INDIANANGLER

I thought this would be a good idea to post the places someone can go angling as we all know there are very few places in and around bangalore. There is big fish and there is small fish but the true spirit of angling is to hook the fish that youve set your goal for.

I have been angling in Bangalore for three years now and always run into problems finding places to fish, either the lake is privately owned or someone comes in and chases you away. However all is not lost during this course of time we have identified several location not far from the city that can be used as a day trip and back with good results and one such place is Manchinbale Dam, this place is situated very close to big banyan tree off Mysore road and houses quite a variety of fish. The process is simple identify a fisherman and pay him Rs. 25 for the license for the entire day, (please ensure you collect a slip, as you will have many people who will come around and ask you to show the slip). The Dam houses large Carps and Murrels. This new years night I managed to catch a 4.5 Kg Murell on a spinner and have fished for Carps with great success using wheat bait (Ive managed to catch Grass Carps only).

Its a great locations, the locals are very friendly (they also help you with the bait sometimes and also retrieve lost lure). I have camped overnight and caught some catfish too.

There is an army training camp and the people out there are very friendly in nature.

Please contact me if you need directions to this place

Hi Derek,

Thanks for this excellent bit of information. I'm sure our members will benefit from this.

Bopanna

Hi Derek,

Thanks for the info... Just one question though.. Can you elaborate on the wheat bait ??? Normally grass carp don't go for bait and it's bloody difficult to catch the buggers and even if you do, you are considered one lucky SOB...
Had recently caught a grass carp of 7.8kgs and considered myself really really lucky to have landed her.. I think this maybe just the second decent grass carp that I have caught on my life.. The first was a 2kg bugger that I caught when I my dad was teaching me how to fish..

Hi Derek,

I caught my largest murral from Manchenbele about 3 years ago. We've been fishing there for over 10 years now. In fact the first 'big' murral we caught was from there. I have a lot of fond memories from that place, from over night camping trips, sunday picnics to fishing trips.
I've caught small carnatic carp on worm, but have never pulled out anything bigger in terms of carp.
I guess you aproach from the Mysore road? There's another road from Magadi that's beautiful and takes one to the far end of the reservoir, near Savanadurga, I've seen some huge murral there!

Has anyone been to Kanva? It used to be a favourite haunt of ours at one point, with many carp being caught there on bait. There are also butter catfish that take small spinners in the outflow. Would love to hear from someone who has been down off late.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Hi Guys,

TG Halli used to be another place we frequented earlier. Its on the Magadi road and is a dam across the Arkavatti river, that supplies drinking water to west bangalore, roughly 35 kms from here.
Has large murral, butter catfish, tilapia and carp in the outflow. I guess the main reservoir is full of rohu, common and catla.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

MM,
Kanva had dried up last year (visited May 05), will probably drop in there on my way up to Oooty tomorrow.

Cheers,
Alexis

Hi Alexis,

Check it out and let us know what it looks like if you can. Its always good to know. I guess the water levels should be on their way up this time of year.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Hi Derek

From past few mts every fort night i spend my week ends at this lovely place fortunately i could hook up only marals about 2kgs

as informed by the dam keepers there are a huge numbers of kutla and mirgil
i have tried all kind of baits such as ragi with hing , bread with bananna and venilla flavours ect till date couldnt hook any

It seems long time back a angular had caught these goodies he was from calcutta the informer says he used to get some kind of paste mixes with sand and make balls of it and drop them in a specific location he want to fish and in a span of half hr or so the fish woulld start circling around that area using bread bait he used to dip the bait in the same paste and catch

I tried my best to find out what kind of paste these culcutta angulars used
till date couldnt find a genuine answer

As mr gavin Ridge Cooke says its too hard to catch these its a challenge to hook them now

pls post the recepie you used along with wheat floor it will help manyof us

wish me good luck i have planned a trip on coming tuesday
hope to catch some of these goodies

regard Riaz

Hey first time someone has called me "mr gavin ridge cooke" (thanks riaz)
BTW, catching a big catla (10+ kgs) is a little tough work considering the amount of effort you need to put in preparing the ground bait and stuff.. I know some anglers who "season" their groundbait for a over a period of three months, just to get the perfect blend and smell.. ( I do the same too and have been preparing my stuff for the last couple of months)

Riaz - If you serious about catching catlas, let me know and will give u the recipe ?? Remember, catlas love sweet scented stuff and mrigals love strong, pungent baits..
Even mrigals are not that difficult to catch... Owen's brother is a master at it..

yes i am very much serious pls give me the recipe to hook cutla and mirgil
thanks in advance
riaz

Hey Riaz, here u go !!!!

Take about 10kgs of molasses from you local sweet-shop, mix this with about a kg of oil-cake (ensure that the oil-cake has no sticks and crappy stuff) and add a bottle of rum to this mixture.. Also if possible add a litre of rape-seed oil and keep this away in an airtight container and in the sun... DO NOT LET WATER GET TO IT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES !!!!!!
It takes about a few days for the mix to take shape and the longer you keep it, the better it gets...

The night before you go fishing, take about 250-300gms of avil or avilakki in a bottle and add some local country liquor to it. Pour the stuff till the top of the level of the avilakki.. Let this soak overnite..

On the morning of your fishing, mix about half-kg of the groundbait with mud and make about 15-20 soft balls (slightly smaller than tennis balls).. Then take the avilakki that has soaked overnite and make about 10-12 same size balls..

The avilakki to be thrown about 6 to 10 feet before the groundbait..

For your bait, take bread paste and mix some avilakki to it. Also you can add some ghee or coconut oil to it, to give a nice sweet smell.. If the bait becomes too soft,, you can add a bit of chick-pea flour to it.. Remember that the bait has to be relatively soft for the catla..
Once the bait is made and placed on your hook, just take a little of the ground bait and spread it on parts of the bait...

This is my recipe for catla..... Hope it works for you !! Ensure that the bait is thrown within 5-10 feet either behind the ground bait or on the side.. Catlas are timid fish and usually roam on the periphery of the groundbait...

Hope you not confused about the lecture
Let me know if any of my thesis was too complex...

Hey Gavin,
That's a recipe to make a bomb. Wow! Didn't realise so much work goes into making bait for catla, guess we've been spoilt by our ragi and hing.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Hi gav,

What is avilakki?

Regards,
Apoo

Yeah Gav your cannon ball recepie seems about right, but this rape seed oil and avilakki trip is a bummer.
You did tell me that rape seed oil can be had from the same place that oil cake is available from, but how the hell do i tell a south indian about rape seed mate. I could land up in jail
Also what is Avilakki? Is it a Bong name for something else ?
Tight Lines
Owen

Avilakki would be Kannada (I think) for "cheera"... (Now I hope you know what the fluff is that ?)

You mean "Jeera" ???

Yup Owen, that be a recipe to make a bomb Will be bringing some raw materials when I will be down there !!


This is not even half of what some guys prepare here.. Still trying to crack the code though...

That's why catching catlas in this part of the world is a major thing and you considered an "ustaad" if you land couple of biggies in the 10+ kgs range in one season...

Hoping that this season , I catch atleast one biggie..

No mate... not JEERA but CHEERA... Its a flat, dry, rice type thingey .. and people soak them in water and then eat it.. I guess some people also call it "chhura"

Apoo - Any ideas on alternate names ...

Right you are mate, just checked with my Canadian colleague and he confirms the same. Easily available here.
Now just the rape seed mystery remains.

How the fuch a Canadian bugger knew what cheera was and you didn't ???

If you dont get the rape seed oil, (or too scared to ask ) you can use half litre coconut oil.. The most important part is (sadly) the rum and that the stuff has to be kept in the sun...

Hi Gav,

We also call it chira in assamese.

Cheers,
apoo

Gav .... your recipe sounds like something you need to get the witches of eastwick to concote ... and all the booze ... what do you do after you throw in the groundbait ---- wait for the fish to float to the surface and whack them when they are snoozing ???

Must be the molases thingy ..... what a waste of good ole monk

Hello there all you eccentric Fishos,
Have been reading with interest your many comments on catching Catla. I remember a guy named Errol Fonceca who was the 'KIng' of Chetpet lake[Madras] when it came to catching Cutla---And big ones too! He always used dough with about a 50-50 mixture wheat and maida, and a tiny pinch of Asfoteda[sp?] Peringaium. It was real smelly stuff. Errol had the art down pat, and fished exclusively for them. Yes they are a very shy fish and he fished close in after ground baiting overnight. I believe his secret weapon was his terminal rig which consisted of a sliding SMALL[ about 4inches] Paecock quill or float so that it needed very small lead to hold the bait [tear drop shaped piece of atta moulded around a tiny hook[size6 to 4] }on the bottom --only just on the bottom, and the float was adjusted to allow about 1/2 inche sticking out the water.
He would set up a couple of rods and stand back from the water or sit for hours on end ,only motion being checking his bait. He would shoo you away if you went too close or would not respond to your questions if you spoke too loud across the water. Most of the fish he caught were just lipped if I remember correctly. In summary, I believe his success must be put down to a combination of factors, they being overnight ground baiting, the bait and most importantly the small hook and light terminal tackle and finally his animal cunning and instinct.And when he got one not many people knew about it and one would miss the event altogether if you did not read the notice board !!!!!!
I hope this helps some of you up-and-coming-fisherman and also theGUNG_HO and 'Weed BONGERS'!! Not a good mix gentlemen.It will get you in the end!
Happy Fishing,
Cheers,
Glenn

Hi guys,
this is sudarshan. I have just joined the forum. I sm into angling for the last 4-5 years. Generally at doddamakali, Bheemeshwari or Galibore. We are a gang who visit these waters atleast 3 times a year. I was reading what you guys have posted in the site and is very informative.
Good to be joining the forum.

sudarshan

Hi Sudarshan,

Welcome to the forum. I guess Prem told you about the forum?

Cheers
Bopanna

Hi

I'll be in Bangalore in early feb. I've read a little about Manchinbale Dam, and wondered if anyone else had any experience of it. Could someone please tell me; what sort of size to the carp grow too? Would western tactics work? I.E hair rigs and boily approach? Or would it be fairer to stick to a natural bait?

Thank you

Jim

Hi Jim

Euro techniques should work fine at any of our dams. It's important that the spot be baited for at least three days in a row before fishing. That's the only way to fish a large body of water and connect.

Bops

Hi Jim,
Bops is right, i think even 3 days would give you a very slim chance on boilies. Need more time to get the fish used to the bait. Moreover most of these places are sprawling waters, and just finding a suitable area to ground bait will take time.
Regards
Owen

Thanks Bop and Owen

Yep, had thought about getting the fish use to euro-baits, I thought I might go for a comprimise of a ragi base and then experiemnt with flavourings. The most instant of these I have ever found is called 'The Source' (Ever heard of this Bop') pretty incredible stuff. I went fishing in Spain two years ago, and you can put a spot anywhere (i.e your hands and they instantly attract every fly in the vicinity. Literally you could write you name in the source and it would be outlined with flies. Even if you have never smelt it, you mouth waters. Strange stuff!

Also bringing 'Monster Crap' liquid for the same process of experimentation.

Anyway. i'm bringing a bottle to Bangalore, so you can have look/smell then Bop, if you fancy.

Cheers

Jim

In ben galli, it is churra and hindi it is called pooha when fried it is called chivda and in plain old hinglish it is called beaten rice and not a thingy

still havent got it:-

botanical nameoryza sativa, hindi, chudwa, tamil arisi aval, telugu atukulu, kannada avalakki, oriya chuda, marathi pohe, ben galli chira, gujju pohwa, malayalam aval.

gav, what the s--t you brought from cal, the ants eggs. What do you do with them? Bombed us out of our rooms and used up all of bharat`s AXE.

Im lost on this thread Maan

Hi Fred,
That is because Bobbee has a stink bomb phobia, God knows he let them rip all night at the shack, and is trying to find the root source of the problem.
Getting back to fishing Jim, i dont know if those fish will even take ragi freely, probably atta would be a better bet, and if you have some of that miracle attractor use it with the atta.
By the way atta is plain old wheat flower made into balls of dough, and you can boil them for less than 5 minutes to slightly harden it. This will help it to stay on the hook much londer, plus make for longer casts.
I tried pop up artificial particle baits (corn) on a rig last week end, using a spare rod, to see how the fish would react, and even though the swim was loaded with fish, none but the very small ones even bothered to look at it.
Note that if you are targeting rohu, or mirgal, you need to be using size 8,9 or 10 carp hooks, and your bait should be small cylendrical shaped. Better a little longer than wider. These fish have rather small mouths for their size.
Tight lines
Owen

Thanks Owen

for all of your sound advice. On the plane to Mumbai tommorow - so the txt frequency between myself, Steve and Mr Dickie Fisk are at a all time high.

Take Care and Tight Lines Brother.

Jimmy-the-fish

Would someone be kind enough to answer?

Does anyone know, has anyone ever used surface fishing for the Grass carp on Wassi lake? Is it a method used in India much?

It involves a greased line, a floating candle, a bolt-rig set up that sits on the surface with a bouyant bait.

Very successfull method for the initiated here in England.

Cheers

Jiimy-the-fish

Tried using the weeds the fish feed in the wasi lakes with a float, no go. Shall try your method next time. But why the candle.