INDIANANGLER

I started angling in 1989 when i was 10 yrs old while on a trip to kashmir. My dad who used to fish in bombay during his college days introduced me to the fine art of angling. I caught a lot of small carp on that trip and i was hooked to this sport for life.

After coming back to ahmedabad, I used to go to the sabarmati river during the monsoons when the river is full and caught chilwa. This went on till 12th grade after which I joined dental college in Karnataka. I was off fishing for the next five years.

When I returned home in the year 2000, I came across the newly constructed narmada canal which is around thirty minute drive from where I live. It looked a very promising spot for fishing. On my very first day I met another angler, a Bengali chap in the airforce, sgt bhattacharji.. he had just caught a 2 kg rohu and gave me quite a few tips on bottom fishing for rohu. We decided to come there every Sunday.

A few days later I was fishing alone when the float gave a few taps and went under. I struck hard to set the hook and I was on my first big fish, a 3kg rohu. It made three long runs before I could pump it in. I did not have a landing net and almost fell in the canal while trying to land it. After 30min or so I was into another fish the same size but lost it while trying to land it with my barehands. On the third cast I hooked a 2kg mirgal which I landed with great difficulty. I had learnt a very important lesson and I promptly got a landing net made.

In the following months I caught and mostly lost many fish due to line breakage and even broken and straightened hooks. Eventually I got myself strong hooks good quality line and refined my playing and landing technique.

In june 2004, I hooked a 6 kg rohu which gave me a good fight. the very next Sunday I was fishing the same spot and did not have a bite since 2hrs, so I left my rod unattended and went to pee a few meters away. All of a sudden I heard a screeching sound and my rod was dragged into the water. Before I could do anything it went down and away. That was the last I saw of it. Another important message was learnt that day.

Since last year we haven’t got a single bite. We cannot figure what could have happened. There is no netting or pollution in the canal. The only thing that has changed is that a lot of weeds have grown near the bank and our hooks catch a lot of weed . what do you guys think could have happened? I have seen few large murrel cruising around the weeds. What bait can be used to catch them?

I use bread paste and add a little asafetida and cod liver oil to it. We never use earthworms because we mostly get turtles on them and it’s a headache to remove the hook from them.

Can anyone identify the black carp? I think it is kalabanse it gave a very good fight compared to its size(I never catch any fish when my camera is around so all the pics have been taken at home). My dream is to catch mahseer in the cauvery. I am also very much interested in saltwater and fly fishing. Hope to hear from you guys.

Doc,

All I can say is looking at some of those fish were very small and should have been released. Looking at them in plates made me presume otherwise...

Hello Doc,

A very nice report and some beautiful fish there. Its nice to see quality fish like those being caught.
I would venture to say the little black carp you caught was a ' kalabanse', I've caught a couple on the Cauvery. An interesting fish is the one below the kalabanse, I noticed subtle difference from the rohu.
I hope you do get that big one on the Cauvery soon, just give us a shout and you'll be pointed in the right direction!
I noticed you mentioned saltwater fly... hmm that's something I'm going to have to try in the next couple of years.

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Hi Doc,
The black one is a Calabanse, and i too am curious as to the name of the fish below it. Gavin any ideas ?
Here too we have the Wasi lakes stuffed full of fish, but very hard to get the bigger ones to bite. The lake is full of weeds. They grow up to the surface from the bottom (and the lake is pretty deep in places).
Perhaps the fish are feeding off the weeds. I have seen many varietys of weeds in both the lakes, must take some pix of the various types, especially the ones in the larger lake.
Regarding murral, mepps type spinners work well, but if there are too many weeds try dabbing a small artificial frog fitted with dual hooks. The direction of the hook points in relation to the direction the frog is important. Brown and yellow seems to work well.
Regards

Hey Doc,

have a drink on me mate

Was trying to get them photo of a rohu and a mrigal together so that I could identify the differneces between them... And you went and do'ed it.. thanks doc.. Take my dentures off to you

Now going back to ID'ing the fish...

owen - the last fish in the pix is the Mrigal.. You can make out by the long body and the yellow colouring.. Also the mouth is a dead giveaway...
the doc's first pix of the fish also are fantastic to compare the rohu and the mrigal..

All in all, the best way to identify which is which is thru the body shape, the colouring and the mouth.. Once you identify these, you know exactly which bugger you caught..

Even the way the fish fight is a giveaway to their ID...

P.S the black bugger is a Khalbouse.. One strong feller..





The rohu is more round and reddish in colour.. you look at the mouth and you will find that it is more rounded than the mrigal's mouth which is a clown-frown type.

The picture of The Doc holding a rohu can show what I mean by the rohu's mouth being round...

[quote="dr aamir bhavnagri"]



Hi Guys,

Looking at Doc's plate of fish now...... The fish on top is a Rohu, the one in the middle is a Mrigal and the one at the bottom is a cat. Right?
I can see why people (including myself) get confused. They're very similar.
Thanks for these pics Doc.
Regards,
Mighty Marlin

Hey MM, Dont come to my part of India and say that dude... You will get lynched

Any person who calls himself an angler in this part of the waterways, HAS to know which fish is which.. Or else he will get the rod stuck up a place where the sun dont shine

I agree with you mate.. The tooth fairy has provided a fantastic pics of the rohu and mrigal together...

Hey Gavin,

If I head up north it'll only be for Mahseer. No probs here with that dept. Guess I'm a bit spoilt living 2hrs away from the Cauvery
End of the day a Mahseer's a Mahseer and a carp is a carp.......

Regards,
Mighty M.

Hi bobby, you are right, we should release all fish that are small.Most of the fish in the pics are more than 2kg in weight except the catfish which un fortunately swallowed the bait and i had to take it. The plate you are reffering to is called a `thaal' in gujrati and it is aproxximately 22 inches in diameter. It is my mistake ; i should have kept something for size ref.

Thankyou mighty marlin for the kind and encouraging words. Your name suggests that you are a saltwater angler. It seems that all you guys in banglore are having all the fun. It makes me want to move
to banglore.

Thanks for the tip owen, lets see if i can post a pic of a murrel in the coming weeks.



Iam glad Gavin that you liked the pic of the rohu and mirgal. Actually i had taken the photo for my ref. the rohu is 3kg and mirgal is 2kg. Can you guess the age of these fish?

Hi Doc,
The catfish looks like a Tengra, and good luck with the murral.
Regards
Oweb

My teacher at school ( God bless his soul ) once told me that carp normally put around 800gms to a kg of weight every year,,, so i guess the rohu would be 3 to 3.5 years of age and the mrigal would be around 2.5years of age....

P.S Neither of them are older than our athletes at the WASI run

Hi Gav,

Please don't give our athletic twins any reason to hijack this thread

Doc, sorry mate, I am really sorry to come down hard upon you, I have to confess that I do release every single fish I catch. I do take a few fish home for the pot and I don't feel guilty about it. But I have seen a few places ruined when people take small fish home, so I like pointing something like that out even at the risk of sounding blunt.

I am of the belief that we have very knowledgable people on this forum and what better place to spread awarness. I am glad you responded as you did.

Your pictures were actually very clear and nice and did help a few guys here as there was a debate going on about the Rohu and Mirgal. Thanks to you and Crooked Gavin we are now enlightned .

Hi Bobster,

Trying to raise awareness for charity, mate !! going down south this winter and need to be in the WASI good books or those buggers may not let me fish in their waters

As for them WASI athletes, they dont need an excuse to hijack a thread..

HI Aamir, Welcome aboard, thats a great catch mate, with lovely pics .Big mistake you made, telling these chaps you're a dentist-next thing some one might want dentures made for his pet cat/mrigal/mahseer!Not beyond us at all.
That was surprising, reading about the thaal being 22" in dia, very decent size of fish and yes, I guess a size indicator would be important.
Good luck and here's wishing you great fishing
best
Axx

[quote="Bobby"]Hi Gav,

Please don't give our athletic twins any reason to hijack this thread

I will have you instigators know that there are no highjackers in this country, only decent anglers and atheletes

Yes doc thanks for the pix, certainly threw some light on the two species in question. Cirhanna Mirgala and Labeo Rohita.
Pretty stylish names for the small mouth fellows.

Gavin has been threatning to send us some shots, but looks like you beat him to it.

Bobby is right, we guys need to wake up other anglers to the ways of handling fish and the procedures for capture and release of fish.

I had the privelage of watching an entire episode made by Dirk (who is on this forum) from Germany on carp fishing. I hope he will not mind me discussing it on this forum.

I have seen many carp videos, but have rarely seen such fish handling skills.

The fish are carefully coaxed into a net and then brought out of the water, ensuring that no part of the fish touches the ground.

A beautiful padded mat is wet thoroughly before the fish is placed on it, and the person handling the fish also thoroughly wets his hands before touching the fish.
I would fall instantly asleep on such a device

Water is continously poured on the fish to keep it fresh.

The fish is quickly and carefully transfered to a weighing bag with side zips and weighed.

The fish is removed from the bag and more water poured over it.

The photographs taken are always in a kneeling position (never standing) to ensure that if ever the fish slips out from the anglers fingers, the fall will do as little damage to the fish as possible.

The fish is always held in the right way during the quich photo session, with the forefinger and index finger of one hand around the pectoral fins, and similarly the fingers of the other hand cradling the fish around the anal fins so that the fish is properly supported, and as little fo the fish comes in contact with the anglers clothing. This helps in ensuring that very little slime and natural secretions of the the fish come off during the handling of the fish.

Then the fish is carefully put back into the water, causing it as little trauma as possible, and thereby setting it free to delight the soul of another angler.

Perhaps Dirk will want to add or correct some of my observations.

Regards
Owen

Dirk,

Any way I can view this too?

Regards,

Bob

quote:.Big mistake you made, telling these chaps you're a dentist-next thing some one might want dentures made for his pet cat/mrigal/mahseer!Not beyond us at all.


hi eljefe, Let them ask, I will make dentures for their pets and special dentures for the owners which can be fitted in a place where they can chew their food on the way out.


hi owen,

Thats a great idea to spread awareness among anglers for safe handling of fish;but how can we quickly dispatch fish meant for the pot? unlike mahseer; rohu and mrigal which are not endangered are usually eaten. As for me, i only take those fish which are to be eaten; for others, i remove the hook while the fish is still in water.

Another thing i want to add is that some of the nonangling public see angling as a cruel sport where the fish are traumatized for fun and enjoyment only. they see no purpose for hooking and playing a fish if it is not for food. I was once asked by a onlooker while releasing a fish as to why i was doing that? he was suprised and a bit angry when he felt that i wasnt fishing for food. How about spreading awareness there.

regards,
aamir.

Hey Doc, dont get bummed ....

Somebody once told me, "Opinion is like an a-hole, everybody has one !"

Another thing i want to add is that some of the nonangling public see angling as a cruel sport where the fish are traumatized for fun and enjoyment only. they see no purpose for hooking and playing a fish if it is not for food. I was once asked by a onlooker while releasing a fish as to why i was doing that? he was suprised and a bit angry when he felt that i wasnt fishing for food.


Hi Doc,

Was just reading your reply to Owen 2 posts earlier where you mentioned that someone got upset with you for releasing a fish. I had a pretty similar experience, makes me laugh now but wasn't ver funny when it happened.
Some years ago I was on a date and things went well till angling popped up in the conversation. My date could not belive I released most fish I caught. She thought it was cruel and sadistic, as far as she was concerned it was OK to go fishing as long as one ate all they caught. Apparently that justified catching fish. No heed was paid to the fact that angling is a form of conservation and that us anglers are genuinely concerned for the well being of our water bodies and the creatures that inhabit them. Well I quickly changed the topic and the next time she called I politely told her I was going fishing!

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Hi Doc,
Try using a priest if you plan to keep the fish for the table.
The onlooker that you met is probably a rather ignorant bugger who is unaware that angling is one of the oldest sports in the world. He is the type that needs some education on the subject, and showing that you really care for the fish makes a difference.



The question you are asking of me, is something that has been debated around the world for ages, and has run threadbare. I don't think people will be able to see eye to eye on this ever.
However we are not always in the publics eye while angling, but it is still important to develop the right attitude and ethics while angling, and pass down the same to our children.
Those of us who appreciate the sport will continue to do so, as for the rest, they can just stuff it.

[/quote]Well I quickly changed the topic and the next time she called I politely told her I was going fishing![quote]
Well done mate! Probably the wisest decision you ever made
You could have been in the frying pan by now

Well I quickly changed the topic and the next time she called I politely told her I was going fishing!

Yup Owen,
Had to think fast there. Forget the frying pan bit.... she'd have tried to get me to release budgerigars in Bannerghatta next!!
Can't reason with people like that, best to send them on their way.

Regards,
Mighty M.

You could have taken her fishing with you... She could have held your rod

Gavin,
The sea is full of fish!

Regards,
Mighty M.

Touche !!

I guess you are right, mate !! Am seeing the fish that you are holding right now

Some ladies man you are, James.

Ever stopped to think how hurt she must have felt when you "released" her?

Now she will put the two together, you have scared her for life, now she will never understand the good side of "catch n release"

Or you could call her and ask her now, what did she prefer, you releasing her or "Ahem Ahem"...she will probably see the light then

Hey Bobby,

Well since this is an 'angling forum'.... let's put it this way.....
I was fishing in 'troubled waters' and the fish just wouldn't take my bait . Then realised I was fishing when I only had a licence to camp. To make matters worse the weather turned foul so I reeled in and called it a day. Realised I need to give up angling in small ponds and every now and again even I have a blank day

Regards,
Mighty Marlin.

Good one MM, LOL

Bops

Nice One MM you poacher!!

LOL