INDIANANGLER

Hi Folks,

I got back last night from a sea fishing trip to Chennai (Madras). A couple of friends and I spent two days fishing off the coast of madras using live bait and plugs. It was an awesome experience to be able to fish offshore just five hours from bangalore. We were using a friends boat which is a 30 foot fibreglass boat with a 10 HP motor . The weather was excellent and we were fishing about five kilometres off the coast in blue water. On our very first outing we hit paydirt! We were drift fishing with live bait and my cousin Dhanu who has just started angling had a massive strike. At first I thought it wasn't a big one since it didn't strip line after taking the bait but as Dhanu hauled it in we saw that it was a big King Mackerel (Seer fish). Dhanu played the fish very well for an amateur and brought it in for gaffing in ten minutes. The feeling was just superb, to be out in the open sea with no land in sight and a huge fish on board! Smiles all around.

The reel Dhanu was using was a Penn 6/0 with 40lb mono and the rod was a Powerstick boat rod.



Tight lines!
Bopanna

Excellent stuff!

Why hasn't Dhanu signed up?

Rustam

Nice fish. Did you get a GPS waypoint for the location of the hookup ?
I've just looked at the area satalite photo and the continental shelf is close in near Chennai. There also look to be a lot of depth variations close inshore that could be specific holding areas for fish.

Hi Ken,

We used a local fisherman that had a GPS in his head! It was just amazing how all those years of fishing for a living had allowed him to pinpoint a wreck off the coast everytime we went out. I didn't carry a GPS this time but will do so the next time we are out.

Could you tell me where I can take a look at the satellite map you mentioned?

BTW my friend in chennai who has the boat is planning on starting a Sea Angling guide service for those that are interested. I watched a video of him landing a 120 lb sailfish last month not to mention numerous cobia and kingfish. The sailfish kept tailwalking all the way to the boat and it took over an hour to land it.

Cheers,
Bopanna

Very nice mackerel. Good to see Dhanu with a fish like that espcecially since he's a new kid on the block. They're an absolute blast to catch on light gear and readily go for bait and plugs trolled off the back of a boat.

Bopanna,

From what I hear it is 'sailfish season' in this part of the world now. It would be worth investigating that one. I'm trying to reach a couple of people to see how to go about it and what (bait/tactics) they're using.
Am quite keen on going down and giving the 'sails' a shot!! Will try and touch base with one of these guys.
Anyone out there with any info?

Mighty Marlin.

Hi Akshay,

The wind was kicking up on our last sortie into the sea and the local fisherman was saying that we won't be able to head out into bluewater again for sometime. By blue water he meant the ink blue water found about 10-15 Km offshore where the Marlin and Sailfish are found. This is also the stretch where a lot of tuna are caught on teasers.

I have asked my chennai pals to keep me informed as to when we can make a trip there again. I will let you know as soon as I get some info.

BTW the sailfish was caught using 40lb mono on a penn 6/0 using a G Loomis uptide. It took a live bait which the locals call a " Vari Para" or small jack. The live bait is caught off a wreck about three km off the coast and kept alive in bait barrels for use again.

I will be uploading the sailfish videos to a download site soon and will keep you posted. Hopefully we will have the Mackerel video in a couple of days too.

Cheers
Bopanna

Hi Bopanna,

I pretty much got the same reply, that the sea was rough. Will wait for a favourable time and head down... specifically to target pelagics.

Mighty Marlin.

Bopanna Sir,
Excellent fish. However, I am puzzled by your claim that the boat was a 30ft fiberglass (very heavy) yet was powered by a 10hp motor???? Unless the horses in Bangalore are clydesdales this 10hp wouldn't budge a boat that size on a glassy lake let alone a choppy sea. You'd need more like a 150hp to make a dent in that water.
Regards,
MM

Hi Jeff,

Guess you know what you're gonna be carrying back this year
Here's a picture of the crompton greaves single cylinder diesel engine powering the boat. It's the only thing that works for a beach landing.

Hey Bops,

Just had a look at the last picture you posted. What kind of speed were you doing with an engine like that?
It looked a bit underpowered..... in terms of the time taken to get out to actual fishing grounds.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Hi Akshay,

It tooks us twenty minutes to travel 5 Km on that motor.

Bops

Hey Bops,

Thanks for your reply. That would make it 7 knots, which is a decent trolling speed for mackerel.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Bops,

When do we get to see these flicks?

Rustam

Hi Rustam,

I'm waiting for the CD's to arrive from Chennai. Maybe in a day or two.

Bops

Okay. Look forward to seeing these.

Rustam

Same here.... am looking forward to seeing the clip where they caught a sail.

Fishing videos of the madras trip. These files are large! Right click on the link and choose "save target as". Change the name to king1.mpg etc. Please remember to save them as .mpg files else they won't open.

King mackerel hook up and landing

www.indianangler.com/king1.mpg
www.indianangler.com/king2.mpg
www.indianangler.com/king3.mpg
www.indianangler.com/king4.mpg

King1.mpg --> 99MB
King2.mpg --> 33MB
King3.mpg --> 73MB
King4.mpg --> 98MB

Cheers
Bopanna

A very late update, the sea fishing videos are now on youtube, have a look if you haven't already downloaded it. Don't miss the cooler with live bait in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIGgI9UOjaM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrbOV0NOAeM

The water god indeed...... How did you manage to keep the live bait alive?????

Exciting. Congratulations to you all!! Angling seems to run in the family Bops!!



Cheers

you did great job

Thanks guys

Tato, fresh sea water was poured into the thermocole box every ten minutes to keep the bait alive. We had one chap just to take care of this.

Bops

Hi Bops,

Still on the topic... How did you hook on the bait fish? and what bait fish are they?
Never tried live baits... hopefully will be giving them a shot this weekend.(What say Rajat Da?)

Cheers,
Madhur.

PS. Awesome video.

Hi Madhur

The bait fish were hooked just behind the dorsal fin. I'm not sure of the species that we were using as bait but they looked like miniature trevally with black vertical stripes on a silver/gold body.

Bops

Great going BOPS,

Great trip. Did you'll only manage to catch makrel or any other fish as well.

Great Videos mate.....

Aahhh.... no wonder they were swimming around so nicely. Thanks for sharing...