INDIANANGLER

Hey Guys,

finally made it to Goa after a strenuous 3 weeks cycling down from mumbai. Although not so far, around 600 clicks, the soaring temperatures and many steep hills made cycling a tiring past time!! luckily we had some relatively good fishing some evenings to help us relax.

The total catch was around 65 fish for 6 or 7 sessions, the most fish coming around full moon. as the moon started to wane i lost power to get up at 3am every morning and lure fish for hours on end! But now i'm in goa the serious fishing can start.

I took my first fish near the village of kelshi, a nice red snapper that hit the lure so hard he nearly took the rod out of my hands. Five minutes later a nice flathead of around 1.5kg nailed the lure. My friends who had given up earlier declaring lures to be no good, were a little surprised to see me return to the tents carrying two fish. what a barbecue we had. i fished the next night too, at dusk but with the tide low i just managed one small flat head.

we then followed the coast and headed for ganpatipule and surrounding areas for the coming of the full moon. I had been to this area before and new there was some good potential.

from the beach using dead baits the action came quick. the first day i had a nice stingray of around 10-15kg that gave me the run around for ten mintutes. after this was released in quick succesion i had two sharks of around 7kg and lost another big fish that i couldn't identify. this mystery fish hit the bait hard and repeatedly jumped at the last breakers before the line parted!! my friends had two guitar fish and a further two sharks (blacktips?) and one little pesky catfish...Hayato was running around the beach jumping for joy when he got his first shark!

the next day i took 4 more sharks of around 7-8 kg and hayato got a nice red snapper that we cooked on the beach. very tasty. Three times fish bit through our 15kg wire trace upon the strike. any suggestions of what this could be?

The day after i had two more sharks and brian and hayato two guitar fish, 2 larger fish were also lost. in these first few days we lost as many fish as we landed, the sharks sometimes jumped and threw the hook, and sometimes after the initial run the hook popped due to a weak hold. great fishing and some real potential for future sessions.

at this point the moon was coming right so i tried some lures! unfortunaley at this time my lure collection is rather limited with a distinct lack of rubber baits. i did however manage a hectic 10 minutes when i caught the tide just right. i had bites 4 then on the next one got a small snapper, followed by a 3kg barramundi on the next cast. 2 minutes later i caught my biggest snapper of around 3kg, a beautiful fish. a few mintutes later another barramundi hit the lure that put up a superb scrap and eventually came in, weighing around 3.5 kg.

the day after we fished cut baits for snapper and managed 15 fish to two kg mainly on the receding tide. maybe 7 more were lost. Most fish were snappers, red and striped and one other species, in marathi, Palu (spelling) The day after we took some more snapper and a palu on the lure. unfortunalely i lost my lucky lure from the previous day and so lost some good sport i believe. i would like a return trip as i have sighted barramundi here of around 20kg and would like to maybe meet one face to face!

for the rest of the ride down to goa not much fishing was done but i must report some fanastic looking spot with great potential. lovely estuaries looking very healthy with heaps of bait fish around. Ratnagiri estuary was thick with small fish, mainly hugging the piles of the bridge. the shoals measure 10m by 3m and unidentified fish could be seen attcking from below (maybe palu). i also saw shoal of trevally here pass by below.

i think there will be exceptional fishing for those prepared to put in the effort and get to some of the remoter spots along south maharastra coast. i will certainly be goin back in the new year, perhaps by motorcycle which will give more scope to the fishing. my bag will also be brimming with lures for giant barramundi!

for now i'll be in north goa concentating on bagging a nice barramundi. The main fishermen had a barra 0f around 16-17kg a few days before and lost 3 more whoppers thanks to bending hooks and snapped lines!

I hope i see some of you guys in the next few months maybe for a spot of fishing. I would like to thank everyone on the forum for being so imformative and helpful, its really the best spot for fishing info ! i'll keep you guys informed on the progress in this area of the coast and look forward to reading your reports. I'll also stick up some photos in the next couple of days in the image section of the forum.

tight lines, Scott

Wow! some trip. I drove down to goa from mumbai a few times and that was tiring. but on a cycle... just talking about gets me breathless.

Great going Scott. Hope to meet you in Goa around Jan.

That's a beautiful ride / drive i hope you guys enjoyed it. Looking forward to meet you guys in Goa during Dec / Jan i'll be there and look forward to some fishing trip with the rest of the 'IA' gang too

The Cycling journey is just Exhilirating,i did the Bom-Goa-Bom Trip in 1987,and it was fun especially coming down the ghats at break neck speeds......Congrats WORLDFISHER........

Hi Worldfishers,

Wow ! what a experience. Keep up your good stamina. Good Luck.

Regards,

Ronald.

I think it must be a big grouper or MJ that cut your trace on the rocks..

Wonderful effort Scot.... good luck.

WOW !

you had a fantastic ride Scott !

I'm sure you enjoyed every bit of it. Congratulations ! We hope to see some pics when you get the time to upload them.

Great report Scott. I do fancy getting me a few sharks off the beach and although I don't know what your beastie was, I do have a solution in the shape of a spool of 90lb trace wire.
How is the supply of soft lures in Goa at the moment ?
I've already got a fair few sorted out but I can always order some more.

Looking forward to your photos.

Oh yes, and I've just had confirmation that my package from the States will be delivered tomorrow.

Ride on Scottie.........!!!
Good luck mate....

Way to go Buddy....

Keeps the reports coming & may be post some Pic's for us to see

Great going Scott! Thats quite a bag.
Regards,
Yaj.

Please show us the pics !!!

Great report, Scott! +1 - please show pix.

Good luck!