INDIANANGLER

Dear Mr Lakhyaman

I have just joined IA as I am working in Bangldesh and wanted to find out more information about the fishing possibilities here, and was I very pleasantly surprised to see this post about your beautiful fishery.

Regarding controlling tilapia/common carp, I have a friend who owns a large tilapia hatchery in Thailand. He is also a very keen fisherman and has stocked the reservoir that feeds the hatchery ponds with all manner of fish, including rui, mrigal, pangas and grass carp. He also stocks sea bass (barramundi) - I'm not sure what they are called in bangla - to control the tilapia population. They have small mouths and cannot swallow anything larger than about 500g even when they are very big (10kg+). They also grow quickly and are the hardest fighting fish I have ever caught. I would defintiely reccommend stocking some, both to control nuisance fish and for the amazing sport. I will try to post some pictures later

I will be in Bangaldesh for several months and hope that maybe one day I might have a chance to meet you and visit your fishery. would love to catch a catla...

Cheers,
Beano

It's called MahaShol in bengali......

Saiki

Definitely barramundi - as you can see from the picture below the gape of their mouths isn't very big compared to the size of their heads.



I once found a 10kg one that had died with a tilapia of about 500g lodged in its throat, which had proved too big for it to swallow....

Beano