Fishing In Africa: Quest For The Legendary Nile Perch (River Monster Documentary) | Real Stories

[Music] i began my adventure looking for a fish in one of africa's most densely populated areas on the journey i found a great deal more when you have no words you find other ways to communicate what may be sport to me is the livelihood of many here if you don't catch something you and your family go hungry on my expedition to find the fabled king of the river there were many obstacles but always with its insistent whisper there was the water the pull of its currents and its promise to reveal its hidden giant [Music] it's my 61st birthday and friends from the kuna zuva education foundation have invited me to an african adventure father test fire is my host i'm here to catch a giant in the fish world a nile perch and make some friends along the way [Music] [Applause] [Music] the welcoming party as ever in africa involves a great deal of singing and dancing [Music] it seems churlish not to join in [Music] african dancing is not my forte i fish better than i dance but my effort seems to be appreciated [Music] [Applause] and so the river beckons somewhere out there is a giant the nile perch of my dreams my african friends claim that there's a fish bigger than anyone has ever caught on a line and i aim to be more than ready [Music] with so much support getting to the river isn't difficult fascinated by the boat the villagers won't let me leave without a few courtesy trips [Music] and then after all the noise and company it was just me and the river we have an interesting relationship we'd never met before and here i am looking to pluck her bounty out of her depths trolling unlike its internet namesake meaning to deliberately mislead people is fishing on the move deliberately misleading fish okay so not so different [Music] what surprises me is the number of people on the banks of the river and how interested they are in what i'm doing there are very few european faces here and tourists don't make it a place on their must-go-to lists there have been too many wars upheavals and uncertainties here add to that the frightening number of young men with kalashnikovs and you have a place that almost challenges you to visit this is such a shame because in contrast my experience of the people i'd met indicates that they are warm curious and overwhelmingly hospitable [Music] i'm invited to pitch camp near a local village given such a welcome i want to be involved in the lives of my new neighbours [Music] what charms me is that they want the same from me despite our obvious differences the core aspects of our humanity remain the same a mutual curiosity [Music] caring for the next generation [Music] hospitality shown by the offer of hard-won food and sharing stories to form a bond [Music] two stories stand out firstly according to my hosts there is a fish in the river known as the river king apparently it's enormous big enough to carry a child and secondly they tell of a man who could fish without water not sure if i heard that right [Music] [Music] the river shows different sides of herself the further downstream i go to the local children it's an endless playground i'm up early for a meeting with a real veteran of these primal waters a keller sets his nets while telling me about the best fishing sites he says the water is still too high for nile perch he insists that when the time is right the presence of crocodiles will be a good sign of deep water where my fish will be hiding wasn't impressed with my brightly colored baits and invited me to his home where he's making a simpler whittled and shaped lure so convinced of its effectiveness he even gives me an old lure once made for him by visiting missionaries as a welcoming and kind gesture i accept it with gratitude i may not use it but every boat should have a good luck charm i now have mine [Music] despite the conditions anna keller's wise words i take my boat out and start fishing again i'm a fisherman it's what i do i can't fail to notice the eddies on the surface water movements that tell me there's a lot more water flowing downstream [Music] i have time not much but enough to be patient [Music] but later that day it's not just water i have to negotiate bush fires are common here and are good for the soil they also flush insects out and the birds take advantage of the sudden glut in food larger fires can be a problem forcing villagers to try and avert the flames but the smaller ones attract hunters in training the children seem enthusiastic to show me their catch a mouse from out of the fire which reminds me there are more fish to fry i start back to the river while beaters dig their nest holes it's a clear indication that the weather is on the tipping point of change these little birds live up to their name but curiously never take insect prey that's not airborne once they have their meal the sting is knocked out of it before they swallow it was only a few weeks ago that most of this area was still underwater the marshes are still full of life frogs and fish are abundant the water won't recede if the lilies are still blooming so there are still a few weeks before i can expect to find the places where my quarry is hiding i seem to have picked up a whole raft of volunteer shipmates [Music] while my boat gets the once over from my land crew the child hunters convinced me to follow them to their inland lake and show off their skills at catching mudfish [Music] we take a break it's good to keep the body hydrated but it's not so good that we're only halfway there had i known that the last stretch would lead to swamps full of venomous snakes i may have stayed on the river [Applause] but the children are extraordinary and as hunters tenacious unlike the heat merciless not my kind of fishing so back to the water after no success during the day i decide to risk being eaten alive by mosquitoes and try night fishing i'm not going to last too long the risk of malaria here is too great but a familiar tug on the line brought me to my feet it's a nile perch one of the king's lowlier subjects but a good start and proof that my lucky lure is working [Music] the sport demands the catch to be followed by a release [Music] an early start last night was memorable for catching my first nile perch and for attracting every mosquito in the area [Music] in some tribes in africa earrings are worn to signify a hunter's success i haven't earned mine just yet dugout canoes are common here i'm happy to see good old-fashioned hook and line fishing it tells me i'm not so out of place back at the river's edge my hunting party have another surprise for me a python they were right about the snakes in the swamp it's a little more dramatic than the mudfish but to be of any use for food and leather the python has to be completely taken apart and cleaned i don't like seeing these animals die but context is all the python meat will feed a hungry family i can't say i'm thrilled to see the rats that had partly digested piled up next to it but here everything is fair game i joined in in the cleanup but if there's one aspect of the procedure i'm good at it's tug of war [Music] hello [Music] there's always going to be some leftovers for the birds [Music] and it's the birds behavior that concerns me a little as i potter further downstream i don't think fires can cross rivers at least i hope they can't nothing like a hooked fish to take your mind off being roasted only tiger fish jump like that a little while into the fight i sensed there was something much bigger on the end of the line that was no tiger i saw the shape of my tiger underwater below it a much much bigger shadow the tiger almost lifeless had gone a few rounds with a nile perch this was really its scales were scraped off its fins denuded you thought this was a bait how big would a fish have to be to do this much damage [Music] a farmer claims back his land swallowed by the river a season ago [Music] he's my new neighbor i've moved to another campsite [Music] there was nothing wrong with where i was except the village dogs kept barking and so kept everyone awake i loved everyone's company but in the end i had to do the decent thing and move on the new location by the river is not a great deal different from yesterday's camp life however harsh goes on [Music] it's another sign of the dry season returning the emergence of butterflies but where there is abundance there are also predators [Music] silken lines ensnare the unwary two potential victims but victims who've not lost their fight [Music] with just the one to deal with the silk master can move in [Music] but the fight for survival still rages [Music] so [Music] i can learn a lot from this spider in my pursuit of the river king its stratagem as mine must be is patience [Music] i have no such luxury as an invisible net and have to work hard for my supper small yes but delicious and many so [Applause] as the water succumbs to the approaching dry season small streams drain larger pools allowing some fish to escape being stranded but girls with basket nets know the drainage roots and can catch the small fry as they try to get to the only remaining deeper water where the river king waits for them the water is aerated to persuade their prey to make a move it's a slow process but a vital one but once in a while small fry make way for a colossus and it wasn't me who caught him [Music] the villagers say they've caught the river king [Music] i thought that was the fish with my name on it [Music] but the villagers have got their first no sporting end for this giant there's just too much food attached to his poor bones watching that marvel of nature being hauled to the fires i have to believe this is a crown prince and that the king is still out there my congratulations to the fishermen are honest ones tinged with a little jealousy time to move on i'm bound for what i'm told is a less populated area more wildlife fewer people onto a new camp upstream and again i seem to have attracted an entourage if this is a less populated area i've taken a wrong turn the numbers come in handy when i hit a rut at the riverside people seem so willing to help but it's my responsibility i don't mind digging myself out of a hole but hey it's so bloody hot here arriving at the village i find it thick with insects and the different temperatures warp the air into ribbons of haze despite the circumstances there is one constant the primal river and its powerful magnetism its allure is too strong for me this is home whatever the discomfort daybreak in rudimentary dugout canoes the villagers work the river to support their families but someone here works the land this is the man who can fish without water during the dry season fish survive by burrowing themselves in the mud and stay dormant until the rains form new rivers the locations of these buried fish can be given away by subtle movements of the mud once the fish have been given a sharpened incentive to move a man whose feet can detect that faint movement above ground can dig out and reveal his catch and slowly hook it free from the earth [Music] an unappetizing meal but more importantly a meal [Music] his success means the water levels are now low enough to force my own quarry into the remaining deep corners the river king the catch of my dreams if i'm going to find him i need to get back to the boat a giant kingfisher a good omen we are both king fishers [Music] i feel a renewed purpose something the river grants me despite my ambitions to take from it what isn't mine albeit temporarily but fishing today turns out to be frustrating add to that the heat's almost unbearable over the long hours nothing bit i see no crocodiles as my boat passes over shallow waters was the villagers last meal my last chance of catching a giant but i did catch something that afternoon something that's put me in debt to a local fisherman it's a debt that i'm eager to pay i have to remind myself that while i fish for pleasure these people fish to feed their families i catch a tiger fish much more athletic on the line than the nile perch it's also much more fierce looking usually i'd put it back in the water but a debt needs to be repaid and how do you repay a subsistence fisherman what better way to apologize than with a large fish [Music] the prize is taken away to be prepared somehow given the way the locals live it didn't seem enough we want to we want to give you conversation i return a little later with something of more value but as the discussions went on it felt like the last thing he wanted was any other gift by way of an apology foreign i'm almost moved to tears by his stony faced gratitude but then something changes and suddenly there is a smile [Music] they do things differently here but at least i've smoothed the waters the apology is worth it while there i learned of a man in a village further upstream who has a unique knowledge of the area and speaks english i promised myself that i would find him if i could the next day [Music] [Music] on the way to find my potential guide problems of a different kind shallow water [Music] as ever the locals are interested [Applause] but more importantly they know where the village is fishing's on hold for the moment it's only when i see a crocodile on the bank do i realize that not only am i close to someone who can help me but also close to deep water where the river king may be hiding further investigation reveals the characteristic tail grooves in the sand i feel my luck's beginning to change word has spread and to my delight william moon the local expert has found me not only does he share my name he's also like me a teacher he fought on the rebel side in the war against a corrupt government and spent a lot of time convincing villagers it was a just cause we tell them we are all suffering so that's why also they become happy they give us milk when we are there they bring milky it's in their village because when you come we camp outside we start telling them that we are the military of your native land we are fighting for your freedom magazine what better guide could i ask for than an ex-soldier with your water here there's one container you put it here nothing like a camp cooked meal to further a friendship there's a tiger fish from me and from william his village's local delicacy so this is for important guests so i'm i may consider myself an important guest of course our fire is modest that one is not bushfires move a lot faster than you would think were well protected by the river but there is a similar blaze on our side of the bank this one is much bigger than its brother across the water we found out later that this one trapped and killed people i can't think of many things more terrifying than being caught by the flames luckily for us the wind is blowing it away from our camp [Music] they're still lying here in the area yeah they come at night and when the crowd lay grazing there they can attack the cows and kill another reason also to bend the whole grass then the new grass can jump germinate okay so we'll do good for [Music] the next morning the fire on our side is still blazing i'm not keen on risking the boat and the fuel so decide to fish with william i can't find the on switch to my lucky mascot the fish are flying off the hooks today and in the process they're ruining my lures and then a bit of a keller's bait's luck rubs off [Music] a nile perch a good one though nowhere near the size of the famous river king i'm after [Music] [Music] with the fire still raging it's an excuse to stay around and get to know the locals when you want to make friends exotic biscuits will always do the trick [Music] [Music] [Music] i think it's the color of my skin that fascinates the boys most i'll join in with most activities but i think i'll give this one a miss [Music] maize is hugely important to the villagers here a popular and staple crop [Music] harvesting is intensive and sheer hard work [Music] [Music] i never pass up an opportunity to help out [Music] it's obvious to any outsider how difficult life is here especially for the women and children [Music] [Music] [Music] as my village hosts have seen me time and time again actually letting fish go unthinkable here as it's not a sport but a way of life i'm presenting a tiger fish as a way of thanking them for their hospitality [Applause] in turn i'm invited to share the meal [Music] foreign [Music] everyone seems to be fishing now each with their own methods [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] i'm approached by an elderly woman who seems to be agitated about something everywhere you go there will be peace william told me afterwards she also added that a big fish was waiting for me that might have been a creative embellishment on william's part at last the fires have burnt themselves out leaving ash twisters in their place [Music] i can now move further afield onwards to the deeper water the crocodiles are the indicators and here lies the promise of the giant [Music] i have faith the river has taken me this far oh one more night and one last dance there's tribal ritual here and i'm afraid i've not read the script i'm just enjoying the spectacle and indulging in a little wishful thinking that everyone here is willing me to succeed they're probably willing me to stop dancing ah the fire has abated i've seen fish caught from under the ground i have a lucky lure and the blessing of the women there's only one more thing to do you know that feeling when you wake up and it's a golden morning and you think this is the day i'm a fisherman i live in a constant state of hope and hope may spring eternal but will it spring here [Music] [Music] [Music] yes that enormous fish was the focus of my trip but not the heart of the adventure i let the fish go but nothing else my experience of this extraordinary place and its delightful and welcoming people will stay with me long after the river king has passed on from an outsider's point of view africa is sometimes seen as a vast continent with crushing poverty borderline subsistence survival and punishingly hard work to earn your daily bread while there is some truth in this it's a narrow view and doesn't do justice to the exuberance and friendliness of its people it was a real pleasure to be accepted into their communities however briefly and an added joy to fish their river until the next time as they say here mel cam giza or ciao

Channel: Real Stories

Views: 1,056,201

Keywords: Real Stories, Real Stories Full Documentary, Real Stories Documentary, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, full documentary, full episode, nile perch, river monsters, extreme fishing, river monsters horror story, nile perch fishing, fishing video, animal documentary, wildlife documentary, Wim Seffelaar, african culture, culture documentary

Id: PtFPsY5gYSA

Length: 51min 33sec (3093 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 04 2020