Authors: Jeremy Wade
igfa.org
(International Game Fish Association) The IGFA’s ‘all-tackle’ records are now public on their website. However, this is not a definitive big-fish
list because it includes only rod-caught specimens from the last eighty years or so, and not all ‘record’-sized captures are submitted.
iucnredlist.org
(The International Union for Conservation of Nature ‘Red List’ of Threatened Species) According to the IUCN, ‘The freshwater system
represents the most threatened of all ecosystems.’
jeremywade.co.uk
Information on upcoming programmes and so forth.
msc.org
(Marine Stewardship Council) Guidelines on how to eat fish with a clear conscience from certified sustainable sources.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My twenty-five years of mostly solo travel have been aided by too many people to mention individually, principally the fishermen of the rivers I have visited. My more recent
involvement in filming has been very much a team effort. Kieron Humphrey was the producer at Carlton TV in London who first saw the possibilities of a documentary about an outlandish Amazonian fish
and who touted the idea for over two years. Leonie Hutchinson was the commissioning editor at Discovery Europe who finally made
Jungle Hooks
a reality, and Gavin Searle was the director who
put me through the mill in the making of it. Wildlife filmmaker Lucy d’Auvergne first recognised the potential interest of fish mystery stories to a wider audience, and Harry Marshall at Icon
Films in Bristol made these a reality, together with Charlie Foley at Animal Planet. For the subsequent making of these programmes, my thanks go to the following: Directors/producers: Lucy
d’Auvergne, Duncan Chard, Steve Gooder, Doug Hope, Charlotte Jones, Alex Parkinson, Barny Revill, and Luke Wiles. Camera: James Bickersteth, Mark Chandler, Robin Cox, Duncan Fairs, Brendan
McGinty, Rory McGuinness, Rick Rosenthal, Robin Smith, and Simon Wagen. Other crew/support: Poppy Chandler, Holly Cue, Natalie Dunmore, Claire Efergan, Bryce Grunden, Joseph Hassell, Dan Huertas,
Lorne Kramer, Andrea Lawther, Becky Lee, Sam Mansfield, Che McGuinness, Dean Miller, Belinda Partridge, Nia Roberts, Robin Shaw, Chris Stitchman, Racquel Toniolo, Solange Welch, Erica Wilson, and
Abi Wrigley. Editors: Rama Bowley, Darren Flaxstone, Thomas Kelpie, Matt Meech, Glenn Rainton, Sam Rogers, and James Taggart. Executives: Andie Clare, Laura Marshall, and Lucy Middelboe (Icon
Films); Brian Eley, Mick Kaczorowski, Marjorie Kaplan, Jamie Linn, Lisa Bosak Lucas, and Kevin Tao Mohs (Animal Planet); Richard Life (ITV Studios Global Entertainment); Jo Clinton Davis, Diane
Howie, and Katy Thorogood (ITV); and Bethan Corney (Five). For the safe delivery of this book I am indebted to my agent Julian Alexander, Scott Hoffman and Erin Niumata at Folio Literary
Management, and my editors Rowland White at Orion and Renée Sedliar at Da Capo. My thanks, too, to the K. Blundell Trust, administered by the Society of Authors, which provided a grant
towards one of my early Amazon research trips. Finally, special gratitude goes to Tim Marks, John Petchey, Martin Wade, and the late David Bird.
PHOTO CREDITS
Sawback lake monster © Jeremy Wade / ardea.com.
Jeremy Wade with car © Graeme Whiting.
Jeremy Wade with carp © Jeremy Wade.
Jeremy Wade with a fifty-eight-pound mahseer © Jeremy Wade, by Bola.
Zaire riverboat © Jeremy Wade.
Zaire village children with tigerfish © Jeremy Wade.
People’s Republic of Congo, fisher boys © Jeremy Wade.
Rio Purus storm © Jeremy Wade.
Rio Purus aerial view © Jeremy Wade.
First Amazon expedition, 1993 © Martin Wade.
Jeremy Wade with bent rod © Martin Wade.
José fishing on Lago Grande © Martin Wade.
Butchered arapaima © Jeremy Wade.
Amazon fishing canoes © Jeremy Wade.
Harpooned arapaima © Jeremy Wade.
Jeremy Wade with arapaima © Jeremy Wade, by Gavin Searle.
Amazon plane crash revisited © Jeremy Wade, by Gavin Searle
Goonch © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
Goonch underwater © Icon Films, by Rick Rosenthal.
Cuiu-cuiu © Icon Films, by Barny Revill.
Piraiba © Icon Films, by Barny Revill.
Sawfish © Icon Films, by Poppy Chandler.
Alligator gar © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
Queensland grouper © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
Daybreak on the Brisbane River © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
The Djoué Rapids, Congo River © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
Goliath tigerfish close-up © Icon Films, by Dan Huertas.
Goliath tigerfish © Icon Films, by Dan Huertas.
Five-hundred-pound bull shark © Icon Films, by Natalie Dunmore.
Half-eaten kob © Icon Films, by Duncan Chard.
Electric eel © Icon Films, by Alex Parkinson.
Stingray © Icon Films, by Dan Huertas.
Longfin eel © Icon Films, by Dan Huertas.
Jeremy Wade has a BSc in zoology from Bristol University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from the University of Kent. He has worked
as a secondary science teacher, a newspaper reporter, and a senior advertising copywriter. He has written for publications including
The Times
,
Guardian
,
Sunday Telegraph
, and
BBC Wildlife
magazine. His previous book,
Somewhere Down the Crazy River
(with Paul Boote), was published in 1992 to stellar reviews. Prior to
River Monsters
, Jeremy made two
documentary series for Discovery Europe:
Jungle Hooks
(2002, set in the Amazon) and
Jungle Hooks India
(2005), both since shown worldwide. He lives in southern England.
See www.jeremywade.co.uk for details of upcoming series and other news.
List of Illustrations
10.
MY FIRST TEACHER
of Amazon jungle-craft. Hard-as-nails José fishing with gillnets on Lago Grande.
20.
WITH A CHAINSAW-LIKE SNOUT
on a shark's body, sawfish require careful handling.
32.
THE FISH THAT TOOK TWENTY-FIVE YEARS
to catch.
Illustrations