INDIANANGLER

Hi folks

Just read about this in the times today. The fish seems to be a carnivorous catla! The Gorur reservoir is approx 5 hour drive from Bangalore and is built across the Hemavathi river.

Bops great news feed.

A 44kg Catla is one hell of a fish. Carp do tend to be carnivores as well.

In Pakistan common carp, locally called gulfam are caught on Live bait. A couple of weeks back a person caught two rahu on live bait.

As for Catla ( Locally called Theila) its allien ground as I think we have minimal info. Anglers rarely catch a catla and that to of this size.

Hi Bops,

I have spoken to several people who have caught Catla on spoon.

Regards,

Bobby

Boby now thats a real revelation Catla on spoon????!!!!??!?!?

The catla that i have heard from anglers from Pakistan is been on Worms and thats also a rare feat.

What do you guys use as bait, ground bait and what are the best area to fish and what rig/ technique is best suited for Catla. This is one fish that has always eluded me.

Any info is welcome

I still don't think that is a catla....

Hi Shapan,

I am a saltwater angler, never fished for Catla let alone taking it on Spoon. But this is something I have heard from people who claim to taken them first hand.

Perhaps some one on the forum who has actually caught them on lure will be able to advise you better.

Regards,

Bobby

Hi Guys,

That's a big Catla. Nice to see a picture of one so close to us here in Bangalore...... I've fished the Gorur dam a couple of times and had some murral from there.

Regards,

Mighty Marlin.

What a game it would have given if it was caught on a rod....

What to say guys. I am lost and confused.
This catla needs lot of study.

For sure, I will be casting a spoon here in Powi very soon.

Regards,

Ali

More Monsters here
http://www.anglingnews.net/gallery.asp? ... and&list=3

To add to the Catla on Spoon fiasco, for those of you who have been to Mahableshwar and know the lake where they do boating. Locals have been known to troll spoons there early morning and late evening and have caught what apprears to be Catla.

I have fished that lake unsuccessfully but did not get a chance to do any trolling much too busy target practicing there.

wow its monster!

Carnivorous catla! ...I thought catla & Rohu were Veg

this is a catla for sure....big head, broad belly...dark scales...i wonder what would be taste of a carnivorous catla....??!!!

Bobby,

I have tried my luck at the lake with small silver / copper spoons & spinners of all sizes (unsuccessfully).. what they catch there on spoon is not catla but a fish locally called as Khadas. (Mahseer)

bops as usual thanks a ton for some really interesting facts for me it is really surprising to get all this new info on catla cheers

Nice to note, wife's got a holiday house in Moleshwar and her family have got very good contacts with the locals including the guys who take care of the lake. Will try again when I am there

In-fact they keep asking me to fish the lake when I am there, even organize the boat and everything but I don't go. I prefer taking early morning walks there with a shotgun . I had give a rod and reel to one of the local shikaris there.

Bobby

Big 40 kg Catla netted by fisherman at Thirumoorthy Dam. This photo appeared in the tamil daily even dated.
RaviURL=http://imageshack.us][/URL]

%$@#*$^$%!(#*#^&@

Gosh and golly too!

Just a question before I get out of breath again. How old would a fish like that be?

There was a small write up about the fish in the same paper and it said it would take almost abt 15 years for the fish to get to this size. The same paper said a few months back a fish of 47 kgs was caught at Mettur Dam
(Hi Bro , just think of a fish that size at the end of your line. Sweet dreams)
Ravi

Now thats Monstersaurauss Catlas.

Check out the mouth man. If one were to hook a monster of such size. Is the second fish a common carp????

Are these great grand daddy carp, or mutants?

Hi,

Ranjit Daniels, in his book "Fresh Water Fishes of Peninsular India" writes that the Catla can grow upto 15-200 cm and a weight of 70 kg.He also writes ' The Catla is non-predatory and its feeding is restricted to the surface and mid-waters........despite its reputation as a vegetarian species,it is known to take live shrimps used as bait by anglers.'

The Catla has been cross bred with Rohu, Calbasu,Mirgal and Labeo fimbriatus.

I recently landed a 5 kg Catla (my first) in the WASI lake on ragi while bottom fishing. The bait was in the water for over two hours before the fish took it. So it is a bottom feeder as well.

Sandeep

Sorry I missed a zero. 150 to 200 cms in length.

Sandeep

If a katla grows above 40 kgm mark...then it should be way above 50 yrs of age.
After 5-6kgm mark katla growth becomes unpredictable and slow and depends upon many factors.

From my experiences what i've seen, Katla above 10kgm mark can be lured with live baits including worms...
No wonder they could be carnivorous as well.

P.S. I agree with Gavin, I'm really in a dilemma if that pic is of a katla

Regards,
Saiki

nice Catla man !

Of all the cross breeding, success has only happened with the rohu and hence you get the hybrid called Nadim (locally in Bongland).. Due to the different gene strains, success rate with the other types of carp is less than 5% ( as per the West Bengal fisheries )



The WASI cottage holds a catla in excess of 30+kgs. This I have seen personally on my first visit there in 2006..
Despite the fact that the catla being primarily a surface feeder.. it is common for them to be a bottom feeder as well.. Most of the anglers here do bottom feeding with big baits, locally called "laddoo". These baits tend to lie in the water in excess of 45 minutes..



Doc, the reason I had my doubts on whether this was a catla was simply because that the head and the mouth of the fish was comparatively much smaller to what it should be for a 40+kg catla.
There could be two explanantions for this,
1. the body structure and colouring of the fish could be different from what we are used to seeing here in Bongland.. This I have noticed a lot between the rohus of the Deccan compared to the ones we get here.. The "Southies" are more red and longer than the ones we get here..
2. The catla in the pic could be a Giant Siamese Carp, which is mistaken on many occasions for the catla..

Hi guys,
"
That fish is not a catla. I have seen a 40 kg specimen caught using a 6" carp as bait in the peringal dam ( on the chalakudy) river in 1980. They call it a "KADDI MEEN" which trabnslates to "biting fish" . Every time I fish for maseer in the river the locals tell me to watch out for the kaddi meen which they swear grows up to 70 kg! I look forward to a feed back on this from piscator.

jeen

Nice info Jeen...

Gavin Siamese Carp in India???

Saiki

i agree with gavin.....it looks very much like giant siamese carp....

Why not Doc ? Our sub-continent weather and waters are perfect for them.. Take a look of the Record Carp link posted by Susheel John on this thread and you will notice the similarities..
http://www.anglingnews.net/gallery.asp? ... and&list=3

neither do I Gavin Actually I think this is a guy who liked to eat a lot and swimming around in rivers a lot. So he got an ''Catla-dress'' for himself

:lol::lol:

Sounds unlikely but then again, the very same area is known to contain Giant Snakehead (Toman) which are also a Thai species. Perhaps someone has been busy...

Hi Jeen,

Missed this post, why do they call this fish Kaddi Meen (Biting Fish)? Has this fish attacked any person or cattle or something like that. Perhaps you may have asked the people there why such a picular name.

True Ken!