Fighting Black Marlin…colossal swamp creatures…speed demon sharks…and super sized predators of the deep. Some are prehistoric. Others so mysterious we know little of how they live and survive. In rivers, bayous, swamps or oceans, each encounter with monster fish brings us closer to understanding them, braving them, and marveling at their size. Meet these enormous fish and the men and women who pursue them for food, sport, and scientific discovery. Come face to face with the ultimate opponent in the battle between species and witness the most extreme encounters in our eternal quest for Big Fish Tales.

Massive Marlin. The heavyweight champions of the sea. For passionate conservationist Guy Harvey, tagging the ocean’s toughest catch is the ultimate challenge. In an effort to bring a hooked monster marlin to the surface safely and quickly, Harvey dives in the water and attaches another line to the giant fish. Now, as two men frantically reel the fish to the boat, a scientist attaches a satellite tracking device and cuts the line. As the fish swims off, Harvey reveals that it is the biggest fish he has ever seen, and estimates it’s length at more than thirteen feet and it’s weight at more than 1200 pounds.

The Hammerhead Shark is one of the ocean’s fiercest predators. Out to catch a world record, boat captain Bucky Dennis is in for the fight of his life when something from below grabs hold of the 20lb live stingray he’s used as bait. Fighting hard, Dennis’s boat is dragged out to sea more than 12 miles before he finally lands the mammoth shark. At the weigh station, the crowd is in awe as Dennis takes photographs with a 14 foot long, 1,280 pound record breaker.

Pacific Halibut are the undisputed kings of Alaskan waters, but weekend angler Jack Tragis is up for a challenge. Heading in after a disappointing three day fishing trip, Tragis thinks he’s snagged his line on the ocean floor. But the boat captain thinks differently. “You’ve got a world record here. You want to bring it in?” For nearly five hours, Tragis wrestles the monster on the reel. When he finally brings the fish to the boat, he’s shocked to discover he’s just pulled up a 459 pound Pacific Halibut 18 times larger than average.

Wahoo are one of the fastest, most elusive fish in the sea. But fifteen-year-old Sara Hayward, is about to stumble upon the catch of a lifetime. What starts out as an ordinary family outing turns into one of the most exciting events of her life. After several hours fishing with little luck, Sara’s reel screams as the line rapidly unfurls. Sara tries to reel the fish in, but it offers up a fierce resistance. After nearly losing the fish, the young angler finally pulls the whopper aboard. At the scales, Sara’s catch of 184 pounds shatters the previous record of 156 pounds.

Alligator Gar are pre-historic monsters that lurk in the American South, and fishing journalist Doug Stange is on the hunt for a relic. In the backwaters of Texas, Stange gets a shock: On the other end of his line is a massive beast. Slowly and deliberately working his rod, Stange brings the large fish to the surface. Due to it’s enormous size, the fish is wrestled into the boat with a custom made sling. Estimated to weigh 225 pounds, the fish is the largest Alligator Gar ever caught on video.

Bluefin Tuna are known for their brute strength and astonishing speed. With their sleek, muscular bodies, they can travel up to an incredible 100 miles in a single day, something record breaking angler Peter Jackson knows all too well. Fishing with a broken rib in the middle of the night, Jackson feels a hard jolt on his rod. All of a sudden, the reel free-spins out 750 yards of line as the fish takes off into the black ocean. Peter fights the fish, and his painful injury, as he slowly reels in the line. Hours later, finally landing the fish on board, the crew races back to harbor for the weigh in. To Jackson’s delight, he has reclaimed his world record by reeling in an astonishing 617 pound Bluefin Tuna.