INDIANANGLER

I had an excellent chance to catch this magnificent creature roaming in the bay area of Powai and thought would share some pics

By rajatmukherje


By rajatmukherje


By rajatmukherje


By rajatmukherje


By rajatmukherje

The hand liners who never listen to any warning ever

By rajatmukherje

what the heck rajatda thats some scary stuff..

do those crocs come near your machans

handlining is allowed in powai or what?

that croc must be about 10 feet or so right.... scary

Beautiful creature and great photographs.

The crock in picture was roaming inside the bay Area which is actually surrounded by the machans so some time they comes near but never near enough.

Officially no hand lines are allowed in Powai but these guys never listen they always land up there and ready to run the moment a security boat approaches them . Time and again they have been warned but in vain.

The worst part is that the breading ground these crocks is now been disturbed by some heavy duty excavation by the authorities turning there blind eyes towards crocks

The crock is much more then 10 feet bro i will say at least 15 to 16 feet a large part of its body is under water and you can not see it but you can imagine the length with the machan in back ground another pic for reference

By rajatmukherje

rajatda , have there been cases where a croc has taken a fish that has been hooked , and the angler is reeling it in?

that would be one scary proposition!

you bet bro but that has not happened so far, as i know but Ali would be a better person to confirm Ali any input

Great pics of the croc!!!

You would'nt want to hook up with that beautiful beast, I think you could possibly end up water-skiing!

Good job it's not a saltie. If it was, handliners wouldn't be a problem for long !
Even with a mugger, I'd be wary because people are definatly on the menu if the oppertunity presents itself.

Lovely pics Rajat
Another reason why i want to fish in Powai ..
Thanks for sharing

Regards,
Binu

Nice pics Rajat. Do people feed the crocks there?

Cheers,
Maruthu

Nice pictures Rajat...

nice pictures rajat da...i heard these salties are pretty aggressive ....i hope these handliners dont do fishing at night....!!!

These are Muggers

Greta pictures. I remember meeting one of these beauties when I fished with you guys. Pretty peaceful and relaxed if you don't get in their way. And that is exactly what we should be doing.

You are right bobby they are muggers not salties and we do give them a clean avoid and let them be in peace as Ken said . No there is no feeding of corcks in Powai they are actually wild crocks and the lake is their natural habitat for a very long time

Binu you are most welcome any time just give us a call when you are next in town we take you fishing in Powai

nice pictures
thats a monster of a mugger if you saying its 15-16feet...
as far as i remember there is only one mugger in captivity that is that big
and these are wild crocks.....
once again
hats off to some nice pictures

wow I have nothing i can say guys ,, this is something scary . how can one sit and fish there i am sure i wil not even SH** there.. thats an awesome place planning to visit very soon

awesome Pics....

The big one is supposed to be a female croc called Rani and is considered to be the most aggressive of the lot. Estimated length of rani is 13 - 14 ft. There are some more larger 10 - 12 ft ones. Summer is the time when some of these croc's move near the bay area due to decrease in water levels. If you take your boat near to them, they quickly move away.

I was with Ali yesterday for some time in the evening and we saw the big mama dangerously close to a hand liner. Hope the authorities act on time before someone loses his / her life or is badly injured.

Santosh

Yes Santosh,

This brute was dangerously close to the guys sitting on the bank. Your description of this crock is true but if we go by the stories doing round in MSAA circle, this is Rani II. The Rani one was an even bigger reptile and it was very notorious as it had stopped all poaching in the Powai Lake. As per the stories, this unfortunate but a very unique reptile was ultimately killed by the poachers as it got entangled in a net specially designed to capture it and then it was dumped near Visarjan Ghat. The death of this Crock was well published but the cause was put to over pollution of the lake.

Here is a draft of a letter, we have forwarded to concerned authorities after the unfortunate accident where this crock attacked a poacher. Lets hope and pray, some one some where will take a not of ominous signs and take some appropriate action so as to avert any further mishap.


Crocodile attack (Reasons and Remedies)
We would like to bring in to your notice the unfortunate attack by a crocodile on a poacher who was trying to net the lake illegally. This attack happened while this poacher was trying to enter the lake on a truck tube, so as to lay his net. As he was near the shore, the crocodile attacked him once but did not peruse the attack, which saved the life of the poacher.

In view of the above we seek your intervention and we would also like to draw your kind attention to some of the fact, which are small but relevant to conserve the bio-system of this lake.

You are well aware that the top predator of the fragile eco-system of this lake is crocodile. While carrying out development works, paramount thoughts should be given to accommodate this top predator thus automatically protecting all other fauna and flora in the lower food chain, which are part of this eco system.

Below are some suggestion for immediate and long time action which can be initiated so as this type of accident did not happen in the future.
1. First of all, warning boards (Beware of crocodile) in Marathi, Hindi and English should be displayed around the lake.
2. While dredging the lake small island should be left where these crocodile can bask which is a daily routine of these reptiles.
3. On the bank, from the dam to the Renaissance, at least 30 meters of area should be fenced and made no mans zone. Same should be done from the Visarjan Ghat to the MSAA Club house. Artificial sand banks can be formed where these reptiles can bask and lay their eggs. (Kindly refer the attached map of Powai Lake)
4. More than dredging, de-silting can be done by opening the Valves of dam during the monsoons and racking the bottom of lake. Lot of sedimentation of this lake can be removed by just opening above mentioned valves. Neither the crocodile nor the fishes can sit or feed from the bottom due to this sedimentation.
5. Checking the Poacher from entering the lake on tubes for the theft of fishes.

We strongly recommend to you that taking these steps will not only stop these kind of accidents but also make the Powai Lake a very evolved and self sustaining eco-system.

Regards,

Ali.

Hey Rajat,
Great Pictures!!

Regards,
Madhur

Hi Ali Bahi,
I think the points you have mentioned in the letter are spot on..
Apart form the Crock issue, I was really surprised the first time, I learnt from you that the fishes were not breeding due to heavy silt deposit on the lake bed.. I am sure the usual de silting process would take ages to clean up the lake.. also the destruction of the crock habitat is another hazard.






I think your suggestion is superb.. Now I only Hope the Valves are still working!!


Regards,
Madhur.

Nice pics Rajat.

That one hell of a croc.

we also do handlining on the banks of rivers like krishna and tungabhadra, is this dangerous? how to identify the places of crocs?

Great Pics Rajat Da,

Hopefully these beautiful creatures are protected and stay around in Powai. There are part of the natural beauty of Powai. Handliners should be careful though.

Had A close encounter with a big croc in Cauvary.....was fishing with my friends in a small channel near mysore with my feet in water ....suddenly 1 of my frineds started yelling out....thought i could be a wild boar or a peacock he wanted to show....then suddenly saw a huge log like thing gliding towards us ...took some time to realise that it was a croc....
the Bugger was 12+ ft long ....some locals infomred that the same croc had tasted human flesh before as many dead bodies surface over there after drowning in cauvary sharing some Snaps

Very neat pictures Viper...

beautiful pictures
and one need to be more carefull in such waters....
they are "BUILT TO KILL"
and wont miss a given chance

But they make good handbags and shoes also a good source of protein...a bit chewy though.

Sorry lads…could not resist

yeh thats true
and thats when they are on the menu...
but in their teritory you are on the menu...
and they dont differnciate that you are soft, tender or chewy

Very True

Good one Hoze..

fab hoze
some awesome pics viper loved the first one specially

Samne hai par "MAGAR" aati nahi......:) LOL

That's one BIGGG croc. Was in IIT Powai from 174-79, used to fish very very often from the campus side of the lake, and swim in Vihar weekly. Heard of crocs, but never saw one

Sanjay

man..!! that is something of which I am hell scared..since my childhood, had seen that 'Khoon Bhari Maang' when I was a kid..n tht was enough..!!
guys, i hail from satara..do tell me if these reptiles are also found in koyana dam reservoir, or the banks of Venna and Krishna..!! I never want to encounter..not even at the zoos..!!