INDIANANGLER

The singhara is probably one of the most under appreciated fish.

I would rate it as my third favourite fish to catch afetr maseer and trout. It takes lures readily, often gives a decent fight and above all is delicious. It is also a prolific breeder, so you can keep them without feeling guilty.

Please post pics of singhara you have caught, escpecially lure caught ones.

Singharas caught a couple of years ago at Mangla Dam, Kashmir on Mepps spinners.

Notice the massive chilwa in the second pic, almost a pound, took a #5 Mepps!

Very Nice Ali..

I love them fish. Both to catch and for the table. Great show Ali, I am sure that was a very nice dinner you had there.

A couple of years ago IndianGypsy and I set out a few worms in a pond little bigger than a badminton court, we called this place The Bathtub. In 15 minutes we had two singara above a kilo each and another nearly 4 kgs. That one should some real spunk and had us running around the place for a good five minutes.

Good fish with some fight for a couple of seconds, never the less I hate them while beach fishing.

They take all the bate, ment for other fishes.

Regards,

Ali.

The Samundari Khagga (sea catfish) does not fight as well as a freshwater singhara, does'nt taste as good either.

Singhara are better fighters then malhi too. Take lures more readily as well.

Any body have any other singhara pics? Post-processing pics of Batter fried and pakoraofied singhara would also suffice...

Nice red tails.

The singhara is a relative of the Asian Redtail Catfish, but not the same species.

Singhara season is almost here, I'll try to get some in a week or two.

Pal I hope we are talking about the same fish we call them Shivda in Maharashtra or Malli
very small ones though but some fun on a sunday morning


By rajatmukherje

No, Rajat Dada,

The pics you have posted are that of 'Walagu Attu'. Yes, we call them here around Mumbai as Shivda or Muli. They are different from what Mr. Ali has illustrated. 'Singhara', which Mr. Ali has caught is not 'Shivada' or 'Muli'. Somehow, the 'Singhara' which Mr. Ali has illustrated are found in salt water only, in Maharashtra to the best of my knowledge. I have yet to see a Fresh Water 'Singharas' similar to those caught by Mr. Ali in Pakistan.

Other Angler Friends can throw some light on my observations regarding their occurence in fresh water.

Regards,

Arun

Arun Sahib
you are right on this one they are Mulli's but I am also sure that we get fresh water Singara in India too in fact they are two kinds In Begali one is call Adh Maach and other one is Buaal I thing the Buaal is the cat fish of Ganga may be not Adh I am not sure Ali may know better as he was saying that some of the singara size in Ganga goes upto 25 Kgs .

Thanks for the information Rajat Da.

Tight lines.

Regards,


Arun

We here in Pump House have Singhara & Malli both as I had caught 1 long time back & even MKen also, even in Jamuna this season Malli is caught in a huge amount by the local anglers.......

Nice Mullis Rajat Da!

Did you get them on lures or worms.

The singhara is a fairly common fish in the Indus Basin, I dont know about Central India though.

got them all on silver spoons

Are you referring to the same "lucky Spoon"??

yeah partner you know

Caught these singhara on Mepps Spinner and the other on Chilwa from Mangla. THe singhara season should commence by mid may once the netting at Mangla is over

Good show Shaphan Sahib!

Done any fishing yet?

How is the fight guys ? looking at the first pic (nice tail), they should be putting a decent fight.

Went to Tarbella on the 28th Feb. Caught nothing. The water level was fallin. Missed a snake head, my estimate was around the 4kg +/- mark on a plug. Plan to go for Mahahseer fishing by end march on the Indus river.

Once the outflow of the Jhelum river reduces at Head Rasul, Rahu and Mirgal fishing should commence down stream @ Shergar.

Nothing much at Mangla the thekedar is busy plaing havoc these days as the water level is very low.

What about you????

Santosh,

Singharas are decent fighters and a fish above 2kgs is good game. Like Ali already mentioned the best part is that singharas take lures readily and that's the main charm. U can also catch them on live bait. I haven't caught one myself in the big range but a couple of years back a fellow angling friend of mine caught a 12kg Singhara from Chashma. It took him good time to land the fish plus you have to be really careful of the top and front side fins as they can pierce your hand with ease.

Must be a hell of a fish.

Just to add one more thing about singhara, they can climb a net, using their side fins.

Regards,

Ali.

Wanted to share the snap of a Singhara Catfish Caught by 1 of my friend on his handline in Badra River last Mansoon...using Chilwa as Bait...

was somewhere close to 5-6Kg.... ,was infomred that locals often catch huge singhara's upto 25-35 kgs on thick handlines,am tryin to get a pic to share


Sorry for the Image Quality...was taken using the Cellphone Cam...

Wow this proves Ali's point when he says we have some huge singhara's in Indian river great show pal keep them coming I have to get one of them soon man

That cat is a beauty, but I doubt it is the same fish that Ali posted, could be wrong though.

Booby its the same fish its a Singhara, and a beautiful one toooo.

I thought so too Bobby,

Then I did a search and saw that it looks more like a Red Tailed Catfish. The problem is they are not meant to be found here. Also the tail fin is too forked and the head is a bit different.

the point is that that fish is very different compared to all the singhara I have seen.

Hi Ken,

My thoughts exactly but I did not say so because they are found in S America. I doubt it is a Red-Tailed Cat.

Maybe Shapan is correct it could be the same fish in Spawning Colours, you never know...but it sure is a lot more vivid to be just that.

Bobby

Does not look like a Red tailed Catfish.
A lot of people keep them in aquariums here.
Although it does not naturally belong here, one may in a rare case find it as some people release these kind of fishes in local water bodies after discovering it is outgrowing their fish tanks.

That is a singhara and an excellent speciman at that. Rivere singhara tend to be longer than those that live in stillwater, but the fins of that one are exceptionally bright.
Other than the South American Red Tail their is also an Asiatic Red Tail Catfish which looks alot like the singhara. Viper's friend's singhara looks very much like an Asian red tail.

guys oops I meant Angler Ali as he has said once that we catch good size singaras in Ganga too i was trying to quote him

Suggest you serious anglers invest in a copy of Days Fishes of India published in the last century in U.K. and the first Indian edition published by JAGMANDER BOOK AGENCY, NEW DELHI in 1967. Pricey at that time Rs 4500/- for both volumes.

The two are completely seperate species. The ones shown caught in the north are MACRONES SEENGHALA ,which I agree are very good eating. They were abundant at a Jheel called Dumdama on the Alwar road and at Oklha in the 70's. They could be taken on live bait, either a small fish locally called PUTIA or the fresh water Shrimp which our shikaris would net for us from the weeds on the Jheel shore. Have taken them up to 12 lbs on a light rod. Delhi anglers should throw some further light on the present state of Singhada fishing. The Karnatak specimen also looks the same, but as the photo is not clear , cannot be definitive.

The fish caught off Mumbai is correctly identified as the WALLAGOO ATTU. Be careful when identifying this fish as there are many similar looking fish caught near Mumbai. The much loved, by our Bengali bretheren PABDA, being one of them. Try for them in the upstream stretches of the rivers around Pune and the huge lake beyond Bigwan on the Sholapur road. There were some huge Murral there which will give you some sport.

Peter,
You are right about Damdama and Okhla (yamuna). I used to fish the two place regularly for a long time and then disaster struck. Damdama which was very good for Wallagoo and Singhara is now dead. All caught on Putia and worm. Now there is no water in the lake. The little that trickles in during the monsoon is used to irrigate the crops planted in the lake bed. About the Yamuna. The less said the better. it enter delhi nice and clean but leaves dirtier than you can imagine. Pity!

Peter saw your post and looks like it is your first welcome to IA pal and thanks for the info much appreciated
rajat

Macrones Seenghala is an outdated scientific name.
This fish has been reclassified many times and a quick look through fish base and other fish databases reveal several names including Mystus Seenghala, Sperata Seenghala, Sperata Aor and Aorichthys Aor.
I wonder why their is no scientific consensus on the naming of the singhara.

Hey thanks for the information !
Finally I know which fish the "adh maach" is.
What about Teengras? Aren't they a related species?

I'm talking about the Asian Redtail Catfish :)
Not the South American one.
The Asian Red Tail can be found in India also

oh come to think about it they might be need to check into that mate

In Northern Punjab a small goggle eyed catfish with a slight resemblance to the singhara is called Tengra.
It rarely gows bigger than a pound.

Ali I think you might be right there but the Tengra we bongs know are really very small fish i think they are only 20 to 25 Grm each but i may be wrong as they might grow big too. it so strange that the fish names are so similar in Punjab as in Bengal wow

It's the same fish then. A one pound tengra is the fish of a lifetime. They're usually around thE size you mentioned.

Rajat / Ali,

We call it tengra too (Assam). But they are quite smaller in size.

those tengras are locally called "Katers".. never seen a 1 lb. kater..they usuaally max 50 gms.. the fish that alluded me (same family) was a fish in the the Jumna. was called SILAND mother of all carnivores..sadly ..never seen one 30 yrs.. but i know it is in the chambal rvr...anyone with dacoit frnds can ffish... )) : BTW any of my Northie frnds fished the Chambal...esp around Etawah...wat a riverine river system