INDIANANGLER

Hey guys,

Few weeks back I went to South Konkan for finalising a land deal and for some fishing, The place is magical and I dream to settle down at this place one day.
The first two sessions was hard work, trolled over 6 hrs / session for two groupers. Lot of sea weed made trolling difficult and going out in open sea in the evening was impossible due to windy conditions.
Although, the first two sessions produced 2 fish, it was pure pleasure to be on the boat early morning in misty conditions, producing some priceless memories.

The second day after a disappointing morning session, I decided to try my luck up river. With couple of local friends I went to fish from a centre pillar of a bridge with bait and lures. From 7 PM till 3 AM, I only managed to bring in two MJ’s and couple of cats and lost few good lures to snags. However spending the night on that pillar was an amazing expiring.

Day three, was too tired & disappointed to go fishing in the morning and thought of returning back as I was supposed to meet my father the next day at a place called sagameshwar which is 250 KM from Mumbai.

Siddharth, a new member on our forum was on his way to Malvan and thinking how excited he must be on his first angling experience, I decided to stay back.

That evening I went almost 10 KM up river at a place which the locals said had big barra’s, fishing was very nice at this place and i landed 7 nice size MJ’s and lost two fish that managed to open 4 x VMC hooks.
Later in the evening I met a very eager Siddharth, and his enthusiasm to learn angling and catching is first fish forced me to stay for one more day.

Day 4, I took siddharth on a small boat to a new location that has a big island just at the mouth of an estuary, both of us got hits the same time and Siddharth landed his first fish, a nice2 kg grouper.
In that session we landed 4 groupers(2 each) and I lost two more.

In the evening, I took him up river where he got his first MJ, we landed 4 of them and lost one.

I left malvan the next morning and on my way back got a call from Siddharth that he caught a MJ on spinning .. the man is hooked for life and I am sure his wife must be cursing me for that..

Had a great time, as I have never before worked so hard to catch fish..thanks Siddharth.

Some pictures of magical land..

Take me home












Best way to school..














The done deal... find me here when I retire


was fishing whole night on this pillar .. what an experience


Barra Power


Monster Mullet


Siddharth with my upriver Jack..


Hits..


Our small boat..


His first..










Mr. Jack

NOW thats the beauty of konkan and nicely captured santosh
CONGRATS on your land deal, I see all your retirement policies are taking shape
I can't help imagining in the year 2035 an old man trying to land a 5kg mj on that same pillar as I would be doing the same in murud

Great Pics Santosh, keep them coming week after week just love to see them...

great pics!!

Awesome report Santosh.

I really wish to fish on konkan Coast. Thank you very much for the pictures, i'm visualizing Konkan beauty with these pictures.

Keep fishing buddy.

Thanks Lion, Dilip, Aloo & Mani.



I dont think if i'll wait for that long..

Hi santosh
great pictures, a photographer is also hidden in you.,which camara boss ? Any way the beauty of Konkan is really admirable. I still recall my posting at Ratnagiri-which gave me opportunity to visit whole konkan cost from Dabhol to terekhol,kiranpani, down south. we had paid holidays (paid by the Government) at konkan posting, I envy you for the land deal looks like paradise on earth . A very good report ,keep it up !

Last month a long awaited dream finally came true. I went on my first proper saltwater fishing trip and it was a memorable one, made entirely possible by a very fine man called Santosh. I’m a complete novice and Santosh patiently guided me through the entire process, from teaching me how to tie knots to answering my endless questions and doling out general angling tips. He even took time out from his busy schedule to help me buy a rod, vociferously bargaining with the shop owner to get me a good deal. As if that wasn’t enough he gave me hooks, leaders, rigs, weights and snaps from his own collection. The angling experience was even more special because not only did I catch fish (call it beginners luck) but also made a good friend in the bargain.

After Santosh left for Bombay I tried my hand at trolling but was unsuccessful. Then I tried spinning from a sand bar in the middle of a river. On my third cast, my rod arched sharply and I knew it was a fish at the other end. It was interesting to watch the reactions of the people around me. I was unperturbed and concentrating on landing the fish but the two boat guys started yelling in excitement and were repeatedly asking me to stay calm. The fish was a decent sized mangrove jack and my first serious solo catch. My next attempt was spinning in Goa but I came back empty handed after losing a lure to the rocks. The next day, on a full moon night, I tried bait fishing with mackerel from the beach. My first cast caught me a massive catfish that I released after a few moments of misty-eyed admiration. It was a literal feeding frenzy that night and the tip of my rod was moving like the needle of a polygraph test. Then suddenly I got a massive hit on my fourth cast and in seconds the rod straightened and I lost the entire rig, hooks weight etc everything. Still, it was fun and I learnt a lot from this experience and still have a long way to go.

A special shout out to Angler Ali who showed me the ropes initially, took me along on a short fishing excursion, answered my endless questions and even offered me a rod for my trip. Thank you Ali Bhai for your generosity and patience. You truly are a man apart.

Some pictures from my camera.

If there's fish around, Santo cant be far.... Lucky you :)

Thanks Freddie..

Stunning pictures Santosh. I think it was more likely a large MJ rather than a Barra that busted that VMC..

Great pictures Santosh, Thanks for sharing.

saravanan

Hi Santosh,
Good show!! and what a fantastic retirement place, I hope I'll still be around to pay you a visit!!!!
The very best to you,
Syd.

Thanks Bobby, yes it could have been a large MJ..
Still waiting for my barra of 2010, after every fish that I lose I end up thinking that it was a barra..

Thanks saravanan.

Thanks Mr. Sydney, Lets plan a trip down south sometime in April.. fishing with an accomplished angler like you will be good learning for me.

Hi Santosh,
Thanks for your offer, yes lets plan a trip.
Santosh,please don't call me an accomplished angler, because on every trip one is learning something new from
each other.The young from the old, and the old from the young.!!
See you soon,
Regard,
Syd.

Sayed,

And that you already have a place in Murud, you should start working on the pillar Just kidding mate.

DeZZ

Santosh Kai Mhantos :)

Hey chief, why do I feel as if this place is either Nevti or Bhogve, I mean just out of curiosity? I have been to these places and probably try some fishing if I happen to be there on vacation sometime in May (Hope-full/half ly)

DeZZ

What pillar ? dezz I don't need no pillar ! MAN I'll cast straight from here

that's my son on the backward wall of my beach house

Hi Dezz, one of the pic is from Nevti.

Sayed,
You got a nice beach house..

Thank you Santosh
All praise be to the ALMIGHTY LORD

I guessed it Santosh. I presume the one with the birds is Nevti.

And Sayed,

*** man.. you cannot be asking for retirement. GOD you are the luckiest burger mate. If I had to own that place. I would wake up in the morning cast and then go to brush my teeth LOL. Thats one of my desires mate. Let me gather funds right away , and perhaps have some property next to the beach.

DeZZ

10th Pic is of Nevti..

Only to come back and find your rod missing.. that is Ravas country mate..

Ok DEZZ do it right away and change your signature to = DeZZ always by the BAY

You bet ya aakhui

excelent pictures and fantastic catch
Cheers
M

Excellent catch guys.
Equally good photos.
Ravi

Hi Santo,

Beautiful photographs and nice fishing too. I recall my old days of spinning. It is different fun. You have to correct your english language. Instead of saying my retirement, the correct way of saying is our retirement place coz I also would be there, isnt it? LOL. I see a lot of coconut trees around our retirement place. You know well that a coconut tree produces excellent fresh madi. You know what I mean. Anyways congrats for the fish caught and happy fishing.

Spoonangler.

Thanks Mayur & Ravi..




Yes Masterji.. lol.. yes that’s our retirement place.. fresh madi and fish along with good old memories .. priceless..

hey Santo,


great stuff ! Will buzz you sometime.

Great stuff Buddy....

Thanks for sharing....

Thanks Keyur & Viper..

Dear SANTY !
Awesome pictures mate.
Make it a point that whenever you plan to settel here , make a small outhouse with a pantry.
Will come , fish without bothering your wife for food etc.

(keep in mind , once you r there you will get daily request for stay and fishing)

Thanks Prakash, please do visit whenever I have the place ready.. don’t worry about the food, in fact I'll need your help to cook all the fish that I catch ... I'll be all alone there, and if you got some interesting company, you are more than welcome..

Santosh

jungle mein mangal

Dear santy,
just make the place ready and here i come.
Will make your beach house IBIZA .

Santosh- Great trip. Super pics. Very good fishing.
I lived in Panvel for nearly 3 yrs and have travelled quite a bit along the Konkan coast. I can understand your love of the place. Place is an opiate- you can never have enough of it. Malvani food is great too.
Regards.
Tight lines.

Hi Santosh,

Great catch and lovely pics. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Apoo

Aare yaar Shailendra,

Why did you mention the Malvani Food. My mouth is dripping of saliva. Damn, I miss that food like crazy. I was once heading for tarkarli and we stopped there on the road side "Khanawal" and WOW SOUL CURRY, Fish curry, Fried pomfrets and Fried Iswan WOW man. Feel like banging my head on the wall for not being there

Thanks Apoo and Shailendra..

Santo great show mate cheers

Thanks Dada.. I am waiting for your call.... let's go on some crazy trips that we did in the past.. cheers Bro
Santosh

Wow,
Some amazing scenes and fabulous trip report. man I am happy you got your dream place. Congratulations.

After seeing the Mullet, my conviction that bait fishing can produce some amazing catches has grown by many folds. The surf casting/ beach fishing is what I would love to do on a different level altogether.

Like others, your this post also is heartening, inspiring and educating. Thanks for sharing.

Siddharth, I am also very happy for you mate. Congratulations on your first sucessesful trip. Now you are truly hooked.

Regards,

Ali.

Thanks Ali..

Thanks Ali Bhai

Congratulations Santo.............

What a beautiful location....
One thing i want to point out, third pic from your uploads, is a awesome example of a silhouette...........

Regards
Saiki

amazing stuff sirji....

Thanks Saiki, I have 1000's of beautiful pics of Konkan.. PM me your address and send you a CD.

Hey Prasad where are you man..??