Hi Guys see history section of text below.
The Himalayan Legends (barbus tor putitora)
These Mahseer attain sizes of as much as 85 lbs, and a 20 to 40 lb fish is often had on spinning. Often the figures are not found to be impressive, at least for the as anglers who get into a comparison of the Himalayan Mahseer with the Humpbacked Mahseer found in the Cauvery river system in the south of India, which off course do not take to lures and flies as fondly as the Himalayan monsters do.
The two fish are quite different in physical features as well as other aspects and are to be found in rather different terrain and landscape. The Humpbacked Mahseer, the so called larger Mahseer limits it self to only two river system of in southern India, the Cauvery River, which is the hub of commercial fishing trips in India, and the other - the Kabbini now is more or less extinct, following the construction of a dam on the prime fishing section some years back.
The waters of the Cauvery River are only limited and quite heavily fished. The river has amazing accessibility - which perhaps is also another reason for it being so well frequented by anglers.
Some of the most significant Mahseer accounts have focused primarily on the Mahseer of the Himalayas, as the scope is vast and as its not always just the fishing element that makes a trip, a number of other effects are associated with getting into the far outback of the Himalayas, the rich culture - the traditional diversity - the thick forests in the base of the Himalayas and the feel of an expedition. The whole experience is far more satisfying than going to a fleet of popular Cauvery resorts to fish for Mahseer in the midst of very active fishing beat.
Though still pound for pound the fish found in the Himalayan Rivers are a better bet, which is simply due to the rugged terrain they are found to be in, the turbid rivers of the Himalayas are a tough place for any fish to live in.
History
Some of the preliminary mentions of large Mahseer caught on rod and line were back in 1870, by Mr. Sanderson, author of " Thirteen Years Amongst the Wild Beasts of India", with the capture of a Mahseer, which was said to be over 130 lbs. Though this was not confirmed since there were no weighing scales. Over the next fifty odd years there were frequent reports of some of the largest Mahseer primarily from the river Kabbini in Southern India. All of these fish were taken either on live bait or paste - bait, a technique to which Mahseer fishing has always been associated with. The two largest Mahseer, the records of which still stand, are the 119 lbs fish caught by Col. J.S. Rivett-Carnac on 29th Dec 1919, and a 120 lbs fish caught by J. Wet. Van Ingen on the 22nd March 1946, from the Upper Kabbini.
Spinning and fly-fishing for the Himalayan Mahseer, barbus tor putitora, found in the Northern Himalayan Rivers was very common during the times of the British Raj in India. The early twenty-century saw numerous expatriate anglers fish the waters of the River Ganges, the Beas, the Sarda, the Ramganga, including several of their tributaries, for the Himalayan Masheer. The largest specimen heard of was a 140 lbs fish landed by an angler in 1939 from the river Beas - however there are no pictures to confirm this report. Such large fish were reported in the past even from the Himalayan Rivers. Mr. A St J MacDonald author of "Circumventing the Mahseer: & Other Sporting Fish in India and Burma", himself had a number of fish over the 50 lbs range including a 75 lbs fish caught from the Irrawadi river in Burma.
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