INDIANANGLER

Hope you like the pics guys. Just got back from my first trip fishing for the Golden Mahseer on the Ramganga River complete with a few surprise hook-ups



Golden Mahseer - 18lb
- Ragi, Size 4/0 hook, last pool, on the last day!



Releasing the same fish, took a while to recover though..



Red-Fin Mahseer (but I see one that looked to be over 20lbs..)
- Spinning Lure



Indian Trout
- Hook! (upon retrieval!)



Blackfish
- Spoon


Mahseer species was abundant, although larger specimens were few and far between and very shy. I have a new fish-fetish, although it's 4000 miles east..

Hey Carpenicus, Great pics mate.. Looks like you had a great time.. Keep those pics coming and.. Welcome to the Indian Angler

You having us on mate ? A putitora on Ragi on the Ramganga ?
That fish you called the blackfish, well if you ever saw "casting for gold", Paul Boote caught one of those in the early part of the video, he called it the Kalabans, which is basically the Kalibose. But the Kalabanse of the north is very much slimmer than the one's we get down south.
Are they the same fish, anyone have any ideas.

This one is from the Kaveri
Regards
Owen

From the specimans that I have seen in Pakistan they seem to be the same fish. The ones Ive seen actually look alot more like the one from the Kaveri than the fish Carpernicus has posted.

I saw "Casting For Gold" when I was a kid, but if my memory serves me correctly then I think that Kalbons was caught on a lure. I didnt know that the kalbons is a predator.

Hi Ali,
The Kalabans i have caught were taken on either atta or ragi, with a size 8 hook.
They have such small mouths that more often than not they get foul hooked. Good fighters, but i have never caught one spinning.
Lots of them in Bengal and our resident half bong will have much to say about them.
Regards
Owen

Your resident Half-Bong is here

Khalbouse aka strong,black buggers... They eat very differently from other fish. Since they have very small mouths and are bottom-feeders, they tend to constantly nibble on the bait, giving us anglers, very itchy fingers to strike.. As a result of which, 50% of the strikes are a miss.. They roam in groups of 8-10, when they are small and become loners once they get about 3lbs in weight..

Theie diet consists mainly of food found on the bed and are attracted to pungent and strong smelling baits.. Have not known them to take lures but will grab the occassional worm...

Will do some more research on these black buggers and get back to y'all..

Hi Carpernicus,

Nice pics of those mahseers. This is the first time I had seen a pic of an indian trout.

Cheers,
Apoo

Hey thanks for the feedback. The Blackfish/Putitora seems to have similar scales and nose to the one pictured even though the fins vary so I'm still unsure. I didn't see them in large shoals in slower water but the larger specimens seemed more nomadic from my observations.

It actually took/mouthed the spoon (1/3 of its length) in shallow, fast water.

Incidentally that was my first ever trout and it fought like absolute stink! Now I know why they are considered game fish.

Hey Carpernicus,

Great fish, even better pics.
Don't know about the black fish being the same as those of the Kaveri but the zoological name is Labeo dyocheilus.
Owen? That the same as the Kaveri blackfish?
And oh, it's not the same as the kalabose or kalabanse- that's the Labeo calabasu. The L.c. has more rays on the dorsal, but the same mouth shape. It's also more carpish in the body.
There's a similar one found alongside the blackfish but instead of being dark brown/blackish, it's greenish. Same basic shape and mouth but slimmer.
Can't find the pic, will post soon....

Keep doin' it, mate!

cheers

Vedan

Makarand- the IT (Raiamas bola)goes up to 5lbs when left to it's own devices.
You'll find it in all Himalayan foothill rivers up to 1500' altitude. More generally found in smaller rivers like the Ramganga.
Other rivers I've plucked it from are tributaries of the Beas, Sutlej (Alikhad), Ganga, Yamuna (got a 5lber near Dehradun), most Nepali foothill rivers and Assam. Didn't catch any in Arunachal but did catch it's cousin Barilius tileo in a side stream of the Bhoroli near Nameri Nat'l Park.
They take a fly well towards evening but have caught a 6" IT on a 4" plug.
Voracious carnivore (look at it's mouth).

Aha! Found one of the Labeo dero, our greeny river carp.


cheers

V.

Thanks Owen.

The orange finned job is our redfin- the B. tor tor.
Here's another pic from 'back in those days'....



regards,

V.

hey vedan gr8 pics out there.

Saikibryan,

The goonch we caught on that thought it was a cute fish too. It wanted to 'meat' it desperately
Look how it dressed up for the 'meating'-


And what it met....


Owen- you get redfins in almost all rivers below the Himalayan foothills and above the Vindhya range, as far down as Madhya Pradesh. Caught one from the Chambal river some years ago. It's essentially a slow water fish so you'll get it in the foothill sections and plains rivers wherever you have rocks. The Ramganga, Yamuna, Bhakhra Dam, Giri, Kali, Karnali, lower Teesta, and some rivers in Burma all have stocks of redfins in lower sections (1200' and below). It makes a migratory run to the same areas as the yellowfin so you can bag it in the highlands after the rains. Inside Corbett, where fishing isn't allowed, you can see 15-20kg specimens coexisting with yellowfins. Mostly vegetarian except after the rains when iit'll take anything. Caught one on chilwa, another on a sunk Green Caddis nymph.

Regards,

V.

Carpernicus,
Great pics.looks like you had a 'whale' of a time...
Say again, RAGI in Ramganga? I though only our south indian fish had a predeliction for ragi...blow me over mate!
Vedan/OMO
LC is black fish?

Best
Axx

Jefe,

Why not?
It's consumed as 'choona ka atta' or 'mundwa' up in our parts, usually as thick rotis with 'bhaang beej chutney' and jaggery drowned in ghee (slurpsss!!) in the winters. If the Kaveri mahseer eat atta, I don't see why our fish can't eat ragi- I mean I love idlis, don't I?

Hey Carpernicus- what colour was the bait paste? I remember one non-indian showing me atta and calling it ragi......

Black fish- 'Kaali machchi'. That's the name the gillies in corbett will give you for any and all carps in the water, bombed, hooked or netted.

Cheers

V.

Thanks Vedan, I look forward to fish with you. I had neighbours from Nanital and I was facinated by all the tales they had to tell me when I was little.

Thanx Owen for the info!!!

Went to Rawal Dam a place near Islamabad. Will post the PICS in a litle while. Will try out the Raggi Bait on my next outing.

Fish Away