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

Carpernicus mate, the Indian Trout isnt really a trout at all but a Cyprinid.

How big does the Indian trout get ?

In which other waters (other than the Ramganga) is the Indian trout found ?


thanks

Makarand

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.

Some very nice pictures on this thread lads

Hi Vedan,
There are 2 types of Labeo that are quite similar in the Kaveri, i.e Labeo Nigrescens and Labeo Calabasu. Thanks for the update on the Labeo Dyocheelus. They do have different body shapes besides the dorsal fin rays. For that matter many of the species that come out of nothern rivers are a whole lot slimmer than their southern cousins
Can you tell us what the small mahseer with the orange / red fins are Vedan ?
Regards
Owen

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.

Thanks Vedan, which rivers in the north now hold tor tor, and what size can the grow to ?
Regards
Owen

hey thats a cute looking fish

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.

Wouldn't mind a taste of the chutney myself
The ragi is more likely to be atta Vedan.
Regards
Owen

Owen,

Anytime you're up here, mate, the traditional pahari meal's on us, complete with boar in imli sauce.

Cheers

V.

ps. it doesn't get you high, just hot. You should try the pakoras my chef does, though

Boom!

Shankarrrr!!!!!

I'll be there one day guy's i promise

anytime!

Beautiful country, Vedan, looks like you have a Whale of a time there mate.

Owen, may be I will join you on your trip there

Sure Bobby 2009 is my target year.
By the way what happened to polly ? I see you sporting a new avtar these days.

Just thought I'd take him off till he gets well. Giving him 0.07 mg of Metacam twice daily. Looks a little more alert today.

Hey Bobby!

Don't worry mate. He will be just fine. Keep him close and pamper him a lot. They are all just like kids when they are under the weather.

Bobs,
We'll have a goonch of a time, for sure.
Welcome anytime.

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.

Hi Guys,

Great pictures and tons of info. When will I get the time to hit the hills??

Shambo Mahadeva!!

Jeen

I may have been mistaken about calling it "ragi" eljefe so will describe.. Was a mixture of what looked like white dough with soupy rice bits (bit vague sorry) and the Mahseer seemed to take to it OK. Although a river guard came over with some darker bait with stringy brown ingredients, this was then moulded around the dough which kept it together on the hook and created more of a cloud in the water - inducing a more frenzied feed!

See some absolutely lunking Red-Fin Mahseer in there too. Wow I was gunning for those Goonch on one of the other stretches.. to no avail. Would've thought the fishing gods might have shown some love after roasting on a rock all day, or maybe i should've used lamb guts instead of chicken, hmm.

So from reading on I understand the Ramganga/Corbett is comparatively shallower to other areas. What would be the ideal step-up from this location?

Can any plz explain Raggi. Its an alien concept to us at Pakistan

Hi Sam,
Check out this link for the details
http://www.indianangler.com/viewtopic.php?t=251
Regards
Owen

[quote="Bobby"]Just thought I'd take him off till he gets well. Giving him 0.07 mg of Metacam twice daily. Looks a little more alert today.[/quote]

He took him off because he was beginning to look like a roadside fortune teller! Bobby, not polly!!
Cheers, Glenn

Thanx for the link on Raggi on Owen,

Just a few questions.

1. To prepare raggi, whats the base Atta, Maida. Thats a bit confusing

2. Is raggi good for Masheer as well.

3. What other Fish can u get on Raggi

So many Questions

Hi Sam,
Ragi is a Millet, not atta or maida. Its grown mainly in south India and used as bait because its more or less the staple diet of the locals living around the cauvery belt. Check the below link for further info..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragi

Cheers,
Alexis

Shaphan,
as a south indian in exile, let me describe my fav food...
Ragi is the local name for MILLET.
the atta is reddish brown and is not kneaded with water like flour, but is poured into a vessel containing water, which is on a simmering boil.
This is constantly stirred to get paste of your liking.For human consumption, the ragi balls are silky creamy smooth with no hard , unboiled inclusions. Goes great with rustic mutton or chicken curry!
For fishing bait, same technique, only the mix may be coarser and boiled a bit longer, never mind if it is a bit hard .It should stay on the hook in fast or still waters. play around a bit...
Take one huge 2-3 kg ragi 'cannon ball' with you add Hing in copious quantities and mix well before you break a lump an shape it on your hook.
Tight lines
Axx

To answer your questions...
Alexis has already explained with the link that ragi is a millet that has to be ground to a powder, and then follow the instructions for preperation that i gave you.

Ragi is one of the favoured bait for mahseer in the Kaveri, along with small crabs, small live fish we call chilwa, but as Alexis mentioned the fish here eat it because people here live on the stuff.

As i mentioned in my earlier post, all kinds of carp, tilapia and labeo's besides mahseer take it as bait. We have even caught a few murral on it, but that usually happens when you reel your bait in, and the passing ragi ball gets on the murral's nerves

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

The picture is of a good sized trout, picture is of a rainbow trout introduced by the British into the hill streams of the Indian Sub continent. Most trout fishing in S.India is now closed by the Forst department, as all vergin freshwater streams are in forest land

Eljefe,

ragi mudde with spicy mutton/chicken gravy...yummmmmm!!!

Or for the veges ...mudde with avrekai saaruuu...

Votte thumba ittue...vai thumba anna...
stomach full ragi....mouth taste rice...

Sorry Guys got carried away.

This fare - ragi balls and avrekai(beans) is local staple food.
You don't chew....you just swipe the gravy and swallow...

Locals was their vessels in the river and the fish have developed the taste


Jude

Michael,

The fish in the pic isnt really a trout at all, but a local species of Cyprinid that looks just like a trout, the Indian Trout (Raimas Bola).

The way to spot the difference is that the Bola has a longer face than that of the true trouts and it also lacks an adipose fin, which is that small fleshy growth right above teh tail.