INDIANANGLER

Ok Guys .... What is a Top Lure for Mahseer? Your favorite spinner, Spoon, Plug and soft plastic lure ????

Only 8 anglers have voted

My best result so far has been with an Abu Atom spoon( which was taken by a Mahseer as soon as it hit the water.. Never saw that spoon again..

I grew up using spinners and calcutta & dehra doon spoons fishing for Mahaseer in the Ramganga in the park and caught very few 'cause inevitably I was there from 20 Dec to 5 Jan and teh water was cold and teh fish wouldn't take....

Howver, last couple of years have been plugin with some success and a lot of work and fun and belive that in some waters, the rapala jointed and jointeds in general are the plugs that work well and working them is phenomenal

Hey alexis

you have a pic of teh abu atom???

Here is the atom in different colours.

The current Abu Ataoms are like the ones in the pic, but the one I was using was silver, and had the fish scale design on the bottom half. Something similar to the Bilnker YAD in the below website.

http://spinnerundco-shop.de/sess/utn;js ... shopscript


Cheers,
Alexis

Is there a weedless version of Abu Atom as well

voted for mepps aglia, but it's not my favourite lure. That vote would have to go to 'flicker spinner' fly spoon by Hildebrandt. No good for big fish, but i reckon it's the best way of catching mahseer on a fly rod ...

There is lot of mention about fly spoons in colonial era books as well. They look like very small spinners i ll post a picture of a fly spoon soon

Hasham,

Is there a weedless version of Abu Atom as well?

Yes there is. Some time ago, a guy gave me a weedless Atom with the treble situated mid-way along the spoon, and two wireguards on each side.. If the fish takes, the treble will slide down a wire stem to the 'normal' position: below the spoon. This model goes way back to the Sixties, I think.

Recently, Abu made a re-run of this unique model. Unfortunately, you can't change the bronze treble for a stronger one, unless you're good at "re-wiring" the thing.

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hasham, check out this link :
http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/forums/inde ... id=702557&

Yes ! Andy that is the fly spoon i am talking about except it does not have that tiny spoons on the hook!

btw ... I transform fly spoons in to bar spinner by changing the single hook to treble and adding another swivel between ring and hook :)

Great tip hasham, thanks ... always a pleasure to meet another exponent of the art. I guess a treble must add a bit of weight to the affair, but I imagine it would cast ok on say, a 10 weight rod?

I'd be interested to see your patterns ....

I 'll post a picture ASAP!

My Kali valley shikari just called up. I asked him the poll question. He says dead, roast hindu best. Next best, dynamite. Next, deadbait. You have to understand he's been at it on a subsistence basis for the last 50 years and is just 3 years into C&R for mahseer...

I can't decide between plugs and flyspoons. I guess few, big fish on plugs (depending upon pattern, size, timing) or many small ones (under 20lbs) on flyspoons.

Cheers

V.

Pork also works well (dead Hindu can sometimes be a bit tricky to source)

Well this is one bait just like the fishing itself- a game of patience and location. Be at the right spot on any major river, esp. a burning ghat and sooner or later someone will bring one along. How you secure it is upto you. The Kali shikari in question foul hooks the fish downstream of the pyre. Sometimes the relatives of the deceased purchase the fish, too...

Lemme ask him about the pork.

cheers.

Thanks, could I take a liberty and also ask for your shikari's opinion as to whether putting a live baitfish on a hook is more effective than a dead one? I noticed he put deadbaiting no 3 on his list. How does he fish them?

Sorry. Too late. He's gone back to Talla Des. I could tell you, though- it's standard procedure in Kali valley to fish with washing line and a huge single hook, fished hard on the bottom. He scores good fish, too, and bursts into giggles everytime he sees me with the flyrod....
one of these days, I'm going to do what Englishmen do- put a big blob of atta or a livebait on the flyrod when he's not around and bag me a whopper and tell him I got it on the fly.
Cheers,
v

Hehehehehe! Good one Vedan!
Just heard a Wasi member tell me at the river that he caught two 10 lb mahseer on a spoon with ragi on the trebles. I wonder why he bothered using the spoon at all. He could have used a chilwa with a ball of ragi in its mouth instead.
Owen

Hi Owen

Well 'purists' can be damn funny sometimes, especially when they can see 5foot mahseer in crystal clear water and they take nothing except a small gunnysack full of cowdung, atta and husk, as is the case on the Ramganga outside Corbett... 'orrible to see a grown man cry after stooping....

Cheers
v.

As an an Englishman, I kinda take exception to that one.

you'll be accussing us of cheating at cricket next ...

Andy

I say what I see.
I don't play cricket hence can't comment, but when the Germans or Americans flyfish, they flyfish.

Cheers

V.

I see a storm approaching!

Huh? Where?

According to my calculations, it should hit around July 11th or 12th. Of course, you never can tell what with global warming & all that

Let's hope it brings lots of water. The rivers need a change of depth and course. Andy, you could be landing up on a brand new Ramganga if it does.

Cheers.
V.

Well ok ... cards on the table time I think.

I did hear rumours about an englishman who put a livebait on a fly rod at marchula once. Apparently, he got taken by a big fish who stripped off all his fly line and backing in less than 10 seconds and left him staring in stunned disbelief at an empty reel. 'Shock and awe' was how it was described to me.

Serves the blighter right as far as I'm concerned, the old addage that cheats never prosper comes to mind.

Anyway, I'll refrain from 'naming & shaming' in public ... it was all a long time ago now...

Andy,

The rumor's a fact. I know the gillie who parked the chilwa.
And that was the first time I heard of anyone doing that. Flabbergasting, but I didn't know that a desperate angler doesn't need to be Indian and the english (some of my best friends are English and I have acquired all my sporting snootiness from them, just because they're great guys and yes, purists) are as human as any of us.

Nope, never seen Amis or Germans stray, ever.
As you say, it was a long time ago,

Cheers,
v.

oh by the way, make sure your guides can figure out someone who can net you lots of baitfish in Nepal and talk through a translator

one step ahead of you mate, just bought a cast net.
I was practising in the back garden earlier this afternoon & I think I've just pulled a muscle in my back (it was bloody hard work).

as far as the translator's concerned, i speak 3 languages: english, loud english, and english through an interpreter ... I understand that 'namaste' works in most situations. Hopefully I'll get by ...

A small gill net with the holes just right to trap chilwa, will save you the back ache Andy. Checked frequently, you can set free any species not to be used as bait fish. Here the guides make them at the camp.
Regards
Owen