Jeremy Wade takes on Africa’s wild Zambezi River to unmask an invisible predator that’s dragging fisherman to their deaths.  

Crocs and hippos are guilty of killing dozens of victims in plain view, yet it seems there is another monstrous beast stalking these deep and turbulent waters. Locals speak of the ‘Mazunda’, but what is this sinister, child-swallowing creature?

Plunging gorges and boat-battering rapids make the Zambezi one of the most treacherous places Jeremy has ever fished.  But hearing an eyewitness account of a fifteen foot leviathan and obtaining the first ever permissions to fish in the Kariba Dam there is no turning back .

Mongolian Mauler – Taimen, Mongolia 
When Jeremy hears of a recent bloody attack in a remote Mongolian river, he wonders  if it could be the work of a giant fish so rare that it’s more legend than fact.  
Pound for pound, this man-sized monster is said to be one of the world’s strongest fighters on a line – or at least, it was.  
With illegal gold miners poisoning its last hideouts, it’s anyone’s guess if this pumped-up predator is still alive and biting.Jeremy’s quest to track it down leads him into a vast landlocked wilderness where the only people he’s likely to meet are gun-toting outlaws.  
Could the rivers here that are frozen over for 6 months of the year, be home to the last remaining stronghold of a beast that Jeremy has read about but never seen?

American Shark – Bull Shark, Florida 

Jeremy is on the trail of a potentially lethal animal suspected of prowling inland waters right under the noses of tens of thousands of people.  
Over the past few years he has been receiving information from USA suggesting there are fresh water monsters right in their back gardens.  
And one area on the receiving end is this tourist hot spot of Florida. A series of Bull Shark attacks in New Jersey in 1916 were the inspiration of the block buster movie Jaws and two of the attacks happened in a river 16 miles inland.  
Bull Sharks are one of the elite handful of fish are capable of living and thriving in both fresh and saltwater and Jeremy has been getting reports that they are well established in the sunshine state. After speaking with the survivor of a near-fatal Bull shark attack, Jeremy formulates a plan to land one of these giants and find out if these deadly animals really are prowling Florida’s inland waters and a modern day jaws just waiting to happen.

Asian Slayer – Sareng Catfish, Northern India 

Jeremy returns to the remote rivers of India’s Himalayas to investigate a fresh spate of savage attacks.  Jeremy thinks he knows the perpetrator’s identity, but his plans to catch the monster hit trouble when the locals warn him that it’s a sacred animal with supernatural powers, carrying the souls of the dead to the gods, and he’ll be cursed if he touches it.  
Not a man to turn back, Jeremy pursues his quarry regardless – but as things start to go badly wrong the hunt takes on an unnerving psychological dimension. Will Wade’s single-minded determination triumph over the Gods, or with the ability to slice clean through a 130llb line, will this prove a beast too far?

Russian Killer – Kaluga Sturgeon, Russia

Jeremy takes his first trip to Russia and a three day trip to the remote Amur River, where the mysterious deaths of three men appear to be linked with a reclusive freshwater giant.
The prime suspect is a predator that can top a ton and exceed eighteen feet in length – yet it’s a beast that for some reason, no-one wants Jeremy to find and even the police stop him from fishing. With his investigation running into a wall of silence, Jeremy begins to suspect he’s stumbled into a dark secret he isn’t meant to know. Can he make sense of the bizarre triple homicide? And can he track down the fish he believes is responsible?  Or is this fish the real victim and on the edge of extinction for its caviar? 

Pack of Teeth – Botswana

In southern Africa there are rumours of a deadly fish. It lurks unseen in the eerie waters of the Okavango. A killer with shark like teeth, there are stories of it hunting in packs, feeding in frenzies on schooling fish, or even human bodies. It sounds like the work of giant piranhas but there’s nothing like that here. Or is there? Extreme angler Jeremy Wade is on a mission to see if he can track down and identify this terrifying river monster.

American Killer Catfish – USA

As humans encroach on the world of animals, extreme angler Jeremy Wade hears reports of attacks happening in tourist hotspots in the USA. He travels to one of the largest dams in the America, on the trail of a river monster that is responsible for the mysterious disappearance of corpses.
Jeremy goes in search of the people who’ve encountered this beast face to face and attempts to get one on the end of his line. Will Jeremy be willing to risk it all by using himself as bait, in order to find the creature behind the myth and unearth the mystery of the missing corpses?

Invisible Executioner – Zambia

Jeremy Wade takes on Africa’s wild Zambezi River to unmask an invisible predator that’s dragging fisherman to their deaths.  Crocs and hippos are guilty of killing dozens of victims in plain view, yet it seems there is another monstrous beast stalking these deep and turbulent waters. Locals speak of the ‘Mazunda’, but what is this sinister, child-swallowing creature?

Plunging gorges and boat-battering rapids make the Zambezi one of the most treacherous places Jeremy has ever fished.  But when he hears an eyewitness account of a fifteen foot leviathan, there is no turning back.

 Phantom Assassin – Australia

Extreme angler Jeremy Wade returns to Australia’s deadly Fitzroy River on his toughest quest yet – to catch one of the world’s rarest fish, the Glyphis Shark. It is so elusive that it was only discovered 10 years ago; so rare that only a handful have ever been seen; and so mysterious that next to nothing is known about it.  But could this endangered rarity be a man-eater?Braving killer crocodiles, dangerous fish and deadly tides, can Jeremy become one of the first people ever to catch a Glyphis?  And can he discover whether it has been preying on people?

River Monsters is showing on ITV1 on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm from January 1st 2013 

River Monsters – A tale of obsession, adventure and very rare fish, published by Orion is now available in paperback. 

River Monsters season 4 starts Tuesday Jan 1st at 7.30pm on ITV1.
A full one-hour long version will be repeated on ITV4 at 9pm every Wednesday.