#rivermonster #docuseries #documentary #truestories
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00:00I'm Jeremy Wade, freshwater detective, explorer, and angler.
00:07I've been fishing the world for over three decades,
00:11but it's the impenetrable Amazon that keeps calling me back.
00:15Now I'm returning to South America on the mission
00:19to spend an entire year going further, deeper, and more remote than I've ever been before
00:27in search of the Amazon's ultimate river monsters.
00:33All along these remote rivers, I've heard stories of a fish so huge it can swallow a man whole.
00:40Locals call it the lau lau.
00:43There was a human body inside.
00:47I've spent 20 years trying to hunt down a single colossal specimen,
00:53but so far this giant has eluded me.
00:57It's left me wondering if there are any still out there.
01:01My mission to find out will push me to the very limit,
01:06but this time I'm not coming back until I catch one.
01:24In 1913, President Roosevelt ventured deep into the Brazilian Amazon
01:30on a dangerous expedition to map a previously unexplored tributary
01:35known as the River of Doubt.
01:40He kept a meticulous journal chronicling life in the remote jungle.
01:46One entry stands out.
01:50Two men were fishing on an Amazon tributary
01:54when, without warning, a vast fish leapt from the water and attacked them.
02:09With wild slashes of their machetes, they fought the animal off.
02:14Until the river ran red with blood,
02:19and the beast succumbed.
02:29Described as a giant over nine feet long,
02:32the culprit could only be one of two legendary South American heavyweights.
02:38I've wrangled huge arapaima many times,
02:41but the other fish stands alone.
02:45Looking more like a shark than a typical catfish,
02:48the piraÃba can grow to monstrous sizes,
02:51with the anatomy and, some say, the attitude to tackle human prey.
02:58Also called the laulau, I've hunted this fish for 20 years,
03:04but from Brazil to Colombia to Peru, the trail has gone cold.
03:11A laulau of man-eating proportions,
03:14the piraÃba is the largest fish in the world,
03:17and the biggest in the world.
03:20From Brazil to Colombia to Peru, the trail has gone cold.
03:25A laulau of man-eating proportions remains the one glaring absence
03:29on my monster-hunting resume.
03:32Do they really still exist?
03:37But now there's news of a vicious attack by a large fish on a young boy,
03:43on Guyana's Essequibo River.
03:46It's just the lead I've been waiting for.
03:50I immediately make my way to Guyana.
03:53Lying just above the equator at the top of South America,
03:57Guyana is a wild, little-known place.
04:01Almost the entire country is jungle.
04:05I've been here once before, but Guyana's river system is so extensive,
04:09I've barely scratched the surface.
04:13It's the perfect place for a giant to hide.
04:18My journey starts in the capital, Georgetown.
04:25I'm heading to the fish market
04:28to see what the locals know about the attack.
04:31En route, I re-examine Roosevelt's journal.
04:35President Roosevelt was constantly warned about this fish.
04:38The local people feared it a great deal,
04:41and he's pretty detailed in his description.
04:44He says this is a greyish-white fish over nine feet long,
04:47with the usual disproportionately large head and gaping mouth.
04:51And one chilling detail,
04:54it occasionally makes prey of man.
05:00It's a claim that I still hear throughout South America,
05:04over a hundred years on.
05:07But the evidence I need, a man-sized lau-lau,
05:11has so far proven impossible for me to catch.
05:15All I want is some little lead, something to follow up.
05:20Guyana is a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities,
05:24but as a former British colony, English is widely spoken.
05:31I pick my way through the market,
05:34taking every opportunity to quiz people about this elusive giant.
05:41Baku. In a river or in the sea?
05:44In a river. They eat shells.
05:47OK.
05:49Now, I've heard of baku in Brazil, which don't really look like this.
05:53They look a bit similar, but that's a pretty powerful-looking jaw there.
05:59The local name of this one, apparently goldbacker,
06:02and they've actually sliced it right down the middle.
06:05Big old mouth, and the beginnings of a very big stomach cavity there.
06:10So, what I'm after, if you were to slice it like this,
06:13this cavity here, which actually goes back further,
06:16that would be big enough to actually get a person in.
06:22So, there's stuff under the counter here.
06:29So, this is a tarpon. It's a big fish, but actually, as tarpon go,
06:32well, they grow a lot bigger.
06:37A real, real river monster.
06:40It's here that the piraÃba is known as the lau-lau.
06:44Have you ever had lau-lau come here?
06:46Yes. We've had other fish this size before.
06:49And this was a long time ago?
06:51They live last year.
06:53So, he's saying he saw a fish last year that was getting on for the size of this table,
06:59from the end here up to pretty much where the woman is standing.
07:02Very good news. They're still around, big ones.
07:06But I won't allow myself to get too excited just yet.
07:10I want to know if anyone else has seen one of these giants.
07:15Do you ever see them in here?
07:17Not on the coast, but inland.
07:20We find them inland.
07:22And they can get really huge.
07:24But the big ones are rare.
07:26Are people afraid of them at all?
07:28Yeah, they're dangerous.
07:30Because they're catfish, they have a big mouth.
07:33A really big one, like a 10 or a 12 footer, can swallow a human.
07:41Have you heard any stories of people being attacked, being swallowed?
07:45Yes. You hear about people getting attacked?
07:52Recently, two boys were fishing in a canoe.
07:55Fish with bow and arrow.
07:58And something hit the boat.
08:01And one of them was thrown overboard.
08:05Grabbed him on his leg.
08:10They had to rush the boy for medical attention.
08:13He went back into his village probably about a week ago.
08:16So it's possible that if I'm in that area, if I ask around,
08:20I might even be able to meet the boys or something?
08:23Yes.
08:24Well, I wasn't, to be honest, expecting an awful lot from that.
08:27There weren't any lau lau on view.
08:29People are saying, yes, it's big, it's dangerous, it can swallow you.
08:32But then there's one story which is incredibly similar
08:35to the one in the Roosevelt Journal.
08:38And in this case, the boy was physically grabbed.
08:42Something which sounds totally outlandish,
08:44like it's a complete one-in-a-million event.
08:46But it turns out that maybe it isn't.
08:49It's this apparent malicious intent that sets the lau lau apart.
08:55People say this is a fish that actively targets human prey.
09:01To discover exactly what happened to the young boy,
09:04I find a pilot willing to fly me
09:06into the heart of Guyana's rainforest,
09:08to the boys' village of Apatari.
09:12Down below me is an expanse of rainforest,
09:16so impenetrable that it hid
09:20one of the world's biggest waterfalls, Kajia Falls,
09:23from outsiders until just 150 years ago.
09:28I'm going to try and get as close as I can to it.
09:31I'm going to try and get as close as I can to it.
09:34I'm going to try and get as close as I can to it.
09:37I'm going to try and get as close as I can to it.
09:40I'm going to try and get as close as I can to it.
09:46If true giants are still to be found anywhere,
09:49it's deep in the unspoilt tropical water below me.
09:54But where exactly?
09:57As we approach the small Amerindian outpost of Apatari,
10:01the jungle becomes blanketed by dense cloud.
10:05I have to say, I'm slightly bothered by all this cloud.
10:08It's pretty well unbroken, quite thick.
10:11It could mean it's raining down there.
10:13That could mean higher water levels.
10:15And that is going to make the fishing harder.
10:29I learn that the young boy will arrive with his father later that day.
10:35I'm itching to get a line in the water,
10:37so I head off with a fisherman named Neville to find some bait.
10:44He leads me through the forest to a particular tree.
11:08And actually, we use the seeds.
11:11They're the seeds.
11:13We use the seeds for catching a bait.
11:17We cut it, and then you find a worm inside.
11:20A worm?
11:21The insect just lay inside and then form up a worm.
11:24So that comes from an egg they put inside?
11:26Yes, inside, and then they form up a worm.
11:28Then they spend actually about four to five months
11:32before they fly inside and become an insect.
11:34So it's feeding on the nut?
11:36They're feeding on the nuts.
11:37All the time, feeding on the nuts.
11:39So do you want to open this one?
11:42Ah, there's a hole.
11:44Oh, yeah, yeah.
11:46That's big.
11:48Oh, it's trying to bite me, actually.
11:50It's really sharp because they actually cut through this hard nut.
11:55I can imagine this being a really good bait, actually,
11:57because a grub like this, it's just a sack of amino acids and goodness.
12:05From a fish's point of view, they're going to love that.
12:13One thing this really underlines the importance of local knowledge,
12:16how to actually get started.
12:18If I was having to work this out for myself, I'd just be wasting time.
12:22It's perfect bait to entice smaller fish.
12:25Ah, and the fish are coming already.
12:27That is quite incredible.
12:28You could see the fat forming a sort of slick on the surface,
12:31and these fish just came from nowhere.
12:34Ah, first time.
12:35Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
12:38Look at that.
12:39We're on the way.
12:40This is moving up the food chain.
12:42So from palm grub to miniature fish to slightly bigger fish to top predator.
12:50This is the essentials.
12:51It's just a hook, a little bit of wire just to protect against piranha teeth,
12:54a bit of weight, and a line.
12:56I'm going to whirl that around my head, lob it out.
13:01That's the one.
13:02And then you're feeling with your fingers on the line,
13:05which is what I like to do with the rod, actually.
13:07You get a lot of information if there is anything moving down there.
13:14Now it's a waiting game.
13:22There's something, there's something, there's something, there's something.
13:24Fish.
13:25Something bigger than I bargained for has taken my bait.
13:32I'm bloody off.
13:35Are you going to get it in the mouth?
13:37All right.
13:38Oh, lovely.
13:39That is just a beautiful, beautiful fish.
13:41More to the point, it's very encouraging.
13:44Incredible to think that a couple of hours ago,
13:47a palm nut on the floor in the forest has turned into this.
13:52Known locally as a basher, it has a huge mouth for its size,
13:57but they don't reach anywhere near the size of a man-eater.
14:01I don't want to speak too soon, but if things keep on this trajectory,
14:05then maybe I will get that monster that I came here for.
14:14With bait sorted for the following day, we head back to the village,
14:18where the young boy I heard about at the market is due to meet me.
14:24His name is Nenon.
14:27Still shaken from his ordeal, he's accompanied by his father, Nigel.
14:32Nigel, can you tell me exactly what happened to Nenon in the water?
14:35He was playing in the water with his friends.
14:40And something grabs him on his leg.
14:47One of his friends who was with him shot the creature.
14:52So he was holding on to a canoe while this thing was trying to pull him into the water?
14:56Yeah, he was holding tight on the canoe.
14:58His friends with a bow and arrow shot the animal.
15:11Nenon shows me the scars on his legs.
15:16That's something with some big teeth, isn't it?
15:18I mean, that doesn't look... I heard it was a fish, but this... What was this?
15:22It was a black caiman.
15:25The fact that the perpetrator wasn't a fish is a setback for my search.
15:32My best chance now of finding a laulau is to head even deeper into the rainforest,
15:38following the winding river and setting up camp on its banks.
15:44But the weather is a big concern.
15:46High water from a deluge could drive the laulau upriver beyond reach.
15:52I anxiously check satellite images at the ranger's post.
15:56There's a large front looming,
15:58and my fear is that this could signal the early arrival of the rains.
16:04As the evening draws in before my long journey,
16:07I'm keen to gather as much information as possible.
16:11I sit with some of the village elders,
16:14while a woman named Selvina shares her stories.
16:19I'm trying to catch a laulau.
16:21What can you tell me about the fish in the river?
16:23We know laulau is a big fish.
16:25It's got a broad mouth, but it's got small eyes.
16:29If you're fishing through the river at night time,
16:32you could hear it jump.
16:34Whack!
16:36They fall in the water.
16:38Looking for a deep pool.
16:45I've heard stories that some laulau sometimes will attack people.
16:50Have you heard any stories like that?
16:53I got a story, what my parents told me long ago.
16:58The people like to go fishing to the big pool.
17:01When they're gone, they never come back.
17:04Laulau follow them.
17:10This is a fish that most people spend a lifetime avoiding.
17:14Concerned for my safety,
17:16Selvina has prepared a traditional Amerindian charm for my protection.
17:21This river is very bad with demons.
17:27I pray over this garlic to save you all
17:32when you are travelling in big pools where there are many demons.
17:40Wrap it in your hand, here, and on your foot.
17:45Then put one in your pocket
17:48so that nothing will happen.
17:55It's a sad but familiar story where the laulau is concerned.
18:01Tales of people straying into deep pools, never to be seen again.
18:06Presumed swallowed.
18:13I know the laulau has an enormous mouth,
18:16but do they really grow as big as people say?
18:34I don't know how long this rain has been going.
18:36I woke up to the sound of it.
18:41It's not heavy as yet, but it's pretty constant.
18:46It's not good news.
18:52At dawn, Neville helps me assemble a crew from the village
18:56and gather supplies for the treacherous journey ahead.
19:01I'm dependent on the locals to get me to the remotest parts of this river.
19:06As I feared, there's been unseasonably heavy rain,
19:10and high water disperses the fish, making them much harder to find and catch.
19:16Encouragingly, though, we pass absolutely no other boats,
19:20or boats of any kind.
19:23Perhaps here, laulau really are free to grow, unhindered.
19:29We set camp with help from another man, Josie.
19:35On this trip, more than ever, my gear is critical.
19:39A giant laulau has eluded me for so long that I can't even see it.
19:44I've got to be careful.
19:47More than ever, my gear is critical.
19:50A giant laulau has eluded me for so long that I can't take any chances.
19:55I've got my best equipment from all over the world.
19:59High-tech braided line from Germany, hooks from Japan,
20:03and a custom-made rod from the US.
20:06And finally, a new and unusual addition to my fishing arsenal,
20:11the protective gift bestowed on me back in the village.
20:16I pray over this garlic to save you all.
20:21There are many demons.
20:24I carefully follow her instructions.
20:27Wrists.
20:30Feet. Ankle.
20:33One of the pockets.
20:36Now we're ready.
20:40The next step is to locate the fish.
20:44The thing about big fish is
20:47they get big by minimizing their energy output.
20:51And where you've got a dip, a fish can lie there out of the current
20:55without expending any energy, and also any food that comes down
20:58is going to tumble into that space like a conveyor belt,
21:01bringing food to them.
21:04A very good rule when you're fishing, think like a fish.
21:07Where would you be if you were a fish?
21:11But lau lau are known to migrate with the annual floods.
21:15With this unexpected high water, are they still here?
21:1933 foot off here.
21:22OK, just keep coming.
21:24I use a sonar device to help me decipher the structure of the riverbed
21:28and locate deep pools in which to place my bait.
21:31There's a definite hole here.
21:37There it is.
21:55Despite my early pessimism, there seems to be some interest in my bait.
22:00What is going on there? There's definitely something on the bait.
22:05I gently tighten the line to see what I can feel.
22:09Yeah, there's something going on there.
22:12I'm going to wind down and hit this. Yeah, here we go.
22:28Wow, good to see a fish.
22:32The local name of this fish, apparently, dawalo.
22:34I've seen them before. It's a catfish.
22:36You can't see any tentacles on it,
22:38but they are sort of recessed above the upper jaw
22:42and they poke out just a little way occasionally.
22:45OK, it's not what I'm after.
22:47In fact, the lau lau would probably inhale this in one mouthful easily.
22:53Right. Oops.
22:57Ooh, it's nice to see the swim off like that.
23:06I fish on well into the evening,
23:09but with absolutely no interest in my bait.
23:15There's absolutely nothing. It's pretty depressing.
23:20After dinner, my fishing crew and I share stories.
23:24Surely if huge lau lau are to be found in these waters,
23:28these lifelong fishermen will have had encounters.
23:32What's the biggest lau lau that you've seen?
23:35Well, the biggest lau lau I've ever seen was about 210 or 215 pounds.
23:39That is the biggest fish I've ever seen in my life.
23:42The size of the mouth of that, yeah, we've never seen anything like that.
23:47The size of the mouth of that, would you be able to put your head in?
23:50Would you be able to put your shoulders in?
23:52A human head could fit in very, very easy.
23:55It can do a lot of damage.
23:57People here are very afraid.
23:59I've read something in an old book
24:02about people believing that this fish can actually swallow people.
24:07Have you heard any stories like that at all?
24:10Yeah, I heard stories from an old guy
24:13who was telling me a story about a fisherman
24:15who somehow caught the big fish and carried it to the market.
24:21They're showing off with this big fish.
24:26The fish was looking very big, you know.
24:29Like the belly was full, it had something in its belly.
24:36And when they opened it, there was a human body inside.
24:44Oh, it's mashed up and crushed.
24:49I reckon.
24:59I'm here to catch an elusive giant,
25:02but I'm not getting far.
25:05There's very little doing. I mean, there's nothing doing.
25:08There's nothing really to keep the hope alive at the moment.
25:13I've got to go.
25:19Escaping the afternoon sun, I head back to camp,
25:23but on the way spot two of my guides on a sandbar.
25:34They have made an unusual discovery.
25:37I found it in a ladysmith.
25:39This beast here, this is, in its own right,
25:42a famous river turtle. This is only a medium-sized one.
25:45It's an air breather. It lives practically all its life under the water.
25:48Not that common to see these.
25:50They come up, they just poke their nose to the surface,
25:52and then go down again.
25:54So it's quite nice to see one out in the open.
25:58But I must be extremely careful.
26:01I know from previous experience that turtles can take you by surprise.
26:07The last thing I want is to lose my fingers to those powerful jaws.
26:14Can I feel how heavy it is?
26:16Yes.
26:17Is that all right? If I come round here?
26:19Go for it.
26:20OK.
26:21The safest place to get a secure grip is on the shell behind the head.
26:26That's a heavy animal. That's heavy.
26:29I don't know what that is. That's a good 60 pounds or something.
26:34Oh.
26:36Not doing my back much good. I'm going to put it back down.
26:38It might kick off once it hits the ground.
26:45This animal is actually very eager to get back in the water.
26:47It's very powerful, very powerful limbs.
26:49Those clawed hands, you know, it's almost a bit like a tank, this thing.
26:55One reason we want to get this back is because it's actually eaten.
26:59Throughout the Amazon, it's considered a delicacy.
27:01People spend all their time feeding on fish.
27:04This makes a very welcome change.
27:07It gets pretty hard to get into, but it's very sought after meat.
27:11So, put this back in the water where it's going to be safe.
27:18I can actually go now. I'm going to pop round the other side.
27:24Go on then.
27:32That's impressive, how they can go from being immobile to that sudden burst of speed.
27:37Back into the water. Well, thanks for that. Thank you.
27:46The weather takes a turn for the worse.
27:48Tropical storms are striking every few days, shedding inches of water in just hours.
27:56If this carries on, then the water's going to go up.
27:59It's going to start colouring up.
28:02So, I'm really hoping this is just a passing shower, but no way of telling at the moment.
28:12Even in ideal conditions, lau lau are notoriously difficult to catch.
28:17High water not only makes the river harder to read, it gives fish much more room to hide.
28:23The uneventful hours roll into days.
28:28Almost every waking hour, I have a line in the water.
28:33After 20 years of searching for this fish, I have to keep on battling and maintaining my focus.
28:40I might just get one take, and if I mess things up, then that's it.
28:44There'll come a moment where it could go either way.
28:53The elation of catching a fish that I've been trying to catch for so long,
28:59versus the total despair if it's gone.
29:04When that opportunity comes, I just want things to go the right way.
29:14I decide to change tactics.
29:16I take up position on land to stake out the pools.
29:20Now, is it possible to pull the anchor and just go into the rock, just for quiet water?
29:27If we go closer to the rocks, we're slightly off the main current,
29:30so the bait should just settle to the side rather than more in the middle of the current.
29:37I've found an ideal spot at the perfect time of day.
29:42I've done everything I can to maximise my chances.
29:50Do good things really come to those who wait?
30:08Stop, it's f***ing off.
30:11It's off, whatever it was.
30:17So annoying.
30:21All I can do is get another bait up.
30:33Another session with no interest whatsoever in the bait.
30:41I could be fishing an empty river, pretty much.
30:46I'm tired and frustrated, but I have to keep my wits about me.
30:52At night, the river presents a new dimension of danger.
30:57Navigating at night on this river can be quite hazardous,
31:02mainly because of the rocks, some of which are just under the surface,
31:07and you hit one of those, it could flip the boat, tip you into the water.
31:13It's an experience I don't want to repeat.
31:16On my last trip to Guyana, that's precisely what happened.
31:20Two of my crew were thrown overboard and were lucky to survive.
31:25But I decide to stick with my new tactic of fishing from land.
31:31Neville takes me to a sandbar that he suspects has some deep water alongside.
31:38I just really like this spot.
31:40It's a great place to fish.
31:42It's a great place to fish.
31:44It's a great place to fish.
31:46It's a great place to fish.
31:48It's a great place to fish.
31:51I just really like this spot here.
31:55It's just perfect predator-ambush territory.
31:58This has to give us a better chance than everywhere else.
32:01I'm going to camp on a sandbar here, and actually keep a couple of baits over the night,
32:05sleep next to the rods.
32:09Every day, I've been up at dawn and fishing after dusk.
32:13Now, to maximise my chances, I'm going to keep a line in the water through the night.
32:18through the night. If I fall asleep, I might miss a take, so I'll need some high-tech gear
32:23to keep me on guard. I'm pretty well attuned to these things. Basically what happens,
32:29the line is passing over a roller there, and if the line moves at all,
32:37it actually sends to this receiver here, and this buzzes. It also vibrates.
32:44I've got some quite big baits on. If anything goes, it ought to be something quite interesting.
32:50So it's not just a waiting game. It's time, time, time, time.
33:07Yeah.
33:14I'm not really quite sure what time of the morning it is now, but it's been very,
33:23very quiet tonight. Nothing really doing, though until this. Apparently they call this a blinker
33:30locally. Pretty as this fish is, I'm after something that could actually swallow this
33:35thing easily, and possibly even swallow a person. The thing I'm after is more predatory,
33:40more monstrous than this by a long way. This is a fish I've been on the trail of
33:52for 20 years now, since I first came to South America, trying to work out where the big ones
33:58are still to be found. Most places, the trail has gone cold.
34:05This place that I thought was unknown to outsiders, I might have left too late, too late.
34:17Fishing daytime, nighttime, evening, morning. I'm starting to lose track of time, what
34:25day it is. I'm in this sort of in-between state. It's not exactly awake. It's not exactly asleep.
34:35Somewhere halfway between the two, the place gets to you.
34:43I must keep my eyes on the prize, a man-sized lau lau.
34:51After resting up into late afternoon, I head back to the rock where I lost the fish just
34:56a few days ago. The water has definitely dropped.
35:17Oh, there's something, there's something, there's something, there's something, there's something.
35:27A deceptive amount of line out here. That's a good sign. First cast,
35:33fish has woken up. All right, there's the leader in sight. That's red tail catfish.
35:41Well, I'm hoping that's not just a one-off. That's almost like
35:45the switch has been thrown. Incredible to get a take on the first cast.
35:57It's just blowing air out of the gills. And that clicking noise, the squeak,
36:04is the pectoral fin. It's a small red tail catfish, but it's activity. There's finally
36:10some activity here. Not a huge fish, but could be quite a good sign.
36:22If the perfect-sized prey have become active, perhaps the lau lau isn't far away.
36:33The weather is also clearing, and telltale tide marks begin to appear on the boulders.
36:40As the water recedes, the fish should become more concentrated.
36:43Today, I saw a rainbow, and that lifted my spirits.
36:51Maybe I'm clutching at straws, but I'm possibly feeling a little glimmer of hope.
37:07I awake to the calls of howler monkeys.
37:09And for the first time in over a week, set out into a bright, clear day.
37:17Maybe just here. I position a bait in the middle of the pool,
37:22then pay the line back to the rock.
37:31It's when the fish takes, particularly a big fish, it can go for the big fish.
37:36It's when the fish takes, particularly a big fish,
37:38it can go to just complete chaos in a fraction of a second.
37:45If you don't do everything right, that's when you can get human error.
37:52A lifetime of observing and refining my skills has brought me to this place. The trap is set.
38:05I'm bringing about 150 yards of line here.
38:29It's a truly bizarre-looking fish known as a dewala.
38:34It's just so quiet at the moment. I'd actually rather not be catching,
38:37to be honest. I want the bait to sit there until a laula comes along.
38:40What it does mean, though, is I've got to get the bait back out there again, get the boat out.
38:51I'm just going to take up slack on here.
38:54I'm going to put that down until something decisive happens.
39:12That's more serious.
39:13This time, I have no doubt about what's on my line.
39:20That's gone solid.
39:26Harness. Harness around my waist.
39:36I've got to get it out of the way, please.
39:46Neville!
39:47I don't like my fish. It's a pain in the ass. I'm sorry.
39:53Well, that's a laula. It's a laula.
40:00This gear is designed for the heaviest ocean giants.
40:09But is it strong enough?
40:13Just round the rock.
40:19I'm using thick monofilament line for just this reason.
40:24But it's being tested to its limit.
40:27I can't let that line break.
40:33Can you get that away, please? We need to be careful with this.
40:42That's good. It's out of the rock, whatever it wants.
40:47But this fight is not over yet.
40:52The fish is nowhere near tired yet.
40:57Neville!
41:00Move on the rope, please.
41:03There it is. Just be very careful, Neville.
41:06The fish could kick off, even though it's like this.
41:10Can someone help me around the waist?
41:14It's an unbelievably muscular animal built for speed and power.
41:19What I might try and do is get that hook out first.
41:22And there's its signature weapon.
41:25That enormous mouth.
41:39It's got a bit of a bite.
41:40I want to bring it somewhere where it can't, if it kicks, it's not sloping down.
41:44I have to work quickly to remove the hook.
41:47Good.
41:48And measure this enormous beast.
41:50I don't want it to be out of the water any longer than absolutely necessary.
41:56About 10 inches.
41:58And girth in front of the dorsal fin is 50.
42:03I'm having to use scales designed for lifting concrete blocks.
42:07That's OK. Lift, lift, lift.
42:10258, 256, 257, 254.6.
42:15I think, guys, you can put it down.
42:16So that's a 250-pound fish.
42:20My whole life, I've longed for this moment.
42:27President Roosevelt's account inspired me to look for one.
42:30He never actually saw one.
42:31But here it is.
42:33This moment is actually very short for us.
42:35I think it's got to go back in.
42:37And we'll let it swim back down into the depths.
42:45I really actually wanted to sit and just look at it and look at it and look at it.
42:47But you can't.
42:49I think, as every child, that fish will never be seen by anybody again.
42:53There's bigger ones down there.
42:54Believe it or not, there are bigger ones down there.
42:56But maybe that's big enough for me for now.
42:59If ever something was worth waiting for, it's this.
43:04The river monster of a lifetime.
43:18So