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

I'm pretty sure a military groundsheet will do the job. We could use 550 paracord to attach it to the frame. I'm sure shivaji nagar will have heavy duty canvas too.

Bops

To add to what MM had to say about Hiara night fishing and the use of multipliers, i have a small story to add.



Ah Hiara! and a man who has seen action. One of the best spots for night fishing for Masheer on the Kaveri. Some of my best bags have come from this spot, but now that it's out of the box we may as well tell all. Heard of a few anglers falling asleep, and waking up to find their rods missing. Must have wished they had alarm bells attached.

With reference to spinning reels and multipliers, i have tried them both, and find the 7000/10000 unbeatable for the job.

I remember once we were having a late night booze up and the rods were out. "N" decided that he could see devils dancing over the camp fire and wanted to get us in a picture with the campfire in front of us. Weird bugger!

Anyway, as he was about to click, the 7000 started singing, some thought it was the camera, i jumped the fire and was at the waterside with "B" whose reel it was that was doing the singing. Stopped for a sec to pick up the stringer and a torch, by which time his reel was almost empty.

I sent him charging into the water up to his neck following the fish, till the guards brought the coracle around. By then he was pretty sober, and struggled into the coracle.

The fish pulled the 4 of us down river in the darkness.
Suddenly the rod went limp, and "B" thought that he had lost the fish "God knows he had done everything possible to loose it".
I pointed the torch at the line, and found that the fish had decided to take off up river, and that the line was now wrapped around the tip of the rod.
Once that was sorted out, he was back in touch with the fish.

After a while the fish once again set off down river like a steam train and came very near to the lip of the rapids. Had it gone over our chances of landing that fish would have become very slim in the total darkness. Somehow we managed to find a small rock that could accomodate just "B", while the rest of us did what we could to keep him from going over with the fish.

The battle lasted another 20 to 30 minutes, with all kinds of swear words from us and plenty of advice from the guides who by then were getting on our nerves.

Finally after what seemed an eternity, this fish was landed.
We had it on a stringer and were in peals of laughter. The guides were having such a tough time rowing the 4 of us plus the fish back to camp.
The fish turned out to be a beauty of a little over 55lbs. And a real tough mother was he.

We would never have landed that fish but for the great reel that was being used on bait runner with a large stone bearing down on the handle of the rod to keep it from going in with the fish.

Having made the right drag setting before putting the reel on bait runner helps to ensure that there is not too much of a difference in the load put on the fish once the handle is engaged for use with the drag. Too tight a setting could rip the hook out when the fish is on that first powerful run. A gradual increase in drag setting as the fish slows down and most big fish can be worn down.

I have sometimes jammed down my thumb on the reel with the fish running on baitrunner, with the intention of slowing down the fish, but that is a pretty bad idea, as your thumb almost certainly comes away with large burn bubbles that makes you wish you could shove it into an ice box.

I would never fish for masheer in the Kaveri with anything but a multiplier. The casting accuracy and the confidence that one has while playing a big masheer, just isin't there when i use a fixed spool.
I am always concerned about the bail arm or the antireverse giving way or the drag releasing line in jerks while using a fixed spool under the great strain that the masheer brings even the finest spinning tackle under.

However i am sure there are many who wouldn't change their fixed spool for a multiplier because of the sheer simplicity of use.
Will try and dig out a picture of that fish and post it one of these days.
Regards
Owen

Hi MM,

I still have those cots, only thing is the Canvas has worn off.


Cheers,
Alexis

Hey Alexis,

Long time, well looks like Bops is the man to catch for that canvas. Been on any fishing trips lately?

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

LMAO

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

This is hilarious stuff , cant wait to meet you guys in person!!

Any of you planning to visit Hong Kong in the near future?

By the way MM tell me about this guide of yours? The name's feminine ...huuummmm

Wolf said the was wondering what you 2 were doing, makes me wonder now????

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

Rolling with laughter? more like girlish giggles... and they both looked flushed and pink in the cheek when they returned...

[img][img]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/RHB65/DSCN1369.jpg[/img][/img]

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.

Far too hazy for my liking and taken in poor light to boot.

Look forward to more WASI tales.

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
><<:>

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

Hi Owen,

Nice couple of fish. Glad to hear you saw him last in June and that his eyesight is better.

Think I beat you to it..... have a look at

http://www.indianangler.com/viewtopic.php?p=1480#1480

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

Thanks Bobby, Iam glad you like it. Check out "death of veerapan" since i mentioned him in the thmabi post...

http://ryanlobo.blogspot.com/2006/05/de ... rapan.html

I actually leave warly tomorrow morning on a trip to shoot king cobras and other creepy crawlies that can kill me for a film. Will be away awhile...

best

ryan

Wolf,

That is one of the pieces I read, I like the aura you have created about "T" in the whole chaos surrounding his death. I am guessing she's present in a blur in one of your pictures.

I note you did not post the pict with the hole in head, I wanted to ask you to send it to me for viewing...

All the best on your shoot, make sure you get some good pics. Dont' forget to take a rod along, you never know....

Bobby

Aura around, I must learn to read my posts before submiting them

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

Hi JB,

I was wondering where you had disappeared.

I'd be delighted to have a copy. Probably make a few copies, with your permission, and do a sort of pass around as well amongst the board members.

Thanks.

Rustam

Hey Rustam,

Sounds like an idea if JB doesn't mind. Could get Bops to post it as a sticky/announcement in the image gallery.

When reading through all this I get the feeling that real night fishing is popular at least for all the WASI members. I was already sure before that the full night should be a important feeding time offering fine chances for a good bag.

Has anybody ever thought about using electronic bite alarms? After a hard day fishing they should be work much better in getting you awake as the sound of a baitrunner clutch. I just fear that a mahseer might cut them in two halves when bolting off. Any new progress made on the matter of the army beds? I own several carp bedchairs but they are too big and heavy to take them over to India for a trip. When staying outside on such army bed don't you fear the snakes and scorpions?

dibu

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.

Rubber mats are the way we usually do it. Tents only if it pours, and MM has the right idea about alarms on the Kaveri.
The snakes and creepy crawlies are usually more afraid of us, than we of them.
The worst i have had is a scorpion bite on the finger that hurt for 10 minutes. But there have been some posts by some of our members on what should be carried and how to take care of snake bites which is pretty interesting.
Regards
Owen

Thanks for advise on the matter of sleeping outside. I sometimes also go out -for nightfishing during summer month- armed with a gum isolation mat & light sleeping bag only. If you’ve lack of time and need to go working the next morning it keeps our outfit tight and the whole tackle can be packed away in a short time. I was only afraid of your wildlife.
Bite alarms: There good alarms around with sensitivity control that can be used in quiet or moderate flowing pools too. You should know we’re also fishing in rivers. I already tried at Bheemeswary for carnatic carp. It is working fine. I really only fear that the fast run of a mahseer might kill it.
Dirk

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