INDIANANGLER

Recently did a short trip to one of my favorite haunts on Konkan coast with Rajat, Babloo (angler_mh) and Hakeem (Non IA Member). Atul (Snakehead) with some of his friende was to join us next day. The objective of the trip was to intercept Barra from the mouth of the estuary with the incoming tide in night, do some beach fishing adjoining the estuary and then explore the estuary by boat during day time and try to land some good MJ’s that abound the rocky stretches and Mangroves.

First evening Babloo and Rajat decided to do some beach fishing while myself and Hakeem choose to try our hand, intercepting the Barras from the point of sand bar formed at the mouth of the estuary. The tide was already coming in when we started spinning. As the Moon came up behind the hills, I got my first hit, a Barra around 3 Kg. Within half hour landed two more Barra, respectively 1 Kg and 3 Kg. Hakeem also got some hits but unfortunately failed to connect.

As it was full moon, the water was rising dangerously and we were forced to leave the spot. We did try to catch some MJ’s from the rocks but without luck.

As we boarded the boat next day, our sprits were high and we all were confident of catching some good fishes. The spots we were targeting, are renowned for MJ,s, occasional Barra and Reef Cod. We tried every thing in our armory including bait fishing but did not catch any thing. As the sun climbed high our hitherto soaring sprits sank and we abandoned the search and returned to the base camp. As the tide started coming up in the evening, we tried some bait fishing but without any bite. Atul and his friends joined us also and only Baya, one from the group of Atul, landed a decent Ray.

Once again as the moon was rising above the adjoining hills, we all started spinning and after some time I managed to hook a decent Barra. As we were fishing from the sand bar, there was no hurry to bring the fish to the shore and after a very enjoyable and exciting fight, the fish was finally landed. I got another hook up but the fish managed to throw the lure while jumping. That night also we tried to hook some MJ’s but again we all failed.

Next morning was the same and no one got any bite although we did try very hard by anchoring the boat on very promising spots and spinning for a fish. It was like there were no fishes in the estuary.

Did some enquiry from the locals and every one said, that the fishes have vanished from the rocks due to spurt in the population of Otters!

Believe me that the spots we tried are such places where one is bound to catch some good fishes but there were no hits from even a small MJ. Even tried some bait fishing but without a single bits.

Now, can Otters destroy or scare away the residential population of fishes? The only fishes we caught during this trip which was coming in with the tide, otherwise, not a single hit.

Is the spurt in the Otter population, bane of our estuaries? Is it a local phenomenon or any one else has experienced the same. Please share your thoughts.

All in all, a very enjoyable but a very puzzling trip.

PS: last day hooked mother of all Barras but lost the fish including my lure and some line. Never seen something like that in my life.

A Beautiful estuary



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Some of the Spots



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Spinning from the Boat.



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Good fight and good Ray by Baya.



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Some of the Barras



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Bane of our Estuaries, the Otters. (Photos courtesy Atul and Col. Nair)



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Regards,

Ali.

ali bhai when was this trip planned . . i was in konkan(karde) for 2 days the 19 th and 20th . . dint land any fish other than 2 cat . it was too windy and rough tides . .

Nice trip report ... loved it. Congratulations to the team !
Alibhai Congratulations for the barras... they are gooood. wonder how the mother which got away with your lure and line would have been. would like to see something like that ..... better still would like to get hold of one sometime. god knows when ... now somewhat ok using my spinning gear ... but till now account has not opened however efforts are on !

Well with my limited knowledge I dont think the bigger fish need to run away from the otters. Otters mostly eat crustaceans and smaller slow moving fish. However who knows with the changing scenario(pollution etc) they must be going for snappers and MJ's too. Surprising ... its like since there are tigers in the forest all the deer have run away ...
would be interesting to hear from the others on this !

cheers!
samit mukherjee

Hi Ali,

Congrats on the barras. Nice fish.
As regards to the otters, I believe that if the otter population is very high, they could wipe out most of the small catch-able sized fish. But am sure this estuary has giant sized MJ's, which the otter cannot handle.
I have been to few of the estuaries on that coast and on several occasions come back without any MJ's. On some occasions we get tired of catching MJ's. It probably could be few of those days that the MJ,s decided to stay back home rather than venturing out to feed.

But , the otter can wipe out a considerable amount of fish.
I had once introduced common carp into a very small private dam. for 5 months the fish were growing very well and the disaster happened. The otter, which were not heard of in that area, appeared and wiped out almost all the carp in the water body. Only the big ones, numbering few, were left back.

Ravi

Congrats Alibhai

I rather supspect that in an open wild fishery like the sea, an estuary, a major river or large body of freshwater, the only significant damage done by "otters" is done by the two legged kind with nets.....
Yes, they can be an issue on small stocked waters but they were present long before man came on the sene and take an insignificant amount of prey from larger environments.

Wonderful barras and ray caught. Congrats to everyone for the fish caught. Thnks for sharing the pics and happy fishing.

Naw! I don't think it is the otters. Nature always maintains a balance. Sure there can be a spurt in the predatory population but this is always checked. Think of it, if the number of fish decline then the otters go to another place where there are fish. You can never have too many otters and too few fish.

Ken is right. It is not the otters but the 'rotters' (sorry could not resist that one) who net indiscriminately.

OOOO! I just saw all the pictures.

Guys! I am on my way there in March. Please plan a trip if you can.

cheers

Spectacular catch there Ali Bhai.

Loved the barra.

Awesome report partner as usual although only you out of all of us manage to catch any fish but the trip was really a memorable one looking forward to go back soon lets plan another trip soon bro mahseerken in march you r on mate

Super BARRA Ali... Damn I missed this trip. Lets plan one more. :)))

Ali Bhai... Awesome catch

Cant view any images. The images are showing a stupid frog with an error 'Unregistered domain'. Tried opening this page using Firefox without any luck? Is there some problem with Imageshack?

Super Barras, Alibhai. Congrats.
Keep them coming.

Nice report Ali. Good looking Barras. Keep up the good work.



Jeen

As always nice report and good catches. Otters..havent seen any in real...
Ali bhai, one question on otters, did they try take the bait or play with the lures?
What was the color - brown or black or some combo...I think I read somewhere that these can be trained...IG if you are reading this how about getting some there...I wonder how deep they can go and whether these can be trained to chase the fish up...hmmm

Fantastic Ali Bhai and Gang. Are you modest or what!! I would be so so excited if I had caught half that size you guys have (its a fresh water syndrome)

Cheers!!


PS: The frog you see, is actually a forecast for sol season ....

Hi Alibhai,

Very nice Report and Hearty Congratulations to all the team for excellent catches.

The barras are superb! Many thanks for sharing your experience.

Looking forward to be with you in the next trip.

Best Regards,


Arun

Simply wonderful Ali...Congrats, wish I was there.

Wonderful, Loved watching and reading.

Cheers.

Great Catch Ali Bhai. Atul & self have been on many occasions to this estuary & it has been productive. Although we never landed any Barra's there, lots of cat fish & sting rays. Had Barra & MJ hook ups thrice but lost them on the rocks.
Regards
Cavalier

Great Catch Ali Bhai. Atul & self have been on many occasions to this estuary & it has been productive. Although we never landed any Barra's there, lots of cat fish & sting rays. Had Barra & MJ hook ups thrice but lost them on the rocks.
Regards
Cavalier

Great Catch Ali Bhai. Atul & self have been on many occasions to this estuary & it has been productive. Although we never landed any Barra's there, lots of cat fish & sting rays. Had Barra & MJ hook ups thrice but lost them on the rocks.
Regards
Cavalier