:10He missed it.

23:11But it has given me the last piece of this puzzle.

23:17One thing, very, very striking.

23:19That fish, when it came in, that was in very shallow water.

23:22Not just that, very, very tangly water.

23:24So this isn't a monster of the deep.

23:29This is a monster sometimes of the shallows.

23:34The fishing with the line is going to be very close quarters.

23:37And also these snags are going to present a real problem,

23:39not just in terms of getting a bait to a place where the fish can take it,

23:43but also if I get a heavy fish on, extracting it from all this stuff,

23:46you know, it's going to be very challenging.

23:49And who knows, that might even be at night.

23:51So this is going to be quite some fishing.

23:57I decide to have a go myself using the gear I'm accustomed to.

24:06I'm now using my larger fixed spool reel and a big chunk of bait

24:10with a wire trace to stop any sharp teeth from biting through.

24:13I'm also trying to make some disturbance on the surface, like Salamone did,

24:23to see if it will attract any hungry wolf fish.

24:30No takes on the bait, no reaction to the popper.

24:36Looks a good spot, but there doesn't seem to be anything at home.

24:39We've reached the end of the navigable stretch of this creek now.

24:45It's just this impenetrable tangle of branches now.

24:48So if we were to hack our way through that, we'd just disturb everything.

24:51And you could hardly get a bait into the water.

24:54Anyway, very, very interesting fishing.

24:56On our way back to the village on the main river, conditions are changing.

25:14It may be nothing to worry about, this black cloud here, because the weather in the tropics, it can be very localized.

25:24You can see a storm over in one direction.

25:27Maybe it comes your way, you get wet, maybe it goes somewhere else.

25:30But it seems to have passed us by, or so I think.

25:38With nothing for the pot, Salamone takes me on a detour to catch some fish for dinner.

25:42I think this could be our spot here.

25:48So off the rocks, there's going to be a nice slack with eddies happening on the other side.

25:55But out on this exposed island, in the middle of the river,

25:59we are about to discover just how changeable and dangerous conditions are in the rainforest.

26:13This is a classic example of pure fishing in a way.

26:15It's starting with absolutely nothing.

26:16Just coming down with a couple of rods, no bait.

26:20And just poking around in these cracks to find crabs.

26:23And then a crab is pulled into pieces and that's where we start from.

26:26Hopefully we turn that.

26:29I'm deep in the jungles of Suriname, hunting for the fiercer wolf fish.

26:44I have been shown how the local people hunt them,

26:46and it's some of the strangest fishing I've ever seen.

26:50Now, Salamone, my guide, has taken me on a detour to try and secure our supper.

26:54But we're in for a shock.

26:59F*** me! Should I take this off?

27:02I would, I would.

27:03That lightning strike's right on top of the Salamone was standing in the water.

27:04He actually felt the shock. He had got a shock through the water.

27:05Abandoning!

27:06We're getting in the boat and we're going, we're going.

27:07Let's go!

27:08I thought we'd all escaped that lightning strike. The sound man on my crew didn't.

27:12Our sound recorder says being hit was actually struck on the head by that bolt of lightning.

27:15Chris, are you okay? Are you responding?

27:16Yeah, I'm fine.

27:17Good, good, good, good.

27:18Right, we might need some first aid here. Let's go, let's go. Quick, quick, quick.

27:19How are you feeling?

27:20Good, just hit the top of my head.

27:21Right. We're moving away from the storm now, isn't that good?

27:22It's a very big headache. Right.

27:23And a pain on the boat. Right.

27:24Right.

27:25All right.

27:26We haven't even thought we'd all escaped that lightning strike. The sound man on my crew

27:28didn't too.

27:29Our sound recorder says being hit was actually struck on the head by that bolt of lightning.

27:30Chris, are you okay? Are you responding?

27:31Yeah, I'm right.

27:32Good. Good, good, good, good. Right, we might need some first aid here. Let's go, let's

27:35go. Let's go, let's go. Quick, quick, quick.

27:37How are you feeling?

27:39Good, I just hit the top of my head.

27:42Right. We're moving away from the storm now is that good?

27:48It's a very big headache.

27:49Right.

27:50and a pain on the kit, but I think my boots took, got them.

27:56Rubber soles, rubber soles, rubber soles, good.

27:59I've got a bit of a headache. James, who's behind the camera at the moment,

28:02has got a headache. I think it might have actually hit all three of us.

28:05Chris definitely got the brunt of it. I mean, very, very lucky for him.

28:08He was actually wearing thick rubber sole boots,

28:11so he's conscious, which is a huge relief.

28:16Right, we're arriving at the back of the camp.

28:20I suspect that the lightning bolt actually struck very close

28:23to where we were all standing.

28:29We all felt the effects of the strike, but Chris was obviously the closest.

28:34The remoteness of our location is now even more apparent.

28:41But thankfully, Chris's condition continues to improve,

28:44and within 12 hours, he is once more back on his feet

28:47and eager to get me fishing again.

28:50So if you just tell me again, so how far from here we're going.

28:57That night, Peter lays out his plans for us to head even deeper into the jungle,

29:01to try and reach some creeks that he believes will be the best places for us to catch a wolf fish.

29:06But it will mean camping and being self-sufficient for several days in a place even more remote.

29:14With all that has happened, it is a brave plan, and we decide to sleep on it.

29:19But I discuss it with the crew, and there is really only one decision.

29:28I'm actually going even more remote, if such a thing is possible.

29:32I figure that if I'm going to find a big wolf fish, I'm going to need to go somewhere where even the trio don't normally go.

29:41The sheer size of the Corentin River is humbling.

29:49In places it is over two miles wide, a confusion of tangled islands, channels, rocky outcrops, and narrow rapids.

29:56We are using a local boatman called Bonner, who knows the river well.

30:03Without him, I would quickly become lost in this watery maze.

30:09The jungle echoes with eerie calls and cries, but it is too impenetrable to reveal the creatures making the noise.

30:20Three hours later, and with nothing but endless rainforest on either bank, we arrive at our new base camp.

30:29It's a collection of small tents on a sandbar on an island in the middle of nowhere.

30:33From here, I will carry out my campaign to catch a wolf fish.

30:42I waste no time getting ready.

30:50And before the sun sets, we head out to the nearest creek to get our bearings.

31:00Wolf fish, it seems, head up creeks during the wet season, dispersing into the flooded forest.

31:05But as the water recedes, they are forced back down towards the main river.

31:09It is then that they are at their easiest to find.

31:12I am here in what should be the lowest water levels of the year.

31:18But straight away, it is apparent the conditions are not ideal.

31:25Very much mixed feelings on arriving at the camp.

31:28The thing that struck me immediately was that the water level is probably about two foot up on what we'd hoped for,

31:35what we'd expected, and what is ideal for catching the wolf fish.

31:41Basically, what that means is that the creeks are going to be that much fuller.

31:45So the fish aren't going to be concentrated.

31:47They're going to be spread up the creek.

31:50They won't be as hungry. They won't be as aggressive.

31:53So catching them is likely to be harder than I expected.

31:58I have now heard incredible stories of how fearless wolf fish are.

32:10I have caught the huge piranha that they compete with in these rivers.

32:16I have travelled so far and risked so much,

32:19but to fall at the last hurdle would be a disaster.

32:28This creek is a really eerie place.

32:34A pool enclosed by rainforest in the heart of nowhere.

32:38I have never felt so tiny and remote.

32:48The fragility of my safety has never been so clear.

32:51And to make matters worse, I'm not alone.

32:54A caiman, South America's alligator.

32:59Large ones have been known to attack people.

33:02Although normally quite wary, this one is completely unafraid of me,

33:06testament to how far from people I have travelled.

33:09I don't want him to come too close,

33:11but it's no wonder he has made this creek his home.

33:13It's a piranha.

33:15Pass off.

33:16It's alive with piranhas.

33:18It's actually very frustrating.

33:19Every bait I'm throwing out is getting attacked,

33:21but unfortunately it's by piranhas.

33:23Ah, piranha again.

33:27I'm hoping that as the light fades,

33:30you know, they will become less active.

33:32But at the moment I've got a dwindling supply of bait

33:34because the piranhas are just attacking it every time.

33:38My best chance is to wait until night.

33:45Salamone told me that once the sun sets,

33:48the piranhas run and hide

33:50because that's when the wolf fish come out to hunt.

33:53It seems the piranhas know who the real river monster is.

33:56Oh, yeah.

33:57I've finally got a wolf fish on my line,

33:59but I'm not the only one with an eye on my catch.

34:01There's a caveman right in front of me.

34:04There's a caveman right in front of me.

34:05Hey, man!

34:06On it!

34:07All right!

34:08There's a caveman!

34:09Let him run!

34:10Unnerved!

34:11I've finally got a wolf fish on my line,

34:12but I'm not the only one with an eye on my catch.

34:15There's a caveman right in front of me.

34:16I've finally got a wolf fish on my line but I'm not the only one with an eye on my catch.

34:21I

34:36I'm in Suriname in South America. Oh, yeah, and I have finally hooked the wolf fish a fish

34:43I believe is more fearsome than the piranha

34:45But there is a problem all the commotion has attracted a really unwanted visitor

34:50Is it after the fish or me?

34:53I do the only thing I can think of

34:55I'm trying to pull it up on the side with the worst possible result

35:04I was trying to pull the fish up on the side because the caiman was after it and I've lost it. I've lost it damn

35:14Should have had that fish that caiman hadn't been there

35:16I'd have probably had that fish what I was trying to do was just slide it up on the side here hook came out

35:28I can't risk going back even though. I know wolf fish are there

35:33Caiman a territorial and it was certainly not afraid of me

35:36It will be there again tomorrow without doubt and next time it might not just go for the fish a seven-foot caiman could easily attack and a severe injury out here

35:48Would have serious ramifications

35:50But morning gives us another problem rain

36:02The storm makes me and the whole crew nervous

36:06We are nearing the end of the dry season when the rainy season starts two things will happen

36:13First the creeks will flood and the fish already hard to find will disappear into flooded forest making them impossible to catch

36:21Second and possibly more important. We could become stranded

36:27The airstrip is upstream and it's our only way home if the water gets too high and fast we will not be able to get out

36:36It's a sobering thought and it makes me look as much to the sky as I do to the water

36:42And I certainly don't want to test the theory that lightning never strikes the same place twice

36:49The new creek that I'm targeting is much narrower and even more surrounded with snags and tangles than the previous one

36:55Ah it's off

37:08Nothing seems to be going my way all my previous luck seems to have run out

37:12It's pretty a bit of bait on here not getting any response to artificial so we're putting a lump of piranha on

37:31There's been a couple of fish actually moving in here one right underneath this tangle of branches

37:36So it's fishing right in the middle of snags in a place like this if it gets even a few feet

37:41It's wrapped itself around a branch so I give it just enough line to take the bait properly and then it's just

37:46Try and haul it to the boat

37:58There's been nothing moving here now for quite a while so I think I think what I'll do I'll go further up the creek and

38:02And maybe drop in here later nothing doing here at the moment

38:13The only option left is to enter this creek at night

38:18With half-hidden roots and fallen trees navigating this waterway is a disaster waiting to happen

38:24And it seems every Creek has its Cayman

38:27To make matters worse. I hear a rumble of thunder

38:38My window of opportunity is about to slam shut

38:44This could be my last chance to catch a wolf fish

38:57I think it could be time to call it a night. These things are very active at the moment

39:27With the storm edging ever closer and hungry piranhas seemingly beating any wolf fish to my bait

39:32I'm considering calling it a night

39:35But then I make a discovery

39:37Hold on. I've got a scale here

39:40I've got a scale. That looks like a small

39:43Wolf fish

39:44The storm is closing in but so are the wolf fish. I decide to fish on

39:57Here we go. Here we go, here we go

40:08Finally a strong take. It's a wolf fish and a big one

40:12I have been hunting for the wolf fish and it seems that everything has been trying to stop me

40:31But now in the pitch dark I have finally made contact with the fish that I believe is South America's real river monster

40:38It's a wolf fish very strong very strong the monster I've spent the past three weeks trying to catch here we go, and it's a big one

40:59But fantastic here we go as a result as a result. That's lovely. So here we are

41:03This is the wolf fish and the stories I've heard about these absolutely fearless anything comes near them dogs people they'll go for it

41:10So it looks like it looks like gap-toothed

41:13but actually

41:15Pull those lips back and you see they're very spiky fangs underneath there

41:19The other thing about it is the fishing is just unlike anything I've done before

41:24It's real guerrilla

41:26Close quarters hand-to-hand combat almost

41:29My quest for the wolf fish has pushed me to my limits

41:37It seems appropriate that I've had to push deeper and deeper into the greatest rainforest in the world to find the most savage and untamed river monster to date

41:49The piranha gets all the press

41:51But this guy delivers the goods it's well armed with a fearsome set of teeth, but it's also fiery and fearless attacking animals and people even out of the water