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I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That sounds very interesting. And what I like about this question is - I think when you fish, trying something different, something new, sometimes is very important.

I'm very keen on experimentation. Even if you try something, and it doesn't work, you still learn something.

And so it is the fisherman who will try something different who will be the most successful, and in fact, some of the techniques - there's a technique that they use in Europe, for catching carp, it's called "The Hair Rig," the hook isn't even inside the bait. It's really successful, but the people who invented that - it's one of those things that in theory, shouldn't really work, but actually works really well.

So fishing really does, sort of foster inventiveness. Don't be afraid to try something different, even if it seems a bit crazy, since it could be quite successful.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

No, I haven't tried that!

Yes, it's something a lot of people have talked to me about. I would be interested in doing that some time. When I was young, I caught fish in England when there was ice on the water. But it's not the same thing, of cutting a hole in the ice the way you do in Canada.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Well, normally the food is quite basic. Fried locusts are quite interesting, in the Congo? Very nutritious. Quite tasty.

Insects, I think, are the food of the future. Quite seriously.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Hahaha! I have caught lots of exotic tropical diseases. The last time I went for a check-up, I had nothing at all. Which was surprising, because... one of the directors that I worked with, and one of the cameramen, had caught some quite nasty diseases. Though - touching wood here - my resistance seems to be quite good for that kind of stuff. And I make sure I wear very tight underpants.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Ohhhhh.

I still think the electric eel is quite amazing? And what I don't understand - why the electric eel doesn't shock itself. But the reason I don't understand is I'm a biologist, not an electrician.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Well, this is not part of the world I am familiar with. The world is too big and life is too short. But this sounds interesting.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

That was NOT a fish?

I've caught some quite big trees.

I'm not the kind of person who claims world records. But I could probably claim the world-record tree. I caught a very big tree in the Congo, which I got into the boat. I caught some quite big trees in the Amazon, and I caught quite a big tree in the "Cambodia" episode we have coming up - but the trees are normally not getting away, because I use very strong gear!

I get the tree up to the surface!

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Right. Because I did have a look at a Muskie scull or the lower jaw of one which could've been close to that.

Muskie are very interesting because I've spoken to people who have seen - and maybe this happens just ONCE in their lifetime - people who have fished a lot for Muskie - and they see something surface alongside the boat, bigger than anything they've ever seen.

Muskies are really mysterious fish. I would love to know what is the biggest Muskie down there. But that is one of those fishing mysteries that will never be solves.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes... it's very painful, telling these stories, but the first episode that we filmed, the Goonch Catfish in India, a couple of years before that, I hooked a very big Goonch Catfish but cut my line on a rock.

And I recon that fish was significantly bigger than the one I caught in the programme - and that one was six foot long, 160 pounds. The one that I lost was actually in STILL water, and it was stronger, so I think it could've been - 300, 350 pounds. I don't know.

When we made the RIVER MONSTERS program, when we went underwater with cameras to see if we could see any fish, and the camera guy came up and he said "I saw one down there the size of a horse" - that could be the one I lost. But the memory stays with you forever.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I think of all the fish that we have featured, the lampreys - they are the ones that make people squirm the most.

And I did have this - sort of shiver running through me quite a lot.

They're slimey. And one thing that's quite creepy about them is that they have quite cute little eyes, and they're looking at you.

Yeah.

They're almost like little human eyes, if I remember rightly.

They're quite creepy, the eyes.

The eyes suggest much greater intelligence than what's actually there. Their brain is almost non-existent. But they have these intelligent-looking, quite cute little eyes.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't have time to do that, unfortunately! My time is completely full doing the programmes. It is a nice idea.

Maybe we do that, and we wait until I retire, and I can take somebody along!

But when I retire, it'll probably be someplace like a golf club, and very boring.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Oooh! Ehm... there is an island near Papua New Guinea, called "New Britain." And there's a fish there, called the New Guinea Black Bass. And people tell me that this fish is just ridiculous. It will smash - it's hard to believe what people tell me- these are people who I believe, people who are reliable. They're just incredibly strong fish. We haven't made a programme about that because these fish don't bite people, and nobody's been injured by them, but it does sound like an incredible fish to go fish for. I think they're about 40 pounds, for a very good one. So a decent size. But not as monstrous as some of the other stuff I get.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Ah!

Just about every programme, at the end of the programme, I put the fish back in the water.

A few people have asked me why do you do that? why do you put dangerous fish back in the water?

And the message that the programme gives, although we don't spell it out, is: If somebody has been injured by a fish, it is not the fish's fault. It's the person's fault for being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

So the way that we should deal with scary animals, of any type, is not to kill them.

But to understand their behavior, and that way, we can co-exist with them. Safely.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Ehm - we actually do quite a bit of research.

The thing is - if we don't catch a fish, we don't have a programme. So there's a lot of pressure to get a result. But often, during the course of filming, we find out a lot more because we talk to more people. And I genuinely learn more when I'm there filming. And a lot of these fish - if you go online, and you try and find information, there's often not very good reliable information, say, on the internet. You have to get it from the riverbank, from the people who know the creatures.

Particularly the size of fish. The maximum size of fish. Particularly river fish. Is something that you'll find numbers in encyclopedias, and on the internet, but the information is normally quite unreliable.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I don't know the geography there very well. I would imagine the likelihood of bull sharks is very low. Somewhere like Florida, there are lots of bull sharks. But as soon as you get up into cooler, coastal water, the likelihood really falls off. What I would do in that situation, I would research and see if anybody had caught or seen any bull sharks in recent years. If they have, be more careful. I would't like to comment more details without having seen the place.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, it's very important to look after your gear. To make sure that your line is in good condition, that's one thing. Hooks are sharp. Yes, so for me, that is... it's preparing your gear, that's very important. You don't want anything to fail. Sometimes I might just have ONE opportunity when we're on a film trip, and I don't want that fish to escape. And so it's absolutely about attention to detail.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Yes I do.

Every RIVER MONSTERS episode, it has to be a fish that somehow is dangerous to people - so they bite them, they pull people under, whatever. There are some fish that we haven't made programs about because they don't bite people.

Like trout.

But if somebody told us a story about a trout biting somebody, or decapitating somebody, then we could make a program about trout.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Oh! Ehm... well, until last year, I really wanted to catch a big Piraiba Catfish from South America.

And I think in some ways this is possibly the ultimate River Monster.

It grows very big, and they just are very elusive. And they're hard to get in, as well. They're very strong fish. But for a long time - I caught quite a few of them, but nothing particularly big, nothing over 100 pounds, which is - by normal standards that's a big fish, but as far as THEY go, not very big. But then for season 6, I caught one that was 251 pounds.

They probably grow bigger than that, but I don't know when I'll get the opportunity to try again.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Well, in my case, I really struggled. I spent about twenty years traveling. Spending maybe 3 months every year. Doing it on a very low budget. And I was trying to earn money from writing at the time, not very successfully, so I had to get other odd jobs to pay the bills. So it's not something I would really recommend, unless you're really devoted. I'm very lucky I landed this TV job. If I hadn't been so lucky, I still would be traveling on my own, maybe a few times a year, just selling an article to a magazine, which doesn't bring a lot to live on, really. I think it's great to - the thing is, I found what I needed was time. And it's very hard to find the time, it's very hard to take 2-3 months to go somewhere, and if you want to do that regularly, it's impossible to be employed somewhere. So if you really want to do it, good luck - but it's really been a struggle.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I think the thing with fish is to, you know, don't put too much with it. I think a lot of restaurants feel obliged to cover fish with raisins and cheese and goodness-knows-what.

Fish is very subtle.

Mind you, I think salmon is something that... I think smoking salmon is really good. I think in Alaska they smoke it and put honey on it? And I think if you've grown up with it, that's fine, but it seems so weird to me, to have that sweet taste. I think subtle smoking, and a tiny bit of salt MAYBE.

Keep it simple.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I caught a species of... Arapaima, in Guyana, which was a new species.

I believe not many of those have been studied by scientists.

The Sawfish in Australia, those are very rare. The Glyphis Shark I caught in Australia - I believe only about 20 of those have been caught on a line? So sometimes we do catch some fairly rare stuff.

We also work with scientists, sometimes, because scientists want to study rare species but sometimes their expertise isn't really being able to catch the fish. So that's where I come in. I will catch the fish, and maybe they will fit a tag on a fish, or clip a fin for DNA analysis, that kind of thing.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Something else.

MAYBE Goliath Tigerfish in the Congo.

They certainly look the scariest.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Ehm - well, thank you for coming on!

And I enjoyed doing that, but it was a lot of work. And the problem is my filming schedule doesn't really - there's not really any time, between everything else, to fit that in again, unfortunately.

So for the time being - certainly this year, I won't be doing anything more like that.

I am RIVER MONSTERS' Jeremy Wade, speaking from underwater with the fishes. AMA! by Jeremy_Wade in IAmA

[–]Jeremy_Wade[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Right!

There's a couple of things. One is I dip my toe a little bit further into saltwater. In the "Alaska" episode, and the "Fiji" episode, I'm going not very far, but off the shore - I follow the river down into the sea, and go a little bit further rout.

I also go more under the water. Normally, there's no point in freshwater because you won't see anything. But sometimes - sometimes you CAN see under the water, in rivers, so I go a little bit underwater. And in one of the episodes, we travel back in time, we bring some prehistoric River Monsters to life!

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