Victorian ex-pats in the service of the British Empire told of supercharged monster fish in the Himalayas,­ tackle-busting giants that put even the largest salmon to shame.

Equipped with 21st Century tackle and no small amount of scepticism, angling adventurer Jeremy Wade sets out to find out if any of these stories hold true today and sets himself the epic challenge of catching some of the largest, most bizarre and most dangerous fish he can find.

Jeremy’s quest sees him search for the mighty golden Himalayan mahseer, the carp-like rohu, the serpentine catfish and the vermin of the water the hideous goonch catfish.

Along the way Jeremy meets a range of local characters from local angling expert Vinay Badola to an Indian prince and his entourage, but whether he can catch any of the elusive monsters on his hit list remains to be seen.

The five part series will be on-air for five weeks on Discovery Real time, Fridays at 10.00pm from 24th February to 24th March inclusive.