INDIANANGLER

This will be done in Marala and Mangla. I will arrange the trips.
regards
Sualeh

Yeah,

That will be great Sualeh Sb. Please chk the security and premission required for Baruity the spot below the spill way.

Ali when are u coming back to Pakistan

We can also try our luck for the final Masheer season at Tarbella

Thats for sure Mangla, Marala and Tarbela.

I'll be back by the middle of May.

Great. I will have a months break in June.

Hi Folks
Got the opportunity to visit the northern areas (Skardu Valley). Thoroughly enjoyed the fall weather and trout fishing though it had gone a bit chilly out there and water was really cold. It was almost the end of trout season and trout seem to know about it. They attacked the spinner ferociously and fought furiously. Fished mostly in Farok Tso (lake) and Katchura Tso.
Day one. Caught three trout, medium size.
Day two. Caught 22 brown trout and 4 snow carps, mostly in the range of 1 lb. few were around 2 lb. Released 15.
Day three. Caught 9 brown trout, 2 rainbow trout and 2 snow carps. Released 7. Biggest trout being 3 lb. Most were in range of one lb.

A wonderful trip. There is certainly something special about trout fishing. The only unfortunate thing was that the camera stopped working in the middle of fishing session , however, had taken a few pics before it happened.
Sualeh







Days catch, after releasing 15 trouts

Relaxing after a dream session

Man that place looks brilliant! Great stuff,thanks for sharing.
Regards,
Yaj.

U are 1 Lucky Guy to Been fishing and that too in This kinda place...
Cheers!!!
M

What a place. You are one lucky guy dude.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Good show Sualeh Sahib,

Did you stay at the Shangri-la hotel or any of the other ones near Katchura?

You look like a real Northerner with your Khapol on, all you have to do now is start drinking salty buttered tea like us...

sulaeh Sb,

Great going. Awesome pics sir jeeee..... and yes the grin on our face says it all about the fishing.

And yes as Ali suggested you should start out on the salted TEA

I need to visit these areas next season. Havent been there for what seems ages now...

wonderful location, you indeed are very lucky.. thanks a million for sharing the pics..

Sualeh, please check your PM..

Beautiful pix Sulaeh, wish i were there.
Regards
Owen

Thanks for sharing. Superb location.

Beautful Location mate .. Thanx for taking time to post the pics

Thanks for sharing these beautiful pics
Cheers...Hamdhingra

HI Sulaeh,

the pics are absolutely breath taking....thanks for sharing them with us.

Beautiful location…. You had a great time.....

Thanks guys. I have always believed that there is something special about trout fishing. Its not just angling. Its a complete package. One thing is for sure; trout will always be found at breathtaking places. So its angling, hiking, treking, sight seeing, all in one. I wish my camera had not gone off. Missed many pics. Had not taken the mobile along because it does not work there.
Cheers

Hi Ali. I stayed in Shangrila for a couple of days but then shifted to another place. You know Shangrila is quite expensive.
While fishing i noticed that during this time of the year, trout attacked the spinner ferociously. Every time i would get
a strong bite that would jolt the rod like anything and than it would turn out to be just one lbr trout. Could there
be some special reason for this?? Do trout bite more ferociously during this time of the year??

Another amazing thing was that i saw a trout in Farok Tso which must have been not less than 10 kgs:shock:. I approached
the lake quitely from the trees and saw this lunker trotting along the banks in shallow water. It disappeared when it saw me. Tried a lot but could not hook it. Locals say that there are huge trout in the centre of the lake. But that portion is very deep. Well over a hundred feet. No worries mate. I will get them. May be we go together for the venture.

Why not Im always up for a trip to Baltistan!

Im thinking hardware, deep diving plugs may work for the big ones, if nothing else works then livebait is worth trying(my flyfishing friends would curse me if they saw me talking about baitfishing for trout). Small juvenile snow carps are supposed to work as are a small flat species of catfish similar to a khagga, its called Kaarmachzi in Khowar and Chaqato in Shina, I dont know the Balti name for it.

Very special location mate, simply beautiful

Great pics Sualeh
Seems to be a complete trip-weather, locale and fishing all doing a great job!
Whats that cap you're wearing called?
Best
Axx

the cap looks like a berret

The reason the Trout are so aggressive this time of the year is that I think they feed more to build up body fat for the upcoming winters ( Thats my guess).

I am all in for a trip for the monster 10 kg trout.

Ali is quite rite. I have heard of people using live bait for the lunkers

Thats the reason Shaphan, and at this time of year trout which at other times completely ignore spinners will take them.

By the way, I caught a nice five pound Peacock Bass on a Rat-L-Trap last week. I caught a couple of largemouths before but this was my first peacock, it fought like hell.

Despite of my buddies pestering me for releasing fish, I let it go. Too beautiful a fish to kill.

Great going Ali,

Good to hear that your enjoying ur lure fishing in the US as well. The trip to Baltistan is a must next year.

Ali when are u coming back. Will it be possible to for u to bring some stuff back from the USA when ur coming down????????

Saw a Rex Hunt video where he was trawling very successfully for big trout.
Will take a better look at the video and tell you how he did it.

Shaphan, sure yaara. I'll let you know before I come home.

Owen, I watched that show, he was trolling in some dam in the Snowy Mountains in Victoria. They were trolling small, sinking rapalas and live bait.

Rex Hunt is damn entertaining!

Thanx mate...........

Hi Asif, the cap i am wearing is called Khapol (as mentioned by Ali) by the locals. We call it Chitrali topi. Its made of a hand wovenc woolen cloth and is quite warm.
Ali, locals told me that these big lunkers can not be caught. The dont take spinners or plugs or other baits. I was just thinking that live trout (6-8 inch) might work. What do you say???
Cheers

Hi Sulaeh,

Splendid pics, look at the trees burning with desire to catch one, but you stole the show, simply awesome...

Thanks Rana. You know autumn colours in Baltistan are a treet to watch. Gold and orange everywhere. Angling in those environment is a real pleasure.

Hi suleh,

Really nice pics to share.

Cheers,
Apoo

Livebait sometimes works, the best ones are six inch snow carp.

Lure fishing at night can also work, large spinners and especially dark plugs are effective.

Yes, snow carps can also be used as a live bait. As for lure fishing for trout at night, i have not been able
to catch one late at night but caught many at sunrise and sunset times when its not completely dark, using
Aglia Black Fury and Blue Fox vibrax (black blade with yellow dots).

By the way, doesn't snow carp taste better than trout. Its a bit bony though. I found snow carps found in
Skardu area to be better than trout in taste. They infact look like trout and are sometimes sold by locals
as trout to those who can not identify. They also have spots on their body. We used to catch them using atta or
bread (double roti). What do you say??

Sualeh Sahib,
nice catch sir

Sualeh/Ali,

Your rite. Yesterday the famous Sheikh Sahab called me that a man is selling live trout in Bani. My guess was that they were snow carp...................................... Are they hardy fish. Can they survive such a long journey. He had kept them in ice water. Whats ur guess???????????

Three things Shaphan
One. Closest trout waters from Islamabad are Naran and upperSwat Valley. I have heard of few trout farms in Muree but never seen those. Trout decomposes quite quickly and unless freezed using scientific methods, is not likely to retain its quality even if placed in ice cubes.

Two. Snow carps are found in Tarbela lake, Siran river and all other streams of the area that fall into tarbela lake. One type of snow carp is quite identical to trout.

Three. When Sheikh says something, its better to confirm from other sources.

my friend's father make a trout farm at Murree on running water. i will ask the location from him. I also heard that some one caught trout from tarbaila. it was be snow carp coz Mr Sualeh says its quite identical to trout.

shah jee! your friend is running a trout farm in murree, wow, mate! get the location quickly. and if you guys plan to go there, count me in...

I guess you guys might be shocked to see the high prices and small size of the trout in that farm

Snow carps, what a wonderful group of fishes! I grew up fishing for them by the cool of the river during the summer months.

Their are many species but they usually do not have seperate names in the languages of the north, they come under the all encompassing term of "desi" fish.

Generally speaking though their are three major species.
1. A solid silver fish that can grow to about five pounds, found in all of the rivers of Chitral, Gilgit and Baltistan.
2. A similar one to the first but with a slightly more rounded form and somewhat larger scales, this is the fish found in Dir, Hazara and Swat. Its quite common in Tarbela.
3.A trout-like spotted one, it is also trout like in its habits and can be caught on the fly and occaisionally even takes spinners. Like trout it prefers clear waters.

Most people consider them to be tastier than trout, but they are extremely boney. The traditional way to cook them is fry them on a "tawwa" with a rock on top until they are a hard golden mass and eat them bones and all with tea.

They also fight harder than trout of the same size, and have mahseer-like runs.

Trout in Tarbela:

I would not have believed it unless I saw one, and I did about ten years ago.

I saw a dead one with the fishermen at Darband. They claim that they migrate in and out of the lake. The speciman was about five pounds and silver with black spots. It wasnt a snow carp or a Bola (Indian Trout) but a Brown Trout of the Loch Leven variety.

Where they come from, God knows. The nearest trout waters that feed into Tarbela are in Kohistan and Diamer.

They are not at all common and are limited to the upper reaches of the lake in Mansehra district. I think they must be stray individuals that swim down the Indus during winter when it is low and clear and find themselves stranded when the Indus rises in summer.

@Sualeh

mine friend is inviting me at Kotli (ajkf) for fish9ing, do you know which kind of fish there at Ponch river ? (i think it is ponch river at Kotli)

This must have been the reason. I would have not believed it had it not been confirmed by Ali.

Hi Fakhir
You can find Singhara, Rohu, mori and if lucky mahseer in Poonch River around Kotli. Few other small size catfish and carps can also be found. Good luck. Do post the results.
Cheers

Hi Sualeh ,
fished the Poonch river in '71-'72.Heavy mahseer fishing in apr - may. They will go for any lure . Thats 10-40 Kms from the border.
Then another 10 Kms up and towards the Pir Panjal you find the pristine environments and the beautiful clear streams and the trout. I was naive then to go further and identify all that / what we caught - Some day when J & K is peaceful again we will go and fish these wonderful places.
Tight lines...Hamdhingra

Shah jee,

The poonch river has a large varirty of Fish. Most recently like I told u on the phone the other day Masheer are being caught and that of reasonable size.

Whats the plan then????????

Sualeh Sb,

It wasn't the Shiekh from the fishing shop but our very own Sheikh Waseem. I also told him the most likely possibilty must be snow carp.

As for the trout Farm/ Hatchery I have visited one of the Punjab Fisheries its just before barian on the NWFP/PUNJAB border. Karlot is the name of the place if I am not wrong.

Yes they do sell trout there @ Rs. 500-700 per Kg and u get about 3-4 fish in a KG. . The trout they sell there (fry as well as adults) are rainbows

I think its cheaper than Islamabad though......


As for trout in TArbella Ali is spot on. If you meet the people working the dam for the contractor they will tell u that they do net the occasional trout now and then.