The Razor-Toothed Terror of Cuba | Chasing Monsters Season 1 Episode 8

Ajouté : 2026-05-24

[00:00:01]My name is Sirill Shoke and I spend my life traveling the world chasing monster fish. Now I should let it go before a bull shark takes my leg off. Very strong animal as you can see.

[00:00:15]Look at the size of this piranha. And that's exactly what I'm doing here in Cuba. I came on a double mission to catch one of the most feared predator fish in the ocean.

[00:00:25]>> Lightning quake.

[00:00:26]>> Something man.

[00:00:27]>> Oh my god. And with a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, the barracuda [music] is definitely one of the deadliest killing machines in the water and can cause some serious injuries.

[00:00:37]>> I've seen monster barracudas before.

[00:00:39]>> You guys want to see a big cuda?

[00:00:42]>> But they're true giants here in Cuba, too. And I want to catch the biggest one possible. The second part of my mission is to catch another predator fish known for reaching gigantic sizes and giving an incredible fight. The tarpon.

[00:01:02]I'm on a mission to catch a monster bakuda. You know, this fish, they are known by most people. They're actually feared by most people for being one of the most aggressive predators out there.

[00:01:11]And in a way, you know, they their reputation is justified cuz those things, they have nasty teeth on them about this long. They can be almost as tall as me, really, like really really big. And at the end of a rod like this, let me tell you, it's the fight of your life. And also while I'm here, I'd love to catch myself a monster tarpon. You know, those things also, they get really, really big. You know, close to 300 lb. They're very historic animals.

[00:01:35]You know, the last fight I had with a tarpon, that was in Western Africa. It was quite a fight.

[00:01:40]But first, that over there looks like a really good spot to catch a big barracuda.

[00:01:47]I'm near the Bay of Pigs in western Cuba on the shores of the Caribbean Sea.

[00:01:53]The famous writer Ernest Hemingway would fish off the shores of Cuba, chasing enormous blue marins. But the fish I'm looking for can be found pretty close to the coast and can actually be caught right from the shore. In fact, [music] Cuba is one of the best places in the world to find the two predator fish I'm looking for. Plus, tarpon and barracuda can often be found in similar environments along the shore and in river estuaries.

[00:02:20]See, when you're fishing off of rocks like here, you really got to be careful because it's really dangerous. You don't want to get too too close to the water's edge, even though it's pretty tempting.

[00:02:28]You want to cast as far as possible. You want to have the best presentation for your lure as possible. Stay away from the especially the wet rocks. You know, they give you a pretty clear indication of where the surf is going to break and where you might be washed by a wave or knocked out by a wave cuz you're going to get slammed back onto the jagged rocks. It's like blades. You don't want to fall on that, let me tell you.

[00:02:49]A few years ago on a deserted island off the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, I was caught off guard and knocked over by a huge wave that dragged me along some sharp rocks.

[00:02:59]>> Oh my god.

[00:03:03]>> The rocks here are just as dangerous, if not more. I have to be really careful.

[00:03:08]If I got hit by a wave here, it'd be really bad. But to catch properly, I don't really have a choice. I have to get close to the water.

[00:03:20]Honestly, where does this wind come from? It came out of nowhere, you know?

[00:03:23]It was Yeah, it was a little windy, but nothing like now. Now it just picked up like crazy. The wind is whipping around me, making it even harder to stand on these jagged rocks.

[00:03:34]I'm testing my lure parallel to the shoreline and close to the breaking swell because barracuda and other [music] predator fish will hunt the easy prey that are disoriented by the crashing waves.

[00:03:46]Yep. Fish on.

[00:03:53]It's a good fish. It's a good fish.

[00:03:57]Oh, it's going to the rocks. I don't have a choice. If I want to be able to land this big fish, I have to get closer to the edge. But it's really tough. My footing here is really bad. And again, it's not the kind of place where you want to fall.

[00:04:13]I don't think it's a barracuda cuz a barracuda would be running straight up to the on the surface. That's a snapper type thing or the problem is that the fish managed to get under a rock and the line is rubbing against it. Now it's going to be almost impossible to pull it off without breaking off.

[00:04:46]It was not a barracuda because a barracuda would have been uh running straight. You know, they're not a they're not a duck fighter. They don't go down, you know. They don't bully down. They try to look for open water.

[00:04:56]They swim straight, stay on top, stay on surface. This guy was going down. But I was a big either a big snapper or big uh big cabar, which is still a snapper, but it's another type of snapper. Big cabar snapper. I think that's what he was.

[00:05:10]Even if it was not a barracuda, I would have loved to catch this fish.

[00:05:15]I have another 5 days in Cuba and I'll definitely get another shot at a barracuda. But I'm on a double mission and today I'm going for big tarpon on the Hatiguano River, which is really close to a famous historical site. So I got to make a quick stop.

[00:05:32]Those are old tanks from the uh the famous invasion, the Bay of Pigs that took place in ' 61. Exactly where it took place here in Pier Hiron in this whole area. The uh the Bay of Pigs is right there and that's where the uh that's where the battle took place. But it's also famous for big tarpon right around here, you know, in the Sienna Zapata and Rioano. I've been there before, but apparently there's monster tarpon. So that's exactly where I'm headed.

[00:05:58]I've fished this river [music] before and caught a few tarpon, but they were just small ones. But when I recently spoke to my buddy Filipe, he told me he finally found a spot where a really big fish are.

[00:06:12][laughter] My buddy Filipe hasn't changed a bit.

[00:06:34]Always super motivated when it comes to chasing big fish.

[00:06:49]The Hati River runs through one of the wildest areas of Cuba. And here we are right in the heart of crocodile country.

[00:06:59]I'm going to try to catch a tarpon with a bucktail jig tied onto an 80 lb leader.

[00:07:05]Sabo Rolando.

[00:07:07]>> This is it. This is the spot where they've been uh they've been seeing and actually catching some pretty big tarpon. I always heard that this river was known for, it's actually always been known for smaller size tarpon, baby tarpon we call them. But apparently there's a monster ones as well.

[00:07:36]>> Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Big snook. Big snook.

[00:07:38]Oh.

[00:07:45]Huge snook.

[00:07:47]Man, I'm chasing tarpon, but let me tell you, when I catch [music] a snook this size, I'm a happy camper right there.

[00:07:53]Look at that. Grande. Grande.

[00:07:55]>> I think that's a snook. Yeah.

[00:07:56]>> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Fish.

[00:07:59]This is a nice one.

[00:08:02]>> That's a big fish.

[00:08:06]>> Okay.

[00:08:09]Size of this.

[00:08:14]Oh man, >> look at the size of this snook.

[00:08:18][laughter] >> River on the river.

[00:08:20]>> Really?

[00:08:21]>> You think it's something? [laughter] That's a really big snook.

[00:08:26]>> That's a huge snook. My friend Felipe, I love you, man [laughter] right there. Check this out. I was chasing a monster tarpon. Felipe says, "You know, it's a good spot here for tarpon. Usually make a cast there. make one cast and this massive thing, this massive snook comes out of underneath the mangrove trees and bang, hits my my jig. It's a It's a monster snook. It's a big snook, let me tell you. It's my biggest snook. And it's it's actually Filipe's biggest snook on the river here.

[00:08:52]>> That's right. Normally 3 4 kilos, but this is 67 kilos.

[00:08:56]>> 67 kilos, huh? Close to 20 uh 15 lbs, I would say. Right.

[00:09:00]>> 14 15 lb. Yeah.

[00:09:01]>> 15 lbs. Yeah, for sure.

[00:09:02]>> I'm going to let that fish breathe a little bit cuz I want to pull it out again and show you something about it.

[00:09:08]You know, there's one thing that you really have to be careful about when you handle snook and especially big ones like that. You know, this part here of the gill plate sticks out and it's a blade. It really acts as a blade. It's so sharp. You would cut your finger for sure. It would cut the line. If the line line gets wrapped around that, it'll cut it trying to grab the fish. You could put your fingers in underneath the uh the gill cover here, like you can do for certain fish, but those fish especially, it's really dangerous because of that blade here. And here underneath the fish, that fin here, it's a needle. If you get caught by that, it'll go straight through your hand. And obviously, you get that spike on top, you know, like those those five spikes actually that act as a dorsal fin. You don't want to be cut by that either.

[00:09:49]Look, telling you, it's all needles. So, those fish, you grab them by the uh by the mouth. They don't have teeth. That's a monster.

[00:09:59]All right, buddy. I'll let you go back in in there. Right. Back underneath your mangrove tree.

[00:10:21]>> I really lucked out with this beautiful snook. It's not the fish I'm looking for, but I'm so happy I caught it. Now I just hope I'm going to be as lucky with a tarpon.

[00:10:32]Last time I caught a tarpon, it was in West Africa.

[00:10:35]>> Big tarpon.

[00:10:35]>> The fish put up an incredible fight. I managed to get the big fish right to the boat, but we lost it.

[00:10:44]>> So, I just hope to be a bit more lucky this time.

[00:10:49]>> Oh, you got one.

[00:10:50]>> Yeah.

[00:10:52]A snook.

[00:10:54]Snook, man.

[00:10:55]>> That's an a regular size of the snook on the river.

[00:10:58]>> Yeah, that's what you you catch most of the time, huh?

[00:11:00]>> It's good for compar with the with the other we're going to catch.

[00:11:03]>> Nice fish, man. [laughter] And there's not a lot of tarpon activity today on the surface because those fish, they can they can breathe underwater just like any fish, but they can also come up to the surface and breathe and breathe normal regular air. They have this ability to do that. And especially when there's really low oxygen levels in the water, they they have to come up to the surface. But today, you know, like uh there's not much happening. And the good thing is when they come to to the surface to gulp air that shows you where they are, you know, so you can lead the cast, you know, you can see where they they come up to the surface, make a cast in front of him, and hopefully, you know, hook into a a monster fish.

[00:11:49]So, what we have to do is cast, blank cast we call that, and [music] just cover some water and hopefully, you know, we'll uh >> You got it.

[00:11:58]>> Oh, it's a tarpon.

[00:12:00]>> Yeah, tarpon. Yeah, it's baby one. Okay.

[00:12:03]All right. Tarpon. Okay. Okay. Okay.

[00:12:08]Nice. Woohoo.

[00:12:14][laughter] It's not what we want in terms of size, but it's a tarpon. [music] At least it's the right species. Baby tarpon.

[00:12:27]There you go. Ready?

[00:12:31]Woo!

[00:12:34]All right, baby tarpon.

[00:12:38]My god.

[00:12:40]Unbelievable the power of this fish. I grabbed this fish by the mouth, you know, and the mouth the mouth is pretty much the only place you can grab this fish, you know. I don't really like grabbing them by the uh the gill plate, but the inside of the mouth, look, it's all it's like a foul, you know. It's a they don't have teeth, per se, but it's a it's so rough. When the fish shook its head, it got me in the uh knuckles here.

[00:13:00]Look the it's not my it's not the fish's blood. It's a it's a it's mine. So imagine this fish in a in a in 150 lbs on the boat.

[00:13:09]>> We got a tarpon.

[00:13:11]>> You know, you don't want to bring them on the boat. Actually, that's why, you know, we release them both side. If we get a big fish like that, you don't want to bring it on boat cuz they'll destroy everything, including us.

[00:13:22]Man, they're powerful.

[00:13:28]That's it. It's already time to head back. We have to get going since it's a long way back to the docks. It's too bad I didn't catch a big tarpon today. But catching that big snook is a good sign that I might get the much the fish I want.

[00:13:44]Third day in Cuba and still no barracuda, no big tarpon, but huge crabs though. Redland crabs. In fact, it's hundreds and hundreds of them migrating in order to reproduce.

[00:13:55]>> Millions of years ago, there were no roads. They could go back to their woods uh easily and now they get crushed on the road. It's pretty sad.

[00:14:04]>> Yes. Made it.

[00:14:06]Crush the road. Oh, yes. Still a knife.

[00:14:12]I don't even hear the crushing sounds of the uh the shells on their tires. Poor crabs. It's a rough trip getting back to their bars in the mangro forest.

[00:14:24]I'm now headed to another area of Sienna de Zapata. I heard that it's really good for barracuda. This is a huge wetland area and barracuda love taking advantage of these warm shallow [music] waters to ambush their prey. I'm tying on a metal leader cuz this fish, let me tell you, this [music] barracudas, as you know, they have nasty teeth, especially in the back here. They have sharp teeth.

[00:14:44][music] It's like razor blades. And if you don't have a metal leader at the end of your line, forget it. You know, they'll go right through [music] your line and break you off or cut you off, actually. foreign.

[00:15:07][laughter] What I really want to catch is a true monster fish. A huge barracuda like the one I saw in the South Pacific.

[00:15:19]>> You guys want to see a big cuda?

[00:15:22]A fish this big is pretty rare, but I know there are monsters here. But fish are not the only predators around.

[00:15:28]Crocodiles have also been seen in these marshes.

[00:15:33]I spent quite a while looking for a kayak and lost a lot of fish in time. In 3 hours, the sun will go down on these flats and my day will be over. The barracuda, they love those channels.

[00:15:42][music] You see that channel, that deeper channel between two flats? That's a flat here. So, it's pretty shallow areas. And between shallow areas, usually you have a a channel. In barracuda, they're ambushed predators.

[00:15:53]So, what they do is they sit there waiting for the uh small bait fish and bait fish in general, bone fish to pass by and ambush them. Bang, and they hit them. So, that's exactly what I'm going to do right now. I'm going to give them giving them an easy prey.

[00:16:10]Barracuda love to chase prey that move fast. So, to fish in these shallow waters, I'm using a top water bait that mimics the erratic movement of an injured bait fish fleeing on the surface.

[00:16:25]I'm going to put this lure on a popper silver color. Usually barracuda, they react to silver like crazy. They love that color cuz it mimics a prey. You know, a bait fish when they show their flanks, it's silver. It's silver flashes. And anything that's silver flashes, bang. That's what they go for.

[00:16:41]That's why there's a lot of accidents with a barracuda because if you're wearing a bracelet for example or watch a silver watch on the water [music] and you're swimming, you know that silver watch when you're swimming, when you're making movements, it's going to it's going to make some flashes in the water and that's what barracuda react to. So they attack the bracelet thinking it's a thinking it's a prey and it's actually your hand. But let me tell you, when it's a 30 [music] lb barracuda attacks your your hand, it's gone. I lost a bit of skin on my knuckles with the tarpon yesterday, >> baby tarpon.

[00:17:08]>> And it was just a small fish. But here I have to be really careful because while handling a barracuda, I could lose way more than just a bit of skin.

[00:17:17]Although rare, barracuda attacks on humans do happen and the resulting wounds can be pretty severe.

[00:17:36]Here we Here we go. Fish on. That's a good fish.

[00:17:46]It's not a big one yet.

[00:17:50]That is not quite what we want.

[00:17:56][laughter] Nice fish. Not quite. You know, for a barracuda pretty much the same thing as a as for the tarpon. No, that's a [clears throat] that's a baby barracuda.

[00:18:06][music] Just no size to it. But that just shows you how aggressive this fish are. Look at the size of the the lure compared to [music] the size of the fish. It's one/ird of the the length of that barracuda. And look at the teeth on this guy. Nasty teeth. This first barra is so small, it's like a joke. But the good news is they can only get bigger from now on.

[00:18:40]fish on. That's a good fish.

[00:18:49]All right, it's getting a little more interesting.

[00:18:54]Still no monster, far from it, but uh that's a good fish.

[00:19:00]Second Barracuda. Just a little bit bigger this time. At this rate, I should find the monster I want by the end of this trip. Come on, bud.

[00:19:12][music] Well, I don't think I'll catch that much barracuda today. It's too bad cuz they are out here for sure. There's got to be monsters here. You know, fish like this long, like three, four feet long. Teeth on them like this. Although, that's not the end of the trip. You know, I'm here for a few few more days. So, I might still get a shot at a monster barracuda.

[00:19:44]Although, now I'd better rush back with that kayak cuz the sun is setting fast.

[00:19:52]Fourth day in Cuba and I'm still chasing a monster barracuda and a big tarpon.

[00:19:56]Well, it was cool catching this barracuda and and the baby tarpon.

[00:20:00]Although, you know, they were not really big. You know, that's what they're called, baby tarpon in a way. You know, I want size now. I want a big monster barracuda and a big tarpon. Honestly, it's doable. You know, I still have a few more days in Cuba. Should be doable.

[00:20:11]Catching monster fish.

[00:20:16]This morning, I'm headed to the Zaza River, which is known for its strong population of big tarpon. There, I'll meet up with Lewis, who I've fished with before. It's pretty exciting to be back fishing on the Zaza River, especially since Louis was telling me that he's been seeing a really big tarpons in the last few weeks.

[00:20:40]See, the way we're fishing right now is we're trolling along these mangrove trees. And the way those trees are made is that underneath the uh the surface, you can't really see it from here, but there's a lot of roots. And fish love that. They they hide in there. It provides shelter. There's a lot of food, too. So, when you troll paddle to the uh to the trees, fish, what they do is they see these lures. and they come out, ambush them, take them and go right back to uh to where they belong, right? To where they live, underneath the trees.

[00:21:06]So, if you're not fast enough, if the captain is not fast enough steering the boat away from the structure, away from these trees, they get tangled up and most likely you lose the fish.

[00:21:27]fishing stories or fisherman stories.

[00:21:29]It's always the same thing, you know.

[00:21:30]He's telling me about 170 lb tarpon that was caught here. Monster cabara snappers 70 lb actually and a and a 50 lb barracuda. That's huge fish. You have no idea. That's monsters. But obviously all that stuff happens when you're not here.

[00:21:50]A good fish and stuck.

[00:21:53]>> Incredible fish.

[00:21:55]>> Just to contradict me, I just got a huge hit.

[00:22:01]It's a good fish. It's not a tarpon cuz he would have jumped already, but I don't know what it is.

[00:22:09]It's really, really good fish.

[00:22:16]This fish is I'm The fish wrapped himself around a log on the bottom or or mangro tree. It's stuck. I don't want to lose it cuz I haven't tal fish or a log or something.

[00:22:29]Ah, no. It's not going to happen twice.

[00:22:31]A damn it.

[00:22:41]No. I can't stop. I can't stop. I can't stop.

[00:22:44]It really felt like the fish broke me off. But in fact, he went around a branch or log on the bottom, which created some slack in the line. But the good thing is the fish is still on.

[00:22:54]Kuba snapper.

[00:22:59]>> Hey, that's unreal. For a minute there, I was sure I lost this fish. And yet, it's still here. That's big snapper.

[00:23:11]>> [laughter] >> Look at the size of this cabar snapper.

[00:23:22]Beautiful fish, man. I was sure I was going to lose this fish cuz he got wrapped up on on some mangrove trees on the bottom. Finally managed to get it out of the uh the the tree was hung up into. Beautiful cabar snapper. See, now I have a fishing story for myself.

[00:23:40]Look at the fangs on that thing.

[00:23:49]It's unbelievable. I caught some beautiful fish like that huge snook and that nice cabar snapper. But no big tarpon, [music] no barracuda yet. And I only have two days left in Cuba. Anyway, my buddy Lu has an idea. He knows a guy who knows another guy who apparently can take me to some really good spots.

[00:24:20]All right, I have a couple of names of guys to go fishing with. The plan is to go out for tarpon later today with a guy named Nino. And tomorrow I'm supposed to hook up with another guy, Guo.

[00:24:34]All right, let's go for that monster back I've been telling you about. I'm on my way to the Trinidad Marina to meet with one of the the fisherman that the guy at the bar was telling me about yesterday.

[00:24:57]I talked to the guy this morning and apparently, you know, he's he's good.

[00:25:00]you know, he's been fishing here for for many years, and he was telling me that there's monster barracuda. They're not easy to get. They're scarce, but there's monsters. So, hopefully I'll get that monster fish. Monster Barracuda I've been telling you about since the beginning of the trip.

[00:25:33]Looks like [music] the tarpon is going to be a tough one here again. You know, from what he was telling me, it rained a lot last week. And what happens when it rains is that all the dirt gets washed down to the main rivers by the smaller streams, smaller rivers and stuff. And what happens is that the river, the main rivers, they're all dirty. And uh here especially apparently from what he was telling me that when the the water is dirty, the tarpon, they shut their mouth. They don't bite. They don't eat.

[00:25:55]We can still go and uh give it a shot.

[00:25:57]But but I might give myself one more shot at tarpon and then >> barracuda.

[00:26:06]Apparently they've been spotting some really big tarpon rolling up to the surface. That's what I was telling you the other day. They've been spotting them. Not catching so many, but looks like they're here.

[00:26:16]>> Nino is taking me on the Aabama River to try and catch a tarpon. The conditions are not ideal as it's rain and the water is kind of murky, but it could be one of my last chances to catch a tarpon on this trip.

[00:26:38]>> It's not to justify the fact that I just got snagged, but honestly, you have to get uh snagged because the fish, they live in structures. They live under the those mangrove trees and stuff, you know. So, if you don't if you don't go in there, you know, you're not going to catch. But if you go in there, you might get snagged. But in a way, if you get snagged, it's a good thing because that means that you're fishing in the right places. I cast all along the mangrove trees, but no sign of any fish. So, I decide to troll a little bit to cover as much water as possible and hopefully catch a tarpon. After all, the trolling landed me a big snapper on the last river I fished on. Look at the size of this cabara snapper.

[00:27:18]As you know, it's my favorite tech technique, right? Love it.

[00:27:29]I just want to be walking up.

[00:27:45]I'm trying to stay positive and keep thinking I'm going to catch a tarpon, but I got to say I'm kind of losing hope here.

[00:28:01]Jack.

[00:28:09]>> I think that's a jack. The way it moves, you know, a tarpon, I would know right away. Was a tarpon. Tarpon, as soon as it's hooked, pretty much it goes airborne. He jumps out of the water to try to get the hooks off his mouth.

[00:28:33]Jack Carval, see the grunting sound?

[00:28:36]This grunting noise that they make? It's actually a distress or warning signal that they emit to uh to the rest of the school cuz they live in schools. But I'll let you go, buddy. There's no distress here. You're going right back to your buddies.

[00:29:02]It's getting late and still no bite from a tarpon. Nino proposes a change of plan. He thinks conditions in the river are not ideal and we should go offshore to meet up with GMO. He's already fishing a spot that's apparently really good for big barracuda.

[00:29:21]The day is coming to an end, so I make the most of it. I keep trolling while we look for Garmmo.

[00:29:33]>> Finally, we found Garmmo at sea. The problem is that it's getting late and we're really far out. Plus, according to Cuban law, it's forbidden to navigate at night.

[00:29:45]I don't know how we'll make it back to the harbor before dark, but anyway, now we're all motivated to catch a barracuda and a big one.

[00:29:59][laughter] at sea without his friend and first mate Alberto.

[00:30:11]>> Here we go for that monster barracuda. I just tied on a 100 lb fluorocarbon leader.

[00:30:16]>> We set up a few rods for trolling. The plan is to cover a lot of water and maximize our chances of catching a big barracuda.

[00:30:23]Speaking of barracuda, the last one gear caught left him with a bad scar.

[00:30:33]No, they hook into a barracuda while trolling. They fought it, brought it onto the boat. The thing was 22 lbs. So about about this long. So the head on it was about must have been about this this thick. And those things, let me tell you, he was telling me that he was thrashing around. He got nailed, you know, like he he knows fishing obviously. So he he got just time to actually remove his hand, but still the bear could have got him on a on the finger and barely touch him and already look at the uh the cut.

[00:31:10]could a gear mukat almost took his finger off and now he's very nervous at the idea of bringing one on board.

[00:31:33]It's not the monster that I'm looking for, but at least it's bigger than the barracuda I caught on the flats. We barely have an hour left to fish, but with a bit of luck, I might catch a huge one.

[00:31:46][laughter] >> Look at the teeth on this monster fish.

[00:31:54]For a fish, it's a nice fish, but for a barracuda, let me tell you, it's still a baby barracuda.

[00:32:10]>> [laughter] >> He wants to keep it cuz that's a that's our meal for tonight.

[00:32:18]>> I would have loved to release this fish, but in this case, if we're stuck at sea, it's all we have to eat.

[00:32:28]Germa was telling me that it's impossible. They can't travel by night and it's uh it's already dark, so we're going to have to spend the the the night on an island nearby. I guess there's a cheese over there.

[00:32:39]That's pretty cool. At least we have some fish to eat.

[00:32:43]>> Alberto and GMO just spotted an island to spend the night on.

[00:32:48]>> Approaching a remote and deserted island, it's like we're back in a time of the pirates.

[00:32:58]GMO and I decide to go explore this island to see if we can find something to eat and more importantly to see if we can actually sleep on it somewhere.

[00:33:07][music] An iguana aa which is a large rod. What other creatures are we going to find on this mysterious island?

[00:33:24]This mangrove island is full of life.

[00:33:26]It's not very reassuring to know that we might sleep among it all. At the least, I need to make sure there are no crocodiles or scorpions here. Look at the size of this crap. Unbelievable.

[00:33:37][laughter] Look at the size of that thing. That claw. Unbelievable.

[00:33:45]I don't want any of these guys crawling up into my uh my bed. Actually, this is not even a ben, you know. I barely have a blanket to sleep on the ground.

[00:33:54]In many areas of the world, eating barracuda can give you a severe illness called cigotera poisoning. But in this region of Cuba, the guys guarantee that the fish are safe to eat. [laughter] >> These guys know how to deal with their stress. What started as a tense situation turned out to [music] be a fun dinner. [laughter] >> Honestly, I had no idea that this fish would taste so good out of can.

[00:34:23]The fish is so good. So tasty. They actually cooked it with rum.

[00:34:27]>> That's why it tastes so good. That's their recipe. Cuban recipe right there, man. I love it.

[00:34:37]>> Waking up on a deserted island is pretty cool, but last night when it came down to choosing between adventure or safety, we chose to sleep on the boat.

[00:34:46]Sleeping on the ground of a mangrove island where you're not sure what kind of creatures are around is not the smartest thing to do.

[00:34:53]>> You really thought I was going to sleep on the island with the crabs and the whatever other animals live on there and stuff. Ah, mining. But come on, much better off on the boat here.

[00:35:12]Talking about a prehistoric animal, we got one right there. iguana. Man, these things have been around millions of years. I don't know how old exactly, but that's I'm pretty sure it's not far from the tarpon.

[00:35:26]>> It's my last day in Cuba, and I have yet to see a monster barracuda. It's really time my luck changes.

[00:35:33]>> Brand new, just got out of the box.

[00:35:37]>> I just tied down an artificial lure that mimics the movement of a bait fish swimming just below the surface, where bear could have loved to hunt. All right, let's go find that big barracuda.

[00:35:58]Woohoo! Fish on. Fish on.

[00:36:03]Oh, yes. It's a good fish. It's a good fish. Woohoo.

[00:36:09]>> We've been trolling for a while and finally we have a bite.

[00:36:15]But it's not a bad >> Yes.

[00:36:28]And that's a beautiful snapper. Those fish are so good eating. It's one of the best eating fish around here. So, I think they'll want to eat this fish.

[00:36:42]No, [laughter] >> that's what I was telling you.

[00:36:56]>> Time is running out, but we're really far from the harbor and we have to turn back. The guys want that big barracuda as much as I do, but Cuban law prohibits navigation at night, so we just hope that we get lucky on the way back.

[00:37:11]Oh yes.

[00:37:17]Another fish on the >> line.

[00:37:32]Look how nasty these things look. Mean killer machine. Look at the fangs on on that beast.

[00:37:41]All right, buddy. Going back.

[00:37:44]>> It's still not a monster, but certainly four or five lbs bigger than the last one.

[00:37:48]>> The good news is this barracuda around and they're on the hunt.

[00:37:56]>> The sun is going down and KMO lets me troll for a few more minutes on the way back to the harbor.

[00:38:07]Okay.

[00:38:11]>> Fish fish on.

[00:38:17]That's a big fish.

[00:38:20]That's a big fish. Big fish.

[00:38:22]>> That's a big bang that we wanted right there.

[00:38:25]>> I think we got it. I hope >> I get a little bit of line back, but I can tell this fish is heavy and powerful. And the fight is not over yet.

[00:38:46]This fish is putting up a big fight, but he's getting tired and he's getting close to the boat.

[00:38:57]Woohoo!

[00:39:03]That is one big backbit right there.

[00:39:13]I got him off.

[00:39:17]>> Yes. Now we're talking. That's a big cuda. That's the monster I was talking about. Look at the teeth. Look at the fangs on that thing. They got hit by something, huh?

[00:39:28]Yes.

[00:39:32]Now, imagine this thing going for your bracelet or your watch when I was telling you that you'd lose a hand. Now, you know what I'm talking about, right?

[00:39:39]These fish are lightning fast, and they usually strike at full speed with that mouth full of teeth. So, imagine their prey don't stand a chance.

[00:39:51]>> 24 lb. Look how nasty it is down there.

[00:39:54]This is a bite mark. This thing got attacked either by a barracuda, another barracuda, or shark.

[00:40:00]But it should be fine. [music] It's not a deep one. Bye-bye, my friend.

[00:40:07]Unreal. The teeth marks on the on the lure. The tooth there, the fang, right through the uh the plastic. Check this out. Look at the the hook. Totally bent it open. That's a strong hook. Normally, I change the hooks to even stronger hooks than that, but I didn't have time.

[00:40:42]>> [laughter] >> I came to Cuba to catch a big tarpon and a monster barracuda.

[00:40:56]Although I never found that big tarpon, I still had a lot of fun catching the baby one.

[00:41:01]>> All right.

[00:41:02]>> Plus, I was lucky enough to catch a monster snook.

[00:41:04]>> Check this out.

[00:41:06]>> A beautiful cabar snapper. And in the end, a big barracuda.

[00:41:10]>> That's the monster I was talking about.

[00:41:11]Look at the teeth. Look at the fangs on that thing.

[00:41:14]>> This is what fishing is all about. You just never know what you're going to catch.

[00:41:17]>> 100% sure. [laughter] I love this trip and I'll definitely come back one day.

[00:41:31]There's a way to hold this things, you know, you you have to grab the [music] claws first, obviously, otherwise you get nailed.

[00:41:39]>> Yes. Made it.

[00:41:42]Oh, look at him. Oh, yes. He's still alive.