- 4 hours ago
Big Fish Man S01E01 Amazon H 264
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馃摵
TVTranscript
00:16I'm Jakob Wagner, and I'm going further than Eddie before to catch the biggest freshwater
00:24fish on the planet.
00:27These incredible predators are rare, tough to catch, and absolutely massive.
00:37Their hunting grounds are remote corners of our planet.
00:44And I'll track them down, whatever it takes.
00:51This time I'm heading deep into the Amazon rainforest.
00:54And this looks like a different world.
00:58On the hunt for South America's biggest freshwater fish, the arapaima, a powerful predator encased
01:05in armored scales.
01:08Its hunting grounds are remote jungle lagoons, infested with piranha.
01:13There are thousands of them.
01:15The journey there will be difficult.
01:17Hold on, guys.
01:18Hold on.
01:18But catching the arapaima will be even tougher.
01:22Arapaima!
01:23Arapaima!
01:23Arapaima!
01:52Arapaima!
01:54there might be a very big arapaima.
01:58The arapaima is the undisputed giant of the Amazon River,
02:04a super-fast predator that can grow as big as 3 metres.
02:09It's an air-breathing fish that can survive in oxygen-depleted lagoons,
02:14reaching the surface to take huge gulps of air.
02:23To reach the arapaima's lagoons, I'll travel 200 kilometres along the rio Aquarico,
02:29deep into the rainforest, towards the border of Peru.
02:35This is Lago, the gateway to the Amazon rainforest, and my last chance to buy supplies.
02:41I need two weeks' worth of food and water.
02:44There is no chance of resupply in the jungle.
02:47Perfect. You can stop here.
02:49That's perfect.
03:03I need to buy 20 metres of this one, por favor.
03:07I need to be on the river as soon as possible.
03:10That's it.
03:11My fishing window here is incredibly tight.
03:16To catch my arapaima in the wild is extremely difficult.
03:20Now even more, because we are right between dry season and wet season.
03:25In the next three months, over a metre of rain will fall, flooding the rainforest.
03:31I need to find the arapaima's isolated lagoons before they burst their banks.
03:37If the water level will be high, fishing will be extremely difficult because all arapaima will be deep in the
03:45jungle.
03:49It's our main guide.
03:54Hola!
03:55Hola!
03:55How are you?
03:56Bien, bien, bien.
03:57My guide Marco says it will take two days to reach the jungle lagoons.
04:03Okay, let's go Marco. We have at least five hours to go.
04:12The Amazon rainforest is around twice the size of India and is home to 10% of the world's known
04:19species.
04:20These rivers are the hunting grounds of caiman, anacondas and piranhas.
04:26This expedition is very special. I'm heading far from civilization to keep into the jungle.
04:32I'm going to explore a new river system.
04:38But before I can fish for arapaima, I need bait. The best is a catfish called Bolo, which lives in
04:46the fast-flowing rivers.
04:48I need to catch some before I get to the lagoons.
04:51These river people should know exactly where to find these catfish because that's what they eat.
04:57And I need to find a good fisherman because dry bait is the most important thing for my quest.
05:06Okay.
05:08Yeah, let's park over there where is the small tree coming from the water.
05:13Tonight, we'll make camp in this small fishing village.
05:19And I'm hoping they'll help me catch some Bolo catfish.
05:25I have no idea where we are going, but we are getting deeper and deeper to the jungle.
05:31And they are promising there will be some good bait.
05:36This rain really drives me crazy.
05:41The water will be high, the water will be cold.
05:45It can't be any worse.
05:48The villagers say, I'll find great catfish bait in the rotting trees.
05:54Here, here, here, here.
05:56Here, here.
05:59Look.
06:00Ah.
06:02How do you call them?
06:06Marco, how do you call them?
06:08Chontacuro.
06:09Chontacuro?
06:10Yes, Chontacuro, Jaco.
06:11This is called Chontacuro.
06:13It's good for Bolo.
06:14Is it good bait for Bolo?
06:16For Bolo is very good.
06:18Yes.
06:18It's good for eating.
06:20It's very good.
06:21Yes?
06:22Yes.
06:23It's delicious.
06:29The Chontacurus are the larva of the palm beetle.
06:33The more I get, the better the chance of some quality bait for a giant arapaima.
06:40Catfish start hunting at the dusk.
06:42If I catch some now, I could be fishing for arapaima tomorrow.
06:57Yeah!
06:59My first Bolo.
07:01That's my bait.
07:02Probably around 14-15 centimeters.
07:06Perfect bait for arapaima.
07:10The arapaima feed on fish, using a tooth-covered tongue to crush prey against the roof of their mouth.
07:19Marco, is it Bolo?
07:21Another Bolo.
07:21Another Bolo.
07:23Yes, yes, good.
07:25Every bait fish is very important, because every bait fish could mean one more arapaima.
07:34Yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:35Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:36Come on, come on.
07:37Bolo, bolo, bolo, bolo, bolo, bolo, bolo, bolo, bolo, bolo.
07:40Yeah, eh, eh.
07:43Ah, did you hear that?
07:45They do exactly this under the water, and that drives arapaima completely crazy.
07:53I've got my bait, but with every drop of rain, the river goes up, and my chance of catching
07:59an eropaima goes down.
08:09OK, come on, guys.
08:13We have at least five, six savers in front of us, so if we want to fish today, we have
08:19to move.
08:26If we don't fish soon, I'm worried the rising water will ruin my chances, for good.
08:39The water level is just about to rise to the dry land, if we get more rain and 20, 30
08:48centimeters
08:48more, we have a big problem.
08:54But it's just after midday, and a tropical storm is landing right on top of us.
09:00Marco, let's cover everything.
09:03The wind is picking up, and cold rain is lashing down.
09:14This is the worst thing that could have happened.
09:18The rainy season is here, and my dream of catching a giant eropaima is being washed away.
09:38I'm on the hunt for the Amazon's biggest freshwater fish, battling a jungle storm.
09:45The aropaima is a powerful predator that hunts in the warm lagoons of the rainforest.
09:51But the jungle rains are my worst enemy.
09:55This is what I was talking about.
09:58This is what I was talking about.
09:58This is what I was talking about.
09:58Heavy rain.
10:00There are two problems if the water rises.
10:03The first problem is, if the water goes to the forest, our eropaima don't do as well.
10:09And the second problem is, the rain brings a lot of oxygen to the rivers and lagoons.
10:17And our eropaima don't need to come up and go to the air.
10:22So I don't see them, and then I can catch them.
10:26I'm trying to reach a village that sits on a band in the river, deep in the rainforest.
10:31Satellite images show hundreds of lagoons in the surrounding jungle.
10:37But, as the storm lifts, the water is still rising fast.
10:41The aropaima's lagoons will soon disappear.
10:44That's the village, right in front of us.
10:49Around 200,000 indigenous people live in the Amazon rainforest.
10:54Many are still isolated from the outside world, relying on the jungle for all their needs.
11:01I'm really pleased that I can see the canoes over there on the shore.
11:05Exactly the size of what I need to get to these lagoons.
11:09The men of the village fish and hunt for their food.
11:13But even here, giant aropaima is a rare sight.
11:16Only six houses in the whole village.
11:20And this is basically it.
11:22I'll make camp later.
11:24I'm desperate to start fishing right away.
11:27The villagers say there's a giant lagoon nearby, surrounded by thick jungle.
11:32Finding it is not going to be easy.
11:40We have left the main river.
11:43Now we are heading to the lagoon.
11:45We are only two hours from the village.
11:47And this looks like a different world.
11:52If the rain holds off, I'll start fishing straight away.
12:01We are nearly there.
12:10You see all the trees over there?
12:12The palm trees?
12:14Marko, suddenly there is more light everywhere around us.
12:19It means there are no trees.
12:21And that means only one thing.
12:23There is a lagoon.
12:26We are very close.
12:28This could be my first chance to catch an aropaima.
12:42It's huge. Look at this.
12:47It's like an ocean.
12:50What I'm looking for?
12:53Very big fish on the surface.
12:56The water in this lagoon is warm and low on oxygen.
13:00But the aropaima can gulp air above the surface.
13:04I need to watch, wait and listen.
13:08Giant adults only come up a few times a day.
13:11If there are any signs of bubbles, I'll cast straight away.
13:16Arapaima.
13:19Let's try to go over there.
13:22I need silence when I'm fishing.
13:24The aropaima are easily scooped.
13:31You have to spot the fish and cast on the fish.
13:36Hit it right.
13:37And then if you are lucky, you might get a take.
13:42But one, two, three casts a day, that's it.
13:54There's a fish. There's a fish.
14:02Fish! Arapaima! Arapaima! Arapaima!
14:15I cast on the fish and it took maybe ten seconds.
14:20And the fish took my lure.
14:24It's hard to say how big this fish is.
14:27Okay, but the fight is definitely not over.
14:31It's pulling fire, yeah.
14:34Whoa, whoa, whoa, not on the boat, not on the boat.
14:37God, I'm scared I might lose the fish.
14:40Be careful, Marco.
14:41Whoa! Did you see that?
14:47It's too big to land on the canoe.
14:49I need to get closer to the shore.
14:52Vamos, vamos, vamos, vamos.
14:53Let's try to get somewhere over there.
14:59Okay, now we are close to the shore.
15:05Yeah, got it!
15:07Wow, do you see the power of the fish?
15:11It's incredible.
15:13It's not the biggest arapaima in the world.
15:16It's probably around 55, 60 kilos, but it was hard to get it.
15:23My quest is to catch one twice this size, but it's a good start.
15:27She needs to gulp the air.
15:29They are able to breathe not only under water, but as well above the water.
15:35Okay, the hook is away.
15:37Look at the eyes.
15:39Do you see them?
15:39How big they are?
15:40This fish hunts by sight.
15:43The arapaima is armoured.
15:44These scales are very tough because of piranhas.
15:48One more gulp and I will release her.
15:58This wasn't definitely the biggest arapaima, but every single arapaima is important because we know that they are still around.
16:17I'm really pleased that everything worked today.
16:20Always the first fish is the most important.
16:23And it was a good day, a good training day.
16:27I can trust my gear now 100%.
16:30Tomorrow I'm travelling deeper to the jungle where I'm hoping to find the real big arapaima.
16:41It's been raining heavily all night. The cold water is flooding the forest and cooling the warm lagoons.
16:48Cold water has more oxygen, so the arapaima come up less for air.
16:52It's even harder to find them.
16:56It looks so beautiful.
16:58But I'm really scared we are here tonight.
17:02Because the water is rising through the forest a lot.
17:07Local fisherman Virgilio is taking me to a lagoon downstream from the village.
17:12It could be a good place for arapaima, but only if the flood water hasn't reached it.
17:17Water is rising a lot.
17:19And most of the lagoons are completely flooded.
17:22There's a lot of current getting in.
17:25But this lagoon looks fine because the current is really slow.
17:29And it means there's getting not so much of cold water from the main river.
17:47The water in this lagoon feels much warmer than the river.
17:51Now I need to watch for signs of arapaima.
17:58Normally you see at least small fish jumping on the surface.
18:06Now it's completely dead.
18:09I need to move to a different spot.
18:13But I risk disturbing any arapaima that might be here.
18:23I'm very, very, very quiet now.
18:29You stay here.
18:31It feels like everything here is against me.
18:35Every time I cast, piranhas steal my bait.
18:40I'm fighting with piranha all the time.
18:44My bait was in the water maybe 10 seconds and has been eaten.
18:51The fish is still alive.
18:58I have to cast and wait because the water is full of piranhas.
19:01They would eat my bait immediately.
19:04So I have to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait.
19:10But believe me it's very difficult to sit here all day without a single movement waiting for a fish which
19:21is not showing up.
19:26Yesterday was frustrating.
19:28I didn't get a single take.
19:30Today I'm trying a different lagoon.
19:33But the rain clouds have returned.
19:35With this weather and everything is more difficult, we must catch a fish today.
19:49I only have a few days before the lagoons are completely flooded.
19:55I have to do something to improve my chances.
20:07I've tried nearly everything.
20:10But nothing works.
20:12I don't know where is the problem.
20:14If my crew are too noisy.
20:17Or it's only because of the weather.
20:20But I have to try definitely something else.
20:23I want to leave my crew and Marco behind.
20:26And build a wooden raft.
20:28I go to the lagoon, stay there whole night.
20:32Stay as calm as possible.
20:34And start fishing as soon as possible.
20:37The fish will be active in the morning.
20:40Like this I will be there in the best time.
20:42And completely alone without any interruptions.
20:49This one looks good.
20:58It's definitely not the soft wood.
21:01Be careful, Marco.
21:02It's coming.
21:03It's coming, it's coming, it's coming.
21:05Be careful, Marco.
21:07Be careful, it's coming.
21:11I need to build a raft that's stable and big enough to sleep on.
21:17So, we basically create a catamaran.
21:21One here.
21:23Yeah.
21:24And one here.
21:25I've been building rafts since I was a kid.
21:28But this one needs to sit high above the water.
21:30Let's bring this one straight to the water.
21:33I don't want anything climbing on board during the night.
21:37It has to be very stable.
21:38Because if I would hook a big ropaima, I have to be able to fight from the raft.
21:45And probably even pull the fish on the raft.
21:51This might be my best chance of catching really big fish.
22:04Let's go.
22:06I need to find a good fishing spot on the lagoon before the sun sets.
22:14I have to be extremely quiet.
22:20I'm very pleased that it works.
22:23And it's very quiet, which is important.
22:27If this will fall apart in the night, I will be swimming with anacondas.
22:53I'm at the end of the lagoon in the deepest part.
22:58It was very promising.
23:00It's my first night on an Amazon lagoon.
23:04I have no idea what to expect.
23:06This is my home for tonight.
23:12And over there, everywhere, is the home of some very strange and very big animals.
23:23I can hear some big splashes from the other side.
23:28And from my left.
23:31And definitely another opaima.
23:35Big caiman.
23:38Definitely.
23:46Still, it's a very strange feeling.
23:49They just know that they are around you.
23:53Four or five meters long.
24:00Oh.
24:02There was something very big under my rug.
24:16Ah.
24:18Five-thirty in the morning.
24:23Nothing has touched my bed.
24:26Not even a small lip.
24:31I'm alone, on a raft, deep in the Amazon jungle.
24:36I'm convinced it's the only way to catch a giant arapaima.
24:42But, I've nothing to show for my efforts.
24:49Piranhas again.
24:52The same story all the time.
24:56Was in water.
24:57Twenty seconds.
25:01I've only four bichas left.
25:07So...
25:10I'll have to go for a bait fish again.
25:21I'm down to my last bait fish.
25:23And finally, the bite I've been waiting all night for.
25:30I've hooked an arapaima, but it's trying to escape.
25:34The fish is telling me to the grass.
25:45The fish is telling me to the grass and I can't stop it.
25:50I don't know how big the fish is, but she got already to the grass.
25:56I might lose the fish. I might lose the fish.
26:04My line is going slack. I can't feel the fish anymore.
26:09The fish is probably...
26:13lost.
26:26I thought raft fishing will be better than from the canoe, but I already know that not.
26:36I will have to fish from the canoe, because the raft is very quiet, it's a very good platform to
26:46fish from, but it's too slow.
26:49I have to be a little bit faster when I see the fish.
26:52The raft failed, and the water is still rising.
26:57The arapaima could be anywhere.
27:00I only need to find one giant fish in one perfect lagoon that's completely sealed off from the river.
27:14This looks good. There might be a lagoon.
27:18It's impossible to see far through this thick jungle.
27:22I need to get up high, but it's a risky strategy.
27:27I have to be careful for snakes and scorpions, especially scorpions.
27:32There are a lot of them on these trees.
27:38Okay, let's go for it.
27:51Here is a wasp nest.
28:05I'm getting higher and higher.
28:08I think there might be a lagoon.
28:14There is a clearing around 500 meters away.
28:17It could be my perfect lagoon.
28:20There are a lot of trees, and the water is everywhere, getting very far to the jungle.
28:28But close to the trees right there, there is an empty spot. There are no trees.
28:37It's a good sign there might be a lagoon.
28:41This is exactly what I'm looking for.
28:44For a lagoon which is not connected with the cold river.
28:50The lagoon will have to wait.
28:53Piranhas have eaten all my bait.
28:56I've got to find more.
29:03I'm hunting for a fish called Trahira, that lies completely still in shallow water waiting to pounce on smaller fish.
29:18I'm completely out of baitfish.
29:20And I don't want to spend my time fishing for baitfish in the morning, when it's the best time for
29:27Pima.
29:28So my only way, and the best way, is fishing with machete in the night.
29:36And with a torch, how the locals do.
29:45There are two bichas, do you see?
29:47Do you see them?
29:51I want you to right there.
29:56Sometimes it's very difficult to see them, because the camouflage of the fish is perfect.
30:04If I'm fast enough, I can hit them with my machete.
30:08Okay, got it.
30:11My first Trahira tonight.
30:13It's a very good baitfish for our Pima.
30:16I'm very happy that I have this fish.
30:20Do you have it?
30:27I've done it.
30:28I've done it.
30:44I think we have enough.
30:58I'm heading for the lagoon I spotted from the tree.
31:02It's further upriver, and deeper into the jungle, than I've ever been before.
31:29The lagoon is massive.
31:33This could be the one.
31:35The lagoon is massive.
31:41The lagoon is massive.
31:41We have arrived today very early.
31:45I didn't see a single fish yet.
31:50So I don't want to paddle around.
31:53I want to wait for a big fish.
31:56I can't wait for the lake.
32:12I can't wait for a big fish.
32:15I can't wait for the boat.
32:24Okay.
32:24Everything is big.
32:27The fish was right here.
32:40I was right, the fish is there, and it's taken my bait.
32:48It's going to jump, it's going to jump!
32:50The Arapaima can leap out of the water to snatch birds.
32:54It could jump straight off a hook.
32:58Very big fish, very big fish, very big fish.
33:00It's falling hard to escape towards the grass again.
33:06Oh!
33:08Este grande, este grande.
33:10It's a very big Arapaima, it's a very big Arapaima.
33:14This could be the one.
33:27I've got to reel her in, before she reaches the grass.
33:44The fish is still on my line.
33:50Ah!
33:54Tag him, hang on!
34:04Oh!
34:05Oh!
34:06Oh!
34:11Oh!
34:17Did you see that?
34:29That was the fish I was looking for.
34:37This was a monster.
34:40This fish was well over 100 kilos.
34:44I don't know what happened.
34:47I was trying to pull it far from the trees and then...
35:00I don't know what happened.
35:05That was the fish I'm looking for.
35:11This was a giant.
35:25I'm deep in the Amazonian rainforest.
35:28On the trail of a giant arapaima hiding in this remote jungle lagoon.
35:34So far I've failed to catch it.
35:37The water's been too cold and piranhas are beating the arapaima to my bait.
35:43It's time to lose the piranhas.
35:46I'm on the side of the lagoon.
35:48But my problem are piranha.
35:52They are constantly stealing my bait.
35:55All the time.
35:55I got a chicken from the local villagers.
36:00I got as well flesh of the fish.
36:05And paku.
36:07Big Amazon fish.
36:11With teeth like a humans.
36:14Look at this.
36:15Very cool.
36:16Really like a humans.
36:18Because they are eating seeds and nuts.
36:20That's what they feed on.
36:22I'm going to leave these three bait.
36:25On different spots.
36:27And hope that it will attract piranhas.
36:30Far from my bait.
36:33I will leave the chicken here.
36:35Paku somewhere else.
36:37And meat of the fish.
36:39There behind the corner.
36:41And I have to hope that that will attract piranha.
36:45From my fishing spot.
36:47Blood will make them crazy.
36:49So I have to make it as bloody as possible.
36:52Open the chicken as much as I can.
36:55And get the blood to the water.
37:02It's quite bloody.
37:04So I want to show you.
37:07How does it look like when piranha are feeding crazy.
37:11So I have camera here on the stick.
37:13And I'm going to leave here.
37:15The chicken.
37:17Right in front of the camera.
37:29To be honest, I really don't know if chicken is going to work for piranha.
37:34Piranha can't find chicken in the wild.
37:37But I think it's bloody enough.
37:56You see that?
38:02I'm only two, maybe three meters from the chicken.
38:06And they are already feeding frenzy.
38:09Red-bellied piranhas eat plants and insects.
38:12But there are also scavengers that feed on injured and dead animals.
38:17It's crazy how many of them are here.
38:20They swim in shoals to protect themselves from predators.
38:23But their fearsome reputation comes from their razor sharp teeth.
38:28And these frenzied attacks.
38:29And these are snakes.
38:31Ah.
38:40S***.
38:41I can see them from here.
38:48There are thousands of them.
38:50Thousands.
38:56They are eating just about everything.
38:59Now I know why it's so difficult to catch our palma here.
39:04It's crazy.
39:07And they are moving everywhere around my hand.
39:16Ooh.
39:21Look at this.
39:27The chicken was in the water maybe, I don't know, two minutes.
39:34And it has been completely eaten.
39:38So try to imagine what's going on when I cast my bait.
39:47And immediately when I throw it back, the ropes start shaking again.
39:54I have to go fishing very fast because this might help.
39:59The piranhas will not be distracted for long.
40:02I'm heading back to where I lost the giant arapaima.
40:06It's my best chance of getting a take.
40:24And it's my best chance of getting a take on this.
40:30Bill were never gone.
40:31C'mon!
40:37My good luck!
40:39My good luck!
40:40My good luck!
40:41My luck luck!
40:42My luck luck!
40:43My luck!
40:45it's a very strong fish I've hooked an arapaima but it's heading for the trees
40:50like a bullet it's getting close to the shore I have to be very careful here
40:55because there are a lot of big trees surrounding this lagoon it's a massive
41:00fish it took maybe two seconds and the fish was on it's definitely bigger fish
41:10it's taking a lot of line it's taking a lot of line the fish will reach the
41:15trees the fish one might cut my line I've got to get it to the canoe I'm going to
41:24see the fish I'm going to see whoa it's good arapaima I can't believe it I can't
41:32believe whoa did you see that jump this is the fish I've been hunting for it's coming
41:40up it's coming up whoa 80 kilos be careful be careful we don't want to go
41:57oh you land up in the canoe okay vamos vamos vamos oh now she looks oh oh I
42:07was just going to say that she looks calm but she doesn't she's tiring but she's
42:12too big to land on the boat I have to get her to the shore and fast
42:27look at this what amazing arapaima this fish is definitely more than 80 kilos it
42:39has to be close to 100 it's too heavy I'm tired fish is tired
43:04but we made it it's a very important moment when she goes here because that's
43:11the moment when she is getting oxygen into the body and more energy back as well I
43:17will try to show you the teeth of arapaima she might get a little bit angry do you see
43:23them tiny tiny teeth oh but it's very very sharp look how long she is
43:39over two meters did you see that that was the famous gulp I was looking for so many
43:49days here in the Amazon this is the queen of the Amazon this is our time
43:58tropical storms unforgiving jungle and piranha infested lagoons have all stood in my way
44:04and I'm going to let you go now but I got what I came for a giant arapaima
44:19this is our who isn't the one who is to me
44:19and I'm going to go to the whole world
44:19and I'm going to let you go to the the whole world
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