INDIANANGLER

O brothers of the angle,

Feast thine eyes on some righteous pahari waters...

Sorry, no big fish but actually, I haven't picked up the spin rods at all this season, the fly hatches were so mad. Refurbished my old fly rod and put to good use along with some new flies. Pretty much everything worked. So in two sessions, total 9 days, 62 mahseer, 6 Indian trout. All on the fly. 8 mahseer on dry fly. Best 8lbs on the Hellgrammite. One fish broke my17lb striper tippet, it had a stonefly nymph at the end. One other fish, very large (gillie says 8-9kgs) got off a Rogan's Gadget after a 40 minute tussle. 6 other fish fell to it later as did a 5" chilwa and an Indian trout.

And oh, the sunrises were something else....


Fast water, single handed 6wt rod


Ditto


They'll always surprise you. 20 minutes, 4lbs on a Woolly Bugger.


The Holy Grail of flyfishing- mahseer on a dry fly. To me, when flyfishing, size does not matter. Maybe later....


Good fly water. Amazing evenings, except for the blithering wind...


Another fishing sunrise.


8lbs on a chartreuse Clouser Deep Minnow.


Another gratuitious flyfishing 'mood photo'.


Someone asked about how Bongs cast with a reel not designed for casting (one of the gearless centrepin jobs). The method's been described in other posts by Owen, GRC and Co., but the moment I love is above- total Tai-Chi and Zen all rolled into one. That's a very good friend in the pic- Suprio. Stillwater carpman, gentleman and now, a convert to river fishing for mahseer. I've asked him to join IA.

Anyhow, hope I haven't clogged up the bandwidth, enjoy the eyecandy.
Cheers,

Vedan

Fantastic pics bro.. where is this ???? look s gr8.
Cheers!!!
M

As always, impressive!

Bops

Good job Vedan....!!! You surely had a nice time out there...!!!

Nice pics...

There is not much of fly-fishing discussions happening in IA. May be you can tell us more about it in a separate thread.

| Cheers
| Sreekanth Soman
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¿ < º)))))><

Great Job Vedan

Nice pictures and the fly fishing looks great ... like Sree says " where is this place "

Hi Vedan, Missed you last week...I had a bit of fun too, am posting later.Tight lines and here's to your Holy grail.
Best
Axx

Hi Vedan,

Really nice pics. I will someday learn to use the fly rod from you.

Cheers,
Apoo

Thanks folks.
Mayursud- those are from the lower W. Ramganga and upper Sarju, between Bageshwar and Upper Seraghat.
Thanks, Bops- see you here sometime?...
Sree- it could've been better- should've had another 10 days on the upper Sarju...
Fred- I might be heading your way early July or early Sep. Any prospects? I'l bring me flyods along.
Jefe, you shoulda been there, macha. Has your baitcaster arrived?

A 'friend' caught a 19lb golden on a tarpon Baitfish fly from the upper W. Ramganga. He's in Nepal at the moment, waiting for him to drop the pics off.

Cheers,
V.

Apoo, am heading your way late September- we'll roger those Nameri mahseer

Cheers,
V.

fantastic pics Vedan.... Like the Bong casting

Hey vedan

Make it September ... we can catch Durg ... no fishing this side in July unless we have another 24x7 ,

Wow! this place is heaven. Got to get a fly rod and feel the power.

thanks mate. you are making me a convert.

HI Vedan,
had a re 'lech' at your pics, post midnite-am part werewolf, see.
That Golden/yellow Mahseer held in the best cricketing fielder post , near your ankles(are they gashed and bleeding or is it your fancy fly fishing disguise/secret lure-human blood-a ha, I 've got you!!??)
-AWESOME-wish I could see his gret grand papy-wouldnt want to even hook it just now-that would be too much of a happenchance...just see it gliding thru the water-man, stuff the dreams are made off-Some day soon, you'll see me walking into your camp with my gear on my shoulder , for a 48hr orgy of fishing.
Just discovered that i fish best like i work-in 48 hr bursts... Never mind, that i cant understand a bit about the lures and your rod looks funny, a fish is a fish and a hook is a hook.Why worry when you're there to teach me...
Best
Axx
PS-2 baitrunners ETA 21 Apr. no baitcaster yet-I've yet to learn about the eggbeaters and the baitrunners-should keep me well occupied for a few years-me and my murrel mania-wonder how Murrel will take to flies...

Hi Vedan,

Try to come to Nameri during Oct as angling is closed till Oct (if I am correct).

Cheers,
Apoo

Hi Vedan,

Nice pictures but got to ask, when are you getting back to meditation?

Regards,

Bobby

Great pics Vedan! The place looks heavenly.I'm envious.
Yaj.

Fred, Apoo, I'm going to toss a coin in September.
GRC, Mken, you guys gotta land up here sometime.
Jefe, those might be the red flashes on me lucky sandals, colour imparted by one of the countless animal sacrifices I have to make to the river monsters in order to pay my dues... Ohoh- I've got these deadly bloody bass poppers I'm sure murrel will hang a tooth on.
Bobby- between sunset and sunrise, of course!!
Yaj- anytime you want to get rid of it just land up, mate!

Cheers and thanks

V.

Hi Vedan,

Great pictures, the place is a real BEAUTY..

Fishing at such a place is like a good dream come true....

Regards,

Santosh

Hey Vedan ,, ive got luck like amitabh in sholay ... apoo dosent stand a chance ... ill keep you updated ... will do some research and see what Indian coastal fish take fly .. then u n me will throw the damn fluffs at the fish and see what happens .... if nothing .. we will chill and catch a suntan

Great pix, Vedan!

Cheers

Hi Vedan,

All species that we catch on Lures will be OK on Fly.

Barramundi
Threadfin
Mangrove Jack (but very difficult on Fly)
GT
Bream Yellow and Black (same flies as Pompanos - Crabflies)
Finger Mark Bream
Cobia

Given that you need to sight fish it will be very difficult to get a chance to cast at most of these fish.

Your best bet would be with GTs, who come in shoals when they do, followed by Barramundi. For Barramundi you may need to cast some distance in wind.

Regards,

Bobby

Hi vedan,

Wow!!. The pictures stirred up old memories, eternal questions, and the travel bugs. Know where I would be next year.


Tight Lines,

Jeen

Hi Vedan,

You are really having a great time !!!

Mahseer on a fly must be fun.

My first time fishing for Mahseer was using multiplier, with ragi on the Cauvery river. Seeing 40 lbs maxima ripped to shreds within a minute, I was sure a fly line will not stand a chance (atleast for the big Mahseer).

I had a fly rod. while on the Cauvery. But did not dare to try it, on the Mahseer. Maybe next time

I have heard that the Mahseer on the Ramganga take the fly readily. And your photos prove it !


Can you give details of the flies used ? patterns, sizes ..


Hope to fish the Ramganga someday ........



tight lines

Makarand

Fred- if Apoo doesn't open season for us, i'm with you. I won't mind tussling with an Amjad sized grouper trying to do a thakur on my arms...
Bobby- there's this south african friend of mine who's managed to convince me the thing to do are GTs on a fly off the surf. His mates bag travallys in the 60-80lb class out there, wonder if there's anything left out here. Yeah, man, barras sound exciting, too.
Jeen, lemme guess....
Makarand- out on the kaveri, I doubt if you'll be able to land a big one without a boat/coracle, especially on fly gear. I'm investing in a double handed salmon rod as I've only just learnt how to Spey cast and having bagged fish on a single handed rod, I must say a dhr is more comfy to fight with. Paul Boote mentions a 42lb mahseer from the kaveri. Didn't mention the rod shr or dhr but he took it on a tube fly. Ummmm... I don't know about the 'readily' bit re the Ramganga mahseer. I think if you stick the right fly in the right place at the right pace, fish will take if they're there.
The flies I used were (among the known patterns)- Clouser Deep minnow (chartreuse), Rogan's Gadget (size8 ls), Willie Gunn (tube), Garry Dog (tube), Ally's Shrimp (tube, dyed deep green) assorted beadhead nymphs (sizes 8-12), big Muddlers (size 1, 2/0), assorted Viva patterns. A friend dropped off some huge sea trout skaters he ties himself. Scored one 4lb job on a full moon, floating line. Other fish fell to some flies I tie myself- hellgrammites, dragonfly nymphs and small stonefly jobs.
I used a floating line at night/evenings and ultra fast sink in rapids and deep pools.

Cheers

V.

A 40lb GT on a Fly Rod would ne something awsome, 60 - 80lb would be something else. The 16lb tippet IGFA record for GT on fly is 79lbs that is the largest fish in all fly classes, the rest of the fish average round about 20 - 25 lbs, your friend should look up that avenue.

Hi Vedan,

What length DH fly rod, you plan to get ?

A 15' DH fly rod would be great aid to cast, especially with tree lined banks.
But fighting a big Mahseer on a 15' rod, I am not sure ....

I myself use single handed 9' fly rods, for salmon/trout.

Have to try a DH fly rod someday.

TFO has some nice fly rods. And they have a range of DH fly rods.
http://www.templeforkflyrods.com/rods/2hands.html#T


tight lines

Makarand

I am not a good fly fisherman, not by a long shot, but I do give it a whirl from time to time in Salt Water only.

These are a few flies I carry with me all over the place rest are in India. And also a couple of reels. The Penn is a beauty.

Hey Bobby

Thats awesome kit u hve...

Pls PM me ,where did u buy it from & how much did it Cost.

Can't remember the costs mate.

The Dam Fly reel is from Hong Kong

The Penn is a high end reel, bought in Singapore.

Most of the flies are from New Orleans, some picked up in Singapore and in Hong Kong.

Sorry can't be of more help.