INDIANANGLER

Hi guys,

I'm form Kazakhstan and looking forward to fish mahseer in Feb. Could you give me some advises, please?

7 days trip will be in Bhikyasen, Nagtale and Jamun areas. Has anybody fished there and what could you say about fishing mahseer there?

I'm going to fly fish mahseer. What are good/best flyes for Feb? What the best tactic fo fly fishing mahseer?

Thanks a lot

Hi Janik, good to see you on here.
I don't know anything about fly fishing myself, but there are some members who only fly fish, so hold on and I'm sure someone will get back to you.

HI Janik

Welcome to the Forum. I fished Bhikayan Sain a few years back w/o any luck. The fish are there but they were not taking spoons, plugs, spinners. Some chaps who go their frequently mentioned that they take on live/dead minnows and on 'atta' (wheat flour mixed with some crushed cereal) - both should be available locally with the gillie/guide.

My brother fished Marchula and Jamun (is this the beat next to Do munda?) a- ps have a look at the following link to get an idea about his trip: http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/133368

I am not a fly fisherman - have done too little of it to qualify as fly fisherman. Two points for yr consideration - Feb might be a bit cold for the fishing to be good and that Mahaseer is a bottom feeder - so fly will be a challenge - though I understand that there are some exponents who do catch. Do let us know yr experience with photos

Regards

Ive fished that stretch a couple of times. It's beautiful country with some big mahseer, but they're canny creatures. Go light, 5lb clear mono leader on a 9 - 10 weight rod. Sinking line. As far as the business concerned, anything that spins in the water will attract them ...

Have fun,

Andy

Thanks for replays...

Well. So, as I understand, I need to catch the canny/spooky fish. This fish likes minnows (probably in silver/gold colours) and something from dough (like carp). Thinking about various insects and their life-forms too...

We will see and if everything will be OK I put report and photos here.

Hi Janik,

Scored a 16lber on a self tied Hellgrammite imitation in Jan 06. It looks like a dragonfly nymph on steroids. Here's the dressing:
Hook: Size 2/0 Dai-Ichi livebait hook
Tail: None
Body: thin lead wire or foil, built up to 4mm thickness, lathered with dubbed dark olive antron, build it till halfway down the bend of the hook
Head: Light brown cotton thread built upto 6mm thickness, varnished with clear lacquer

Winter is good for flyfishing, especially on Northern mountain waters, especially the Ramganga. The fish are there and feeding on abundant insect life due to clear water. You need to look for rocky water, not more than 2' deep, preferably with some evidence of weeds (plenty in winter and just after). Don't bother fishing slow pools. The best will be taken in broken water where they can't inspect the lure too closely. Dead drifted nymphs on a tight-ish line and fast stripped baitfish imitations (Green Clouser Minnow! Yeah!)

Don't use anything less than a 12lb fluorocarbon leader,

Other flies that work are Walker's Mayfly nymph, most beadhead nymphs, esp if theyre greenish.
Oh yes. Take a page from the British era books and buy some fly-spoons. If you can't get them anywhere, fix yourself one, or several: take a small spinnerblade (0-2). Fix a small swivel (carp rig swivels very good) with a good, small split ring and mount a straight shank single on the ring. Casts like a fly, catches like a plug. My best on flyspoon was 21lbs just after the rains on the Ladhya river, one of Jim Corbett's favourite fly rod rivers.

Hope above helps, Cheers
V.

Vedan

Enjoyed reading yr post

Must get started on a fly rod..

Thanks again

Hi Viraj

You absolutely must.
If you've never felt like crying in fear with a fish on the rod, be prepared for an humbling experience.
A single handed fly rod on mahseer takes some getting used to and on tiredness count, I don't know who tires who- my arm and shoulder need a double cig break after landing anything over5lbs.

Spring would be the perfect time to get into it say end Feb or so.

Cheers,
V.

Hi, Vedan

Thanks for good answer! Really enjoyed read it.

Haven't heard about Hellgrammite pattern, nothing strangely though, thousands fly patterns around... BTW, it looks like (or very closer to) Wooly Bugger. So will tie both.

What about bloodworm imitations? Will they work? Does anybody fish mahseer on life bloodworms? Just have one killer pattern imitated them...

Regards

Hi Janik,

The Hellgrammite pattern is tied by myself and hasn't travelled out of the country yet. If we meet up on the Ramganga late Feb, I'll pass on some to you.
Yes, you could say it looks like a woolly bugger, just tie it without the tail.
Re bloodworms- no, man. Theyre too small to put on a hook. The times I have tried fishing trout size bloodworms I had no takes from fish. Haven't heard of anyone taking mahseer on bloodworms either.
Pity you'll be around in Feb- late summer gives some great fishing on tadpole patterns and small, black woolly buggers.

Oh yes- try muddlers also. Very short leader (1-1.5m), ultra fast sinking line. Use around pool edges where you see warm water from shallows moving down. Fishing from a long distance is necessary as the fish are too bloody smart.

Hope it helps,

Cheers,
V.

Hi Janik,

this is an addition to the last post.
Don't bother going to Bhikyasein, Nagtale. All locals use loops and nets specially in low water times (October till July). All you'll get are 10-12 inch mahseer. Head for Beat Number 2 Marchula to Banghat. Beat No. 3 no good except for one 50m glide below pool 5. All other pools in Beat 3 are full of groundbait and the fish don't eat anything natural. Beat 4 (Jamoon area) is also good (Kalakhand pool best and one glide above it super for fly. Watch out for the tiger at Jamoon. Too many peope have been driving upelephants and jeeps so it's very pissed off. Make sure you have a couple of people with you if you're fishing Jamoon area without elephants.
The Kosi river is also good around spring, but it's a small river, so small fish. Unfortunately the only fish you will see there are in front of resorts and for all intents and purposes, tame, bt I believe it's alright to show them a fly as they're tough to hook anyway.

Tight lines,
V.

just one final suggestion. I recommended 5lb clear mono leader, v suggested 12lb flouro.

If you're trying to chuck a heavy fly / flyspoon, then tapered leaders are much easier to cast with. clear mono is very important on the ramganga.

An extensive range of tapered leaders are manufactured for bonefishing which are ideal, 15lb reducing to 5 - 10lb at the tippet.

Hi guys,

Thanks for useful information... Hope it helps me to get at least one mahseer


Are you going to fish mahseer at the end of Feb? Is your tour organized by someone or you are going to trip by, so called, self-organized way?

Just thinking, if I can't find anybody here (in Kazakhstan) who could go to fish mahseer, could I join you or your group in this trip, Sir?

PS. Nothing bad if you refuse - I respect anyones rights

Regards

Hi Janik,

I live very close to the Ramganga and fish it often. If you're there in Feb, I'll keep my eyes open for you- there can't be too many flyfishers on the Ramganga, especially below Marchula.
Let me know dates when you're there and I'll see if I can join you, as I travel quite a bit.

Cheers,
V.