Robson touches down in Papua New Guinea, a volatile, volcanic island that is home to multifarious tribes who speak over 800 languages. It is also home to the Papuan black bass, cited by many as the top prize when it comes to freshwater fighting fish.
After a journey involving 3 flights and 5 days, Robson Green touches down in Papua New Guinea, a volatile, volcanic island that is home to multifarious tribes who speak over 800 languages. It is also home to the Papuan black bass, cited by many as the top prize when it comes to freshwater fighting fish. In Kimbe, the capital of West New Britain, Robson meets hunter Riccard Reimann who takes him to the jungle rivers where the fiercely territorial bass makes its home. And its reputation as one of the world’s toughest fighters is soon confirmed as the first specimen they manage to hook has no intention of getting in the boat. A volunteer is sought to dive into the crocodile infested river to see if the monster can be brought to the surface.
Away from the water, Robson gets his hands dirty on the hunt for megapode eggs in the smoking shadow of the volcano Mt Tavurvur. The megapode, a kind of tropical turkey, incubates its eggs in a pungent cocktail of sand and rotting compost. The eggs are highly prized and they make the perfect gift for Robson’s next hosts – fishermen who ply their trade on the edge of a reef, using just hand lines that reach a depth of over 500ft. It is hard graft, but a tropical feast awaits after a day’s toil.
His last Papuan mission sees Robson sail out in the open ocean in the biggest boat he can find to see if he can bring in a goldfish. The ruby snapper, or giant goldfish as it is commonly known, turns out to be one of the most bizarre creatures he has ever landed.
This escapade leaves just enough time for one last fisherman’s tale about a mammoth of the deep, with the power to break 250lb lines, and which no one has ever brought to the surface. Robson’s reel goes from twitchy to smoking and maybe, just maybe, one of these huge predators is about to make its presence felt above the waves.