In 2009, “River Monsters” was unleashed on the public.
A television series dealing exclusively with big, scary and intense freshwater fish from around the world it quickly became a television sensation. Each of the initial seven premiere episodes pulled in an average of one million households, making it the highest rated show in the history of the Animal Planet network.
It was more watched even than Steve Irwin’s legendary “The Crocodile Hunter” series.
One of the initial episodes dealt with alligator garfish and filmed on the Trinity River and according to host Jeremy Wade they proved to be a true challenge.
“I loved fishing for the alligator garfish in Texas. Your state is one of the last places you have a chance to catch those in any kind of numbers,” Wade said.
Unlike many of the giant fish he has pursued, gar proved frustrating in the strike department.
“Most of the really big fish take the bait and run with it. It may be really hard to locate them but once the fish takes the bait they are off with it. The garfish would peck on a bite for a while and sometimes run as far as 100 yards before you can set the hook. That made it quite challenging,” Wade said.
