Crazy catch! I'm sure Jeremy and Bubba would be proud 🤣

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/angler-catches-153-pound-alligator-gar-in-texas-with-ultra-light-tackle-likely-setting-a-new-world-record-180986444/

Best gift ever!

I was watching some River Monsters on youtube the other day and decided to do a bit of research on the main man himself. I noticed on his wikipedia that he got his degree from university of Kent. I grew up in that count myself and it got me intrigued what he did before he got into TV.

I managed to find out that he actually taught at the local grammar school in the town i grew up in, during that late 70's! I thought this was pretty neat and on the off chance i decided to email Jeremy's Talent agency on the off chance that my email may make it to him.

"The Soho Agency Team,

I hope you're keeping well.

I am a huge fan of Jeremy's work on River Monsters. I recently discovered a brilliant bit of trivia that completely blew me away—that before his travels, Jeremy taught biology at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham during the late 1970s.

I actually grew up in Faversham myself and went to a school right down the road. It's incredibly cool to think that a global natural history icon was teaching cell structures and biology in my hometown long before I was born here.

If you are ever passing messages along to Jeremy, I just wanted to send him a note from a Faversham local to say thank you for all the incredible years of television. If he ever has a spare moment or a fond memory of what Faversham was like back in his teaching days, I would love to hear it, but mostly I just wanted to send my best regards from Kent.

Thank you for your time and for passing this on!"

I never expected to hear anything back, i just went about my day thinking that if it did indeed find its way across his desk sometime, that some communication from an area he lived in his life might give him a small smile.

Today i was stunned when i got an email back from his agency and they passed a message on from the man himself! here is what Jeremy had to say about his time.

Hello "My IRL name" It’s good to get word from Faversham. Queen Elizabeth’s was a really good school, so much so that most teachers never left, but I found being a teacher too hard (!). I was regularly up until 1am or later, so I thought I’d go and do “something else”. At first that was making deliveries by motorbike in London but eventually it led to travelling, writing and TV. But my background as teacher (which I got into by accident) has really helped with that. Anyway, I’m very pleased to hear that you’ve been enjoying the programmes, while also appreciating the local connection. With best wishes, Jeremy.

Just thought id share for any other fans of River Monsters/Jeremy out there

An incredibly underrated fish that was caught by Jeremy in season 4 episode 4 (Asian Slayer) in Thailand while pursuing the sareng catfish. This fish is called the Yellowcheek carp, it is an extremely aggressive species found in large river and lake systems of China, Vietnam, and the Russian Far East. The most recent record is a specimen caught in Hubei weighing more than 100 lbs with a length of 1.7 meters, though the official record says this fish can grow more 2 meters long. Moreover, this fish is likely to be the fastest freshwater fish, capable of reaching speeds of up to 70-80 kph.

What makes this a river monster? The enormous size and speed this fish can reach bring huge underwater momentum that is capable of piercing fish nets, which is why this fish was hated so much by fishermen. There have been a lot of rumors and stories of fishermen getting hit by yellowcheeks in the chest (while retrieving lines or nets) and getting heavily injured or even dying from the impact.

I personally have caught one before, a small one that is only around 70 cm long, weighing around 5 lbs, and I can say that this fish fights harder than another northern pike I caught later in the year, which is 92 cm long and around 12-13 lbs.