INDIANANGLER

Hi,

In the early days of my mahseer fishing I preffered using a spinning reel. Those were the days when I carried only one rod and it had to do for everything. I'd spin for murral with one precious Mepps and when I lost it my murral fishing was over Then switch to ragi and hope to land a monster. Most times my line would break on a rock when a mahseer decided to head to Tamil Nadu.

With the arrival of my Abu Ambassadeur 7000 and later the 10000, it opened a new page in my somewhat tattered book of mahseer fishing. The Baitrunner was the greatest feature of these reels. Gone were the days where a session lasted as long as I could hold onto my rod and reel. Fishing now became more comfortable.

I love using multipliers for my mahseer fishing and will always do so. Having cracked/figured out some stretches of the river, it becomes just a 'matter of time' before I get my strike. Its changed the way I fish for Mahseer totally and forever. Places like Haira/Moslehalla produce many fish later in the evenings or earlier in the mornings. Sometimes the wait is long but one can always expect a strike and that too a big one.

Since I do most of my baitrunner fishing late evening/night, I've got a list of things that can go wrong. Simple things like throwing the handle first and then striking become difficult. I've screwed up in every possible way, I've struck before throwing the handle which resulted in a crow's nest, my reel getting jammed and me flying before my line snapped (luckily not my rod). I've struck too early, been cleaned out of all my line on my 7000, not struck at all because I was making tea/tending to the fire. struck with the wrong rod, fallen asleep etc...

A couple of things to do to make things easier.... have a comfortable chair to sit in. Rod rests are a must. Being familiar with one's reel always helps. Half turning the handle so that when the strike happens you can engage the main gear with a light tap of the handle (for 10000's). Fishing with a couple of buddies who are talkative helps. Try to have someone sitting by the rods at all times, its funny how you get a strike when you're distracted. Having everything within easy reach (torch/lighter/ciggies/tea/repellent/bait) is most useful. The other thing we do is have a coracle out in the water just incase its a big fish and we have to follow. Oar and rope/stringer in the boat. A car/jeep parked facing the water helps if you want to floodlight your fight and also for light while taking pictures of your catch.

To end this post, once this bit is sorted out it makes fishing for mahseer with ragi so much more enjoyable and one gets a chance to relax and listen to sounds of the night/early morning.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

A picture of a couple of rods setup for from camp, before the proper rod rests came along. On days when the fishing's good it gets pretty crowded with 4 to 5 rods out in the space you can see and a couple more further up.

Hi MM,

That's a nice bit of info! Where did you get that nice camp bed from?

Bops

Hi Bops,

That was Ravi's dad's camp cot. I think it was an army issue camp cot. Similar to the one Alexis carried to Kanwa many winters ago.

Mighty M.

Maybe we could do a group buy if our members are interested. We could have it fabricated locally.

Bops

I would be very interested. Infact we'd tried a few years ago. Nothing really came of it. Sahdev has a couple he got from Australia (made in China) that was light and really comfortable. Prathap and I used them for a couple of years and they did pretty well. The only problem would be sourcing the fabric.

Regards,
Mighty M

yeah, Its been a long time since we last met.... No trips lately, probably start going out in October.....

PAIN from baitrunners

- I recall a masheer that almost dragged Mighty marlin into the water a second after he flipped the baitrunner on his abu 7500, and him careening down a slope. Since mighty Marlin is slightly longer and about the same width as his 12 foot rod, it was surprising that he wasnt pulled into the water ! The fish was huge and was almost landed btw. Later it came up alongside the coracle but the hook came free at the last minute.

- It was late at night and everyone had landed a largish masheer except for me. It began to rain but i stuck on and dozed off under an umbrella, exhausted. I heard the baitrunner go off and jumped up and flipped the baitrunner, struck and dislocated my problem shoulder given the way i leapt up. I actually put it back into place still holding the rod with one arm, (I wasnt about to let a big masheer get away) in terrible agony, to suddenly hear girlish giggles come from the water. It was Mighty marlin and Pratap in a coracle yanking my chain/ the line more or less. God knows what they were doing late at night under a full moon in a coracle pulling on lines, but I wasnt amused.

So much for baitrunners, all they have caused me is pain from injured shoulder and laughing too hard...

Ryan

And so open's Pandoras Box...or Closet...

Well it was just a matter of time before our man 'Wolf' blew the lid off this can of worms

Rule no. 1 If you're sleepy, reel in, go to bed! (I trust 'wolf' learnt the hard way )

Fishing at night espcially using baitrunners is no joke. There are far too many things that can go wrong. Hard enough trying to stay awake after a whole day out fishing. The chances of falling and spearing onself on a rod rest are very real, besides falling into the river, breaking one's rod etc...

To go back to that night ... It was a night that was producing big fish but slowly, say an hour and a half between bites. None of this 'nibbling' nonsense If we had a bite, one's reel would scream. Both Prathap and I had landed a couple and missed a couple so were very keen on fishing till dawn. Our man 'Wolf' was waiting for his number to come up. To make matters worse it began to drizzle and 'Wolf' fell asleep under his umbrella, rod in hand. Our first thought was to switch his baitrunner off, but that would have been really cruel so instead Prathap walked into the river grabbed the line and gave it a good tug. Poor 'Wolf' leapt up, dislocating his shoulder, striking several times, trying to reel, put his shoulder back and hold the umbrella up at the same time. Was a real one man show that had the guide (Renuka), Prathap and me on the ground rolling with laughter. One of the best pranks we've pulled of and both still very proud of our accomplishment.

One a serious note, to repeat myself again....

Baitrunner Fishing + Sleep = Disaster!

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

I can imagine you guy's rolling around.
Tinko & Bunty tried the same thing with me one afternoon.
I had just drifted off on a mat with the uptide set up. I had been through a hard morning and a few beers. Once they heard my blues band start up the b******* got into the water and swam out to my bait and yanked my chain, wrapping it around a branch.
I was up in a flash and struck hard, but immediately knew something was up. I hurled choice words at the mothers till the cows came home

I must tell you this one about the same guide "Renuka", and by the way he is a guy with a chicks name.
We were fishing late one night at Hiara and Tinko's wife Ava had a run on her spinning outfit. Well the fish went out and wrapped itself around a bush, so Bunty dived in (the water was freezing) and called for the coracle.
Out went Renuka and he was handed the line by Bunty. The smart ass wrapped the line around his hand and the fish was swimming free.
Bunty shouted out to pump the fish in.
Ava couldent make it budge, and Tinko being a tiny bugger, happily passed the rod to me. Well i gave it everything in the darkness, and in 10 minutes i had pumped in the coracle with Renuka looking green in the gills. He was holding up his hand that i had strangled half to death and coulden't speak. As for the fish, it turned out to be 6 inches long, and had everyone cracked up in the sand.
B*******

Nice One

Hey Rustam,

That's a really nice pic of Sahadev and Renuka. I have a picture of a fish we caught earlier that night and will post it tomorrow.
I have a couple of tales about Renuka tomorrow as well.

All for now.
Mighty M.

MMarlin,

Ah, thanks for that foto of Haira: brings back lotsa memories. most times, we would reach the place at around noon. We would first paddle to the other side and visit Thambi, the keeper of the open-air temple. This man is remarkable: he's been sleeping under the stars for the last 17 years or so, totally dependent on whatever alms given by the folks.

We usually give him some biscuits and money, and he would then bless our coracles and rods. Somehow, we would catch big mahseer after that! Ah, I've let another secret out...

We'd paddle back to said campsite, have our lunch followed by siesta. Just lying on the dusty ground with a life jacket as pillow, I would have some of my deepest sleeps! Probably more because of the hard work of mahseer fishing!

We would while away the hours until the day has cooled down a bit, then drift down towards Kenggal rapids. Here, Thambi's magic would start to work: big mahseer lining up by the current lanes, threatening to haul rod and angler into the torrent. Actually, they need not be big here. A 20-lb silver fellow once pulled my coracle 100 yards down.

The biggest mahseer we ever landed here was 66-lb (30 kg), by my buddy Shahrazi. Took him about 35 miinutes. The fish pulled him all the way down to the last stretch of rapids above Mysore Pool. He used an Abu Hypercast rod with Penn Spinfisher 8500 reel, Sufix 10X 40-lb line. The line got frayed so bad, 'cotton wool' was getting stuck at the rod guides.

One time, the fish streaked downstream of me, and summarily cut my line (I didnt know Shah had a fish on then, or I would have reeled in and given him space).

I had most of that fight on VCD, along with relatively minor catches of mahseer and pink carp. Rustam: if we meet this Dec in Bangalore, I can pass u a copy.

Talking about gear: my favourite is also the Abu 7000. Mines the dark red one. Been using it for the last 6 years. Other than the yearly servicing, no hiccups at all. It truly is my lucky reel having accounted for 80% of my mahseer. Coupled with a softer rod like Berkley Series One or Penn Sabre 9', it's great for handling fish of 10 to 40-lb.

My other reels are spinning ones: Shimano Thunnus 1600 with baitrunner, and Penn Spinfisher 8500, a bullet-proof machine. Oh, I did use a Daiwa Sealine, earlier. The lever drag was great for handling big mahseer, but casting the ragi bait was nightmare. Anyway, it felt to bulky for me. The 7000 is still the best, especially when you have to have the thing on your lap all day.

Btw, we almost never use rod rests. Either the rod's in our hand, or we're not fishing. Too many things can (and will) go wrong when you're not at 'action stations'. My approach : I ring two rods, one for myself and the other for the gillie to handle. Each rod would be on the lap, with hand at the reel seat, always. If I have a need to pee or chat up the local dhole, I would hand over my rod to him. Occasionally, when I do need to let go of the rod, I would tether the butt to something solid, using a quick-release knot.

Wow, I've been going on and on haven't I? Sorry, but it's that foto of Haira...

JB
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This was a fish I caught earlier that night that 'Wolf' will never forget. Please excuse our appearences as it was a hardcore fishing trip (big fish and bigger laughs )

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Beautiful fish MM!
Looks like Wolf was ready for "Nanga Panga"
Here are 2 more from the same spot "Night Fishing" Note the early morning mist.

Hey JB,

Yes that is a picture of Haira, one of my favourite places on the Cauvery. I wonder how Thambi's doing? Been ages since I saw him last. I'm posting a new thread on Thambi

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Thambi
That should be an interesting thread.
I saw him in June at his usual pad across the river. His eye sight is much better now. Must dig out some pix of the elf.
Owen

Thanks Mighty Marlin aka veerapan for posting that fat pic of me. I guess I will have to return the favour someday...Here are some other pics on that exact same spot other days. The first and the last fish are the same.

Wolf, took a look at some of your work, I am very impressed!! simply fantastic....Bobby

By the way, MM does look like Veerapan minus the moustache...maybe we can convince him to grow one

Hi Dibu,

Fishing after dark is popular amongst a few of us. All started off because we often had nothing to do at night.
I've never used electronic bite alarms while mahseer fishing. We're fishing flowing water and often the baitrunner starts to click because of the current or other floating crap. Might not be possible as the alarms will keep going off.
No progress on the beds... I usually just crash out on a mat on the ground, hate sleeping in a tent. So far we've had very few creepy crawlies in camp so they aren't a real worry

Mighty Marlin.

Yup could sound like a police raid party

Rustam / MM,

Okay, no need for you to sweat: I'll bring half a dozen copies. The VCD is the full Monty, with suitable music and scenery shots complete with cattle market at Kannakapura! Also shots of Terry Disdale, dubious owner of Terry Rock.

JB
><<:>

Thanks a bunch, JB.

Forgive me for living but who is Terry Disdale? I see his name popping up every once in a while.

Rustam