VAMPIRE FISH - Amazon River Monsters

BLOOD DRINKING FISH STORY CLICK HERE

Hey Guys Bill here... I don't know about you, but Vampires always scare the heck out of me.
From Dracula to the Twilight Saga, these creepy blood suckers just send chills down my spine.

But did you know humans aren't the only creatures to claim blood sucking vampire status? It's true. In the animal world we have Vampire bats and even a fish that will give count dracula a run for his money!

It's called the Vampire Fish in English, but in the Amazon it is known as a Payara. it can grow up to 40 pounds and lives the jungle rivers of south america. It's most famous for the two giant teeth it has in the front of it's mouth - perfect tools for comping down on Sookie Stackhouse.

The payara's most noticeable feature is the two long fangs protruding from its lower jaw. These fangs can be 4 to 6 inches long. Parayas grow to be around 3 feet long with an average length of 1.5 ft. The payara's diet mainly consist of smaller fish; they impale other fish with their sharp teeth and consume them. Payaras also share the same habitat with butterfly peacock bass (Cichla ocellaris). In the Amazon River basin, payaras are restricted to tributaries above the mouth of the Rio Tapajós.

Today I am with Steve Townsend who sometimes goes by the name of The fish finder.We're going to see if we can catch a vampire fish for a up close and personal look at one of the most famous Amazon River Monsters around.

Vampire fish can be caught just about anywhere in the Amazon region of South America, but for me, Venezuela offers more beautiful scenery than other areas.

Vampire Fish are known to like rapidly moving water so we head down river looking for some good current...

The fast water makes it difficult to fish from the boat - so Steve perches himself on some rocks.

There turns out to be plenty of Vampire Fish here, but with all the currents running wild, it's extremely difficult to keep one on the hook...

The next day, we head up river and find an area that has strong current but not strong enough to prevent us from fishing from a boat....

Within a few minutes, Steve knows he's found the right spot ... he is so confident that he says he can predict when a vampire fish would hit his lure!


Steve went on to catch 21 more Vampire Fish during our trip... there we so many, I even caught one myself!


Well it didn't turn out to be capable of draining me of my own blood, but there is no doubt I want to go swimming with one anytime soon. Nor will I ever fall asleep earlier than my rum drinking fishing buddies - who staged and photographed this on my pants while I slept.

And that brings me to the question of the day. There is another "vampire like underwater creature that sucks the blood from it's victims? Check out this real vampire of the water at

Also! I am really looking forward to the new season of River Monsters with Jeremy Wade. Just read this in the newspaper.

River Monsters has resonated with viewers, because "people like stuff that looks weird, that looks gnarly, that looks big." Plus, "everybody is fascinated by predators. It's in our DNA," says Wade. The show offers that winning, attention-grabbing combination.

"I mean everybody likes dinosaurs, but we're actually quite familiar with dinosaurs now," compared to our limited understanding of creatures that inhabit the river, he says.

The goal of Wade's show is to inspire people to educate themselves on river-dwellers; not scare people away from the water.

Thew season begins on Sunday April 6th 2014