River Monsters (2009) s02e06 Episode Script

Africa's Rift Valley is, by all accounts, one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a fisherman.
Storms come out of nowhere.
Giant crocs attack from beneath.
Hippos maul you to death.
And rival gangs will kill you for your catch.
But the rewards of fishing here can be spectacular.
There are reports of rare but very real giants living here.
So I've decided to head to one of the deadliest fishing spots in the world as it may be my last chance to catch this massive river monster.
This could be my most dangerous mission yet.
(Thunder rumbles) I'm Jeremy Wade.
I've made my name investigating improbable fishermen's tales from around the world and tracking down the bloodthirsty river monsters that lie behind them.
But there's one place I've heard of where the death rate for fishermen apparently exceeds all others.
It's the birthplace of mankind - the Rift Valley in East Africa.
Formed by two continental plates pulling apart, it's a monumental scar spanning several countries and containing a series of lakes and rivers.
I want to find out just how dangerous it is to fish out there.
But I also want to catch the giant at the heart of this region.
The Mputa, or Nile Perch, is Africa's largest freshwater fish.
And it's the reason fishermen here have been putting their lives at risk for millennia.
Just one animal can feed an entire village.
This fish can apparently reach weights in excess of 400lbs and measure over 6ft long.
They are ambush predators and they will eat anything they can fit in their mouths, including cannibalising Nile Perch up to a third of their own size.
Giants like this used to be caught regularly, but as in so many parts of the world, population pressures have led to over-fishing.
I thought all the big ones had long gone, but just a few months ago, I received some pictures that suggest there are monster Nile Perch still out there.
So I've travelled to the heart of Africa, to the White Nile in Uganda - the site of that extraordinary catch.
I'm actually now fishing in the very spot where the largest ever Nile Perch, which was accurately weighed, was caught on a rod and line.
This fish weighed just slightly under 250lbs and was almost 7ft long.
Unfortunately, though, that fish was attacked by a crocodile and it didn't survive its wounds.
So that fish is no longer in this river, but it's quite possible there could be others the same size, or maybe even bigger.
Hmm.
I'm just going to tighten it.
That was, uh Something definitely hit that bait, but it wasn't It wasn't particularly confident.
It ripped a couple of feet and then and then stopped.
Oh! I've got a circle Oh, here we go! Yeah, there is a fish on.
If I could get this ratchet off.
The line's coming up.
That's a Nile Perch - it's a good size one.
There it is! In this part of the Nile, the goal is to land fish quickly, before the crocs come looking for easy prey.
It's a decent size Nile Perch and a great start to my quest for a giant.
Now, this is quite an unusual capture.
It actually swallowed the bait fish head-first, down to about here.
I think it was actually this dorsal barb of the bait fish that actually stopped the bait coming out of its throat, not the hook.
Let's just Oh! Let's just support it, maybe, like that.
Look at that! Let's get down.
OK.
Very nice fish - 70lbs, something like that.
But a beautiful fish, lovely.
Beautiful colouration, very strong, as well.
The paddle-like tail and muscular body indicate a fish designed for power and acceleration.
These fish are ambush predators, relying on their large eyes to target prey.
And just a cavernous mouth on this thing.
It just inhales its food fish whole.
I've got to let this fish recover before I let it go and that means exposing myself to a potential croc attack.
But out here in the middle of the river, it's my only option.
What I want now is one that weighs maybe three times that.
Encouraged by my success and aware there could be even bigger monsters on the prowl, I decide to head downstream for my next cast, as the commotion of that catch could have spooked everything close by.
But as I'm travelling, I see a heavily fortified barrier in the water that confirms that crocs are a very real problem here.
- This is protection from something in the water? - It is like a crocodile These villagers risk their lives simply collecting their day's supply of water.
This is a serious barrier and it's pretty solid.
There's not much in the way of spaces between there.
That is to stop crocodiles taking people when they're collecting water.
So this is a very definite sign the people here take them very seriously.
On this piece of river, have people been killed by crocodiles? Yeah.
It was a local fisherman who lost his life and apparently this is not uncommon.
Nile crocodiles are thought to kill hundreds of people every year, making them responsible for more fatal attacks on humans than lions, bears and sharks combined.
Maybe I was a bit foolhardy holding that fish in the water.
The locals certainly don't seem to be taking any chances.
But it's not just creatures in the water I have to look out for.
The weather is extreme and can turn in a matter of minutes.
A bit of a storm can sometimes get the fish stirred up, get them feeding.
But looking at all the lightning, I'm not sure holding a conducting rod up in the air in the middle of this is a very good idea.
So if they don't feed, it's not gonna be too much of a disappointment.
Storms in this part of the world are sudden and brutal.
In 2008, 18 fishermen drowned when their boat capsized in a storm just a few hours away from here.
So I decide to bring in my line.
We've got torn away from our mooring on the bank.
Soaked through! If we're not careful, we could become the next deathly statistic.
But as quickly as it started, the storm stops.
I'm just hoping it hasn't ruined my chances.
Trouble with rain is if it's heavy, you just get all this rubbish coming off the land and colouring the water and if you're fishing for a sight predator like the Nile Perch, you can forget it.
Luckily I've got a bit of a clear patch next to the bank, but it's colouring up as I speak.
You know, if more run-off comes from the land, or if it rains more, it could just put an end to the fishing for me.
(Reel unwinds) Could this be the catch that proves truly giant Nile Perch are still out there? - That is definitely a fish.
- (Thunder rumbles) The troubles is, over there, there's a big storm coming in with lightning coming down.
The storm seems to have swung back around and this is exactly what I didn't want My carbon fibre rod in the air like a lightning conductor, as the wind picks up.
An incredible 10,000 people are killed by lightning strikes worldwide every year and Uganda is known for having the highest frequency of thunder storms anywhere in the world.
That's a catfish, but looks to be quite a good size.
I've got to land this fish before the storm returns.
That's actually OK, I was after a Nile Perch, but that's a nice size catfish.
This one is, uh a Semutundu catfish.
It's missing a bit of its tentacle here, but, uh totally different from the Nile Perch.
Long body shape.
It's a predator, as well.
You can see the muscle blocks clear on the side.
Catfish are right at home in the muddy water, with their strong sense of smell and ability to sense movement in the murk.
It's probably not much of a surprise I caught one of these rather than a Nile Perch.
Right.
Get this back in the water very quickly, then I think we've got to run for it.
(Thunder rumbles) Oh! I don't want to be caught in another lethal storm.
Besides, this river is rapidly turning to mud.
There's no way I'll be catching a sight feeder like the Nile Perch for at least a few days.
So I decide to head up the White Nile to its source at Lake Victoria.
This is Lake Victoria, one of the biggest bodies of freshwater anywhere in the world.
But it's also a place where I hear they are still catching Nile Perch in some quantity.
It seems like a calm and tranquil lake.
But my complacency is about to be rocked.
If I was in any doubt that I had come to a dangerous region to fish, then seeing the body of a fisherman driven off in a makeshift ambulance confirms that this could be my most dangerous mission yet.
This just goes to show just how regular accidents are with the fishermen.
Just came down to the lake and there's police here, been called in because a body has been recovered on the side of the lake.
It's quite hard to establish what happened, but it sounds like this was a fisherman who couldn't swim and somehow ended up in the water.
This is a very big body of water.
It's like fishing the sea out here, so in a way it's not surprising and people go out in very flimsy boats.
Just another example of the dangers and also how common accidents can be.
Maybe the fisherman got caught up in the storm that I just avoided.
It's pretty sobering to see how little fuss his death has caused.
But in this place, it's a wonder any fisherman survives the deadly predators or the raging waters.
And if I'm not careful, I could be the next body they drag out of the water.
Despite the risks, I've got to stick to my goal: Proving that there are still monster Mputa, or Nile Perch, out here and that I can survive catching them where they live, in the oldest and perhaps most dangerous fishing region in the world.
I've come to Lake Victoria in the African Rift Valley, to prove that there are still monster Mputa, or Nile Perch, out here.
However, in the late 1950s, they were introduced, to create an industry for the surrounding countries.
And in just a few decades, they took over, out-competing the native fish species and reaching enormous sizes, as they were without any real natural predators.
This fish was apparently 340lbs.
But it was caught some five years ago and the locals haven't seen anything as big since.
However, with the lake covering 26,000 square miles, there could still be some giants that have stayed hidden.
This is an inlet of Lake Victoria.
Here they are actually catching Nile Perch and not just a few.
It's serious, serious quantities.
This boat is just full of them.
Just one after another, after another.
But none of them are the giants that I'm after.
A quick chat reveals that this ice boat collects the fish netted by a fleet of some 30 small fishing vessels.
This is fishing on an industrial scale.
This boat's been out for three days, apparently, and there's three to four tonnes of fish in here.
That's a lot of fish.
I've been invited behind closed factory doors to see the Nile Perch industry in action.
It provides thousands of jobs to the area and it earns over $200m in revenue every year.
This is the reason truly giant Nile Perch as so rare, these days.
So, apparently there's about 10-12 tonnes of processed fish leaving this factory every day, which is, you know, a huge amount.
I mean, quite mind-boggling, particularly when you consider it's a freshwater fish.
Well, certainly impressive quantity of fish coming out of the lake.
But one thing that really struck me is that the the big ones are just really few and far between.
Just trying to do a bit of the maths and I reckon I'd have to plough through something like 1,000 fish that size to have even half a chance of getting something half decent.
So I'm gonna have to try and find a place where they don't have such intensive commercial harvesting.
I decide to head further up the Rift Valley to Ethiopia, as the fishing there is far from industrial.
In fact, it's still conducted in much the same way that it has been for tens of thousands of years.
And the Nile Perch has always been the ultimate prize.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest and richest cultures in the world.
This is the birthplace of mankind, the home of Lucy, Ardi and many of the so-called Missing Links.
But there are also traces of the very first fishermen here at the Ethiopian National Museum.
I've been allowed access behind the scenes at the museum and in this very room are some of the oldest human remains anywhere in the world.
But what I'm looking at at the moment are some of the earliest ever fishing implements.
It's fairly clear that these were used for fish, because in the same place were found remains of fish.
They found a skull there, just the skull was 3ft long, so the whole fish 7ft, 8ft, something like that.
So, whoever was using these harpoons here could have been after some fairly interesting fish back then.
I'm overwhelmed to be this close to the earliest tools of my trade.
It turns out that this skull belonged to a giant Mputa, or Nile Perch.
It looks like this modern-day monster has been a valued prize for thousands of years.
The ancient Egyptians revered Nile Perch for the amount of food they could provide.
They even mummified these sacred fish and entombed them with their dead.
It's no wonder there's a huge industry harvesting these fish today.
But if I want to catch one, then I need to head to the spots that are hardest to reach, where the fishing is so dangerous, the locals won't even attempt it.
Maybe here's where I'll find my giant.
These are the headwaters of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia.
From here, this water will go a couple of thousand miles, all the way to the Mediterranean.
There are two main branches of the Nile river.
I started my search on the Ugandan White Nile, but this is the Blue Nile and Nile Perch are found along its entire length.
These falls are known locally as Tis Isat, which translates as "The Water That Smokes".
The mist has made these rocks incredibly slippery.
If I fall into this swirling water, I could be swept downstream too fast to be rescued.
There's definitely no commercial fishing here, so maybe at these falls I'll catch my monster.
There's a fish! There is a Oh, it's off! That was a fish.
That was a a knock, then a tighten, then I felt something on there.
I'll just wind it up and see.
I can't actually see any signs there, tooth marks, or anything like that.
But there was definitely something on there.
I think I should lob that out again, ASAP.
I continue fishing for another few hours, but whatever that was lurking in this pool, it seems to have been spooked.
And it didn't feel like the giant I'm after, so I decide to move on.
I head south, to another lake, as I hear big Mputa are the villagers' target species.
Fishing techniques here have remained pretty much the same for thousands of years.
Maybe if I leave my hi-tech equipment behind for now and join these fishermen, they'll share their secrets of where they catch their fish.
This is Lake Chamo in Africa's Rift Valley.
Just looking around today, even in the 21 st Century, this place has the look of somewhere that could hold a real serious monster.
Lake Chamo is in the south of the Ethiopian Rift Valley and it is known for the size of the beasts that live here.
And these beasts aren't just fish.
I generally scout out an area before I fish.
But on this lakeside, I'm not alone, and I'm not sure I like it.
I'm not used to jostling for position with man-eaters.
These guys can eat up to half their own body weight in a single meal and very often it's fishermen that end up on the menu.
It's situations like this that make you rethink your place on the food chain.
I'm normally the person doing the hunting, but I'm very aware now that I'm having to look around, watch my back, something might have its eye on me.
I'm feeling a little bit more relaxed now.
(Rustling) There's crocs still in some of these reeds here.
Didn't actually see the animal, but heard the movement as it went through the reeds.
It seems like the big Nile Perch are only going to be found where the dangers are high.
I'm hoping to get some survival advice from a group of fishermen camped out on the lake's shore.
(Speaks local language) So why is it off the ground? Why have you got it raised up off the ground? (Speaks local language) One reason it's off the ground is just to keep them dry, but there's also just a real menagerie of animals that's active at night.
They say even pythons will come and snuggle up to you if you're lying on the ground.
Just last year, a man was nearly killed by a 13ft python.
He only escaped by using his cellphone to raise the alarm.
So you actually live here all the year round? It very much is, you know, a very hardcore way of life, this.
It is set apart from the rest of society.
But I think quite a few people here have got rather shady pasts and they can't really go back.
So that explains why they do live on the edges, this very basic existence and putting up with the very real dangers that go with this way of life.
It's a fairly lawless society down here, by all accounts and I'm not exactly comfortable in their presence.
Apparently some of these men are wanted by the police for crimes that include murder.
This man tells me that not long ago he was out fishing with a friend when he was attacked by a rival gang.
Conflict like this has been going on for centuries.
(Shouting) They stole his nets and boats and apparently he was lucky to escape alive.
The dangers here come at you from all directions.
I'm honoured, but a little uneasy, when these fishermen on the fringe invite me to join their meal.
So, is this tilapia? Tilapia? Little bit of spice.
Tilapia are a small fish that they commonly target, as they are easier to catch than the Nile Perch.
Ah! (Clears throat) Very good! Sushi tilapia.
Actually not bad.
Mm! Thank you.
I realise that if I'm to fish here, I really need to know the risks I'll be facing.
What about the dangers on the lake? I've seen the hippos, I've seen the crocodiles.
Is this something that you worry about every day? (Speaks local language) Most of these animals, the hippos and the crocs, will be close to the shore.
That's the dangerous area.
So what they do, they deploy their nets out in the middle of the lake, in the deeper water, but they've still got to go through the shallows on their way and on their way back.
But they say, even so, there are people who've worked with them in the past, who have been killed by both hippos and by crocs.
Despite their lumbering looks, many consider hippos Africa's most dangerous animal, as they often kill fishermen.
This man knows just how real that danger is.
He was attacked by a hippo just a few months ago, while on his way to the lake to fish for Nile Perch.
(Speaks local language) He was walking with nets along a path and then he noticed a hippo.
When he saw the hippo, he called out and his friend ran off.
At that point, the hippo charged him.
The next thing that happens is that the hippo is goring him in the side of the chest.
(Screaming) The hippo has these two sharp tusks on the lower jaw.
Apparently it was spearing him with these tusks and in the process of that, flipped him over onto his back.
He basically just thought he was going to die and he was praying for it to stop, praying that he would survive somehow.
(Speaks local language) It appeared that his prayers had been answered, because the hippo stopped goring him and started moving off towards the lake, towards the water.
Shortly after that, his friend came back and found him.
What injuries were you left with after this? Can you show your? This horrific wound on the chest here - apparently there were three ribs broken, with bits of rib actually visible, sticking out.
Likewise, the wounds on the leg - there was a flap of skin hanging out.
For me, it just really underlines just what a dangerous job this is, what a dangerous place this is to be a fisherman.
I mean, I can scarcely begin to imagine what it's like working as a fisherman on this lake.
But if I want to learn how they catch the Mputa, I'm going to have to fish like they do.
So I head out with one of the guys to check their nets.
But I hadn't counted on their boats being so flimsy and exposed.
This is a bit nerve-wracking.
There's a pod of hippos over there.
It's not them I'm worried about, but there's a couple of others on the fringes of the group which periodically go under, then come back up again and they've been coming back up closer and closer.
I'm trying to get to the deep water, cos that's gonna be safer than the shallows where the hippos and crocs are.
Hippos very, very close, looking this way, going underwater.
I don't like the look of this, actually.
After what I've just heard, I want to stay well clear of these hippos.
They are just as dangerous in the water and they have been known to flip boats, chomping the occupants to death.
If I get on the wrong side of a hippo, especially in this tiny canoe, I'll be lucky to escape alive.
But my only option is to just get on with it.
Lf, like the local fishermen, you are dependent on the fish you catch to stay alive, you've got to work with the dangers.
Bit of a ropey old net, this.
Looks like a few crocs and hippos have actually gone through this.
It's good having something to do while I'm out here, rather than just drifting.
The thought of what's down there - the crocs and the hippos down there.
Oh, there's a fish already.
So this is a tilapia.
This is what the fishermen mostly catch - what they catch in numbers in these lakes.
And they don't run to a great deal bigger than this.
Spiny dorsal fin, lovely blue-ish colouration there.
Yeah, just very pretty.
But the reason they're catching them is they are very, very good eating, which is what's gonna happen to this one.
The rest of the net doesn't yield any more fish, let alone a Nile Perch.
But apparently they are out there and they are the prize that makes facing the unseen dangers worthwhile.
The fishermen on this lake are proving to be some of the bravest people I've met.
However, in his pursuit of fish, this guy has pushed his luck to the limit.
(Speaks local language) This is actually quite a story.
He'd earlier seen a crocodile in this area and what he'd done, he'd thrown stones at the crocodile to make it go away.
He just saw the crocodile sink.
He assumed, then, that it was safe to go in the water.
(Screams) That crocodile grabbed him by the left leg.
What crocodiles do, they try and pull you into deeper water to drown you.
That's how they kill you, before they then dismember you later on.
(Speaks local language) But the crocodile actually then got tangled in the net.
And the fisherman was able to actually come free of the crocodile's jaws.
But you said there were two times? Another time, also, a crocodile attack? The second time was two years later.
Deploying the net and as he's paying out the net, he felt something go like that on his toe.
This was a crocodile standing on his right foot.
At that point, he's thinking, "Here we go again.
" He managed to half get on the boat, right leg on the boat, and then the crocodile came along and grabbed his left leg again.
One tooth of the crocodile went in his leg.
Because the boat was in the way, the crocodile couldn't get a good grip on him.
So eventually the crocodile's grip slipped and he was able to escape.
I'm thinking this is a very lucky guy.
He probably doesn't feel he's lucky to have this happen twice but the fact he's escaped twice from the jaws of crocodiles, that is absolutely impressive for anybody.
I'm really glad I don't have to earn my living fishing from this lake.
And the one that attacked you, same size as this? I reckon that croc must be about 15ft long and close to 1,000lbs.
Fishermen here have a lot to be afraid of, so it's no wonder that religion plays such an important part in their lives.
This spectacular rock-hewn church is devoted to the patron saint of Ethiopia, a man famous for doing battle with an almighty river monster, a giant dragon.
This is Bete Giyorgis, the Church of St George.
This place literally is breathtaking.
To think this is actually just one solid lump of rock, I mean It's just a huge sculpture, really.
Just incredible.
This is a classic picture of St George on his horse.
The dragon lying dead, or dying, on the ground.
(Speaks local language) It's very, very clear from here, that so important is he to the people here, that there are even people who believe that this story of George and the dragon actually happened here in Ethiopia.
If St George did kill a dangerous Ethiopian dragon, then it's no wonder the locals revere him.
But as I walk through the nearby town, I realise just how significant he is to them.
St George is so important here in Ethiopia that the 23rd of every month is St George's Day.
And here, at another church devoted to St George, you get these crowds of people coming in to worship.
As I wait for the mass to finish, a man seemingly kitted out as St George himself arrives.
(Speaks local language) I've just asked this man, is he St George? He's launched into the whole story, telling me the story of St George.
(Speaks local language) Apparently, at some point in the distant past, human sacrifices were made to appease a dangerous dragon that lived in a lake near a village.
(Screams) Eventually, it was the turn of the chief's daughter.
But before she was devoured, a knight arrived to slay the dragon and save the princess.
This man was St George.
(Speaks local language) As the St George's Day mass finishes, I enter the church to see if I can learn a bit more about what kind of local river monster this dragon might have been.
Well, this is the classic picture of St George on his horse.
Dragon slain on the ground.
And the princess, the maiden, looking on.
Very, very detailed rendition of the dragon.
It's got pretty nasty-looking teeth, a forked tongue and these wings with little claws, almost, on the edge of the wings.
It seems like the dragon is a composite of all the most deadly animals that are found here in the African Rift Valley.
Even my Nile Perch is represented by the wings of this beast.
The continuing strength of this legend underlines how the people here have been battling creatures in the water for generations and they love a hero who can defeat them.
I come across one man who took on perhaps the most feared animal here, when he was attacked by a crocodile.
However, this time the croc didn't leave empty-handed.
Not only did the crocodile make off with his foot, it had done so much damage to his lower leg that his leg was actually amputated above the knee.
Unbelievably, he still fishes.
As this picture here proves, he still goes out with just one leg, fishing in the very same lake where he had that encounter.
He has a family to feed, so he has to keep facing the dangers.
But he's not fished this long without learning a thing or two.
So this tilapia in the picture, very interesting.
He actually used that as live bait for Nile Perch.
He knows where the Nile Perch are, he could tell me, possibly, the places to go and maybe the places to avoid.
I think this could be a very useful lead.
After a discussion of tactics with this fearless fisherman, I head back out onto Lake Chamo, armed with some inside information about good places to try.
But to get to them, I have to pass a point known as The Crocodile Market, so-called because it's a favourite spot for these lake giants to gather.
Apparently, the largest Nile crocodile ever recorded lived on this lake - a beast about 20ft long.
And that was only a few years ago.
Seeing this many crocodiles hauled out in the sun makes me realise just how many man-eating sized monsters are living in this lake.
Just the size of some of these creatures - just enormous.
I've never seen so many big crocodiles in one place before.
And as they sink back into the water, I can understand why they say it's the croc you don't see that will kill you.
But for now, I've got a more immediate problem, as again, out of nowhere, the wind has suddenly picked up.
The waves have risen and the water has muddied.
I think if ever there's a deadly place to fish, either on rivers or in the sea, this is it.
Well, this boat is metal, there's no inherent buoyancy at all.
If this develops a leak, it's going straight down and there's 20ft crocs in here.
Only a prize as big as a Nile Perch makes facing these risks worthwhile.
So I push on, hoping that I'll catch my prey before I become the prey.
Like the old man suggested, I'm using a tilapia as bait.
It'll work better than an artificial lure, because the water's very cloudy.
But the weather here is beating me.
This is actually not working.
We're being blown so fast, we're just dragging that behind us.
It's not actually drifting.
After a few hours getting bashed around by the waves, I head into shore for a break.
Basically, all the gear on both boats I've got two boats, one for me, one for equipment and safety.
But everything just battered around and soaked.
So we've come into a bit of shelter here, downwind of a peninsula that runs out into the lake and letting everything dry.
But we came past a net and when we came onto the shore, a couple of fishermen paddled round in a boat with a sack and, erm I'm just gonna see what's in the sack, actually.
Oh! I thought that might be a few in there - that's just one fish.
It's a Nile Perch.
Not so easy to recognise when it's just the meat, but actually, you can see the shape of the fish from this fillet.
Very deep bodied.
White flesh, some red muscle on the outside, but very prized for its eating.
Looking at that, the tail is going to end about here, the head is about here, which translates into a fish that's sort of 3ft-4ft long.
So I'm guessing that's gonna be a good 50lbs, something like that.
Do you catch on a hook, or nets? (Speaks local language) So, fairly industrial fishing methods.
About 70-80 yard long net and going down about 6-7ft.
So that was put out last night, they checked it today and this was the result.
One fish, but a very nice sized one.
(Speaks local language) Apparently this was caught from an area near here, where the bottom is quite rocky.
That's quite a good sign, because everywhere I've been to so far, the bottom has been very smooth, very level.
It's interesting that this fish was caught in a place where there's a little bit of underwater ups and downs.
I try my luck at the spot they mentioned, a rocky outcrop in the lee of an island.
Nile Perch love having cover to ambush their prey from and the underwater ridge here could be perfect for them.
But, despite fishing here for several hours, nothing takes.
Over the next few days, I fish a variety of locations, but it just seems that either the fish aren't here, or others have gotten here first.
So this net is definitely designed to catch Nile Perch.
Looks like I've got some serious competition here.
Eventually, I have to admit that this lake is defeating me.
I've seen how determined the fishermen are here and they've been harvesting these lakes for thousands of years.
I'm beginning to wonder if the Nile Perch here have been over-fished, too.
It's disappointing having to leave these lakes without having caught anything.
I've seen plenty of monsters, but not the one I want.
If I stayed long enough, I might catch something, but life is too short for that.
I think I'm gonna have to go to one of the other Rift Valley lakes.
I have no choice but to head to a place that is truly out of reach of fishermen.
Not only is it illegal to keep fish that are caught here, but few local fishermen are willing to test its spectacular natural defences.
This is Murchison Falls in Uganda.
I've seen how people in the Rift Valley fish some pretty extreme, dangerous water conditions, but I can't imagine anybody fishing here.
So I'm thinking that maybe at the bottom of these falls could be the place where I'm gonna catch my monster Nile Perch.
The water at the bottom of these falls is known as The Devil's Cauldron and it's where I'm about to meet my river monster.
On this journey to catch Africa's largest freshwater fish, I've faced deadly monsters, encountered fearless fishermen who have courted death, and I've braved storms and lethal conditions in what is surely one of the most deadly places in the world to be a fisherman.
(Shouting) Yet the giant at its heart has so far eluded me.
As I make my way up to the falls, my anticipation is mounting.
I'm just approaching what looks like smoke there, but that is the spray that is being thrown up by the Murchison Falls.
The thought of the size of some of the fish that are down in this churning water, you know, starting to get a bit of a flutter.
It's really quite frightening, the thought of hooking a big fish in this water.
This could be my best and perhaps last chance of catching a monster.
This big eddy behind me is called The Devil's Cauldron.
Now, that sounds very melodramatic, very over the top, but words almost don't do justice to this place.
When you're down at water level, you know, just a huge push of water coming through.
Apparently 300 tonnes every second coming through that crack there.
This is very hostile water.
For the local fishermen, with their methods, it's not gonna be easy to fish here.
If you're fishing nets, or long lines, that kind of fishing involves getting in the water often.
There are crocs in here, this water is very strong.
So this could be the only kind of gear that might stand a chance here.
I've got to watch my footing.
If I fall in, I'll be sucked to the bottom of this churning water in seconds.
Crocs are hard to see in the water at the best of times, but the foam produced by the falls gives them the perfect cover.
This could be my most dangerous fishing location yet.
Anything takes that bait - it's a large bait - it's gonna be a serious size fish.
So, one thing I've got to really be aware of is I don't want to be pulled in here.
Oh! Fish on! Went a bit slack then, but the water's moving around so much, it's gone in some of the water that's coming towards me.
It feels a good size, because it's actually coming with the current.
It's coming up to the surface.
Coming up to the surface! That's a good size fish.
Gosh, that's a good size.
It's actually going with the current.
It's just stopped.
There it is on the top.
On the top, on the top! I think the fish is tired, but there's a real weight of water behind it.
It's right in the side here! It's right in the side! Right in the side.
It's tired out.
I can't see the fish, cos there's all that foam.
How about that? How about that?! Right.
I've just put a bit of heavy mono through its mouth.
What I'm gonna do - pull it back into the water, walk it round here into some quiet water, where it can recover.
Where I can recover, as well.
I'm just hoping if there's crocs, they'll prefer the fish to me.
It's already starting to get a bit more strength back, but I want to make sure it's fully recovered before I have a look.
If it goes back in this water not properly recovered, it's just gonna get bashed, possibly to death, on these rocks.
I'm gonna need the help of my boat driver, as this fish is too big to lift by myself.
It's 120lbs with the net - we've got to deduct a little bit for that - but that's well clear of 100lbs.
OK.
And then up.
OK.
Right.
This is one lump of a Nile Perch.
Well over 100lbs and what an amazing setting to catch it from.
Big old fish, ambush predator, great big paddle of a tail there.
But at the business end, look at this - you don't have tentacles like a catfish, you've got big eyes, then you've got this protrusible jaw.
When it actually opens that quickly, it's almost telescopic and it just engulfs fish by creating a vacuum - the water just rushes in.
And one other thing just to say - look at that for a defence.
It's like having six-inch nails sticking out your back.
Finally, I've caught the fish that shows monster Nile Perch can still be found here in Africa's Rift Valley.
Nice to see it go back.
Oh! Tell you what, though, if I was a fish, I would not like to live in this water.
Some of the other stuff in here, particularly the crocodiles, also the sheer strength of this water.
But what a dramatic setting to catch a fish like that.
On this journey, I've had to fish some of the scariest places I've ever been to.
But I've put my life on the line, faced the monsters and caught a giant in what is almost certainly the oldest and most dangerous fishing spot in the world.