- 4 months ago
- #rivermonsters
Documentary, River Monsters S05E03 Killer Torpedo
#RiverMonsters
#RiverMonsters
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00In the heart of Central America, where remote jungle waterways are havens for drug smugglers.
00:14A man-sized monster prowls the rivers.
00:21A creature that instills fear in all who encounter it.
00:26One piece a man.
00:29But if your friend hadn't been there, what?
00:31I would have been a dead man.
00:34My name is Jeremy Wade.
00:40And this beast will take me to my breaking point.
00:45And beyond.
00:51As I relearn everything I know.
00:55In an attempt to catch this elusive Central American river monster.
01:02Coming up, coming up.
01:03I've just heard a story from the jungles of Central America about the unexplained death of a fisherman.
01:26He set out from the riverbank in his dugout canoe, leaving his companion holding the other end of their net.
01:38It was the last time he was seen alive.
01:50Three days later, they found his body.
01:53The cause of death remains a mystery.
01:54Some people say he was taken by a supernatural creature.
02:03But although I've never been to this region before, I've seen what other rivers around the world can hold.
02:09And I'm wondering whether this supernatural creature could in fact be something I can get my hands on.
02:17The story originates from a remote river on the eastern side of the troubled country of Nicaragua.
02:25I head to Bluefields, the only major town in the area, to begin my investigation.
02:32Anywhere you are, the presence of God, the power of Jesus, the only one who will reach on the cross, is the only one who will save your life.
02:43And change your heart, and change your mind.
02:47Hallelujah.
02:49I suppose it's not exactly what I was expecting.
02:51I was expecting something a bit more, you know, Latin American, possibly.
02:56But this is, it feels much more Caribbean.
02:59It's a real melting pot.
03:00Well, there's people from, of African descent, even European, Chinese, local Indian as well.
03:07And the languages, I'm hearing Spanish, but I'm also hearing a Creole version of English.
03:12And then other completely unrecognizable stuff, which I'm assuming is mosquito Indian.
03:17Interesting place.
03:18This multicultural community stems from its position as a key trading port, and the harbour is still the focus of that activity.
03:30But it has a dark side.
03:33Very bustling place, lots of stuff being taken on and off boats.
03:37But the thing is, Bluefields was actually founded on piracy, and there's still a certain amount of illicit trade going on to this day.
03:42And the main thing nowadays, it's all about this being right on the main route for taking cocaine from Colombia to North America.
03:51Just a month and a half ago, the Nicaraguan Navy busted a boat with over two tonnes of cocaine on board.
03:57A street value of over 200 million dollars.
04:04It's sort of the place where, as a foreigner, maybe I don't want to attract too much attention.
04:08I think I just need to have a quick look around here and then get upcountry into the rivers and creeks.
04:14I head into the market to see what I can find out about the fish that inhabit these rivers, and whether any of them grow big enough to kill a man.
04:27There's lots of fish, but they're all mostly sea fish.
04:30People are very knowledgeable about sea fish here.
04:38I start asking about rivers, and I don't really get very much.
04:42So I think really what I've got to do, I've just got to go inland myself and see what I can find out there.
04:54So I ask around and arrange a ride on a boat to take me upriver.
05:00The eastern coast of Nicaragua is a maze of lagoons and rivers, punctuated by just the occasional town or village.
05:08It's no wonder pirates took refuge here, and drug runners still operate throughout its hidden waterways.
05:24Several hours away from the edgy chaos of bluefields,
05:27I arrive in the region where this unexplained death apparently occurred.
05:35I need to find someone who can corroborate this story I've heard,
05:39and confirm I'm in the right area.
05:41I'm directed to a fisherman named Murphy.
05:56I don't think I've met anybody with more injuries, more scars.
06:00He's been attacked by a grouper.
06:02Here, bite at me, Junefish.
06:04Junefish?
06:05Yeah.
06:05He's been shot.
06:07I got a gun bullet here.
06:09Right.
06:10Pass me here.
06:11Oh.
06:12What's this?
06:13This is machete.
06:14Oh, just machete?
06:14Yeah, when you're...
06:15He's also been bitten by a congoreal while diving.
06:19So bleeding, a lot of bleeding.
06:20Mm-hmm.
06:21Bitten by a snake.
06:23And the loss of a leg was actually sort of a fairly mundane thing.
06:27It was stepping on a nail and that just becoming infected
06:30and in the end becoming gangrenous and there was no saving it.
06:33It had to take the leg off.
06:35Murphy's quite a character and seems to have a tale to tell about almost everything.
06:40So it's no surprise that when I ask about the unexplained death I'm investigating,
06:44not only has he heard of it, but he knows where the incident took place.
06:48What place did this happen?
06:49Whereabouts?
06:50One piece of money.
06:51Mm-hmm.
06:52Right down there.
06:53Him, like, kissing them.
06:55And the man laughs it.
06:58And then after three days, him finding it.
07:02Dead.
07:02Done dead.
07:05So this man, when they find him, any bite, any anything, any mark?
07:10And the hair blue.
07:11Yes.
07:11And the hair blue, too.
07:13Right.
07:13Hair, too blue.
07:14No cuts, no bites.
07:17Blue colouring could be bruising, but after three days in the water,
07:21under the tropical sun, a corpse can be in a pretty bad state.
07:25What do you think happened to this man?
07:27Well, the, how's your name?
07:30Sirena.
07:32Sirena.
07:32Oh, Sirena did carry it then.
07:35I'm not certain what Murphy's referring to, so I probe him for more details.
07:40This was obviously quite a mystery.
07:42He said, there's a sirena, there's a sort of fish spirit in the water.
07:48The fisherman was trying to fight the water spirit, the siren, and maybe this black mark
07:54on the back of his head was where the spirit actually hit him, and that was the moment when
07:59he died.
07:59So the fisherman's tail that brought me to Nicaragua does have a real incident at its
08:06heart.
08:07But is there any truth in the description of how he died, beaten to death by a siren
08:13or water spirit?
08:17I travel a couple of miles downriver to where Murphy said the incident occurred to see if
08:23there's a real creature living here that could have been responsible.
08:26As far as I can establish, this pretty much is the scene of the crime, and I'm working
08:32on the possibility that maybe there was something in the water.
08:34If we're talking a large animal, that's probably going to be predatory, so I'm using a lure that's
08:41going to trigger that predatory reflex.
08:43This line is actually super strong.
08:46It's got a hundred pound breaking strain, very heavy duty reel, so if there's anything
08:50down here, large and predatory, this ought to bring it in.
08:56This place here is actually a confluence, two rivers joining, and it's the kind of place
09:07that would make perfect sense for fishermen to come, because this is where the fish hang
09:12out, where the currents mix, so you get small fish feeding on the food that settles, and then
09:18you've got predators, something just hit that, waiting to feed on them.
09:27Yep, this is something on here.
09:29I can see it, I can see it.
09:31And what I can see is not what I'm expecting.
09:34This could totally change my investigation.
09:50I'm in the remote rivers of Nicaragua, in Central America, trying to figure out what killed a
09:56fisherman as he was setting his net.
09:58Yep.
09:58And I've hooked into a fish at the scene of the crime.
10:02Yep.
10:02This is something on here.
10:06Oh, and it's really changing direction quickly.
10:10I can see it, I can see it.
10:12Try and swing it in.
10:14This is a jack, which is normally a fish that you'd associate with salt water.
10:19And even if you don't fish, that is not the kind of fish you'd expect to find in land.
10:27That's a lovely looking fish, though.
10:29You've got the deep forked tail, the speed.
10:32Quite a surprise catch, this.
10:34Whoops.
10:34And I'm going to be very interested to see where the food chain goes up from this.
10:40The presence of a sea creature like this jack, some ten miles inland, has got me wondering
10:45if this water is as fresh as I thought.
10:47So I test it with a salt meter.
10:56So 488s, so that's nearly 5,000 parts per million.
11:01That is what we'd call brackish, which actually opens things up quite a bit, because I was
11:06thinking river creatures, but it's quite possible, along with the jacks, there could be something
11:12else coming in from the sea.
11:13I've dealt with sea creatures that have come upriver before.
11:18Bloody hell!
11:20They've included some of my longest and most gruelling battles.
11:24Whoa!
11:24Ah!
11:24As I fish into the night, experimenting with different baits, I'm aware I could be in
11:34for another epic encounter.
11:36The creature I'm after has apparently killed before.
11:43And out here in the dark, I'm in unfamiliar territory.
11:48Armed drug runners use these remote rivers to smuggle their cargo.
11:51So, I can't afford to let my guard down.
11:57Something?
11:57Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that is something.
11:58Wait a minute, it's just...
12:01Turn the light.
12:03Light.
12:05Great.
12:06Light.
12:08That was it.
12:10It's gone now, I think.
12:12Something huge jumped out of the water behind me.
12:15Something definitely took this.
12:17The bait's looking quite unmarked, though.
12:19There's a little mark there.
12:23Maybe a single tooth, I don't know.
12:26So, the line was moving out.
12:28I closed the reel and never felt any weight on the end.
12:32But when I did that, there was quite a large splash behind me.
12:42So, I took the bait under the boat, and then just came up in 20 foot of water, jumped.
12:49Yeah, and that would be why I didn't feel anything.
12:53I cast back into the water, hoping for a second chance.
13:02Whatever took my bait had to be a large predator, but now it knows I'm here.
13:17So, no more activity.
13:19I did have that one take, which I think is enough to tell me that there's something down there.
13:32The next morning, I visit a town near the crime scene to see if I can get closer to the real story behind this unexplained death.
13:48This way, here?
13:49On asking around, my inquiries reveal that this is where the man lived, and I'm soon directed to his family home.
13:56Hello.
14:01Hello, Mrs. Berman.
14:03Hello.
14:03Nice to meet you.
14:05Are you the mother of the man who...
14:07The mother, yes.
14:09And what was the name of the man?
14:11Felipe Martinez.
14:13How long ago this happened, the accident?
14:17So, six months back, yeah?
14:21So, the man was called Felipe.
14:23And this happened just six months ago.
14:30She says something in the water took him, a type of mermaid, siren-type creature.
14:36So, Nero, this mermaid, this siren, what do people say that it looks like?
14:43They have no conception of what this creature might look like.
14:47But all she really knows with certainty is that they are here.
14:50He is gone.
14:54Again, a supernatural spirit is blamed for this death.
14:59But there's a man here who has some details of what happened that night, because his friend was fishing with Felipe.
15:06My friend says that he's only hearing noise.
15:10What kind of noise?
15:11Like, somebody jumped over the water.
15:14So, he had a big splash?
15:16Yeah.
15:18A new bit of information here.
15:20The other man who was fishing, I'd heard that he was calling and there was no response.
15:28But before then, apparently, there was a big splash.
15:31There was a splash in the water.
15:32Something doesn't add up.
15:35On a calm, windless night, why would he simply fall from his boat?
15:40And why wasn't there a cry for help?
15:43It's as though Felipe was knocked unconscious before he had any chance to shout.
15:47But what in this water is powerful enough to do that?
15:53And could it be linked to the leaping creature that got away from me last night?
16:00I head back out, determined to track this beast down.
16:04This is good.
16:05This is good.
16:05This is good.
16:35It's a little bit late now.
16:38There are marks that I can see on that.
16:40I'm going to get it out there again.
16:42Something moved.
16:45But it all goes quiet.
16:47Despite a few more glimpses in a few different locations, nothing bites.
16:55It seems this predator knows I'm here and is steering clear.
17:02I'm just chasing around and it's not working.
17:05It's the engine noise, something like that.
17:07But one way or another it's not working.
17:11It's not going to be totally straightforward.
17:13I'm going to have to really, I don't know, come up with something else.
17:17So I head back to the riverside villages to see if the local fishermen can give me a better idea of what giants are in here.
17:29That's a big old fish, whatever that came off.
17:45A lot of vultures sitting here when we came in.
17:47The last fish scale I encountered of this size was from an arapaima.
17:53One of these giants was responsible for one of my worst injuries.
17:59Doctors worried that my heart had been permanently damaged.
18:02But arapaima are not found this far north.
18:09So I ask around to see if I can find out what kind of fish this scale came from.
18:14Oh, is this one around here?
18:15Somebody's caught a big fish.
18:16And there might be some bits of it left.
18:18Possibly the head, so I'm told.
18:20Am I about to meet the killer responsible for this unexplained death?
18:40When fishermen in Nicaragua find white lobsters, what are they talking about?
18:45Find out after this.
18:47In Nicaragua, a white lobster is a floating bale of cocaine that has been tossed overboard by fleeing drug runners.
18:57These lobsters are worth more than $100,000 each.
19:08I'm in Nicaragua, investigating a mysterious death that the locals believe was caused by an evil spirit.
19:17But is there a fish in these waters that could be responsible?
19:22And is this what's left of one?
19:25It's a bit grizzly.
19:26If I'm not mistaken, that is a tarpon.
19:28I'd say that's a big tarpon.
19:31Well, this is a fishbowl.
19:32Probably 200 pounds.
19:34200 pounds.
19:35So this big here?
19:37Yeah.
19:37Right.
19:38To find tarpon this far inland is surprising, but not unheard of, especially when you consider that the water here is brackish.
19:49They are normally found around the coast, and that is where I had my only previous encounter with one, when I was fishing for bull sharks in Florida.
19:58Hey!
19:59That one got away.
20:00Oh, shh.
20:02But this tendency to jump could explain what I heard that night.
20:08And could this be what happened to Felipe?
20:10Was he hit by one?
20:14Tarpon aren't considered killer fish.
20:16They don't have big teeth, spines or electricity, but they do have huge size and incredible speed.
20:26They can swim at up to 25 miles per hour.
20:30Just get a sense of the solidity of that head.
20:33It's just a solid lump of hard bone, muscle, and that with 100, 150 pounds of force coming behind it.
20:43Oh, you're going to feel it.
20:46In Florida, tarpon are known to occasionally damage boats and injure fishermen trying to bring them in.
20:56But I'm not aware of any reliable documented case of a tarpon killing anyone.
21:03So are the tarpon here more dangerous, perhaps bigger or more aggressive?
21:08I need to find other fishermen who have encountered these fish to see what they think.
21:20It doesn't take me long to come across a witness to another brutal attack.
21:25Yeah, me and Joel went catching shrimps in the night.
21:37Well, he jumped from out of the water and hit him with the bill across here.
21:42This tarpon comes out of the water.
21:44The head hit the face.
21:46So was he then, no, he's standing in the boat?
21:51No.
21:51He's sitting down this kind of way.
21:53Yeah.
21:54Stannish, you know?
21:59Any party hit you, damage you then.
22:02You're going to kill you, man.
22:04This fish grew big, you know?
22:06This fish grew up to 500 pounds.
22:08Five, six hundred pounds.
22:11The fish grew where you can't hold him with no kind of red line, man.
22:15So on the line, even strong line?
22:17You can't hold him, man.
22:19He's saying five, six hundred pounds.
22:20I mean, that's seriously large.
22:22I mean, I'd be amazed if they do really grow that big, but I mean, who knows?
22:26Five hundred pounds is double the size of the biggest tarpon ever caught in Florida.
22:32But the stories keep coming.
22:35Deham and another man, they went fishing.
22:38And each one reinforces their deadly potential.
22:41But when he put his paddle in the water, he touched a fish.
22:46They seem to jump at the slightest provocation.
22:50He said if his friend wasn't with him that day, he probably would have died.
22:55And when hooked, they put up a violent fight.
22:58They just told me about someone had his head split open, he's got a scar across his forehead.
23:02I feel this skull.
23:03But if your friend hadn't been there, what?
23:05I would have been a dead man.
23:06You think?
23:07I mean, get manish.
23:09They said this fish, manish, manish.
23:11Crazy, this is a crazy fish.
23:13This is a dangerous fish.
23:14Tarpon are well-documented game fish.
23:19But these violent testimonies are unlike any I've heard before.
23:23I need to catch one for myself to see if these Nicaraguan fish are somehow different.
23:28So I approach some fishermen I spot out on the river to find out how best to tackle this beast.
23:35Hello.
23:36Did anybody here, anybody catch tarpon?
23:39He tells me that although they occasionally hook tarpon, they don't target the fish as they are too dangerous to bring in.
23:46But apparently there's one man who does fish for them.
23:49The white boy guy gets tarpon, plenty tarpon.
23:52White boy?
23:52White boy, yeah.
23:54Right, that's interesting.
23:55Who catches tarpon?
23:56He says that there's somebody comes from outside, a white guy.
24:00He catches them.
24:02Not mosquito man, but...
24:03Mosquito man, white boy.
24:05Sounds like he knows something I don't, so that's something I'll need to talk to if I can find him.
24:09But he may hold the secret to catching this elusive monster fish.
24:39I came to Nicaragua to investigate the unexplained death of a fisherman, and now I'm on a mission to catch his likely killer, the tarpon.
24:57I've been directed to the remote campsite of a foreign fisherman who has made a name for himself among the locals.
25:03He dares to catch what sound like the largest, strongest, most dangerous tarpon on the planet.
25:12He's a German named Daniel Goz, and like me, he's dedicated his life to catching river monsters.
25:18I came here like more than ten years ago, and looking for good fishing spots.
25:24Eventually he found some giants that no one knew about.
25:28Massive, elusive tarpon.
25:30To better understand, the tarpon took me quite a while.
25:34It took me many years, actually.
25:36But catching them required a radical new method.
25:40And over the years, we changed the approach totally, and we brought flow tubes.
25:45Right.
25:46And it's just one huge air bladder.
25:49I'm sitting in it, have my feet dangling in the water, and the fish do not recognize me.
25:54My boat's engine was disturbing the fish, but Daniel's raft allows him to sneak up, low in the water, silent and undetected.
26:04My rubber lure was also the wrong choice.
26:07Tarpon, even though it grows very big, has this habit to eat very small prey.
26:15You can present a fly or a streamer that is fairly small, and fly fishing is just the perfect approach to do so.
26:22Fly fishing, from what looks like a swimming pool raft, might be his proven way to hook a tarpon.
26:27But without a sturdy boat around me, I'm an open target.
26:32But when it actually takes your fly...
26:35It's going to go crazy.
26:36It's going to go totally berserk off the hook-up.
26:38There's absolutely no way to control it.
26:40The head is like concrete, basically.
26:43So you don't want to get hit by a tarpon that is jumping towards you, or is totally green.
26:48That would be definitely dangerous.
26:50It sounds like these tarpon might be bigger and badder than their Floridian counterparts.
26:58But now, it's time to find out if what I'm hearing is true.
27:04I have some experience fly fishing, but I'm no expert.
27:09Right.
27:11And doing it from a raft is going to be like learning my craft over again.
27:17It actually feels quite nice.
27:18I've fished in very small wooden boats before, but it's the first time I've had my feet dangling out the bottom.
27:23Is there going to be anything down there that might grab my feet?
27:27These foot-propelled rafts are more commonly used for catching fish that weigh just a few pounds.
27:33No one dares to catch tarpon this way, except Daniel Goes.
27:38And now, me.
27:40Sit up.
27:42Get myself aligned.
27:45It rolls, isn't it, first?
27:46Oh, yeah.
27:46But before I can give it a go, I have to perfect the basics.
27:54Let's try that again.
27:57In just a few days, I'm going to try to master what Daniel has spent ten years perfecting.
28:03No.
28:04And I have a lot to learn before I'm ready to face a giant.
28:10Generally, fly casting, if it's hard work, you're doing it wrong.
28:12It's all about economy.
28:13It's all about timing.
28:15Ah, s***.
28:17Getting the hang of navigating and casting at the same time.
28:22Oh, against the stop.
28:30That's the first time.
28:36Over the next few days, Daniel and I spend hours out on the water, honing my technique.
28:42After nightfall, when the remote rivers are too dangerous to fish, Daniel and I prepare
28:58our fishing gear for the next day and discuss tactics.
29:02And piece by piece, it starts to come together.
29:10Finally, Daniel thinks I'm ready to go into battle.
29:34I have to admit, I'm feeling somewhat daunted at the prospect of being attached to this fish.
29:40I actually have to set the hook using my hand.
29:42The rod doesn't have enough power.
29:44And then when it takes off, I'm actually hanging on to that line as well to provide resistance.
29:50That's why I need a second layer of skin.
29:56Daniel takes me to a secret location, which he believes holds the giants I'm after.
30:01But he warns me that my technique will have to be perfect.
30:09Because in this place, there's no room for error.
30:19We're going fishing in a creek.
30:21Now, this is really, really close quarters.
30:23I mean, it's very narrow.
30:26Maybe six, eight, ten feet deep.
30:28But apparently there's three big fish in here.
30:31With so little space in this creek, if I do hook into a tarpon and it jumps,
30:40there's a good chance I could be hit.
30:45So it's a very calm and tranquil scene now.
30:49But it could potentially get very explosive very soon.
30:51And then, the moment I've been waiting for.
31:20I'm deep in the remote, watery jungles of Nicaragua.
31:47And after days spent learning how to fly fish from a foot-powered raft, I've finally hooked into a monster.
31:56I believe these tarpon are potentially the biggest and most dangerous of their kind.
32:06And this one is proving me right.
32:11I smashed my knuckles.
32:14So if I'm hit by this living missile, then I'll be in serious trouble.
32:26The battle enters a new phase of close combat, but it's still far from over.
32:41This is physical, physical, physical, physical, physical, physical, big fish on a strong line, but I'm, it's just very tiring with the feet as well.
32:59Big tail, big tail.
33:01Big tail, big tail, big tail.
33:02Using all my strength, I'm trying to tire it out so I can start to bring it closer.
33:08but this giant fish seems to be taking the upper hand
33:20it's swimming circles around me while I get more exhausted
33:24this is a long, long, long protracted struggle for me and the fish
33:31we're both having to fin and just getting more and more exhausted
33:35a grueling hour passes
33:40I'm struggling to manoeuvre quickly enough to defeat its tactics
33:45and this fish shows no sign of throwing in the towel
33:49then, at last, I begin to take the upper hand
33:59when fly fishing like this, you have to grab the last few feet of line
34:03to take control of the fish or the rod will snap
34:06but if I thought this fish's fight was over
34:10I was wrong
34:12F*** me
34:29I've got a f***ing light line round my f***ing fingers here
34:34This fish must be well over 100 pounds
35:01and I finally have it on the ropes
35:04ready to submit
35:06OK, it's quite a light hook hold
35:08Shall we get the hook out?
35:14Oh, s***!
35:24Oh!
35:24Oh!
35:24Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:25Oh!
35:31Not quite, not quite, not quite, not quite
35:44So, so, so, so close
35:47Had my hands in its mouth
35:51and it just spun
35:53I did everything right
36:10up until the last moment
36:13but that just isn't
36:14that's not good enough
36:15one second, two seconds
36:16just not good enough
36:17I'm exhausted
36:24I can do no more but head back to camp
36:28Though I've lost this one
36:29I've come too far to give up now
36:34I'll go back out in the morning
36:40but I didn't anticipate the weather
36:42intervening in this fight
36:46This has just been going on and on
36:47If anything, the intensity
36:49is cranking up
36:50and that's not, that's not looking good at all
37:01And what I'm hoping is that when this stops
37:03there will still be enough daylight to get out there
37:10Finally, the rain stops
37:13But I have just an hour or two left
37:16before it gets dark
37:17So I'm back out there
37:20fishing another spot
37:21that Daniel believes is a tarpon hunting ground
37:24I just hope I'm lucky to land a fish
37:27before nightfall
37:28These remote waters are highways for drug smugglers
37:32This is no place to be in a raft after dark
37:37Oh, one of the best yet
37:44But time is not on my side
37:56I keep casting
37:59but nothing takes
38:01and darkness is closing in
38:03Oh, yes
38:14I can barely believe my eyes
38:20A school of tarpon is on the hunt
38:23Chasing mullet out of the water
38:26That's a feeding fish, if I'm not mistaken
38:30I'm hoping to glide into casting range
38:34without being noticed
38:35That was something, I think
38:52Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
38:53Oh, it might be off
39:03No, it's still there
39:05Gosh
39:07The line is going in the water
39:10nowhere near the fish
39:11The fish I've hooked
39:14is running at phenomenal speed
39:16back and forth across the river
39:18And it looks like it's taken my line
39:22around a branch
39:23It's getting difficult to see
39:28If I can't free the line quickly
39:30I'll lose this fish
39:32Oh, there's all sorts of stuff here
39:35OK
39:36I need to get myself through there
39:38I've got to get underneath this branch
39:44Oh, I'm stuck
39:45F***ing stuck
39:47I'm stuck on the f***ing branch
39:50I'm on a remote waterway in Nicaragua
40:04Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
40:06And I've hooked into a monster tarpon
40:10But the fish is running at high speed
40:14and has snagged my line under a fallen tree
40:17I'm stuck on the f***ing branch
40:22That's it
40:24Yeah
40:25My hook hold must be good
40:27as the fish is still on
40:29But I can barely see in the fading light
40:32Large fish on here
40:35Very large
40:36Maybe 150 pounds plus
40:38This fish is bigger than the one that got away
40:49So I'm going to take every precaution
40:52With my last ounce of energy
40:55I heave it in close
40:56And then, only once it's fully in my control
40:59do I take the hook out
41:01Right
41:03Two of us can hardly lift this thing out of the water
41:07but this thing on the end of my line
41:09just flung itself
41:10Several feet clear
41:11Two, three, four times
41:13I just lost count
41:14To catch such a large tarpon
41:16this far upriver is rare
41:18and the violence of their fight
41:20is unlike anything I've experienced
41:22When you think that the locals are fishing
41:25these same enclosed creeks
41:27at night and in tiny dugouts
41:30that put them directly in the path
41:31of this killer torpedo
41:32It's no wonder these tarpon
41:36are taking people out
41:37In some cases, like Philippe
41:39before they have time to scream for help
41:42And it just has to be the fish
41:45that's responsible for those stories
41:46knocking people unconscious
41:47and then it sounds like also
41:49knocking them out of their boat
41:50so they're never seen again
41:51This thing, the weight of me
41:53flying through the air
41:54You know, if that connects with you
41:56I mean, that could be, that could be it
41:57But just what an amazing fish
41:59A real, real, real river monster
42:02Want to know how to catch a river monster of your own?
42:12I'll show you how
42:13at animalplanet.com slash rivermonsters
42:17I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:19I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:20I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:21I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:22I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:23I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:24I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:25I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:26I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:27I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:28I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:29I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:30I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
42:31I'll show you how to catch a river monster of your own
Be the first to comment