River Monsters (2009–2017): Season 4, Episode 7 - Mongolian Mauler - full transcript

Wade: My name is Jeremy Wade,
and for the past 30 years,

I've been traveling the globe

on the trail
of freshwater monsters.

Normally, I'm hunting them down
in the lush and humid tropics,

but this time, I'm in
a totally different zone...

as I travel deep
into northern Asia.

It's a desolate place
where only the tough survive.

This is actually quite
a grim, unpleasant sight.

The prehistoric predator
I'm after

has a savage reputation

for attacking anything
that gets in his way,



including unwary fishermen.

I first became hooked on stories
about river monsters as a kid...

from giants with a deadly,
10-inch dagger in their tail...

to creatures that can
literally shock you to death.

First go. Amazing.
First go.

There's one monster I read about
called the taimen

that I always wanted to catch,

but I always thought
either they're now extinct

or they're now so rare

that they're all but impossible
to find.

But recently,
I've been getting reports

that have made me think again

about catching
this legendary predator.

As a boy, I read a legend
about a taimen trapped in ice.



It was so large

that starving livestock herders
survived the harsh winter

by slicing off pieces
of the living fish.

When spring arrived
and the ice melted,

this giant taimen
climbed onto the land

and ate all the herders.

Farfetched,
but it speaks volumes

about how this fish is regarded.

They can grow up
to six feet long,

with a mouth packed full
of needle-sharp teeth.

And I've had a recent report

that shows what level of
aggression they're capable of.

A man was fishing for taimen

when he felt a violent strike
on the line.

After a struggle, he managed
to bring the fish in...

at which point it turned
and bit his arm, drawing blood.

I wonder if it's aggressive
enough to be deadly.

Taimen were historically found
in Siberia, China, or Mongolia,

but they've been fished
to the brink of extinction

in most places.

These reports I've been getting

come from what could be
their last stronghold...

Northern Mongolia, one of the
most remote places on earth.

Mongolia is the landlocked
kingdom of Genghis Khan.

His brutal armies,
the Golden Hordes,

terrorized Asia
and half of Europe.

It may look hospitable now,
but winter temperatures

regularly drop
to minus-40 degrees,

and only the toughest creatures
can survive in this.

It's the end of summer.

I only have a small window
to fish

before the iron grip of winter

will tighten again on this land.

After a couple of days
traveling,

I arrive at a tiny town
called Moron

that's rarely visited
by westerners.

From here, I'm heading
into desolate wilderness.

I've never been
to Mongolia before,

but when I'm somewhere new,
I like to tap into

the knowledge
of the local fishermen.

It's worked well for me
in the past,

allowing me to pick up pointers

on technique, bait,
and location,

all helping me
to catch the monster I'm after.

But Mongolia is unique
in my experience, because here,

nobody seems to know anything
about fish or fishing.

I'm totally mystified.

How can there be a land
without any fishing culture?

No, he's saying traditionally,
Mongolians...

They don't eat fish.

Most people in Mongolia
are Buddhist.

I've been directed to a temple
on the edge of town

where I might get some answers.

It's actually believed
that if you kill fish,

that's gonna bring bad luck
to you.

This would explain why
I'm finding no fellow fishermen

and why Mongolia's rivers

are the last bastion
of the mighty taimen.

Without any local knowledge
to help me,

I feel the pressure to start
fishing as soon as possible.

I found a place near the temple

where I can't resist dropping
my line into the water.

The taimen I'm after
are ferocious predators.

I've heard they like their prey
alive and squealing.

Local reports say

they pick off prairie dogs
as they swim across rivers,

so I'll try to trigger
their predatory reflex

by creating a disturbance
on the surface

with a spinner or a fly.

When you're using something
like that to entice the fish,

that's just got
so little weight to it.

There's no way you can cast
that out using its own weight,

so you're using the weight
of the line...

with a heavy line
and a flexible rod,

and that's what actually gets

this very light, insubstantial
fly out onto the water.

I've only fly-fished
a few times before,

so it doesn't exactly come
naturally to me.

Hey! Zoom on the fish.

Despite that, I've had
some interesting results.

No, but it's gonna break.
He's gonna break the fish off.

Whoa!

My fly casting is starting
to come right.

It's not long before
I get a take.

Oh! Something
actually took that.

Oh!
Here we go, here we go.

That's not a taimen, but
it's my first Mongolian fish.

This is a dace,
a member of the carp family.

Not exactly a monster, but
at least I'm on the food chain.

All I have to do now is move
up it until I reach the top.

The next day, I meet up
with my guide, Jenga,

who knows the area
where the man was bitten.

- Hi, Jeremy.
- How are you doing?

- I'm Jenga.
- How are you?

He's agreed to take me there,

over a hundred miles
into the wilderness,

but he insists on two
more people joining our team.

Jenga is the only one
who speaks English.

Our transport is
an ex-Russian army six-wheeler.

This is the only reliable
vehicle for the terrain ahead.

All roads stop
at the edge of Moron.

From here on out,
it's going to be off-roading,

all the way up
to the Russian border,

a lawless area
where few people dare to go.

I'm here in the summer,

but this landscape
has a darker side.

During the winter of 2010,
it was so cold

that millions of yaks, horses,
and other livestock died.

But what doesn't kill you
makes you stronger,

and that applies to fish, too.

All around are signs of how
life is just clinging on

for most of the time.

I thought that was gonna be
a cow in the distance.

That's actually a horse.

It's still got the bridle
on it, so...

you know, this is a grim sight,

but a very graphic illustration
of how harsh this landscape is.

Looks very benign when you
sort of see it in the wide,

with this thin layer
of green over it,

but you start looking closely,

and this is the kind of thing
that you see.

This carcass-strewn landscape
is making me uneasy.

It doesn't help

that I can't communicate with
two of my traveling companions.

And the third... Jenga...
Isn't saying much.

After a bone-shaking
10-hour drive,

we drop down into a valley
where tonight's camp will be.

This is the first water
we've come across.

While setting up camp, Jenga
casually drops a bombshell.

A couple of years ago,

I was camping here
with a couple of people.

Yeah.

And we've been shot at.

We were here, heard a gunshot,
and the bullet just...

Pew, bing!

Hits the rock.

I can't believe
what I'm hearing.

The bullet hit a rock
not far from Jenga.

The chances are
it was a warning shot...

but they weren't going
to hang around to find out.

So we just packed everything up

and just went in the back
fast as we can.

Who was shooting at you?

There was ninjas.

Ninjas are prospectors, part of
a gold rush sweeping Mongolia

after massive deposits
were found here.

Some areas of the country
have become like the Wild West.

This is a place that no police
or anything here.

Right, okay.

So wanted to do something
they want to do.

Jenga hasn't been back here
since,

and although he and his friends

have agreed to help me
catch a taimen,

we'll have to watch our backs
for renegade gold diggers

potentially taking aim.

We just have time to set up
camp before sunset.

Getting shot at

is not something that I was
necessarily banking on

or the possibility
of that happening.

And having heard that,

the whole landscape takes on
a different aspect.

We're wide-open here, surrounded
by high vantage points.

Jenga also said that this wasn't
an isolated incident.

He also heard gunfire at night
quite regularly.

And this was probably
cattle rustlers,

who are also known to operate
in this area.

So it's gonna make the fishing
considerably more challenging

than I expected, in a way that
I wasn't expecting at all.

After a restless night,

I'm now focused on what
I've come here for...

The river and catching
my first taimen.

This landscape is very different

from what I'm used to.

At the moment,
it looks pristine,

as if it should be teeming
with animals.

But for most of the year,
it's a very different picture,

which is why there's so little
wildlife here.

The river is frozen over
for six months every year,

so anything living on that water
has got to be tough,

scratching a living
from whatever comes its way.

It's also a very hard place
to live.

Compared to a tropical river,
there's almost no food.

Taimen will often stick to one
area for long periods of time.

If a strike
doesn't come quickly,

it most often means
it's already spooked

or there isn't one there.

To maximize my chances, I have
to keep on casting and moving,

covering as much water
as possible,

so we'll drift down
the river in a raft.

I'm used to rivers

where I can jump in and out
wearing just shorts,

but here, the water
is bitterly cold.

I need waders
and thermal clothing

to give me some protection.

We'll be cut off
from the outside world.

If anything happens to us, we
could be days away from help.

Each day, Jenga's friends,
Talga and Baira,

go ahead to set up camp
while I fish, hour after hour

casting my line on the water,

trying to provoke this
aggressive fish into striking.

The plan is to go down
the Delger-Moron

through 60 miles
of inaccessible landscapes,

where hopefully the armed
ninjas haven't yet reached.

But there's always that uneasy
feeling of being watched.

At the water's edge,
something catches my eye.

There must be hundreds,
if not thousands,

of one-inch-long fish fry here.

These are very young lenok
and grayling.

But what's significant to me
is the fact that they're here.

They're not in the main river.

They're in this little,
shallow pocket

that's inaccessible, really,
in that deeper water.

And the fact
that they're here...

That tells me
that the main river

is not a healthy place to be
if you're a small fish.

There are dangerous predators
out there,

and this,
if you're a small fish,

is actually the safest place
to be.

Mongolia is proving to be
a Jekyll-and-Hyde landscape.

The calm waters give way
to rapids without warning.

Dangers come
from above and beneath.

Hitting a submerged boulder

could tip us
into the frigid torrent,

while overhead, loose rocks

frequently drop
from the granite cliffs.

Taimen like fast-running water

because it's perfect
for ambushing prey.

They hold in the calmer eddies
that form behind rocks,

waiting for their food
to come to them.

All the time, I'm looking out

for a flash of the taimen's
distinctive, red tail.

Main current is surging
in that direction.

You've got a bit of an eddy.

This is a classic bit
of countercurrent,

and I was thinking I might see
a taimen there.

The riverbed is strewn
with slippery boulders

and getting a sure footing
is not easy.

One slip and I could be
swept away.

After working the rapids
for hours,

there's something on my line,

and it's putting up
a strong fight.

Yeah, it's a fish.

This is not the fish
I'm looking for.

It's a lenok.

I'll get it on soft grass.

Very, very strong fish.

Actually very hard to keep hold
of this when it wriggles.

This is a relative
of the taimen.

Wow. Strong, strong fish.

Strong as these fish are,
though, taimen will eat these.

A big taimen will just inhale
this headfirst.

Good sign... whoops!

A fish on a lure
from these rapids.

Very, very fast water.

It's amazing how fast
the water can be

and fish will still live there.

This lenok only weighs
around three pounds,

but it has an incredible
strength for its size.

Like everything
in this savage environment,

it's a lot tougher
than it looks.

It's getting towards the end
of my first day on the river,

and we have to get
to the safety of camp

before it's dark.

Jenga is loosening up
as we get to know each other.

I suspect he knows a bit more
about this fish

than I first thought,

because he now reveals
a surprising tattoo.

I marked myself with
a taimen tattoo on my arm.

The tail of his taimen tattoo
is represented by a wolf,

because the taimen is the only
predator in Mongolian waters,

and it's sometimes called
the river wolf.

His design also contains
an eagle...

Another top predator here.

Jenga clearly sees the taimen
as a creature to be feared.

I ask if he's aware of any
humans falling foul of them,

and he lets slip that he knows
about the same incident

that I've come to investigate.

It was a big fish.

It was around four feet,
and he was handling it...

and that taimen just bit
his arm on the muscle

so that he was bleeding.

Jenga seems concerned

about me wanting to catch
one of these fish.

Taimen is real aggressive, mean.

It's a real scary fish.

It's gonna scare you.

This is all fleshing out my
mental profile of my adversary

and what I have to prepare for.

I'm already keeping a watchful
eye on the surrounding hills,

but I've also got to be wary
of the ground under my feet.

Wade: Amazing how camouflaged
this thing is.

Talga has just found
a venomous snake,

just in the grass
near the camp...

I mean, in between the tents.

This snake is a type
of pit viper.

Its fangs inject
a cocktail of toxins

that dissolve flesh
and paralyze prey.

Medical help and any antivenoms
are potentially days away.

It's quite hard to see
when it's still,

but that's quite disconcerting.

I might have been walking
within feet of that,

you know, this morning.

What's interesting, though,
more interesting

is that one of these
was seen in the river last year

on the surface, and a taimen
came up and took it.

A fish that takes venomous
snakes... I mean,

that really does say something
about this predatory fish.

We take it far away from camp
and let it go.

I've only got a short amount
of time to catch a taimen

before the winter freeze,

so I fish every bit of water
I can.

Here, it's so clear, I can see
the fish the taimen feed on.

Hopefully, there's one nearby.

Right. This is fish.

It's not a taimen.

I seem to have caught
everything in this river

except what I'm after.

In this case, it's a grayling.

They're found all over Asia
and Europe

and can grow to two feet long.

That's the sort of trademark,
sail-like dorsal fin.

Very pretty fish.
Quite stripy flanks.

Relative of the trout.

It's got this little
adipose fin here.

Very nice to catch that,
get my striking reflexes.

But I think the biggest role
the grayling have in this river

is actually food for the taimen.

It's actually quite unusual for
me to catch fish that I can see.

Normally, the rivers that I fish
are quite murky.

And this water, though,
is wonderfully clear,

particularly
now it's going down.

It's getting clearer
almost by the day.

We carry on drifting
down the river

for another couple of days
with no luck.

I'm beginning to think

that my childhood dream
of catching a monster taimen

will remain just that...
A dream.

Seeing my frustration, Jenga
arranges for me to meet someone

who might be able to help.

I'm instructed to enter
a traditional Mongolian tent,

called a ger.

I assume whoever is in there

can help me find the taimen
I'm after.

I was expecting maybe
a gun-toting gold digger,

but it's a shaman.

The first thing that strikes me

is that she's nothing like
the witch doctors I've met

in places such as the Congo
and the Okavango, in Africa.

They are always elder statesmen
of the village.

But in Mongolia, both men
and women can be shaman.

Although most people
in Mongolia are Buddhist,

many also follow an older,
animistic religion...

A Pagan belief system
with deep roots

stretching beyond the age
of Genghis Khan.

What she's actually saying is
that everything has a spirit,

even things that we regard
as inanimate...

The mountains, the sky,
the water, the trees.

Spirits are basically
all around.

Everything out there
has a spirit.

The water spirit owns the fish.

It's almost as if the fish
are the children of the spirit.

The shaman tells me that these
spirits are ever present

and have the power to keep me
from catching a taimen.

I'd assumed the powerful
feeling of being watched

was down to the ninjas,
but now I'm not so sure.

She offers to contact
the spirit world,

and I'm hoping
this will give me some guidance

as to what to do.

Just after sunset, the ceremony
to summon the spirit begins.

For me, spirituality and
fishing have a lot in common.

Casting a line on the water

is like asking a question
or saying a prayer.

Both rely on faith...

Faith that you're going to get
an answer...

Or in my case a fish.

You don't just become a shaman
in Mongolia.

A spirit picks you in childhood,

but only reveals itself
in later life.

She starts by banging a drum

to help her enter
a trancelike state.

Before my eyes, she transforms

from the soft-spoken person
I met in the ger

to a gruff-voiced oracle.

She is literally a woman
possessed.

Having looked at my palms,
although fishing is a bad thing,

it doesn't please the spirits,
there is some good in me,

and a spirit will bring
the fish to me.

But what I've got to do,
not just here, but other rivers,

is when I go to the river,

I've got to make some kind
of offering to the spirits

before I fish.

I've promised that
if I catch a taimen,

I'll let it go unharmed.

I've traveled thousands of miles

to try and catch this fish,

and so far,
I haven't gotten close.

I'll take any help I can get.

Before setting off again,
I do as the shaman ordered

and go down to the river

to give an offering of yak milk
to the spirits.

My time on the river
is getting short,

and there's still no sign
of any taimen.

A fisherman's fortune can turn
on a dime.

You can go day after day
without anything,

but then suddenly,

all of your frustrations
dissolve in a second.

I see a large shape in the
water, heading towards my lure.

Could this be my first taimen?

That's a fish.
That's a fish.

After seeing the telltale flash
of taimen red,

I'm sure that I have
the monster I dreamed about

on my line.

I almost took it on the drop
as it hit the water.

That's a good size, as well.

Yeah, we need to get clear
of the...

let's keep away from this rock.

Let's just go behind.

Oh

That came off, that came off.

I was sort of trying to muscle
it past this snag here.

But that just slipped
off the hook.

The shaman said that I would
get to see a taimen,

and that's exactly
what's happened.

But I've traveled over 4,000
miles, been fishing for days,

and I'm wondering now

if this is the closest
I'll ever get to one.

Jenga tells me of a likely spot
further downstream

where there's
a good set of rapids.

I start fishing immediately.

It's easy to get dejected,

but I'm trusting
my intuition again.

This is just where a taimen
could be lurking.

Then I spot a large one
coming up in the water,

and I feel my hopes rise.

Taimen tend to be
quite territorial.

If they're seen in a spot
very often,

they're still there later.

So with a bit of luck
and a few moments' time,

this could be inside his mouth.

Taimen
are the undisputed masters

of Mongolia's icy waters.

Will my lure trigger its
legendary predatory instinct?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Got a fish, got a fish!

Something has hit my lure,
and it's fighting hard.

Again, I see the distinctive
flash of red.

It's another taimen.

That's a strong fish,
a strong fish, this.

And this feels bigger
than the one that got away.

It's actually just
in this heavy water,

and that heavy water
is moving upstream,

so I'm just keeping
constant pressure.

There it is, there it is,
there it is.

It's in among some rocks.

If my line catches on one,
it could easily snap.

It might be ready.

To secure the taimen, Jenga
grabs hold of its tail.

Fantastic.

We both know its teeth

are capable of causing
some serious damage.

There's nothing like bringing
a good-size fish in

to make you forget
all your frustrations.

My first taimen... not
a monster, but a great start.

And there's a big old rapid,

and this was just
right on the edge of that.

Rubber fish, and it's just
bouncing down, bouncing down,

and it's got a little bit
of a kick on that tail there,

and something... boom!

And look at that.

That's a lovely fish.
That's a lovely fish.

Wow.

So, my first taimen.

And it's still got a lot
of fight left in it, actually.

I mean, it's just
one bar of muscle.

Very, very strong fish.

I mean, just to survive in these
rapids, this water...

I mean, there's more white water

than, you know,
still water here.

And this thing was living
right on the edge of that.

I mean, this fish really, really
living up to its reputation.

Its mouth is packed
with needle-sharp teeth.

They're angled back
like a shark's

so whatever it grabs hold of
won't get away.

Now, although this
is a predatory fish,

it's also, true to say,
it's a very pretty fish.

It's a very nicely marked fish.

But these spots, of course,

serve as perfect camouflage,
really, in this rocky river,

just blending in
with the background.

I mean, it makes it
a real stealth predator.

The shaman warned me not
to kill or harm any taimen.

I release it quickly

so I don't damage my chance
of finding an even bigger one.

Yeah, I think it's ready to go.

There it is.

Zoom!

I'm eager to carry on fishing,
but it's near nightfall,

and we have to get to the
safety of our nearby camp.

After catching my first taimen,

there's a new confidence
among us...

and we share stories
far into the night.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I get up early the next morning

to have one last go
in the rapids near camp.

This time, I'm going to try
heavy-duty fly fishing.

Maybe this will deliver
the big fish I'm after.

The taimen will most likely be
holding in the eddies and boils

behind the big rocks, so this
is where I aim my casts.

But with such a strong current
bumping my fly,

it's hard to feel the exact
moment when I have a take.

All of this is adding
to the pressure,

as this could be
my last chance here,

and I feel that I'm starting
to make mistakes.

Yeah, it's a fish, it's a fish.

No, it's off.

I just seen a fish
come up of my fly.

It was in the tail
of the white water there.

And I think I probably pulled it
out of its mouth.

I should have just given it
a little longer.

It's very hard in the heat
of the moment.

You just get this reflex.

You see the fish.
I wanted to set the hook.

But... ah!

But they're here, they're here,
and they're coming up.

After feeling
the power of the taimen,

I believe that a big one
could pull me off-balance

and into the water.

I need to keep my footing.

Suddenly, I'm being pulled
towards the water.

There's something big
on my line.

Yes, yes, yes, yes!

That's a fish, that's a fish!

I mustn't let the line snag on
the boulders or it's game over.

All right. I can see it.
I can see that red tail.

Right, now just
take it easy now.

Big, red tail.

This is a good-size fish.

Can see the fish really well

going out
into the current there.

The bigger they are,
the harder they fight,

and this one's fighting
with all its strength

to get away from me.

The adrenaline is pumping,
and my brain is telling me

to keep a constant tension
on the line

or this fish will throw my hook.

Okay. It's spinning,
it's spinning, it's spinning.

It's a two-man job
bringing this taimen in,

and our first attempt fails.

This is now difficult,

because the line is around
the body of the fish.

I've lost control of the fish.

I can't bring it
out of the strong current.

Jenga has to go out
into the middle of the river

to grab the taimen, hopefully
without getting bitten.

After an intense, nerve-racking
battle, a very long journey

that began back in my childhood
comes to an end.

Taimen on a fly.

Wow.

What a fish, what a fish.
Amazing fish.

This is a rare beast.
I'm lucky to see one this big.

Right.

Oh! The size of the head
on this thing.

Wow!

And look at the mouth on that
and just the muscle on this.

Just looking at this thing now,

you can just tell
how well-adapted it is

for this predatory lifestyle
in this fast water.

Very, very streamlined body.

Got this huge mouth, and the
teeth in there are just angled.

You know,
they almost come back flat,

which is why they're not
immediately visible.

And it's even got teeth
on the tongue.

If it sank those teeth into me,
it could do some damage.

I can feel this one still
has a lot of fight left in it.

It's time to return it
to its element.

What's really nice is this fish
is just flexing.

This fish is ready to go.

I'm gently supporting it
by the pectoral fins,

just taking the weight, but
jack's still holding the tail.

I think as soon as we let go
of the tail,

it's gonna support itself.

It might think
for a second or two,

and then I think it's gonna be
gone, back into this fast water.

I was worried that
I might never catch a taimen,

but I was lucky enough
to catch two in the same spot.

To me, this is also
an indicator.

The fact that the top predator
is still here

shows that this river
is still alive.

For the time being, at least,
this is a healthy river.

And just what an amazing sight
to see.

It's been the fulfillment
of a long-held personal goal

in a place of extraordinary
harshness and beauty,

and it proves that the fighting
spirit of Genghis Khan

is still alive and well
in Mongolia.

It's now time for me to leave
this mysterious wilderness

and head back
to the modern world.